• A. 1994
  • B. 1995
  • C. 1996
  • D. 1997

💡 Need help?

It was the mid-‘90s, when the console war between Sony, Nintendo and Sega really kicked off. As so often happened, we Europeans had to wait patiently while Japan and America were already gaming away.

✅ View the answer

The correct answer is B. 1995.

The PlayStation landed in Europe on September 29, 1995. That was almost a year after the Japanese release (December 1994) and also half a year after America (September 1995). Classic example of how Europe always came last back in those days. Eventually this console sold over 102 million units worldwide - the first device ever to break that barrier.

If you chose 1994 (answer A), you’re thinking of the Japanese release. And 1996 or 1997 (C and D)? By that time the PlayStation was already sitting on store shelves and Sony was starting to really hurt its competitors in the market.

📚 More background information

The PlayStation was actually Sony’s revenge move, and what a move it was. Back then you knew Sony mainly for Walkmans and TVs - not exactly an obvious player in the gaming world. But they immediately took on Nintendo and Sega hard.

Sony’s smartest choice? Using CDs instead of those expensive cartridges. This suddenly allowed developers to make much larger games with cinematic cutscenes and voice acting. Games like Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid turned the PlayStation into a real phenomenon. Everyone wanted one.

At launch the thing cost about 699 guilders (roughly 317 euros in today’s money). A substantial amount, but cheaper than what the competition was asking.

And here’s the best part: the PlayStation was never actually meant to be Nintendo’s competitor. Sony and Nintendo first worked together on a console with a CD player. When Nintendo did a Nintendo thing at the last moment and chose Philips instead, Sony thought: “Okay, then we’ll just do it ourselves.” Quite an expensive mistake by Nintendo in hindsight.

We’re now at the fifth generation PlayStation (the PS5 came out in 2020), and Sony is still one of the big players in gaming. That decision by Nintendo to dump Sony really changed the gaming industry forever.