PlayStation Creator Says Getting Revenge Wasn't On His Mind

Ken Kutaragi, the designer behind the PlayStation, has said that releasing the console was not about getting revenge against Nintendo.

Kutaragi designed the sound chip for the Super Famicom. He later worked on a CD-ROM attachment for the console, known as the Play Station, but that device was never released.

Nintendo had first partnered with Sony, but it switched to Philips for the Super Famicom CD-ROM instead. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi reportedly cancelled the Sony plans in secret, and he felt a deal with Sony would leave Nintendo with an unfavourable contract.

He went on to lead the PlayStation project, and many people see that as revenge. He does not see it that way. Kutaragi said:

I never thought about that… I didn't think that we had to crush [Nintendo].

Kutaragi also said he had never thought the Play Station prototype would become the starting point for the PlayStation franchise.

Sources and links GamesIndustry