PlayStation’s Ken Kutaragi “Never” Considered Nintendo as a Competitor

Before the existence of the PlayStation, Sony worked with Nintendo on a CD-ROM drive for the Super Famicom. Nintendo decided to unplug the device, and so Sony entered the console business on its own – becoming a direct rival and industrial powerhouse.

With that in mind, Ken Kutaragi, “The Father of the PlayStation,” recently visited Bandai Namco’s Katsuhiro Harada bar and took the time to reflect on PlayStation’s relationship with other companies – like Nintendo – at this time.

Kutaragi (who also designed the SNES sound chip) said he enjoyed working with the Nintendo team and believed the media at the time, as well as “outside perspectives”, ignored these relationships. He explains how in the long run, this idea of ​​”conflict” between Sony, Nintendo and Sega has only helped the industry to grow. Here’s the full rundown:

“Before PlayStation, I worked on Super Famicom with Nintendo, and I really liked Mr. Uemura and his team, I was with them a lot and I got along with them. But from the outside, we were seen as fighting. We weren’t fighting at all. “

“I was only asked these kinds of questions”, is it [PlayStation’s] competitor Sega or Nintendo? They asked me, but we never thought about who the competitor was because we were all coworkers. However, the people outside didn’t think so … they didn’t know the truth …They have kept our industry alive. “

While such comments may not have been so convincing in the 90s, nowadays Sony and Nintendo occupy different segments of the video game industry. If you’re curious to learn more about Nintendo and Sony’s past, check out our feature on the PlayStation SNES.