PlayStation's big business these days, but that wasn't always the case. Back in the early 90s, electronics giant Sony was rather reluctant to create its own console – with its board of directors voting against Ken Kutaragi's proposal. The firm's wily CEO Norio Ohga believed in the project so much, though, that he sent the hot-headed veteran to Sony Music's office, where work continued on the system in secret. The rest, of course, is history.
And now a new documentary aims to tell the tale of Sony Computer Entertainment's rise to world domination. From Bedrooms to Billions: The PlayStation Revolution is a 90 minute feature by London-based filmmakers Antony and Nicola Caulfield which will plot PlayStation's progression from plucky contender to world conquerer. It will depict Sony's battle with Nintendo and SEGA in the mid-90s, and will also consider how the brand has matured since its debut over two decades ago.
It's set for release in May 2017 if the creators can raise £50,000 on Kickstarter, with the campaign already sitting at almost £30,000 with over two weeks to go. It's a lot of money, but the Caulfield's have a great track-record; the original From Bedrooms to Billions depicted the history of the British games industry, and received rave reviews upon release, so you can be pretty sure of a high-quality documentary here.
Pledging just £10 will get you a digital copy of the feature, while DVD and Blu-ray options are available as well. We'll be funding this, but if you need a little more convincing, you can check out the full campaign page through here.
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 22
Honestly I think Mighty No 9 has burned alot of people to fund stuff through Kickstarter.
nah i'll pass. £10 to contribute to info that is publicily available, no thanks. I'll rather buy another psn game. You'd think sony would pay for their own publicity.
@TomKongPhooey That's like saying there's no point in buying an autobiography because you can read the author's Wikipedia page.
I'm glad it was Sony who became the third platform (with MS replacing Sega in the 6th gen). They've done a lot of good for the gaming industry.
I mean, I love me some Nintendo games, and I have nothing against MS at all. But it's good to have one solid backbone for us to fall back on. Sony provides stability.
They don't really try to get fancy with their hardware or anythjng- usually it's just a case of new gen = more power. But that's what we needed. We needed one platform that's a 3rd party hub. Straight laced and all about the games. Sony keeps thigs stable (which consequently brings them the lions share) so I can always count on them to have a normal console that's as powerful as the gen can muster, which allows other platforms to be a little more cavalier with their hardware. And that's awesome. I enjoy playing games differently every gen with Ninty (be it motion, in 3D, with 2 screens, etc) and that's all good cause I know I have Sony as the dependable backbone.
They've really done a lot of good for us gamers.
This is how it happened:
Nintendo works together with Sony > Nintendo betrays Sony and decided to produce Wand of Gamelon > Sony releases the Playstation with Ape Escape > Sony leads the way of gaming.
@get2sammyb and that's why I ain't bought one of those either. I don't see ppl putting their autobiographies up on kickstarter tho. They understand if they want us to read about them the least they can do is pay for the experience to be published and then let the public decide if they wish to purchase.
@Xaessya Haha, pretty much
@JaxonH completely agree with you
It looks like a cause worthy of a tenner.
I never fund things on Kickstarter but as a PlayStation fan and somebody who remembers fondly the early-mid 90s when gaming was still in its infancy I'm really interested in seeing this if it does get funded. Always enjoy different takes on different eras of gaming.
I paid. Tenner for a documentary that i want to watch is worth it. Love kicker starter. So many great idea being funded.
'And you can help fund it'
Let's not and say we did 😉
playstation fan since the first day in 1995
@Xaessya You forgot a step in that explaination.
This is how it happened:
Nintendo works together with Sony > Sony tries to screw over Nintendo by sliding unrealisitic clauses into their contracts > Nintendo drops Sony at the altar without warning > Sony releases the Playstation with Ape Escape > Sony leads the way of gaming.
Either way, two wrongs don't make a right, and in the end, Sony ended up with the better end of the outcome when the fallout finished.
Curiously, the hits and misses of Sony have aligned pretty closely with the hits and misses of Nintendo, just vice versa.
Sony hits it out of the park with PS1 - Nintendo fumbles with N64. Sony hits it out of the park with PS2 - Nintendo fumbles with Gamecube. Sony fumbles with PS3 - Nintendo hits it out of the park with Wii. Sony hits it out of the park with PS4 - Nintendo fumbles with Wii U.
Yeah, that's a lot more hits for Sony and lot more fumbles for Nintendo.
@Mahe I wouldnt say ps3 > 80 millions with solid games and support is a fumble (heck ps3 is still alive now)
Wii U 15 Millions on the other hand..
I'm happy to be a backer of this project. Backed the last 2 by these film makers too. They are very good at what they do and they get some excellent interviews
@TomKongPhooey With respect, I believe this is disingenuous comparison. Apples and oranges. Backers of this project will be helping to fund a talented set of documentarists who blend archive footage with original material to offer a novel take on common knowledge. Take a look at their doc on the Amiga for a unique account of the rise of hat machine (much of which info was in the public domain already).
I will never 'back' anything on Kickstarter - NEVER - least of all a 'film'!
@Mahe Nintendo certainly didn't 'fumble' with N64. By many its regarded as the most influential console ever and defined the 'rules' by which all 3D games now adhere too. A lot of the games are regarded as some of the greatest of all time. Yes it was restricted by Cartridges by the end of its life-cycle but that led to instant loading times. Sony knew that to compete, they had to go on a major advertising campaign, targeting the young adult market - the ones with the highest disposable income. Sticking consoles in clubs and at festivals to reach its target audience. Something that worked very well for them.
The PS3 was certainly not a 'fumble'. Initially it couldn't compete with the XB360 - primarily because the 360 was a lot cheaper and been out longer. Neither of these competed with the Wii in terms of sales because the Wii targeted a different group too - non gamers. Wii Sports could be played by just about anybody - from young kids to retired people and launched at a time when 'fitness', activity etc was a buzzword. It was also cheap comparatively and a lot of households had the Wii and PS3/XB360. When PS brought out Move and Xbox added Kinect, the Wii's unique selling feature was obsolete - now the more powerful consoles could deliver these games but with better visuals etc. Also the fact that the PS3 could deliver on a variety of AAA games - both 3rd party and exclusives in multiple genres - all the big GotY contenders. The PS3 also changed over its life, reduced in size, removed the PS2 chipset, reduced in costs and ended up selling very well.
@TheTruthThis
For sure. PS3, despite being Sony's worst selling console (and, imo, worst console in terms of software as well) still did better than any Nintendo console except the Wii. That's from a machine that started out at $600 and received the same hate from media and gamers that idiotic Xbox fanboys are currently saying the 'biased' media is directing at Xbox One. PS3 wasn't a fumble but it is fair to say Sony stubbed its toe that gen. Will be interesting to see how history looks back on PS4 since Neo and Scorpio are about to throw a monkey wrench into the whole console generation thing (if you listen to current PR talk, I still think Scorpio is Xbox 'Two' and will be the true start of the next-gen).
It'll be interesting to see how they report on the falling-out between Sony and Nintendo. Hopefully they'll tell the whole story, and not the abridged one that floods gaming trivia notes.
@BAMozzy IMO, the PS3 was very much a fumble - at least, financially. From the horrendous introduction at E3 2006, to the billions it lost (eating all of PS and PS2 profits), and the controversy surrounding Linux and the homebrew fiasco. There was also the great PSN hack of 2011, and Sony's crippling money troubles - partially caused by PS3 and the Cell. Still, the whole thing smoothed out in the end, with the machine finally turning a profit, building a library of fantastic games, and introducing blu-ray. So... a fumble with a happy ending, I suppose it could be dubbed.
He is not teally asking for a lot of money considering what he is going to do I admire this kind of film making. The marketing for the PS one was done so well with the symbols apprearing at festivals it really created a buzz.
Backing kickstarter is a hard thing for me to do. After Occulus Rift basically shafted the people who supported the project by selling the company for huge sums I have not wanted to support other projects. Others go bust or mismanage funds.The concept of kickstarter is fine but think that companies sometimes abuse the good will of backers.£10 is not much in this case though its what it would cost when it first comes out on dvd anyway.
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