How Sony Turned a Gray Box Into a Global Cultural Icon

The PlayStation Revolution

In 1994, gaming still felt like something you eventually grew out of. Nintendo had built an empire on childhood nostalgia. Sega was chasing the teen market with brash, high-speed action. Then came Sony. A company with no legacy in toys or traditional games, but deep roots in electronics, cinema, and music. When they decided to enter gaming, they created an entirely new division called Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., established on November 16, 1993, so it could operate independently from Sony’s conservative corporate structure. And that autonomy gave the team something far more valuable than funding or technology. It gave them freedom.

That freedom was shaped by an unlikely figure: Shigeo Maruyama. Before becoming the first chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, Maruyama led Sony Music Entertainment and had a deep instinct for nurturing creative talent. It was Maruyama who gave Ken Kutaragi the political support and structural independence to move forward with the PlayStation, even…