A new book celebrating PlayStation’s 30th anniversary was just revealed, and it looks pretty awesome.
PlayStation: The First 30 Years is “400 pages of gaming history,” showcasing “the definitive visual chronicle of Sony’s world-changing videogame console, marking its 30th anniversary with unprecedented access to the company’s archive of R&D prototypes, concept sketches, and development models.”
And it comes with a fitting price tag, too. It has a “Deluxe Edition” at $325, and just 1,994 of them are being printed, “featuring exposed binding, a clamshell presentation box, and exclusive prints” (they’re even putting DLC in books now?). The base edition is $125.
“Alongside these striking images are insights from the engineers and designers who shaped PlayStation’s identity, including Ken Kutaragi, Teiyu Goto, and Yujin Morisawa, revealing the creative and technical decisions behind some of the most iconic hardware in gaming history,” the description reads.
In years past, I would’ve entertained the thought of picking up a book like this for my coffee table. It looks gorgeous, very sleek and simple in its outward design, and would make a great collector piece for fans of the brand. But unfortunately, the sentiment around PlayStation has soured a lot this year, and the irony of this physical media being sold at high prices while the company looks to do away with physical games in a few years is not lost on me, or just about anybody else.
Since July, the comment section on anything PlayStation or even Sony-adjacent has been flooded with anger. The trend continues here as the announcement of the book on social media was met with the ire you’d expect from the angry mob still looking for some acknowledgment, and it appears this sort of thing is not going away any time soon.
But until then, if players continue to purchase digital games and PS5 consoles, then it doesn’t seem like the company will pivot away from its controversial choice until its bottom line is hit hard.
