I was told it would fail

PLAYSTATION: CREATOR STRUGGLED TO CONVINCE BOSSES HE HAD WINNER

- 

The PlayStation has been a colossal consumer hit, but three decades ago, its creator Ken Kutaragi, 74, struggled to convince both game-makers and his bosses at Sony that his console would be a winner.

"Everyone told us we would fail," Kutaragi said.

With revolutionary 3D graphics and grown-up titles like Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid, the device hit shelves on December 3, 1994.

Before that, Nintendo's NES console and similar gaming machines were considered "children's toys," he said.

Popular games like Super Mario Bros were two-dimensional, and computer-generated imagery (CGI) was a rarity even in Hollywood.

"Most of the executives [at Sony] were fiercely opposed," fearing for the Japanese giant's reputation as a producer of high-end electronics, Kutaragi said.

Japanese game-makers gave a "frosty response" too, as creating 3D games in real time seemed "unthinkable" at the time.

Films with CGI took one or two years to make in those days, with budgets of tens of millions of dollars, he said.

But Kutaragi, then a Sony employee, was not deterred.