PlayStation is one of those words that’s synonymous with the idea of video games, right up there with Nintendo. It’s the one word your grandparents know related to video games; when they ask you if you got that new “PlayStation” that came out and if there has a new Mario with it. But as iconic as that name is, the story behind it is surprisingly simple — according to former PlayStation boss Shuhei Yoshida.
After being with the company for over three decades, Yoshida announced his departure from PlayStation last week. Since then, he’s been making the rounds with a host of interviews. The latest, from MinnMax, is a lengthy deep dive into the history of PlayStation — from Astro Bot and the Nintendo Switch 2, to the challenges of the PlayStation 3. Buried within all that is the story of how the PlayStation got its name.
