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Business Wars · July 18, 2019 · 31m

Nintendo vs. Sony - Game On

How a failed partnership between Nintendo and Sony created the PlayStation — and one of the fiercest rivalries in entertainment history. Nintendo's betrayal of Sony at CES 1991 is one of the most consequential business decisions ever made.

Canon

Sony received terrible luck (Nintendo's betrayal) and extracted maximum value from it by channeling corporate anger into the PlayStation project. The same event that could have been a dead-end became a launching pad.

Highlights

Nintendo's betrayal of Sony created its most dangerous competitor
Nintendo secretly partnered with Philips instead of Sony for CD-ROM technology. The public humiliation at CES 1991 motivated Sony to build the PlayStation as an act of revenge. Nintendo created its own nemesis.