It’s hard to believe that Sony’s Playstation brand has occupied our living rooms now for 20 years, but it has and in the process Sony has become a leader in the video game market. Released 20 years ago on this day, Sony’s first Playstation entered the video game console war against the likes of gaming giants Nintendo and Sega.

I don’t quite remember what the general sentiment regarding Sony’s entrance into the gaming market was leading up to it’s release, but once it did it quickly became the most popular video game console on the market. Sony had entered the scene with a technical powerhouse unmatched by it’s rivals in 3D visuals and sound. The Sega Saturn couldn’t compete with it’s lesser 3D graphics, and Nintendo’s costly N64 cartridges took too long to manufacture compared to the cheaper and more data abundant CD-ROM found in the Playstation.

Sony’s Playstation became the home of several of today’s greatest franchises: Tekken, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and many more. It redefined what we expected from a video game console, providing us with a CD player, memory cards for save game storage, and eventually analog thumb-sticks which have become the standard ever since.

It’s been an incredible ride for the Sony Playstation brand and it’s millions of followers, regardless of what comes in the future no one can deny the significant cultural impact that the Playstation has had on North America and the rest of the world.