The original PlayStation arrived in the UK on 29 September 1995, and nothing was ever quite the same again. Sony had no business making a games console — they were a consumer electronics giant who had fallen out with Nintendo over a CD-ROM add-on for the Super Famicom, and decided, in a fit of pique, to go it alone. The result was one of the most successful products in entertainment history. The original deal, had it gone through, would have given Sony far too much control over software licensing for Nintendo's liking, and they walked away. Sony, having already invested heavily in the technology, pressed on regardless.
What Sony understood, and what Sega missed entirely, was that 3D polygon graphics were the future, and they built the PlayStation around CD-ROM software and 3D hardware from the ground up. The machine launched in Japan in December 1994, selling 100,000 units on its first day. In the UK it launched at £299, bundled with Ridge Racer or Tekken depending on where you bought it. Suddenly, gaming felt grown-up. Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil — this was a library that attracted people who had never previously considered themselves gamers. Sony actively courted an older, style-conscious audience and it worked spectacularly.
Over 102 million units were sold worldwide across the PlayStation's lifetime. The grey box was revised in 1997 as the smaller PSone, which became an extremely popular portable unit with an optional LCD screen attachment — a novelty that seemed almost science-fictional at the time. More than almost any other machine, the original PlayStation defined an era of gaming. For an entire generation of British teenagers, it was simply "the PlayStation" — no number required.