ROM's new visual retrospective PlayStation: The First 30 Years assembles decades of design work from Sony's PlayStation family, showcasing concept consoles, controller prototypes, and accessory mock-ups that never reached store shelves.
The collection sits against the backdrop of a platform lineage that includes the PlayStation 2, released in March 2000 in Japan and later that year worldwide, and which went on to become the best-selling home console of all time with more than 155 million units sold.
The book documents iterative hardware design in action.
As ROM explains, hardware projects typically undergo many iterations before a final shape is chosen; concept art often exposes both promising directions and dead ends.
In journalistic language, ROM notes that early designs serve as technical experiments — some ideas are refined into final products, others are discarded.
Among the most eye-catching entries is an unused "trapezoid" PS2 concept.
Unlike the rectangular black box that shipped in 2000, this design would have presented a taller, tapered top and long side vents while remaining a top-loading unit like the original PlayStation.
The concept is rendered in a deep purple finish — an ironic coincidence given Nintendo's GameCube, a compact cubic console with a purple colorway, reached markets in 2001.
The book also reproduces controller experiments from different generations.
ROM's presentation suggests some DualShock-style prototypes for the PlayStation 3 era combined motion-sensing and other features in unconventional layouts.
In plain terms, ROM observes that certain prototypes appeared ungainly compared with the ergonomics players ultimately embraced in official DualShock and later DualSense designs.
Images in the volume include contributions and archival material credited to consolevariations, an online resource documenting hardware variants and prototypes.
ROM's commentary makes clear these concept images are exploratory: many were simply considerations in a broader design process rather than blueprints for production.
PlayStation: The First 30 Years is available now directly from ROM's website, listed at $125 or €111.
For PlayStation fans and hardware historians, the book offers a detailed, illustrated window into decisions that shaped consoles from the PS2 through the PS5 era.
The collection sits against the backdrop of a platform lineage that includes the PlayStation 2, released in March 2000 in Japan and later that year worldwide, and which went on to become the best-selling home console of all time with more than 155 million units sold.
The book documents iterative hardware design in action.
As ROM explains, hardware projects typically undergo many iterations before a final shape is chosen; concept art often exposes both promising directions and dead ends.
In journalistic language, ROM notes that early designs serve as technical experiments — some ideas are refined into final products, others are discarded.
Among the most eye-catching entries is an unused "trapezoid" PS2 concept.
Unlike the rectangular black box that shipped in 2000, this design would have presented a taller, tapered top and long side vents while remaining a top-loading unit like the original PlayStation.
The concept is rendered in a deep purple finish — an ironic coincidence given Nintendo's GameCube, a compact cubic console with a purple colorway, reached markets in 2001.
The book also reproduces controller experiments from different generations.
ROM's presentation suggests some DualShock-style prototypes for the PlayStation 3 era combined motion-sensing and other features in unconventional layouts.
In plain terms, ROM observes that certain prototypes appeared ungainly compared with the ergonomics players ultimately embraced in official DualShock and later DualSense designs.
Images in the volume include contributions and archival material credited to consolevariations, an online resource documenting hardware variants and prototypes.
ROM's commentary makes clear these concept images are exploratory: many were simply considerations in a broader design process rather than blueprints for production.
PlayStation: The First 30 Years is available now directly from ROM's website, listed at $125 or €111.
For PlayStation fans and hardware historians, the book offers a detailed, illustrated window into decisions that shaped consoles from the PS2 through the PS5 era.
