Sony has announced the release of a special PlayStation 4 a week ago to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the first PlayStation console. The new PS4 was released as a limited edition – only 12,300 units were built – and it sold like hot cakes. The console was sold out in a matter of minutes, and now it’s borderline impossible to find. If the official retail price for the PlayStation 4 20th Anniversary Edition is only $500, the console sells for over $20,000 on eBay.
The anniversary edition of the PlayStation 4 console has the standard hardware configuration, but also an “Original Grey” finish, and has the old, rainbow-style PS logo on its side. It is delivered with a DualShock 4 controller, a PS Camera, and a vertical stand, all with the same two-decade old look and feel. The console is stylish and old school, with a modern hardware under its hood, and has surely sparked feelings of nostalgia in the hearts of long time gamers. Why just build 12,300 units, you might ask? Well, the number matches the launch date of the original PlayStation console – it was launched on December 3rd, 1994, or 12/3.
Sony was not too enthusiastic about launching a new console in the 1990s, but Ken Kutaragi (later the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment) has convinced the company to take the risk and launch its own gaming console. The original PlayStation console was launched into a market crowded with gaming consoles. Sony was considered “crazy” to enter a market with such a strong competition. The early 1990s console market was filled with affordable Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo consoles, and the new Sony product went head to head with other new products launched around the same time, like Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64. Still, the PlayStation was able to stand out of the crowd, reaching a cumulative 100 million sold units around the world.