Playstation - I just had to check

[heidi tandy]

No: HPFGUIDX 714

I was doing some completely unrelated e-commerce law research, and an 
article with some History of Sony Playstation information cropped up 
in my citation list. Since I recall some recent debate saying that 
JKR was "so wrong" (I'm paraphrasing) to include Dudley throwing a 
Playstation out the window in the Summer of 1994, I wanted to see 
just how wrong she was. And the answer, at least for the UK? Between 
2 months and a year.
Why?
In September, 1994, Sony had some prototypes of the PLaystation 
floating around the UK, and there had been prototypes in Japan for 
the entire year. In fact, they were being sold in Japanese stores 
since the summer for 39,800 yen, or about $350. In other words, they 
existed, they could be purchased, they could be shipped from Japan to 
Little Whinging. Not likely, but not a temporal anomaly either.

I found an article from the December 29, 1994 Guardian which said 
that "In September, [in the UK] Sony ... unveiled the powerful 
PlayStation-X home games console."

And if the durselys wanted to keep Dudley happy, then it's possible 
(not probable, but again, not a temporal anomoly) that they spent 
about 300 pounds to buy him the first Playstation on the block by 
June, 1994. 

So there you have it.

(although I'm willing to bet a galleon (wait! I don't have a 
galleon!) that JKR actually did get it wrong, and somehow remembered 
playstations from Around That Time, and decided to mention them 
instead of Sega Genesis or the Nintento NES, which were the BIG 
things in 1994. 

Of course, i still have an atari 2600 with Pitfall, so what do I know 
about gaming?