PlayStation: The First 30 Years Production Update – Read-Only Memory

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April 14 2026

PlayStation: The First 30 Years is without doubt Read-Only Memory’s most ambitious project to date. Several years in the making prior to its announcement last September, this 400-page, oversized volume explores Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE) console legacy through a photographic tour of its industrial design archive.

The book offers a rare look at how each generation of PlayStation hardware was conceived and developed, featuring countless prototypes and experimental mock-ups captured by photographer Benedict Redgrove. Created in close collaboration with the team behind PlayStation, it presents a side of the company’s design history that has rarely been seen outside SIE’s own walls. It’s an essential work of videogame history, and one we’ve been thrilled to bring to life.

We are now expecting PlayStation: The First 30 Years to begin shipping in November this year, rather than during the springtime as originally projected.

Over the past several months we’ve been working intensively on the final stages of the book – refining production details, fact-checking design anecdotes, and carrying out meticulous image checks. Throughout this process, both the Read-Only Memory and SIE teams have been united in one guiding principle: that it’s far better to take the time to get every element exactly right.

We’re pleased to report that the book and all of its accompanying components have now being passed to the printer. However, the care taken during these final stages means that production and freight timelines have shifted.

We appreciate that this means a longer wait for your copy to arrive, and we’re very grateful for your patience. That said, we’re confident these final refinements have helped turn an already ambitious project into something truly special.

Many of you will already have examined the example page spreads on our pre-order page. Today, we’re sharing a selection of new pages here for the very first time, accompanied by explanatory captions.

And, as so many of you have asked, we thought this would also be the perfect moment to confirm the inclusion of the much-loved Boomerang Controller prototype...

“Boomerang” Controller Design Prototype
Unveiled at E3 2005, the original PlayStation 3 concept controller was nicknamed the “Boomerang” and showcased a radical new design direction by Teiyu Goto. Following feedback, it was refined into the DUALSHOCK 3, returning to the iconic form players had come to love.

PlayStation 2: Early Prototype
Goto spray-painted these by hand to achieve the exact gradient he envisioned. He also reimagined the logo, seen here with the “2” in Roman numeral form.

DUALSHOCK: Early Prototype
One of (Teiyu) Goto’s early development ideas for the DUALSHOCK. Throughout PlayStation development, designers and engineers deconstructed and recombined existing technologies in pursuit of something new.

If you have any questions about your order, please feel free to contact us at hello@readonlymemory.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you, as always, for your patience and support – we look forward to putting this unique chronicle of PlayStation history into your hands later this year.

Darren Wall 
Editor-in-chief
 Read-Only Memory