Net Yaroze

Sony Net Yaroze with software development kit

The Net Yaroze (ネットやろうぜ, Netto Yarōze) is a development kit for the PlayStation video game console. It was a promotion by Sony Computer Entertainment to computer programming hobbyists which launched in June 1996 in Japan[1] and in 1997 in other countries.[2] It was originally called "Net Yarouze", but was changed to "Net Yaroze" in late 1996.[3] Yarōze means "Let's do it together".[4]

Conceived by PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi and priced at around $750 US, the Net Yaroze (DTL-H300x) package contained a special black-colored debugging PlayStation unit, a serial cable for connecting the console to a personal computer, and a CD containing PlayStation development tools.[5][6] The user has to provide a personal computer (an IBM PC compatible or Macintosh; NEC PC-9801 was also supported in Japan) to write the computer code, compile it, and send the program to the PlayStation.

The Net Yaroze was neither the first nor only official consumer console development kit. The PC-Engine Develo predates it, and the WonderWitch followed it. The GP32 can run user programs out of the box. Finally, many earlier consoles (Astrocade, Famicom) offered limited programming capabilities with BASIC dialects. Net Yaroze had no direct successors on subsequent PlayStation platforms, but Sony's Linux for PlayStation 2 and YA-BASIC offered a similar feature to hobbyists and amateur developers on the PlayStation 2 console.

  1. ^ "Tidbits". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 88. Ziff Davis. November 1996. p. 22.
  2. ^ "Letters". Next Generation. No. 35. Imagine Media. November 1997. p. 218. Sony's Net Yaroze was in fact released earlier this year, amid much apparent public interest but little official fanfare from Sony.
  3. ^ "We Say Yarouze, Sony Says Yaroze". Next Generation. No. 26. Imagine Media. February 1997. p. 19.
  4. ^ Sony. "Net Yaroze". Absolute PlayStation International. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016.
  5. ^ "If You Can Build a Better Game...". Next Generation. No. 25. Imagine Media. January 1997. pp. 40–49.
  6. ^ IGN UK, "Net Yaroze", "Net Yaroze - PSX - IGN". Archived from the original on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2012-06-15.