Net Yaroze

Black, region-free PlayStation sold as a hobbyist programming kit from 1996, with tools for writing games in C.

The Net Yaroze, meaning "let's do it together", was a hobbyist development kit that Sony launched in Japan in June 1996 and in other countries in 1997. Conceived by Ken Kutaragi, it cost around $750 and was sold only by mail order, though Sony also supplied it to universities in the UK, France and Japan. It included a black, region-free PlayStation, two controllers, a boot disc, an access card that sits in the memory card slot, a serial cable and tools for programming in C from a PC or Mac.

Programs had to fit in 2 MB of RAM, 1 MB of video memory and 0.5 MB of sound memory, because the console cannot read burned CDs. There were versions for Japan, North America and Europe/Australia. Sony ran private forums for owners, and many of their games appeared on the demo discs of the official UK PlayStation magazine between 1997 and 2004. Some creators moved into the industry, such as Mitsuru Kamiyama, later director of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Sony shut the servers down in mid-2009.

Models: DTL-H3000, DTL-H3001, DTL-H3002