Harry was born in 1980. Therefore, the fourth book should be set in 1994. Yet, Harry mentions in his letter to Sirius that Dudley chucked his new PlayStation out of the window. The only problem is that the PlayStation wasn't on the market in Britain at that time.
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30I think it's kind of a waste of time to ask a question that doesn't truly have an answer based in canon. Pureferret offers an explanation -- it was a mistake -- but it's sheer luck that JKR happened to address it. I don't feel this is a useful question for the site. It's like asking why baby Harry is wearing a Blue's Clues romper in Sorcerer's Stone the movie. Because it was a mistake. Period. YMMV. :)– SlytherincessCommented Jun 13, 2012 at 23:40
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1Irrelevant, I know, but I believe it has been shown on moviemistakes dot com that it isn't a Blue's Clues logo on Harry's suit, but just a blue bunny or bear or similar.– NiceOrcCommented Jun 14, 2012 at 3:35
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4And WHERE did he get a copy of "Mega Mutilation Part Three"?? I can't get my hands on it at any price!! ;)– WildcardCommented Aug 9, 2017 at 3:53
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2Whenever you notice something like that, a wizard did it.– PeteCommented Jan 17, 2023 at 16:39
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1 Answer
"As obsessive fans will tell you, I do slip up! Several classrooms move floors mysteriously between books and these are the least serious continuity errors! Most of the fansites will point you in the direction of my mistakes. But the essentials remain consistent from book to book because the story has been plotted for a long time and it is clear in my mind."
—J. K. Rowling on the errors within the franchise
Dudley smashes his PlayStation before it was even released in Japan (Dec '94). This is simply an error on JKR's part, as I doubt she knew the history of PlayStation when she wrote GoF.
The other possibility is that Vernon had signed up for the product tester, and received a PlayStation and a few games before the official release in Europe (Sept '95).
answered Jun 13, 2012 at 23:28
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4I think I remember seeing a JKR interview where she specifically mentions the playstation as a mistake. She said something in it like, she's bad with dates (or numbers?).– IzkataCommented Jun 13, 2012 at 23:46
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45Love the suggestion that Vernon signed up for product testing :-)– AidanOCommented Jun 14, 2012 at 7:58
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28I see "classrooms move floors" in a (supposedly) magical world as a pro, not a con.– n611x007Commented Jun 20, 2012 at 10:56
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7"The PlayStation has too many bugs and inconsistencies... let's smash it!" Commented Mar 18, 2016 at 10:44
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10@n611x007 It's also not very uncommon for a class to be in another classroom in subsequent years, when I was in high school I had to look up where all my classes were at the start of every year. Only things like chemistry, biology and physics classes would remain in the same place because of all the accessoires that need to be present there– KevinCommented Sep 5, 2016 at 7:45