PlayStation
- Manufacturer
- Sony
- Production
- 1994–2006
- Generation
- Gen 5
- Type
- Home
- Launch price
- $299
- Units sold
- 102.5M
About PlayStation
PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consist of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists of handhelds, online services, magazines, and other forms of media.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Lifetime sales
Official manufacturer-reported figures.
102.5Munits
Final reported lifetime (PlayStation + PSone).
Source: Sony Interactive Entertainment, as of March 31, 2005.
Library & collector facts
4,105licensed games
- North America: 4,105
- Japan: 3,289
- PAL: 2,418
Release timeline
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- December 3, 1994
- 🇺🇸 North America
- December 19, 2007
- 🇪🇺 Europe / PAL
- November 15, 1995
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- February 27, 2012
- Lifespan
- 12 years on market
Pricing
Launch price (1994)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $299
- 🇬🇧 GBP
- £299
Controller
PlayStation controller / PlayStation Analog Joystick
Launch titles & exclusives
Battle Arena Toshinden · Ridge Racer · ESPN Extreme Games · Power Serve Tennis · Air Combat · Kileak: The DNA Imperative · NBA Jam Tournament Edition · Total Eclipse Turbo · Rayman · Warhawk
None (sold standalone); some bundles included a demo disc
Final Fantasy VII / VIII / IX · Metal Gear Solid · Resident Evil 1-3 · Silent Hill · Crash Bandicoot trilogy · Spyro the Dragon trilogy · Tekken series · Tomb Raider series · Gran Turismo 1 & 2 · Castlevania: Symphony of the Night · Vagrant Story · Chrono Cross · Xenogears · Suikoden I & II · Parasite Eve I & II · Tony Hawk's Pro Skater · Ape Escape · MediEvil
FIFA Football 2005 (2004) was the final licensed release; Sony stopped manufacturing the console in 2006
Suikoden II CIB (~$300–$800+); Misadventures of Tron Bonne CIB (~$300+); Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Working Designs, ~$200+); demo disc rarities
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- R3000
- Ram
- 2 MB RAM, 1 MB Video RAM (2MB in SCPH-7501 and later)
- Sound
- RCA connector, Analog stereo, * PCM stereo (requires third-party Parallel I/O adapter) (SCPH-100x to 7000 only), * Dolby Pro Logic surround (select games)
- Display Output
- 480i, 240p
- Storage Internal
- Memory card
Hardware revisions
- Original PlayStation SCPH-1000 (JP launch) / SCPH-1001 (NA launch)(1994)
original launch hardware
⚠ early SCPH-1001 units have the RCA audio output and parallel/serial ports (later removed); CD laser wear is the dominant aging issue (the 'flip the console upside down' trick is laser-aging compensation)
- Mid-life revisions SCPH-5500 through SCPH-7501(1997)
gradual cost reduction, parallel port removed in SCPH-7501 (eliminating GameShark-class boot exploits)
⚠ RCA outputs removed
- PSone SCPH-100(2000)
final smaller redesign, no parallel/serial ports, LCD attachment available
Launch colorways & special editions
- Net Yaroze (1996, black developer-edition for hobbyists)
- 10 Million Edition Blue (1995)
- Midnight Blue (JP/EU)
- Final Fantasy VIII Edition
- Various JP retail-exclusive bundles
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- hard-mod
- Custom firmware
- N/A; Action Replay / GameShark boot disc exploits; modchips (a thriving 90s industry)
Reception & legacy
Initially skeptical reception (Sony was new to console hardware) became massive success as the library exploded; Final Fantasy VII (1997) was a defining cultural moment
Sony lawsuits against Bleem and Connectix over PSX emulation (Connectix won on fair-use grounds); SCEA's strict 'no 2D games' policy in early NA market controversial; Ken Kutaragi reportedly nearly fired internally for proposing the project
Founded the modern Sony PlayStation business; killed the cartridge era and forced the industry to CD-ROM; brought JRPGs and survival horror to mainstream audiences; the system that ended Nintendo's two-decade home-console dominance
References
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