On December 3, 1994, the first PlayStation saw the light of day in faraway Japan. It became one of the most successful game consoles worldwide and marked the beginning of a success story.
We take the release of the PlayStation 5 as an opportunity to take a closer look at the history of the PlayStation and look at the milestones of the 26 years. Are you ready for some gaming history? Let’s go.
The First Sony PlayStation: How it All Began
To this day, the manufacturers of game consoles vie for the favour of gamers. The competition is tough – and it has been for Sony from the start. Originally, the manufacturer did not want to bring its own game console onto the market but only presented a CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991. However, Nintendo let the deal fall through at the time, motivating Sony to develop its own game console.
Three years later, the PlayStation premiered in Japan and finally came to Europe and the USA in September 1995. With a built-in CD-ROM drive, of course. The new medium had more storage space so that the games could become more and more extensive. And last but not least, it was the graphics, which were impressive for the time, that were partly responsible for the success of the first PlayStation. After all, the new console brought 3D worlds to the gamer’s tube TV for the first time.
The most successful titles from the first PlayStation include today’s classics “Ridge Racer” from 1994, “Tomb Raider” and “Crash Bandicoot” from 1996 and “Gran Turismo” from 1997.
PlayStation 2: The Best-Selling Game Console to Date
The new millennium was just a few weeks old, the year 2000 problem (also: Millennium bug; PC problems caused by the turn of the year) was over, and spring in Japan brought forth the second generation of PlayStation as well as sprouting plants. And in contrast to many a film series, the second chapter of PlayStation history has once again surpassed the original because the PlayStation 2 (PS2) is the best-selling game console worldwide with over 155 million copies.
On the one hand, this could be due to the even more detailed graphics or the vibrating Dualshock 2 controllers, but to a certain extent also to the DVD drive. Because instead of simply streaming films, rotating discs were still placed in the compartment of a DVD player. These devices were initially quite expensive. So we were delighted at the time that the new console also included this home cinema function for watching movies, so to speak.
Not to be forgotten, of course, are the now legendary games such as “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” (2001) and “Sing Star” from 2004 and “God of War” from 2005.
PlayStation Portable: Sony’s First Mobile Game Console
How do you build a mobile game console? It’s very simple: Take a PlayStation controller, stretch it a bit, put a display in the middle and name the resulting piece of technology PlayStation Portable (PSP). With around 81 million copies sold worldwide, the PSP is now the 10th best-selling game console. It probably owes that to the Grand Theft Auto part “Liberty Stories,” which initially appeared exclusively for the PSP and which you could even play with several players.
PlayStation 3: The First Sony Console with Blu-Ray Drive and Online Gaming
For the third PlayStation, Sony has again turned the equipment screw. In 2006, the PlayStation 3 appeared in Japan and the United States; in spring 2007, also in Europe. New onboard the PS3 were a Blu-Ray drive, internal hard drive and, last but not least, online functionality. With them, you could, among other things, gamble with and against your friends over the Internet. Of course, the PlayStation Network also has other facets. You could watch movies, listen to music, or watch TV. Another novelty of the PS3 that is absolutely normal from today’s perspective: wireless controllers. The new Dualshock 3 controllers only needed a cable for charging, and otherwise, you could move freely in the reception area.
Games like “Little Big Planet” from 2008 and “The Last of Us” and “Grand Theft Auto V” from 2013 are among the most played games on the PlayStation 3.
PS Vita: The Last Mobile Console in PlayStation History to Date
Although the PlayStation Vita cut a really good figure on paper, it couldn’t quite convince the fans. Nevertheless, it went over the counter a million times. In 2012, the equipment already included a 5-inch OLED touchscreen, two sticks and a touchpad on the back.
Over 1,500 games offer a wide range of mobile gaming fun, including “Gravity Rush” from 2012 as well as “Killzone Mercenary” and “Tearaway,” both of which appeared on PS Vita in 2013.
PlayStation 4: Blockbuster Among Console Gamers
So far, the PlayStation 4 was the current Sony console and has already been sold over 113 million times. Dualshock 4 controllers, virtual reality or the PlayStation Now streaming service are just a few of the features that console gamers appreciate on the PS4. As usual, the console was first launched in Japan in 2013 and was released in the US and Europe in 2014.
On the PlayStation 4,you get all the popular top games served, including milestones and classics such as “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” from 2016 or “Horizon Zero Dawn” and “Gran Turismo Sport” from 2017.
The New PS5: will the Console Make PlayStation History?
The next chapter in the history of the PlayStation starts now because the PlayStation 5 is in the starting blocks. Apart from the support for 4K Blu-Rays, the PlayStation 5 also has a Zen-2 processor with eight cores from AMD and a graphics unit that also supports hardware ray tracing. So the PS5 has a lot of power under the hood to herald the next generation of consoles.
On featured, we tell you everything about the games, release, technology, price and more for the PlayStation 5.
Sony has also come up with a few exciting innovations for the controller. The gamepad, dubbed Dualsense, should give haptic feedback and be able to vary the resistance of the analog trigger.
In any case, we are looking forward to the PS5 and what the next chapter in PlayStation history will bring.
