Sony PlayStation

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PlayStation

Manufacturer	Sony
Type	Console
Release Date	December 3, 1994 JP September 9, 1995 NA September 29, 1995 EU
Media	CD-ROM
Save Format	Memory Card
Input Options	PlayStation Controller, DualShock Controller
Special Features	Plays Audio CD
Units Sold	over 100 million units worldwide (2005)
Top Selling Game	Final Fantasy VII
Variants	PSOne
Competitor(s)	Nintendo 64 Sega Saturn

Predecessor	N/A
Successor	PlayStation 2

The PlayStation, or Sony PlayStation, was the first entry for Sony into the console market. The fifth-generation console is regarded as a huge success and as the first system to do 3D gaming very well. The PlayStation was met with a lot of skepticsm from the gaming community as a whole that was largely held sway by Nintendo and Sega. Eventually though, the PlayStation took the top spot from Nintendo in the console market. Today, it has sold over 100 million units worldwide.

[edit] History

[edit] Development

[edit] Launch

The Sony PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, the North America on September 9 at $299 USD/$399 CND, 1995 and Europe on September 29, 1995. In North America, the launch titles were Toshinden, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, Philosoma, WipEout and Ridge Racer.

A sleeker, smaller version of the PlayStation was released called the PSOne in September 2000, around the time of release of the PlayStation 2. Sony continued this trend with the thinner, version of the PlayStation 2 called the PSTwo in September of 2004.

[edit] Hardware

[edit] Accessories

Multitap

[edit] Specifications

Main CPU

R3000A 32bit RISC chip @ 33.8mhz - Manufactured by LSI Logic Corp.
Clearing capacity: 30 MIPS
Bus bandwidth: 132 Mb/sec

Graphics Processing Unit

16.7 million colors
Resolution: 256x224 - 740x480
Sprite/BG drawing
Adjustable frame buffer
No line restriction
Unlimited CLUTs (Color Look-Up Tables)
4,000 8x8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation
Simultaneous backgrounds (Parallax scrolling)
360,000 polygons/sec

Sound Processing Unit

ADPCM, 24 channels
Sampling frequency: 44.1 kHz

Memory

Main RAM: 2 Megabytes
VRAM: 1 Megabyte
Sound RAM: 512 K
CD-ROM buffer: 32K
Operating System ROM: 512K
RAM cards for data save: 128K EEprom

CD-ROM Drive

Double speed
XA compliant

[edit] Competitors

Officially there were 5 other competitors within the fifth-generation console segment. However, the Bandai Pippin, the NEC PC-FX and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer did not offer significant competition in the worldwide market against the Sony PlayStation. Long time industry giants Nintendo (with the Nintendo 64) and Sega (with the Sega Saturn) were the only "real" competitors that competed in marketshare and mindshare.

This section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. Discuss this issue here. Please help recruit one, or improve this page yourself if you can. Issue: Sega Saturn's launch timeframe, and the battle for launching in North America first.

In contrast, even though the Nintendo 64 arrived over one year later in most regions (sometimes even more), it offered much stiffer competition than the Sega Saturn with better graphics (the Nintendo 64 has a higher polygon output and more texture filtering on the GPU) and support for four players out of the box (A feature that Sony PlayStation can duplicate with a Multitap). However, the Nintendo 64 was plagued by a limited line-up of games, and was never able to offer the variety of games that the Sony PlayStation could offer.

In addition, the difference between Cartridges and CDs as a storage medium was becoming more apparent as developers started using more FMVs, something that CDs faired much better at handling in terms of storage space (A typical CD has 650 MB of storage space. In contrast, the largest Nintendo 64 Cartridge was 64 MB). This allowed many RPGs that span several disks that to be developed on the Sony PlayStation.

[edit] Games

[edit] Key first-party titles

Since Sony was a newcomer to the console world, their first-party franchises were not based on existing IPs. Sony wanted to show off as a hip, energetic brand with darker, edgier titles not seen on other platforms, and this is evident with their first party lineup.

Some of the more noteworthy Sony published titles include:

Crash Bandicoot (Developed by Naughty Dog)
Gran Turismo (Developed by Polyphony Digital)
Jet Moto (Developed by SingleTrac)

Twisted Metal (Developed by SingleTrac)
WipEout (Developed by Psygnosis)

[edit] Major third-party titles

The key to Sony's dominace with the PlayStation brand was in their third-party support. Many of today's franchises originated from the Sony PlayStation. The biggest decision of Sony was securing Square for the exclusive development of Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation.