Sony PlayStation

History and the deal with Nintendo

Although it was originally intended to be used for SNES peripherals, it has become one of the most successful gaming console of all time and the first to break the 100 million sales record.

As stated above, Sony PlayStation was intended for SNES peripherals with a CD-ROM. The chimera baby of Sony and Nintendo. A fact that arose the curiosity of many collectors and engineers in a level that many tried to replicate it based on schemes and assumptions.

When Nintendo decided to take advantage of the new media format, CD-ROM, and more specifically the data-driven CD-ROM / XA standard that combines data with compress music and video, they approached Sony to build it fo their flagship, SNES. The new optical disc device would be called SNES-CD and was expected to be announced at CES 1991. Until then, Sony was planning to present a standalone SNES-compatible home entertainment device and combine CD-ROM. Shortly before the SNES-CD announcement, Nintendo realized that the deal with Sony could prove to be unprofitable in the future, as the latter kept almost exclusively the rights to the upcoming CD titles. Eventually the deal was canceled and PlayStation was in the verge of never been released, as Sony was very serious about canceling the development. 

Release and success of Playstation

Because the project was very advanced, the company decided to complete it and move on the market independently. Despite claims by Nintendo for its decision, it succeeded in 1993 in reaching the final stage of developing a game machine that would completely abandon traditional cartridges and rely on optical technology. Let there be CD and there was PS1. Weirdly enough, Nintendo insisted on the - outdated - cartridges with Nintendo 64, clearly losing out to its competitor Sony.

The PS1 gamepad features the first analogue controls launched by Sony. In 1997 it acquired a dual feedback vibration mechanism and renamed it to DualShock.

Although PS1 had some flaws, thanks to the circumstances it was able to succeed immediately. While not top-notch in hardware, Sony's investment in 3D graphics - optical discs has proven to be the right move at the right time. 

Gaming Titles

They immediately developed titles with great variety, innovative look and at the same time addictive gameplay. PS1 bases its success on a number of blockbuster titles across a wide range of categories such as Crash Bandicoot Series, Tekken Series, Castlevania, Final Fantasy Series, Spyro the Dragon, Tomb Raider and many more. Another reason was that Sony initially tried to get rid of the "childish" character of gaming machines, thereby expanding its audience with more "grown up" game titles. Any manufacturing problems and flaws in the low-resolution 3D graphics weren't able to halt sales of the PS1, nor its prosperity. In its more than ten years life on the market, the PS1 sold 103 million copies and nearly a billion games which is phenomenal for the era! With the PS1, Sony managed to establish itself as the leader of gaming console, put Sega out of the race, but also for many years overcom the queen - Nintendo, who had to reach the Wii era - 12 years later - to regain a place at the top.

Specifications

• Processor: 32bit RISC MIPS R3000A at ± 34 MHz

• Graphics: GTE (Geometry Transformation Engine), 360,000 polygons / sec

• RAM: 2 MB

• VRAM: 1 MB

• DRAM: 512 KB (for audio)

• Audio: 24 channels ADPCM - 16bit

• Media: CD-ROM drive

• Colors: 16.7 million (True Color)

• Sprites: 4,000

• Dimensions: 18.9 × 19.5 × 7.6 cm

• Resolution: 256×224 to 640×480

Models

The original Playstation

The PS1 went through a number of modifications during its production both marketing and technical-wise. Regarding its exterior, the most notable change was the reduction in the number of slots. The RCA sockets were removed at the first reissue while the parallel I/O port was removed at the final reissue.

PS One

On July 7, 2000, Sony released the PS One branded as the PS one. It is a smaller, redesigned version of the original PlayStation. Main change that affected the size reduction was the transition form internal power supply to an external one. It was a change that affected all the next PS series models to come. PS One was the highest-grossing console by the end of the year surpassing all other consoles - including Sony's PlayStation 2. A total of 28.15 million PS One were sold by the end of March 2006.

PS One Combo Pack

One version of the PS One includes a 5-inch (130 mm) LCD screen, referred to as a "Combo Pack".

The PlayStation Classic

On September 19, 2018, and after the mini consoles hype, Sony announced the release of a retro mini console, PlayStation Classic. It was released to the public on December 3, 2018 and it is significally smaller than the original, approx 45%. It contains 20 pre-installed video games such as Tekken 3, Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Wild Arms, and Ridge Racer Type 4. It also has two copies of PlayStation wired controllers without analog sticks connected with USB type A. Finally it has HDMI output. The maximum resolution is 720p.