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= PlayStation_(console) =
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Introduction
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The (codenamed PSX, abbreviated as PS, and retroactively PS1/PS one)
is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer
Entertainment. It was released in Japan on December 3, 1994, followed
by North America on September 9, 1995, Europe on September 29, 1995,
and other regions following thereafter. As a fifth-generation console,
the PlayStation primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega
Saturn.
Sony began developing the PlayStation after a failed venture with
Nintendo to create a CD-ROM peripheral for the Super Nintendo
Entertainment System in the early 1990s. The console was primarily
designed by Ken Kutaragi and Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan,
while additional development was outsourced in the United Kingdom. An
emphasis on 3D polygon graphics was placed at the forefront of the
console's design. PlayStation game production was designed to be
streamlined and inclusive, enticing the support of many third-party
developers.
The console proved popular for its extensive game library, popular
franchises, low retail price, and aggressive youth marketing which
advertised it as the preferable console for adolescents and adults.
Critically acclaimed games that defined the console include 'Gran
Turismo', 'Crash Bandicoot', 'Spyro the Dragon', 'Tomb Raider',
'Resident Evil', 'Metal Gear Solid', 'Tekken 3', and 'Final Fantasy
VII'. Sony ceased production of the PlayStation on 23 March 2006--over
eleven years after it had been released, and in the same year the
PlayStation 3 debuted. More than 4,000 PlayStation games were
released, with cumulative sales of 962 million units.
The PlayStation signalled Sony's rise to power in the video game
industry. It received acclaim and sold strongly; in less than a
decade, it became the first computer entertainment platform to ship
over 100 million units. Its use of compact discs heralded the game
industry's transition from cartridges. The PlayStation's success led
to a line of successors, beginning with the PlayStation 2 in 2000. In
the same year, Sony released a smaller and cheaper model, the PS one.
Background
============
The PlayStation was conceived by Ken Kutaragi, a Sony executive who
managed a hardware engineering division and was later dubbed "the
Father of the PlayStation". Kutaragi's interest in working with video
games stemmed from seeing his daughter play games on Nintendo's
Famicom. Kutaragi convinced Nintendo to use his SPC-700 sound
processor in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) through a
demonstration of the processor's capabilities. His willingness to work
with Nintendo was derived from both his admiration of the Famicom and
conviction in video game consoles becoming the main home-use
entertainment systems. Although Kutaragi was nearly fired because he
worked with Nintendo without Sony's knowledge, president Norio Ohga
recognised the potential in Kutaragi's chip and decided to keep him as
a protégé.
The inception of the PlayStation dates back to a 1988 joint venture
between Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo had produced floppy disk
technology to complement cartridges in the form of the Family Computer
Disk System, and wanted to continue this complementary storage
strategy for the SNES. Since Sony was already contracted to produce
the SPC-700 sound processor for the SNES, Nintendo contracted Sony to
develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "Play Station" or
"SNES-CD". The PlayStation name had already been trademarked by
Yamaha, but Nobuyuki Idei liked it so much that he agreed to acquire
it for an undisclosed sum rather than search for an alternative.
Sony was keen to obtain a foothold in the rapidly expanding video game
market. Having been the primary manufacturer of the ill-fated MSX home
computer format, Sony had wanted to use their experience in consumer
electronics to produce their own video game hardware. Although the
initial agreement between Nintendo and Sony was about producing a
CD-ROM drive add-on, Sony had also planned to develop a
SNES-compatible Sony-branded console. This iteration was intended to
be more of a home entertainment system, playing both SNES cartridges
and a new CD format named the "Super Disc", which Sony would design.
Under the agreement, Sony would retain sole international rights to
every Super Disc game, giving them a large degree of control despite
Nintendo's leading position in the video game market. Furthermore,
Sony would also be the sole benefactor of licensing related to music
and film software that it had been aggressively pursuing as a
secondary application.
The Play Station was to be announced at the 1991 Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) in Las Vegas. However, Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi
was wary of Sony's increasing leverage at this point and deemed the
original 1988 contract unacceptable upon realising it essentially
handed Sony control over all games written on the SNES CD-ROM format.
Although Nintendo was dominant in the video game market, Sony
possessed a superior research and development department. Wanting to
protect Nintendo's existing licensing structure, Yamauchi cancelled
all plans for the joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment without
telling Sony. He sent Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa
(his son-in-law) and chairman Howard Lincoln to Amsterdam to form a
more favourable contract with Dutch conglomerate Philips, Sony's
rival. This contract would give Nintendo total control over their
licences on all Philips-produced machines.
Kutaragi and Nobuyuki Idei, Sony's director of public relations at the
time, learned of Nintendo's actions two days before the CES was due to
begin. Kutaragi telephoned numerous contacts, including Philips, to no
avail. On the first day of the CES, Sony announced their partnership
with Nintendo and their new console, the Play Station. At 9 am on the
next day, in what has been called "the greatest ever betrayal" in the
industry, Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that
Nintendo was now allied with Philips and would abandon their work with
Sony.
Inception
===========
Incensed by Nintendo's renouncement, Ohga and Kutaragi decided that
Sony would develop their own console. Nintendo's contract-breaking was
met with consternation in the Japanese business community, as they had
broken an "unwritten law" of native companies not turning against each
other in favour of foreign ones. Sony's American branch considered
allying with Sega to produce a CD-ROM-based machine called the Sega
Multimedia Entertainment System, but the Sega board of directors in
Tokyo vetoed the idea when Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske presented
them the proposal. Kalinske recalled them saying: "That's a stupid
idea, Sony doesn't know how to make hardware. They don't know how to
make software either. Why would we want to do this?" Sony halted their
research, but decided to develop what it had developed with Nintendo
and Sega into a console based on the SNES.
Despite the tumultuous events at the 1991 CES, negotiations between
Nintendo and Sony were still ongoing. A deal was proposed: the Play
Station would still have a port for SNES games, on the condition that
it would still use Kutaragi's audio chip and that Nintendo would own
the rights and receive the bulk of the profits. Roughly two hundred
prototype machines were created, and some software entered
development. Many within Sony were still opposed to their involvement
in the video game industry, with some resenting Kutaragi for
jeopardising the company. Kutaragi remained adamant that Sony not
retreat from the growing industry and that a deal with Nintendo would
never work. Knowing that they had to take decisive action, Sony
severed all ties with Nintendo on 4 May 1992.
To determine the fate of the PlayStation project, Ohga chaired a
meeting in June 1992, consisting of Kutaragi and several senior Sony
board members. Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he
had been secretly working on which played games with immersive 3D
graphics. Kutaragi was confident that his LSI chip could accommodate
one million logic gates, which exceeded the capabilities of Sony's
semiconductor division at the time. Despite gaining Ohga's enthusiasm,
there remained opposition from a majority present at the meeting.
Older Sony executives also opposed it, who saw Nintendo and Sega as
"toy" manufacturers. The opposers felt the game industry was too
culturally offbeat and asserted that Sony should remain a central
player in the audiovisual industry, where companies were familiar with
one another and could conduct "civili[s]ed" business negotiations.
After Kutaragi reminded him of the humiliation he suffered from
Nintendo, Ohga retained the project and became one of Kutaragi's most
staunch supporters.
Ohga shifted Kutaragi and nine of his team from Sony's main
headquarters to Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ), a subsidiary of
the main Sony group, so as to retain the project and maintain
relationships with Philips for the MMCD development project. The
involvement of SMEJ proved crucial to the PlayStation's early
development as the process of manufacturing games on CD-ROM format was
similar to that used for audio CDs, with which Sony's music division
had considerable experience. While at SMEJ, Kutaragi worked with
Epic/Sony Records founder Shigeo Maruyama and Akira Sato; both later
became vice-presidents of the division that ran the PlayStation
business. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) was jointly established by
Sony and SMEJ to handle the company's ventures into the video game
industry. On 27 October 1993, Sony publicly announced that it was
entering the game console market with the PlayStation. According to
Maruyama, there was uncertainty over whether the console should
primarily focus on 2D, sprite-based graphics or 3D polygon graphics.
After Sony witnessed the success of Sega's 'Virtua Fighter' (1993) in
Japanese arcades, the direction of the PlayStation became "instantly
clear" and 3D polygon graphics became the console's primary focus. SCE
president Teruhisa Tokunaka expressed gratitude for Sega's timely
release of 'Virtua Fighter' as it proved "just at the right time" that
making games with 3D imagery was possible. Maruyama claimed that Sony
further wanted to emphasise the new console's ability to utilise
redbook audio from the CD-ROM format in its games alongside high
quality visuals and gameplay.
Wishing to distance the project from the failed enterprise with
Nintendo, Sony initially branded the PlayStation the "PlayStation X"
(PSX). Sony formed their European division and North American
division, known as Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Sony
Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), in January and May 1995. The
divisions planned to market the new console under the alternative
branding "PSX" following the negative feedback regarding "PlayStation"
in focus group studies. Early advertising prior to the console's
launch in North America referenced PSX, but the term was scrapped
before launch. The console was not marketed with Sony's name in
contrast to Nintendo's consoles. According to Phil Harrison, much of
Sony's upper management feared that the Sony brand would be tarnished
if associated with the console, which they considered a "toy".
Development
=============
Since Sony had no experience in game development, it had to rely on
the support of third-party game developers. This was in contrast to
Sega and Nintendo, which had versatile and well-equipped in-house
software divisions for their arcade games and could easily port
successful games to their home consoles. Recent consoles like the
Atari Jaguar and 3DO suffered low sales due to a lack of developer
support, prompting Sony to redouble their efforts in gaining the
endorsement of arcade-savvy developers. A team from Epic Sony visited
more than a hundred companies throughout Japan in May 1993 in hopes of
attracting game creators with the PlayStation's technological appeal.
Sony found that many disliked Nintendo's practices, such as favouring
their own games over others. Through a series of negotiations, Sony
acquired initial support from Namco, Konami, and Williams
Entertainment, as well as 250 other development teams in Japan alone.
Namco in particular was interested in developing for PlayStation since
Namco rivalled Sega in the arcade market. Attaining these companies
secured influential games such as 'Ridge Racer' (1993) and 'Mortal
Kombat 3' (1995), 'Ridge Racer' being one of the most popular arcade
games at the time, and it was already confirmed behind closed doors
that it would be the PlayStation's first game by December 1993,
despite Namco being a longstanding Nintendo developer. Namco's
research managing director Shegeichi Nakamura met with Kutaragi in
1993 to discuss the preliminary PlayStation specifications, with Namco
subsequently basing the Namco System 11 arcade board on PlayStation
hardware and developing 'Tekken' to compete with 'Virtua Fighter'. The
System 11 launched in arcades several months before the PlayStation's
release, with the arcade release of 'Tekken' in September 1994.
Despite securing the support of various Japanese studios, Sony had no
developers of their own by the time the PlayStation was in
development. This changed in 1993 when Sony acquired the Liverpudlian
company Psygnosis (later renamed SCE Liverpool) for million, securing
their first in-house development team. The acquisition meant that Sony
could have more launch games ready for the PlayStation's release in
Europe and North America. Ian Hetherington, Psygnosis' co-founder, was
disappointed after receiving early builds of the PlayStation and
recalled that the console "was not fit for purpose" until his team got
involved with it. Hetherington frequently clashed with Sony executives
over broader ideas; at one point it was suggested that a television
with a built-in PlayStation be produced. In the months leading up to
the PlayStation's launch, Psygnosis had around 500 full-time staff
working on games and assisting with software development.
The purchase of Psygnosis marked another turning point for the
PlayStation as it played a vital role in creating the console's
development kits. While Sony had provided MIPS R4000-based Sony NEWS
workstations for PlayStation development, Psygnosis employees disliked
the thought of developing on these expensive workstations and asked
Bristol-based SN Systems to create an alternative PC-based development
system. Andy Beveridge and Martin Day, owners of SN Systems, had
previously supplied development hardware for other consoles such as
the Mega Drive, Atari ST, and the SNES. When Psygnosis arranged an
audience for SN Systems with Sony's Japanese executives at the January
1994 CES in Las Vegas, Beveridge and Day presented their prototype of
the condensed development kit, which could run on an ordinary personal
computer with two extension boards. Impressed, Sony decided to abandon
their plans for a workstation-based development system in favour of SN
Systems's, thus securing a cheaper and more efficient method for
designing software. An order of over 600 systems followed, and SN
Systems supplied Sony with additional software such as an assembler,
linker, and a debugger. SN Systems produced development kits for
future PlayStation systems, including the PlayStation 2 and was bought
out by Sony in 2005.
Sony strived to make game production as streamlined and inclusive as
possible, in contrast to the relatively isolated approach of Sega and
Nintendo. Phil Harrison, representative director of SCEE, believed
that Sony's emphasis on developer assistance reduced most
time-consuming aspects of development. As well as providing
programming libraries, SCE headquarters in London, California, and
Tokyo housed technical support teams that could work closely with
third-party developers if needed. Sony did not favour their own over
non-Sony products, unlike Nintendo; Peter Molyneux of Bullfrog
Productions admired Sony's open-handed approach to software developers
and lauded their decision to use PCs as a development platform,
remarking that "[it was] like being released from jail in terms of the
freedom you have". Another strategy that helped attract software
developers was the PlayStation's use of the CD-ROM format instead of
traditional cartridges. Nintendo cartridges were expensive to
manufacture, and the company controlled all production, prioritising
their own games, while inexpensive compact disc manufacturing occurred
at dozens of locations around the world.
The PlayStation's architecture and interconnectability with PCs was
beneficial to many software developers. The use of the programming
language C proved useful, as it safeguarded future compatibility of
the machine should developers decide to make further hardware
revisions. Despite the inherent flexibility, some developers found
themselves restricted due to the console's lack of RAM. While working
on beta builds of the PlayStation, Molyneux observed that its MIPS
processor was not "quite as bullish" compared to that of a fast PC and
said that it took his team two weeks to port their PC code to the
PlayStation development kits and another fortnight to achieve a
four-fold speed increase. An engineer from Ocean Software, one of
Europe's largest game developers at the time, thought that allocating
RAM was a challenging aspect given the 3.5 megabyte restriction.
Kutaragi said that while it would have been easy to double the amount
of RAM for the PlayStation, the development team refrained from doing
so to keep the retail cost down. Kutaragi saw the biggest challenge in
developing the system to be balancing the conflicting goals of high
performance, low cost, and being easy to program for, and felt he and
his team were successful in this regard.
Its technical specifications were finalised in 1993 and its design
during 1994. The PlayStation name and its final design were confirmed
during a press conference on May 10, 1994, although the price and
release dates had not been disclosed yet.
Launch
========
Sony released the PlayStation in Japan on 3 December 1994, a week
after the release of the Sega Saturn, at a price of . Sales in Japan
began with a "stunning" success with long queues in shops. Ohga later
recalled that he realised how important PlayStation had become for
Sony when friends and relatives begged for consoles for their
children. PlayStation sold 100,000 units on the first day and two
million units within six months, although the Saturn outsold the
PlayStation in the first few weeks due to the success of 'Virtua
Fighter'. By the end of 1994, 300,000 PlayStation units were sold in
Japan compared to 500,000 Saturn units. A grey market emerged for
PlayStations shipped from Japan to North America and Europe, with
buyers of such consoles paying up to £700.
Before the release in North America, Sega and Sony presented their
consoles at the first Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los
Angeles on 11 May 1995. At their keynote presentation, Sega of America
CEO Tom Kalinske revealed that their Saturn console would be released
immediately to select retailers at a price of $399. Next came Sony's
turn: Olaf Olafsson, the head of SCEA, summoned Steve Race, the head
of development, to the conference stage, who said "$299" and left the
audience with a round of applause. The attention to the Sony
conference was further bolstered by the surprise appearance of Michael
Jackson and the showcase of highly anticipated games, including
'Wipeout' (1995), 'Ridge Racer' and 'Tekken' (1994). In addition, Sony
announced that no games would be bundled with the console.
Although the Saturn had released early in the United States to gain an
advantage over the PlayStation, the surprise launch upset many
retailers who were not informed in time, harming sales. Some retailers
such as KB Toys responded by dropping the Saturn entirely. The
PlayStation went on sale in North America on 9 September 1995. It sold
more units within two days than the Saturn had in five months, with
almost all of the initial shipment of 100,000 units sold in advance
and shops across the country running out of consoles and accessories.
The well-received 'Ridge Racer' contributed to the PlayStation's early
success, -- with some critics considering it superior to Sega's arcade
counterpart 'Daytona USA' (1994) -- as did 'Battle Arena Toshinden'
(1995). There were over 100,000 pre-orders placed and 17 games
available on the market by the time of the PlayStation's American
launch, in comparison to the Saturn's six launch games.
The PlayStation released in Europe on 29 September 1995 and in
Australia on 15 November 1995. By November it had already outsold the
Saturn by three to one in the United Kingdom, where Sony had allocated
a £20 million marketing budget during the Christmas season compared to
Sega's £4 million. Sony found early success in the United Kingdom by
securing listings with independent shop owners as well as prominent
High Street chains such as Comet and Argos. Within its first year, the
PlayStation secured over 20% of the entire American video game market.
From September to the end of 1995, sales in the United States amounted
to 800,000 units, giving the PlayStation a commanding lead over the
other fifth-generation consoles, though the SNES and Mega Drive from
the fourth generation still outsold it. Sony reported that the attach
rate of sold games and consoles was four to one. To meet increasing
demand, Sony chartered jumbo jets and ramped up production in Europe
and North America. By early 1996, the PlayStation had grossed $2
billion (equivalent to $2 billion ) from worldwide hardware and
software sales. By late 1996, sales in Europe totalled units,
including 700,000 in the UK. Approximately 400 PlayStation games were
in development, compared to around 200 games being developed for the
Saturn and 60 for the Nintendo 64.
In India, the PlayStation was launched in test market during 1999-2000
across Sony showrooms, selling 100 units. Sony finally launched the
console (PS One model) countrywide on 24 January 2002 with the price
of Rs 7,990 and 26 games available from start.
Marketing success and later years
===================================
The PlayStation was backed by a successful marketing campaign,
allowing Sony to gain an early foothold in Europe and North America.
Initially, PlayStation demographics were skewed towards adults, but
the audience broadened after the first price drop. While the Saturn
was positioned towards 18- to 34-year-olds, the PlayStation was
initially marketed exclusively towards teenagers. Executives from both
Sony and Sega reasoned that because younger players typically looked
up to older, more experienced players, advertising targeted at teens
and adults would draw them in too. Additionally, Sony found that
adults reacted best to advertising aimed at teenagers; Lee Clow
surmised that people who started to grow into adulthood regressed and
became "17 again" when they played video games. The console was
marketed with advertising slogans stylised as "LIVE IN YOUR WORLD.
PLAY IN OURS" ('Live in Your World. Play in Ours.') and "U R NOT "
(red E). The four geometric shapes were derived from the symbols for
the four buttons on the controller. Clow thought that by invoking such
provocative statements, gamers would respond to the contrary and say
Bullshit. Let me show you how ready I am. As the console's appeal
enlarged, Sony's marketing efforts broadened from their earlier focus
on mature players to specifically target younger children as well.
Shortly after the PlayStation's release in Europe, Sony tasked
marketing manager Geoff Glendenning with assessing the desires of a
new target audience. Sceptical over Nintendo and Sega's reliance on
television campaigns, Glendenning theorised that young adults
transitioning from fourth-generation consoles would feel neglected by
marketing directed at children and teenagers. Recognising the
influence early 1990s underground clubbing and rave culture had on
young people, especially in the United Kingdom, Glendenning felt that
the culture had become mainstream enough to help cultivate
PlayStation's emerging identity. Sony partnered with prominent
nightclub owners such as Ministry of Sound and festival promoters to
organise dedicated PlayStation areas where demonstrations of select
games could be tested. Sheffield-based graphic design studio The
Designers Republic was contracted by Sony to produce promotional
materials aimed at a fashionable, club-going audience. Psygnosis'
'Wipeout' in particular became associated with nightclub culture as it
was widely featured in venues. By 1997, there were 52 nightclubs in
the United Kingdom with dedicated PlayStation rooms. Glendenning
recalled that he had discreetly used at least £100,000 a year in slush
fund money to invest in impromptu marketing.
In 1996, Sony expanded their CD production facilities in the United
States due to the high demand for PlayStation games, increasing their
monthly output from 4 million discs to 6.5 million discs. This was
necessary because PlayStation sales were running at twice the rate of
Saturn sales, and its lead dramatically increased when both consoles
dropped in price to $199 that year. The PlayStation also outsold the
Saturn at a similar ratio in Europe during 1996, with 2.2 million
consoles sold in the region by the end of the year. Sales figures for
PlayStation hardware and software only increased following the launch
of the Nintendo 64. Tokunaka speculated that the Nintendo 64 launch
had actually helped PlayStation sales by raising public awareness of
the gaming market through Nintendo's added marketing efforts. Despite
this, the PlayStation took longer to achieve dominance in Japan.
Tokunaka said that, even after the PlayStation and Saturn had been on
the market for nearly two years, the competition between them was
still "very close", and neither console had led in sales for any
meaningful length of time.
By 1998, Sega, encouraged by their declining market share and
significant financial losses, launched the Dreamcast as a last-ditch
attempt to stay in the industry. Although its launch was successful,
the technically superior 128-bit console was unable to subdue Sony's
dominance in the industry. Sony still held 60% of the overall video
game market share in North America at the end of 1999. Sega's initial
confidence in their new console was undermined when Japanese sales
were lower than expected, with disgruntled Japanese consumers
reportedly returning their Dreamcasts in exchange for PlayStation
software. On 2 March 1999, Sony officially revealed details of the
PlayStation 2, which Kutaragi announced would feature a graphics
processor designed to push more raw polygons than any console in
history, effectively rivalling most supercomputers. The PlayStation
continued to sell strongly at the turn of the new millennium: in June
2000, Sony released the PSOne, a smaller, redesigned variant which
went on to outsell all other consoles in that year, including the
PlayStation 2. In 2005, PlayStation became the first console to ship
100 million units with the PlayStation 2 later achieving this faster
than its predecessor. The combined successes of both PlayStation
consoles led to Sega retiring the Dreamcast in 2001, and abandoning
the console business entirely. The PlayStation was eventually
discontinued on 23 March 2006--over eleven years after its release,
and less than a year before the debut of the PlayStation 3.
Technical specifications
==========================
GPU PlayStation sound processor R3000 CPU
digital signal processor SCPH-100 motherboard PS One motherboard
The main microprocessor is a R3000 CPU made by LSI Logic operating at
a clock rate of 33.8688 MHz and 30 MIPS. This 32-bit CPU relies
heavily on the "cop2" 3D and matrix math coprocessor on the same die
to provide the necessary speed to render complex 3D graphics. The role
of the separate GPU chip is to draw 2D polygons and apply shading and
textures to them: the rasterisation stage of the graphics pipeline.
Sony's custom 16-bit sound chip supports ADPCM sources with up to 24
sound channels and offers a sampling rate of up to 44.1 kHz and MIDI
sequencing. It features 2 MB of main RAM, with an additional 1 MB of
video RAM. The PlayStation has a maximum colour depth of 16.7 million
true colours with 32 levels of transparency and unlimited colour
look-up tables. The PlayStation can output composite, S-Video or RGB
video signals through its AV Multi connector (with older models also
having RCA connectors for composite), displaying resolutions from
256×224 to 640×480 pixels. Different games can use different
resolutions. Earlier models also had proprietary parallel and serial
ports that could be used to connect accessories or multiple consoles
together; these were later removed due to a lack of usage.
The PlayStation uses a proprietary video compression unit, MDEC, which
is integrated into the CPU and allows for the presentation of full
motion video at a higher quality than other consoles of its
generation. Unusual for the time, the PlayStation lacks a dedicated 2D
graphics processor; 2D elements are instead calculated as polygons by
the Geometry Transfer Engine (GTE) so that they can be processed and
displayed on screen by the GPU. While running, the GPU can also
generate a total of 4,000 sprites and 180,000 polygons per second, in
addition to 360,000 per second flat-shaded.
Models
========
The PlayStation went through a number of variants during its
production run. Externally, the most notable change was the gradual
reduction in the number of external connectors from the rear of the
unit. This started with the original Japanese launch units; the
SCPH-1000, released on 3 December 1994, was the only model that had an
S-Video port, as it was removed from the next model. Subsequent models
saw a reduction in number of parallel ports, with the final version
only retaining one serial port.
Sony marketed a development kit for amateur developers known as the
Net Yaroze (meaning "Let's do it together" in Japanese). It was
launched in June 1996 in Japan, and following public interest, was
released the next year in other countries. The Net Yaroze allowed
hobbyists to create their own games and upload them via an online
forum run by Sony. The console was only available to buy through an
ordering service and with the necessary documentation and software to
program PlayStation games and applications through C programming
compilers.
PS One
========
On 7 July 2000, Sony released the PS One (stylised as "PS one" or
"PSone"), a smaller, redesigned version of the original PlayStation.
It was the highest-selling console through the end of the year,
outselling all other consoles--including the PlayStation 2. In 2002,
Sony released a LCD screen add-on for the PS One, referred to as the
"Combo pack". It also included a car cigarette lighter adaptor adding
an extra layer of portability. Production of the LCD "Combo Pack"
ceased in 2004, when the popularity of the PlayStation began to wane
in markets outside Japan. A total of 28.15 million PS One units had
been sold by the time it was discontinued in March 2006.
Controllers
=============
Three iterations of the PlayStation's controller were released over
the console's lifespan. The first controller, the PlayStation
controller, was released alongside the PlayStation in December 1994.
It features four individual directional buttons (as opposed to a
conventional D-pad), a pair of shoulder buttons on both sides, Start
and Select buttons in the centre, and four face buttons consisting of
simple geometric shapes: a green triangle, red circle, blue cross, and
a pink square (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square). Rather than depicting
traditionally used letters or numbers onto its buttons, the
PlayStation controller established a trademark which would be
incorporated heavily into the PlayStation brand. Teiyu Goto, the
designer of the original PlayStation controller, said that the circle
and cross represent "yes" and "no", respectively (though this layout
is reversed in Western versions); the triangle symbolises a point of
view and the square is equated to a sheet of paper to be used to
access menus. The European and North American models of the original
PlayStation controllers are roughly 10% larger than its Japanese
variant, to account for the fact the average person in those regions
has larger hands than the average Japanese person.
Sony's first analogue gamepad, the PlayStation Analog Joystick (often
erroneously referred to as the "Sony Flightstick"), was first released
in Japan in April 1996. Featuring two parallel joysticks, it uses
potentiometer technology previously used on consoles such as the
Vectrex; instead of relying on binary eight-way switches, the
controller detects minute angular changes through the entire range of
motion. The stick also features a thumb-operated digital hat switch on
the right joystick, corresponding to the traditional D-pad, and used
for instances when simple digital movements were necessary. The Analog
Joystick sold poorly in Japan due to its high cost and cumbersome
size.
The increasing popularity of 3D games prompted Sony to add analogue
sticks to its controller design to give users more freedom over their
movements in virtual 3D environments. The first official analogue
controller, the Dual Analog Controller, was revealed to the public in
a small glass booth at the 1996 PlayStation Expo in Japan, and
released in April 1997 to coincide with the Japanese releases of
analogue-capable games 'Tobal 2' and 'Bushido Blade'. In addition to
the two analogue sticks (which also introduced two new buttons mapped
to clicking in the analogue sticks), the Dual Analog controller
features an "Analog" button and LED beneath the "Start" and "Select"
buttons which toggles analogue functionality on or off. The controller
also features rumble support, though Sony decided that haptic feedback
would be removed from all overseas iterations before the United States
release. A Sony spokesman stated that the feature was removed for
"manufacturing reasons", although rumours circulated that Nintendo had
attempted to legally block the release of the controller outside Japan
due to similarities with the Nintendo 64 controller's Rumble Pak.
However, a Nintendo spokesman denied that Nintendo took legal action.
'Next Generation' Chris Charla theorised that Sony dropped vibration
feedback to keep the price of the controller down.
In November 1997, Sony introduced the DualShock controller. Its name
derives from its use of two (dual) vibration motors (shock). Unlike
its predecessor, its analogue sticks feature textured rubber grips,
longer handles, slightly different shoulder buttons and has rumble
feedback included as standard on all versions. The DualShock later
replaced its predecessors as the default controller.
Peripherals
=============
PlayStation Memory Card PocketStation Multiplayer Adaptor
PlayStation Mouse Link Cables GunCon
Sony released a series of peripherals to add extra layers of
functionality to the PlayStation. Such peripherals include memory
cards, the PlayStation Mouse, the PlayStation Link Cable, the
Multiplayer Adapter (a four-player multitap), the Memory Drive (a disk
drive for 3.5-inch floppy disks), the GunCon (a light gun), and the
Glasstron (a monoscopic head-mounted display).
Released exclusively in Japan, the PocketStation is a memory card
peripheral which acts as a miniature personal digital assistant. The
device features a monochrome liquid crystal display (LCD), infrared
communication capability, a real-time clock, built-in flash memory,
and sound capability. Sharing similarities with the Dreamcast's VMU
peripheral, the PocketStation was typically distributed with certain
PlayStation games, enhancing them with added features. The
PocketStation proved popular in Japan, selling over five million
units. Sony planned to release the peripheral outside Japan but the
release was cancelled, despite receiving promotion in Europe and North
America.
Functionality
===============
In addition to playing games, most PlayStation models are equipped to
play audio CDs; the Asian model SCPH-5903 can also play Video CDs.
Like most CD players, the PlayStation can play songs in a programmed
order, shuffle the playback order of the disc and repeat one song or
the entire disc. Later PlayStation models use a music visualisation
function called SoundScope. This function, as well as a memory card
manager, is accessed by starting the console without either inserting
a game or closing the CD tray, thereby accessing a graphical user
interface (GUI) for the PlayStation BIOS. The GUI for the PS One and
PlayStation differ depending on the firmware version: the original
PlayStation GUI had a dark blue background with rainbow graffiti used
as buttons, while the early PAL PlayStation and PS One GUI had a grey
blocked background with two icons in the middle.
PlayStation emulation is versatile and can be run on numerous modern
devices. Bleem! was a commercial emulator which was released for
IBM-compatible PCs and the Dreamcast in 1999. It was notable for being
aggressively marketed during the PlayStation's lifetime, and was the
centre of multiple controversial lawsuits filed by Sony. Bleem! was
programmed in assembly language, which allowed it to emulate
PlayStation games with improved visual fidelity, enhanced resolutions,
and filtered textures that was not possible on original hardware. Sony
sued Bleem! two days after its release, citing copyright infringement
and accusing the company of engaging in unfair competition and patent
infringement by allowing use of PlayStation BIOSs on a Sega console.
Bleem! were subsequently forced to shut down in November 2001.
Copy protection system
========================
Sony was aware that using CDs for game distribution could have left
games vulnerable to piracy, due to the growing popularity of CD-R and
optical disc drives with burning capability. To preclude illegal
copying, a proprietary process for PlayStation disc manufacturing was
developed that, in conjunction with an augmented optical drive in
Tiger H/E assembly, prevented burned copies of games from booting on
an unmodified console. Specifically, all genuine PlayStation discs
were printed with a small section of deliberate irregular data, which
the PlayStation's optical pick-up was capable of detecting and
decoding. Consoles would not boot game discs without a specific wobble
frequency contained in the data of the disc pregap sector (the same
system was also used to encode discs' regional lock-outs). This signal
was within Red Book CD tolerances, so PlayStation discs' actual
content could still be read by a conventional disc drive; however, the
disc drive could not detect the wobble frequency (therefore
duplicating the discs omitting it), since the laser pick-up system of
any optical disc drive would interpret this wobble as an oscillation
of the disc surface and compensate for it in the reading process.
As the disc authenticity was only verified during booting, this copy
protection system could be circumvented by swapping any genuine disc
with the copied disc, while modchips could remove the protection
system altogether by tricking the console into thinking the wobble is
there on the pirated disc. Sony untruthfully suggested in
advertisements that discs' unique black undersides played a role in
copy protection. In reality, the black plastic used was transparent to
any infrared laser and did not itself pose an obstacle to duplicators
or computer CD drives, although it may have helped customers
distinguish between unofficial and genuine copies.
Hardware problems
===================
Early PlayStations, particularly early 1000 models, experience
skipping full-motion video or physical "ticking" noises from the unit.
The problems stem from poorly placed vents leading to overheating in
some environments, causing the plastic mouldings inside the console to
warp slightly and create knock-on effects with the laser assembly. The
solution is to sit the console on a surface which dissipates heat
efficiently in a well vented area or raise the unit up slightly from
its resting surface. Sony representatives also recommended unplugging
the PlayStation when it is not in use, as the system draws in a small
amount of power (and therefore heat) even when turned off.
The first batch of PlayStations use a KSM-440AAM laser unit, whose
case and movable parts are all built out of plastic. Over time, the
plastic lens sled rail wears out--usually unevenly--due to friction.
The placement of the laser unit close to the power supply accelerates
wear, due to the additional heat, which makes the plastic more
vulnerable to friction. Eventually, one side of the lens sled will
become so worn that the laser can tilt, no longer pointing directly at
the CD; after this, games will no longer load due to data read errors.
Sony fixed the problem by making the sled out of die-cast metal and
placing the laser unit further away from the power supply on later
PlayStation models.
Due to an engineering oversight, the PlayStation does not produce a
proper signal on several older models of televisions, causing the
display to flicker or bounce around the screen. Sony decided not to
change the console design, since only a small percentage of
PlayStation owners used such televisions, and instead gave consumers
the option of sending their PlayStation unit to a Sony service centre
to have an official modchip installed, allowing play on older
televisions.
Game library
======================================================================
The PlayStation featured a diverse game library which grew to appeal
to all types of players. Critically acclaimed PlayStation games
included 'Final Fantasy VII' (1997), 'Crash Bandicoot' (1996), 'Spyro
the Dragon' (1998), 'Metal Gear Solid' (1998), all of which became
established franchises. 'Final Fantasy VII' is credited with allowing
role-playing games to gain mass-market appeal outside Japan, and is
considered one of the most influential and greatest video games ever
made. The PlayStation's bestselling game is 'Gran Turismo' (1997),
which sold 10.85 million units. After the PlayStation's
discontinuation in 2006, the cumulative software shipment was 962
million units.
Following its 1994 launch in Japan, early games included 'Ridge
Racer', 'Crime Crackers', 'King's Field', 'Motor Toon Grand Prix',
'Toh Shin Den' (i.e. 'Battle Arena Toshinden'), and 'Kileak: The
Blood'. The first two games available at its later North American
launch were 'Jumping Flash!' (1995) and 'Ridge Racer', with 'Jumping
Flash!' heralded as an ancestor for 3D graphics in console gaming.
'Wipeout', 'Air Combat', 'Twisted Metal', 'Warhawk' and 'Destruction
Derby' were among the popular first-year games, and the first to be
reissued as part of Sony's Greatest Hits or Platinum range.
At the time of the PlayStation's first Christmas season, Psygnosis had
produced around 70% of its launch catalogue; their breakthrough racing
game 'Wipeout' was acclaimed for its techno soundtrack and helped
raise awareness of Britain's underground music community. Eidos
Interactive's action-adventure game 'Tomb Raider' contributed
substantially to the success of the console in 1996, with its main
protagonist Lara Croft becoming an early gaming icon and garnering
unprecedented media promotion. Licensed tie-in video games of popular
films were also prevalent; Argonaut Games' 2001 adaptation of 'Harry
Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' went on to sell over eight million
copies late in the console's lifespan. Third-party developers
committed largely to the console's wide-ranging game catalogue even
after the launch of the PlayStation 2; some of the notable exclusives
in this era include 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone', 'Fear
Effect 2: Retro Helix', 'Syphon Filter 3', 'C-12: Final Resistance',
'Dance Dance Revolution Konamix' and 'Digimon World 3'.
Initially, in the United States, PlayStation games were packaged in
long cardboard boxes, similar to non-Japanese 3DO and Saturn games.
Sony later switched to the jewel case format typically used for audio
CDs and Japanese video games, as this format took up less retailer
shelf space (which was at a premium due to the large number of
PlayStation games being released), and focus testing showed that most
consumers preferred this format.
Reception
======================================================================
The PlayStation was mostly well received upon release. Critics in the
west generally welcomed the new console; the staff of 'Next
Generation' reviewed the PlayStation a few weeks after its North
American launch, where they commented that, while the CPU is "fairly
average", the supplementary custom hardware, such as the GPU and sound
processor, is stunningly powerful. They praised the PlayStation's
focus on 3D, and complemented the comfort of its controller and the
convenience of its memory cards. Giving the system 4 out of 5 stars,
they concluded, "To succeed in this extremely cut-throat market, you
need a combination of great hardware, great games, and great
marketing. Whether by skill, luck, or just deep pockets, Sony has
scored three out of three in the first salvo of this war." Albert Kim
from 'Entertainment Weekly' praised the PlayStation as a technological
marvel, rivalling that of Sega and Nintendo. 'Famicom Tsūshin' scored
the console a 19 out of 40, lower than the Saturn's 24 out of 40, in
May 1995.
In a 1997 year-end review, a team of five 'Electronic Gaming Monthly'
editors gave the PlayStation scores of 9.5, 8.5, 9.0, 9.0, and
9.5--for all five editors, the highest score they gave to any of the
five consoles reviewed in the issue. They lauded the breadth and
quality of the games library, saying it had vastly improved over
previous years due to developers mastering the system's capabilities
in addition to Sony revising their stance on 2D and role playing
games. They also complimented the low price point of the games
compared to the Nintendo 64's, and noted that it was the only console
on the market that could be relied upon to deliver a solid stream of
games for the coming year, primarily due to third party developers
almost unanimously favouring it over its competitors.
Legacy
======================================================================
SCE was an upstart in the video game industry in late 1994, as the
video game market in the early 1990s was dominated by Nintendo and
Sega. Nintendo had been the clear leader in the industry since the
introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and the
Nintendo 64 was initially expected to maintain this position. The
PlayStation's target audience included the generation which was the
first to grow up with mainstream video games, along with 18- to
29-year-olds who were not the primary focus of Nintendo. By the late
1990s, Sony became a highly regarded console brand due to the
PlayStation, with a significant lead over second-place Nintendo, while
Sega was relegated to a distant third.
The PlayStation became the first "computer entertainment platform" to
ship over 100 million units worldwide, with many critics attributing
the console's success to third-party developers. It remains the sixth
best-selling console of all time as of , with a total of 102.49
million units sold. Around 7,900 individual games were published for
the console during its 11-year life span, the second-most games ever
produced for a console. Its success resulted in a significant
financial boon for Sony as profits from their video game division
contributed to 23%.
Sony's next-generation PlayStation 2, which is backward compatible
with the PlayStation's DualShock controller and games, was announced
in 1999 and launched in 2000. The PlayStation's lead in installed base
and developer support paved the way for the success of its successor,
which overcame the earlier launch of the Sega's Dreamcast and then
fended off competition from Microsoft's newcomer Xbox and Nintendo's
GameCube. The PlayStation 2's immense success and failure of the
Dreamcast were among the main factors which led to Sega abandoning the
console market. To date, five PlayStation home consoles have been
released, which have continued the same numbering scheme, as well as
two portable systems. The PlayStation 3 also maintained backward
compatibility with original PlayStation discs. Hundreds of PlayStation
games have been digitally re-released on the PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
The PlayStation has often ranked among the best video game consoles.
In 2018, 'Retro Gamer' named it the third best console, crediting its
sophisticated 3D capabilities as one of its key factors in gaining
mass success, and lauding it as a "game-changer in every sense
possible". In 2009, IGN ranked the PlayStation the seventh best
console in their list, noting its appeal towards older audiences to be
a crucial factor in propelling the video game industry, as well as its
assistance in transitioning game industry to use the CD-ROM format.
Keith Stuart from 'The Guardian' likewise named it as the seventh best
console in 2020, declaring that its success was so profound it "ruled
the 1990s".
CD format
===========
The success of the PlayStation contributed to the demise of
cartridge-based home consoles. While not the first system to use an
optical disc format, it was the first highly successful one, and ended
up going head-to-head with the proprietary cartridge-relying Nintendo
64, which the industry had expected to use CDs like PlayStation. After
the demise of the Sega Saturn, Nintendo was left as Sony's main
competitor in Western markets. Nintendo chose not to use CDs for the
Nintendo 64; they were likely concerned with the proprietary cartridge
format's ability to help enforce copy protection, given their
substantial reliance on licensing and exclusive games for their
revenue.
Besides their larger capacity, CD-ROMs could be produced in bulk
quantities at a much faster rate than ROM cartridges, a week compared
to two to three months. Further, the cost of production per unit was
far cheaper, allowing Sony to offer games about 40% lower cost to the
user compared to ROM cartridges while still making the same amount of
net revenue. In Japan, Sony published fewer copies of a wide variety
of games for the PlayStation as a risk-limiting step, a model that had
been used by Sony Music for CD audio discs. The production flexibility
of CD-ROMs meant that Sony could produce larger volumes of popular
games to get onto the market quickly, something that could not be done
with cartridges due to their manufacturing lead time. The lower
production costs of CD-ROMs also allowed publishers an additional
source of profit: budget-priced reissues of games which had already
recouped their development costs.
Tokunaka remarked in 1996:
The increasing complexity of developing games pushed cartridges to
their storage limits and gradually discouraged some third-party
developers. Part of the CD format's appeal to publishers was that they
could be produced at a significantly lower cost and offered more
production flexibility to meet demand. As a result, some third-party
developers switched to the PlayStation, including Square and Enix,
whose 'Final Fantasy VII' and 'Dragon Quest VII' respectively had been
planned for the Nintendo 64 (both companies later merged to form
Square Enix). Other developers released fewer games for the Nintendo
64 (Konami, releasing only thirteen N64 games but over fifty on the
PlayStation). Nintendo 64 game releases were less frequent than the
PlayStation's, with many being developed by either Nintendo themselves
or second-parties such as Rare.
PlayStation Classic
=====================
The PlayStation Classic is a dedicated video game console made by Sony
Interactive Entertainment that emulates PlayStation games. It was
announced in September 2018 at the Tokyo Game Show, and released on 3
December 2018, the 24th anniversary of the release of the original
console.
As a dedicated console, the PlayStation Classic features 20
pre-installed games; the games run off the open source emulator PCSX.
The console is bundled with two replica wired PlayStation controllers
(those without analogue sticks), an HDMI cable, and a USB-Type A
cable. Internally, the console uses a MediaTek MT8167a Quad A35 system
on a chip with four central processing cores clocked at @ 1.5 GHz and
a Power VR GE8300 graphics processing unit. It includes 16 GB of eMMC
flash storage and 1 Gigabyte of DDR3 SDRAM. The PlayStation Classic is
45% smaller than the original console.
The PlayStation Classic received negative reviews from critics and was
compared unfavorably to Nintendo's rival Nintendo Entertainment System
Classic Edition and Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic
Edition. Criticism was directed at its meagre game library, user
interface, emulation quality, use of PAL versions for certain games,
use of the original controller, and high retail price, though the
console's design received praise. The console sold poorly.
See also
======================================================================
* 'PlayStation: The Official Magazine' ('PSM')
* Portable Sound Format (PSF)
* System 573
License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_(console)
