The images of the Sony Playstation are categorized and show the console, joystick controllers and accessories. You will also find detailed close-ups of the ports and connections available on the Playstation.
The Sony Playstation box. It's a 32-bit video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, 1994, with a North american release in September 1995.
The Sony Playstation box. It primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn.
Side view of the Sony Playstation box. The PlayStation was the first Computer Entertainment Platform to ship 100 million units, which it had reached 9 years & 6 months after initial launch. It was the best selling game console of all time from 1998 until 2006, when it was surpassed by its successor the PlayStation 2.
Back of the Sony Playstation box. Nintendo had been attempting to work with disc-based technology since the Famicom, but the rewritable magnetic discs could be easily erased, leading to a lack of durability and they had no copy protection. CD-ROM/XA was an extension of the CD-ROM format that combines compressed audio, visual, and computer data, allowing all to be accessed simultaneously. Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "SNES-CD".
Sony PlayStation Console
Sony Playstation: front view. Sony planned to develop a Super Nintendo compatible console which would be more of a home entertainment system, playing both SNES carts and a sSony-designed CD format. This was also to be the format used in SNES-CDs, giving a large degree of control to Sony despite Nintendo's leading position in the video gaming market.
Sony Playstation: side view. It launched with titles of almost every genre, including Battle Arena Toshinden, Doom, Warhawk, Air Combat, Philosoma, and Ridge Racer. Nearly all of Sony's & Namco's launch titles lived on via numerous sequels.
Sony Playstation: side view. The PlayStation can read and play audio CDs. The CD player has the ability to shuffle the playback order, play the songs in a programmed order, and repeat one song or the entire disk. This function, as well as a memory card manager, can be accessed by starting the console either without inserting a game or keeping the CD tray open.
Sony Playstation: rear view. Prior to the PlayStation, copying game discs was restricted to either enthusiasts with exceptional technical ability, or others that had access to CD manufacturers. However, the increased availability of cheap CD burners led Sony to create several methods to make PlayStation discs difficult to copy.
Sony Playstation: bottom view. The installation of a modchip allowed the PlayStation to play games recorded on a regular CD-R. It also allowed the console's capabilities to be expanded in other ways, such as playing games from other regions. By the end of the system's life cycle almost anyone with minimal soldering experience was able to perform these modifications.
Sony Playstation with controller. The success of the PlayStation is widely believed to have influenced the demise of the cartridge-based home console. While not the first system to utilize an optical disc format, it was the first success story, and ended up going head-to-head with the last major home console to rely on proprietary cartridges - the Nintendo 64.
Sony PlayStation Controllers
Sony Playstation controller. Nintendo was very public about its skepticism toward using CDs and DVDs to store games, citing longer load times and durability issues.[28] It was widely speculated that the company was even more concerned with copyright infringement, given its substantial reliance on licensing and exclusive titles for its revenue.
Sony Playstation controller. The increasing complexity of games (in content, graphics, and sound) pushed cartridges to their storage limits and this gradually turned off third-party developers. Also, CDs were appealing to publishers due to the fact that they could be produced at a significantly lower cost and offered more production flexibility to meet demand.
Sony Playstation controller. Some PlayStations, particularly the first production run models, couldn't play FMV or music correctly, resulting in skipping or freezing. In more extreme cases the PlayStation would only work when turned onto its side or upside down.
PlayStation Ports & Connections
Sony Playstation front controller joystick ports.
Sony Playstation rear ports. Shown Parallel i/O port.
Sony Playstation rear ports. Shown are the Serial I/O, Left & Right Audio, RFU DC Out, and the Video output.
Sony Playstation rear ports. Shown are the AV Multi Out and the power connection.
PlayStation Games
Sony Playstation shown with 2 different styles of game packaging.
Sony Playstation with game disc inserted. As of September 30, 2007, a total of 7,918 software titles have been released worldwide.
PS One
The PSone is Sony's smaller, redesigned version of the PlayStation . The PSone is considerably smaller than the original PlayStation and was released on July 7, 2000. It outsold all other consoles throughout the remainder of the year, including Sony's own PlayStation 2 (yet the PS2 overtook this eventually). The PSone is fully compatible with all PlayStation software.
PlayStation Promotional Items & Ads
The Reality Quest Glove for the Sony Playstation.
1997 Eidos ad for Deathtrap Dungeon for the PlayStation.
