The History of Playstation

The Playstation, created by Sony, was released in 1994 in Japan, and then 1995 in North America. The Playstation became the first video game system to sell over 100 million units worldwide due to its low price tag of $299 and hightech graphics at the time. Sony's initial plan was to partner with nintendo to release gaming consoles. When the partnership failed, Sony went in their own direction. Classic Playstation 1 games include Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.

The Playstation 2 was released in 2000 and is, to this day, the most sold gaming console in the world, having sold over 157 million units. The Playstation 2 had full backwards compatability with the Playstation 1, making it a go-to for people who were already Playstation owners. It was Its graphics and system performance were a direct upgrade from that of its predecessor, and it was sold at the same price as its predecessor. Classic Playstation 2 games include Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2, Resident Evil 4, GTA San Andreas, Silent Hill 2, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

The Playstation 3 was released in 2006 and was initially a flop for Sony. With its ridiculously high price tag of $599, poorer performance than that of its competetor: the Xbox 360, created by Microsoft, and Sony's terrible marketing strategies, people were almost afraid to buy the console. It wasn't until the second half of its lifespan when the console started to take off. With the release of the cheaper and better performing Playstation 3 Slim, and a wider library of games, people were finally wanting to take part in the action. With this turn around, the Playstation 3 was eventually able to outsell the Xbox 360, selling 87 million units. Classic Playstation 3 games include Uncharted, The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and GTA 5.

The Playstation 4 was released in 2013 and was an imediate success for sony, having sold over 1 million units in 24 hours in North America. The Playstation 4's marketing revolved around the console's games, graphics, performance, and its reasonable $399 price tag, which grabbed many people's attention. In 2016, Sony released the Playstation 4 Slim, which was a slimmer verson of the console, and the Playstation 4 Pro, which was a more advanced verson of the console. The Playstation 4 sold over 110 million units as of 2020. Classic Playstation 4 games include Uncharted 4: A Theif's End, Spider-Man, God of War, and Ghost of Tsushima.

The Playstation 5, the most recent Playstation console, released in 2020, had a rough start to its life cycle as it launched during a global pandemic where most stores were closed and had a limited supply of resources. They were hard to come across, especially online. The Playstation 5 was marketed as the most high tech console on the market. With its high tech graphics, haptic feedback controller, quiet cooling fan compared to that of the Playstation 4, and backwards compatability with the Playstation 4, fans were immediately hooked. It's still a bit hard to tell whether or not the console will be a success, but as of December 2023, the Playstation 5 sold over 50 million units. Classic Playstation 5 games include Ratchet and Clank, Astro Bot, Spider-Man 2, and Stray.