PlayStation
PlayStation (Japanese: Hepburn: Pureisutshon?, officially abbreviated PS) is
a series of video game consolescreated and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The
brand was first introduced on December 3, 1994 in Japan with the launch of the original
PlayStation console.[1] It now consists of four home consoles, as well as a media center, an
online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well as multiple
magazines.
The original console in the series, the PlayStation, was the first video game console to ship
100 million units, 9 years and 6 months after its initial launch. [2] Its successor, the PlayStation
2, was released in 2000. The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling home console to date, having
reached over 155 million units sold as of December 28, 2012. [3] Sony's next console,
the PlayStation 3, was released in 2006 and has sold over 80 million consoles worldwide as of
November 2013.[4] Sony's latest console, the PlayStation 4, was released in 2013, selling 1
million consoles in its first 24 hours on sale, becoming the fastest selling console in history. [5]
The first handheld game console in the PlayStation series, the PlayStation Portable or PSP, has
sold a total of 80 million units worldwide as of November 2013. [6] Its successor,
the PlayStation Vita, which launched in Japan on December 17, 2011 and in most other major
territories in February 2012 has sold 4 million units as of January 2013. [7] PlayStation TV is a
microconsole and a non-portable variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console.
[8] Other hardware released as part of the PlayStation series includes the PSX, a digital video
recorder which was integrated with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, though it was short
lived due to its high price and was never released outside Japan, as well as a Sony
Bravia television set which has an integrated PlayStation 2. The main series of controllers
utilized by the PlayStation series is the DualShock, which is a line of vibrationfeedback gamepad having sold 28 million controllers as of June 28, 2008.[9]
The PlayStation Network is an online service with over 110 million users worldwide (as of July
2013).[10] It comprises an online virtual market, the PlayStation Store, which allows the
purchase and download of games and various forms of multimedia, a subscription-based
online service known as PlayStation Plus and a social gaming networking service
called PlayStation Home, which has over 31 million users worldwide (as of March 2013).
[11] PlayStation Mobile (formerly PlayStation Suite) is a software framework that provides
PlayStation content on mobile devices. Version 1.xx supports both PlayStation Vita,
PlayStation TV and certain devices that run the Android operating system, whereas version
2.00 released in 2014 would only target PlayStation Vita and (optionally) PlayStation TV.
[12] Content set to be released under the framework consist of only original PlayStation games
currently.[13]
7th generation PlayStation products also use the XrossMediaBar, which is an awardwinning graphical user interface.[14] A new touch screen-based user interface
called LiveAreawas launched for the PlayStation Vita, which integrates social networking
elements into the interface. Additionally, PlayStation 2 and original PlayStation 3 consoles
also featured support for Linux-based operating systems, though this has since been
discontinued. The series has also been known for its numerous marketing campaigns, the
latest of which being the "Greatness Awaits" commercials in the United States.
The series also has a strong line-up of first-party titles due to Sony Computer Entertainment
Worldwide Studios, a group of fifteen first-party developers owned by Sony Computer
Entertainment which are dedicated to developing first-party games for the series. In addition,
the series features various budget re-releases of titles by Sony with different names for each
region; these include the Greatest Hits, Platinum, Essentials, Favorites (this in Latin America)
and The Best ranges of titles.
