The PlayStation is a series of gaming consoles created and manufactured by Sony. The series is known for its high sales and popular video games. It also has spawned several popular accessories, including the EyeToy camera and the Singstar karaoke system.
The PS is Sony’s first entry into the fifth generation of gaming consoles and competed with rivals like Nintendo’s 64 and Sega’s Saturn. It has also spawned two other popular Sony consoles, the PS2 and the PS3.
When designing the PlayStation, co-founder Ken Kutaragi wanted to incorporate 3D graphics into the system, a feature that was a rarity in 1994. To accomplish this, the console was equipped with a 33 Mhz RISC processor, but it was the custom hardware designed by Kutaragi that provided its real power.
To ensure that PlayStation could compete with Sega’s arcade-savvy Genesis, Sony began to gather third party developers for the new platform. Namco, Konami, and Williams each signed on to develop games for the PlayStation. By the time of its US launch in 1995, PlayStation had close to 200 games available.
By 1996, the PlayStation had become a top-selling gaming console in America and Europe. A combination of popular franchises, aggressive youth marketing, and a low price tag made the PlayStation the preferred console for many adolescents and adults. Its success spawned several popular sequels, such as Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, and Tomb Raider. The PlayStation is also known for its extensive multimedia features and innovative technology. It was the first gaming console to offer DVD playback and was the first home entertainment system to incorporate an Xross Media Bar graphical user interface (later seen on the PSP).