Founded by Sony, playstation is one of the world’s most famous gaming brands. Its first console – the original PlayStation (abbreviated to PS1) – was released on December 3, 1994, and competed against 64-bit consoles from rivals such as Nintendo’s Mario and Sega’s Dreamcast. Since then, Sony has introduced three more PlayStation consoles and the handheld PS Portable, as well as several game controllers such as the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller.
The brand’s ethos is ‘for the players’, which was first established on the PS4 – with its launch slogan ‘For the Games’ – and continues to apply across the latest console, the PS5. It may not be as visually striking as the Xbox Series X or Nintendo Switch, but it still delivers a console that is built around the user experience from day one.
The PS5 is a powerhouse new console that offers snappy software and one of the best controllers we’ve ever tested. It also delivers a steady stream of high-quality games.
It’s a dominating hunk of a machine that won’t suit every living room, but it offers plenty of reasons to upgrade from an older console. The most important is the ability to stream games via its online PlayStation Network service, which has over 103 million active users monthly. It’s a brilliant and essential feature that’s well worth the investment. The console also includes support for streaming media from the PlayStation Store, which is a great way to fill downtime between gaming sessions.