The Sony PlayStaion is 20 years old

The console was released in Japan on December 3, 1994, and was released in North America and Europe in September 1995.


 a re-designed "slim" version called the PSone was released in 2000, replacing the original grey console and named appropriately to avoid confusion with its successor, the PlayStation 2

The PlayStation is the first "computer entertainment platform" to ship 100 million units
critics praised the console for the quality of its 3-dimensional graphics.

The last PSone units were sold in winter of 2004 before it was finally discontinued
for a total of 102 million units shipped
As of June 2007, a total of 7,918 titles had been released for the PS1, with 962 million units of software sold. The last game released for the console was Fifa 2005


Even though the PS1 was released in Japan in 1994 and in the West in 1995, it was not until 1998 that it received its bestselling titles. Here are the titles that raked in the most sales.

1. Gran Turismo – 10.85 million
2. Final Fantasy VII – 9.72 million
3. Tekken 3 – 8.5 million
4. Crash Bandicoot Warped – 7.13 million
5. Metal Gear Solid – 7 million

The PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, North America on September 9, 1995,^[2]Europe on Septe ber 29, 1995, and Oceania on November 15, 1995. The launch price in the American market was US$299 and Sony enjoyed a very successful launch with titles of almost every genre, including Battle Arena Toshinden, Warhawk, Air Combat, Philosoma, Ridge Racer and Rayan. Almost all of Sony's and Namco's launch titles went on to spawn numerous sequels. Unlike the vast majority of gaming consoles of the time, the PlayStation did not include a pack-in game at launch.
Critics praised the console for the quality of its 3-dimensional graphics. Then Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, preferred Sony's console to the competition from Sega, saying "Our game designer likes the Sony machine. Microsoft would later compete with Sony with its Xbox console. In a special Game Machine Cross Review in May 1995, Famicom Tsūshin would score the PlayStation console a 19 out of 40.

An original PlayStation Controller

. This model was later replaced by the Dual Analog in 1997, and then the DualShock in 1997/1998

Sony also released a version with a 5" LCD screen and an adaptor (though it did not have a battery: it is powered by plugging the adaptor in a main socket, or in a car). It was called the Combo pack. However, it includes a headphone jack (for headphones or other audio connection) and an AV mini jack for connecting camcorders or other devices.

 

Technical specifications

Main article: PlayStation technical specifications

• CPU: 32-bit RISC (33.8688 MHz)
• MDEC
• SPU
• RAM: 2 MB main, 1 MB video
• Graphics: GPU and Geometry Transformation Engine(GTE), with 2D rotation, scaling, transparency and fading, and 3D texture mapping and shading
• Colors: 16.7 million
• Sprites: 4,000
• Polygons: 180,000 per second (textured), 360,000 per second (flat-shaded)
• Resolution: 256×224 to 640×480 pixels
• Sound: 16-bit, 24 channel PCM