The Evolution of Playstation Consoles

Sony Entertainment System's most popular console, the Playstation, didn't just come out of the blue. It came from an everlasting idea which was molded and hammered for years and months until a perfect gaming system was created. That's how Sony created their famous Playstation.

Way back 1988, it was Nintendo, themselves, that opened an opportunity to the creation of the Playstation. The company planned to build a console which was not only capable of reading cartridges, but as well as CD's. In order to do that, Nintendo signed a deal with Sony to place CD-ROM in their consoles. However, Nintendo's planned console, the Super CD, never came out. Nintendo and Sony's collaboration on creating the Super CD banished. Three years later, that idea was continued by Sony by unveiling the "Play station". Sony's Play station before was able to read Nintendo cartridges as well as audio and video CD's. It was indeed a successful console; however, disagreements between the two companies made the console fail; thus, Sony developed its independent console in 1994 which was now the Playstation. Sony's independent development on the console became the birth of Playstation, and the start of the Playstation Evolution.

The first Playstation console came out on December 3, 1994. This was considered to be the most controversial console since the first playstation was to be developed by Sony and Nintendo; however, a breach of contract emerged due to the disagreements of both parties. Due to it, Sony made its own console which was the Playstation. The Playstation still holds the old concept of Sony and Nintendo's console collaboration. Although it is no longer unable to read Nintendo cartridges, it is able to read a new brand of gaming media which made use of CD's. This feature made it directly competitive to Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn.

The Playstation was the very first gaming console to ship 100 million units around the world. It reached for almost 10 years since its launching. It came out with renown gaming titles like Ridge Racer, Tekken, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Crash Bandicoot, etc. Indeed, the Playstation became one of the best gaming consoles of all time.

Years after the Playstation was released, a variation of the console also came out, the PSOne. Although both consoles still play the same gaming medium, the PSOne was more compatible with different screens. It was even playable in the car. True, they are pretty much the same thing, but just a slight difference on the compatibility as well as on its physical features. The PSOne was smaller than the Playstation, and it even came out with a dual shock controller already. The Playstation only came out with a dual analog controller which actually was smaller than the dual shock controller. Over all, both consoles are just the same; both just had slight feature differences.

The second generation of the Playstation console, the Playstation 2 also known as the "PS2", was first launched on March 4, 2000. It is considered to be the best-selling console after it had hit 150 million sold units last January 31, 2011. It has also the largest library of games. The console had 3,857 PS2 games. And finally, the PS2 is also considered as the second-longest lived console. It has reached almost 13 years since it was first launched in Japan.

The Playstation 2 was indeed a great evolution since the Playstation. Although it has new features, improved performance and compatibility, PS2 is also capable of playing PS1 games. It boasts a backward compatibility; thus, games on the PS1 were still playable on the PS2. The most exciting feature of the PS2 was its DVD-ROM, memory, and graphics capability. It was the most high-end gaming console on that time. It was only years later that a direct competition on the PS2 console was released. Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's Gamecube were the only console that competed with Sony's PS2. Although other consoles were as capable as the PS2, the PS2 still reigns on the competition since most gaming publishers were developing games more on the PS2. Thus, the PS2 was reigned as the best gaming console at that time.

In its 14 years of existence, the Playstation 2 didn't stop from just being a gaming console with a DVD-ROM compatibility. Its gaming experience was later enhanced after a series of release of PS2 accessories which accompanied the consumers for better game play and experience. The best PS2 accessories were the Eyetoy, PS2 Guitar Controller, etc.

The third generation console of the Playstation system was first announced at E3 2005, then it was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006. Like the previous launch of the consoles, the PS3 also became a big hit in its release. Like its predecessors also, PS3 was also tied again to Microsoft's and Nintendo's consoles. However, the competition may be too stiff on the PS3's era, than on the previous playstation eras. The PS3 was still able to bloom as one the best consoles at that time.

Sony once again launched a very improved console on its predecessors. It is composed of high-end CPU and GPU which was able to render lifelike images and graphics. PS3 did enhanced the playstation experience of every playstation fan. There was much more game play, graphics and story in every game PS3 has to offer. Unlike its predecessors, PS3 has removed the limitations in gaming. The boundaries that its predecessors had were the problems that made the games' experience limited. Through PS3, almost all gaming problems were solved by it. Thus, creating a better and improved gaming through PS3.

Titles such as God of War, Tekken, Gran Turismo, Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Bio Shock, Far Cry are one of the best selling titles in the PS3 history. It had a hit of 595 million sold games last March 31, 2012. Even up to now, manufacturing and developing of PS3 games still continues.

The Playstation 3 will still continue in the market until Sony officially release PS4 and officially announces its discontinuation.

Last February 20, 2013, Sony Entertainment System finally announced Playstation 4 during the Playstation Conference. Although its not yet clear of how the PS4 will look like, and what will its specs be, Sony and its partners have ensured us that Playstation 4 will be one heck of a machine. It will be capable of rendering graphics as vivid and intensified as the high-end GPU's of today as well as operate at the fastest speeds in the world of gaming. Besides that, Sony also introduces its newest controller. The latest Playstation controller incorporates a six-axis sensor and a touchpad. Games of the console have also been announced and introduced during the conference. Titles such as Diablo 3, Watchdogs, Killzone, Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed, etc. are expected to come out with Playstation 4. There is not yet much info about its release, but surely it will be released sooner or later this year.