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Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
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---
title: Sony PlayStation
categories:
- Consoles
params:
name: PlayStation
image: /media/museum/photos/sony_playstation_1s.jpg
logo: /media/museum/logos/playstation_logo.gif
company: /companies/sony
company_name: Sony
tabs:
- photos
- emulators
- docs
- videos
forum_thread: 1196
photos:
- title: PLAYSTATION
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sony_playstation_1.jpg
- title: PSONE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sony_psone_1.jpg
- title: PSONE - PROMOTIONAL PICTURE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/sony_psone_2.jpg
emulators:
- title: ePSXe
url: http://www.epsxe.com/
platform: Multiplatform
text: The best Playstation emulator out there!
- title: pSX
url: http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com
platform: Multiplatform
text: Great speed and compatibility. Easy to use.
docs:
- title: PLAYSTATION MANUAL
url: http://www.us.playstation.com/support/ps/Manuals/default.html
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sony_playstation_doc.jpg
text: |-
[**PLAYSTATION MANUAL**](http://www.us.playstation.com/support/ps/Manuals/default.html)written by Sony
 type of document : PDF\
 size : 1.3 MB\
 source : [www.us.playstation.com](http://www.us.playstation.com)
- title: PSONE MANUAL
url: http://www.us.playstation.com/support/ps1/manuals
cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/sony_psone_doc.jpg
text: |-
[**PSONE MANUAL**](http://www.us.playstation.com/support/ps1/manuals)written by Sony
 type of document : Unknown\
 size : 1.4 MB\
 source : [www.us.playstation.com](http://www.us.playstation.com)
videos:
- title: 'PlayStation - European TV Commercial: ''Double Life'''
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bqq38WZctA
text: 'Length: 59 s'
- title: Playstation - Japanese TV commercial
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztLDCOEpsdA
text: 'Length: 15 s'
- title: Society Against PlayStation - TV Commercial
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIyEqpYnEaU
text: 'Length: A min'
- title: Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8TiUZtcPg0
text: 'Length: 5 min 18s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #2'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxNSOz4h7O4
text: 'Length: 5 min 03 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #3'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mATEKlgtA6s
text: 'Length: 5 min 13 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #4'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1iAmYXcueo
text: 'Length: 5 min 07 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #5'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm4JanyrtQM
text: 'Length: 5 min 04 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #6'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfSqYayhPng
text: 'Length: 4 min 14 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #7'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFRz1Qsb8gg
text: 'Length: 5 min 03 s'
- title: 'Collection of Japanese Playstation TV commercials #8'
url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frmz3BqBtG0
text: 'Length: 5 min 18 s'
oc_id: 1229
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230323083721/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1229
date: '2023-03-23'
---
After Sony and Nintendo's collaboration on the Super CD-ROM came to an end, Sony continued their research and decided to make a stand alone console. A deal was reached with Nintendo to allow the Play Station (as it was called then) to play [SNES](/museum/nintendo-super-nintendo-entertainment-system/) cartridges. This feature was dropped from the final design, and the name changed to PlayStation.
A powerful machine, the PlayStation featured 3D graphics capabilities which at the time were remarkable. Games like Tomb Raider made 3D game worlds popular and effectively put an end to the 2D shoot 'em ups and platformers which had been around since the late '70s and early '80s.
Early units suffered from problems with the laser mechanism. The CD tray was made from plastic and over a period of time would wear away resulting in games no longer working. A common solution was to turn the console on its side or even upside down to relieve stress on the laser's motor. Later units had a metal tray to prevent this problem.
Even to this day the PlayStation is often wrongly referred to as the PSX, the correct term being PS. PSX was the name given to the PlayStation based arcade hardware and later a Japanese only version of the PS2, which was capable of digital video recording and featured either a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive.
A redesigned machine named **PSone** was released in 2000. This smaller version lacked the serial port but was otherwise fully compatible with older games. The PS and PSone achieved combined sales of more than 102 million units between them, making the PlayStation the first ever console to break the 100 million mark. In the process PlayStation became a household name, ended Nintendo's domination of the market and fought off competition from Sega's [Saturn](/museum/sega-saturn/) and [Dreamcast](/museum/sega-dreamcast/), which no doubt had an influence on Sega's decision to pull out of the console hardware business.
---
Contributors: Ste (text & info)