The History and Evolution of the PlayStation consoles

In this Hub, I'm going to share with you the story of how the first PlayStation was born, talk about the different consoles that have been released since by Sony, as well as very briefly show you the most predominant games that can not be left out when talking about the respective console.

What's very interesting about the story of the PlayStation is that it starts with Nintendo, who is now one of the fiercest competitors of Sony. Nintendo's console was the SNES that time, and it used cartridges to play the games. However, the CD-Rom technology was developing that time, and Nintendo wanted to keep his console up to date, so they contacted Sony to develop a CD-Rom add-on to their console. So Sony started working on a CD-Rom enabled gaming console for Nintendo, but later it turned out that something about the contracts had been messed up, and Nintendo refused to continue to work with Sony.

After the collapse of their joint project, Sony decided to not let their efforts go to waste, so after numerous law-suits they finally were able to finish up the project and in the December of 1994 the first PlayStation was released in Japan.

It was a huge success, the enormous storage capacity of the CD and the ability to output real-time 3D graphics have made the PlayStation amazingly attractive for both developers and consumers. More than 100 million PS1s have been sold to date, with almost 8000 different titles available.

I'm going to show you a few of the most amazing games of these, the ones that have made the biggest impact on the videogame industry, and are now commonly associated with the name PlayStation. Please keep in mind that these games are only a tiny fragment of the PS1 era, there were countless other incredible titles, but I consider these to be the most noteworthy.

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid is one of the most influential games ever made, it has redefined how people look at videogames. It's basically a stealth action game with an incredibly deep and complex storyline and awesome gameplay, and it was the first game to offer a truly cinematic experience. It has been chosen several times as the best videogame of all time, an ageless masterpiece that's definitely worth your attention.

Final Fantasy VII-VIII-IX

Final Fantasy is the most widely popular JRPG series, mostly thanks to its installments on the PS1. They were the first in the series to introduce 3D graphics, and with some additional tweaking and improving on the traditional turn-based RPG gameplay and an immersive, moving storyline, they've easily become some of the most highly regarded games ever, especially FFVII. Final Fantasy is now at its 13^th episode released in March onto the PS3, and 14 is already in the works, so we can say that the series is thriving.

Gran Turismo

The name Gran Turismo is now completely associated with the PlayStation, it was the most important asset to the console's success, an absolute system-seller. It's a very deep racing game with a realistic driving model, and literally hundreds of cars and tracks. The series is so popular that there are many people who bought a PlayStation only to be able to play Gran Turismo and nothing else.

So these games are only a few highlights of the PS1, there were loads of other amazing titles released to the console, but we have to move on to the PlayStation 2.

Five years after its predecessor, Sony released the PlayStation 2 in 2000, which has proved to be an outstanding success worldwide. Almost one million units were sold on its launch day in Japan only, the 100 million milestone was reached the fastest ever, and its the best selling videogame console of all time, with more than 140 million sales worldwide. There were several factors that contributed to its never before seen accomplishments, one of which was the fact that the original PlayStation had established a very strong base of fans who were ready to move forward.

Hardware- and feature-wise, the PS2 was very advanced and appealing, with capabilities ranging from DVD playback to on-line gaming plus its over-the-top performance added up to a spectacular system, no wonder people were going mad to get their hands on one.

Fortunately the game lineup also lived up to the hardware, with countless astonishing titles that made the PS2 a worthy investment. The biggest blockbusters were the sequels of the PS1 classics (Metal Gear Solid 2-3, Final Fantasy X-XII, Gran Turismo 3-4, etc.), however, there were some new, innovative original IPs released as well, and I'm going to mainly focus on those.

God of War I-II

Set in the time of ancient Greece, this mythology inspired action game has soon become the strongest argument in favour of the PS2. Its main distinctive feature is its precise, satisfying combat system that's presented in an extremely violent and gory manner. The scope of the game is also breathtaking, there are several epic battles against massive characters from the Greek mythology, set in some picturesque scenery. God of War was really pushing the boundaries of the PS2.

Shadow of the Colossus

Another title that is famous for its sense of scale. In this game you are fighting against some humongous creatures that are so massive that in other games there are complete levels in this measure. And as a result of them being so beautiful, sometimes you truly feel sorry for these creatures, and it gives an unusual taste to the game.

Jak and Ratchet series

The Ratchet and Clank and the Jak and Daxter games are very similar in the regard that both are very colourful platform-adventure games with a funny story and some hilarious characters.

Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts is an absurd spin-off of the Final Fantasy series that were much in demand that time. This game is a bizarre mixture of Final Fantasy and Disney's world, with characters from both fighting together. What sounds quite flabbergasting at first, turned out to b a successful synthesis and one of the best action-RPGs of the PS2.

So these are some of the most important games from the PS2 era, I intentionally skipped the previously mentioned sequels and the multiplatform hits (like GTA and Burnout), and only picked out a few of the PlayStation-exclusive new IPs from that time.

After the tremendous success of the PlayStation 2, Sony decided to try themselves in the field of handheld gaming consoles, so in 2005, the first PlayStation Portable was launched to greatly amaze gadget fans with its unbelievable power and slick design. The prospect of playing PS2 quality games on the go attracted huge crowds of people, and developers were also very keen on porting their AAA titles onto the PSP. Thus the small device was to have a fantastic career, but as they say it, fate decided otherwise. Not long after its release, the PSP was hacked and virtually no one was buying games legally for it anymore. With piracy being so rampant, developers didn't see much potential in the system, and the stream of quality PSP games slowly died down. Sony was struggling to revive the system, firmware updates were released almost every fortnight to fill in security holes and they also launched three redesigned versions of the PSP, the last of which, the PSP Go didn't even make it to several countries because of the unavailability of the PlayStation Network.

Although it might sound like one, the PSP was not a complete failure, it just didn't generate as much profit as it could have done and Sony had hoped for.

There are several truly remarkable games available to the PSP like the standalone episodes of the GTA or God of War series that are almost equal to their counterparts on the larger consoles, but some really original and unique titles were released as well, like LocoRoco and Lumines, and one of the most ingenious games of all time, Patapon.

In Patapon, you are practically impersonating the god of a tribe-ful of armed eyeballs and you lead them to battle using the beats of your sacred drum. If you can't keep the rhythm, they'll lose their moral, become less powerful and more vulnerable.

As you can see there are some hidden gems to be found on the PSP as well, and other great games still keep coming out every once in a while.

Sony made their way back into the market of home consoles in the year of 2006 by releasing the PlayStation 3. However, it couldn't repeat the unmatchable success of its predecessor, mainly because of two factors. First, the competition had already been out for more than a year by the time the PS3 was released, and second, the pricetag of the PS3 was outrageously high. For the launch price of the PS3, you could almost buy a Wii, and a 360 as well. However, there was a reason behind this pricetag, being that the system was packed with new technology, like the Cell processor and the Blu-Ray player. The manufacturing of these components awfully racked up the price, and Sony was still losing more than 200 dollars with each console sold. Moreover, the PS3 didn't have too many great games to offer in the first year, the real hits that most PlayStation fans were waiting for were years away from release. On the whole, the launch year of the PS3 was quite a plight, but fortunately things slowly started to work out.

With the production technology becoming more advanced, Sony was able to impose price-cuts which helped a lot alongside the fact that by the end of 2007 quite a few high-profile exclusive titles were available and even bigger hits were to come.

But it was the launch of the slimmer PS3 model and the introduction of the pretty reasonable 300 dollar pricetag that made the most positive impact in terms of sales, and the PS3 has been doing quite well ever since.

Now here is a little compilation of some of the must-have titles for any newcomer to the PS3.

Little Big Planet

Little Big Planet is an immensely original and unique kind of game, an instant classic that can easily be the primary reason behind the purchase of a PS3. It has essentially got two parts that are so seamlessly put together that they are practically inseperable. On one hand it is an over-the-top platform game with awesome cardboard style graphics and fantastic gameplay. But on the other hand it has got an extremely deep and elaborate level editor, that's very easy to use and it lets you create basically anything you can think about and then play it instantly. With the tools included, the community has created more than 1 million levels ranging from unique puzzle games to 2D shooters, from recreations of famous movies and games to such extreme things like an actual working mechanical calculator. The possibilities are endless and in addition, the whole thing can be played cooperatively by 4 players at the same time, exponentionally increasing the fun factor and making it the perfect package for any PS3 owner.

Uncharted 2

In my humble opinion Uncharted 2 is the best game currently available to the PS3. It offers the most satisfying gunfights, has an incredibly fast-paced storyline that easily surpasses most Hollywood action movies and the visuals are simply breathtaking as well. But what really makes this game so awesome is that there are just so many unforgettable moments and it will make you blow your mind time and time again throughout the adventure.

Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain is another quite unique game, some say it shouldn't even be called a game, it's rather an interactive drama. The emphasis here is indeed on the storyline, it's an immersive thriller based around a serial killer, and it has several different endings according to your decisions throughout the game. So your actions can have serious consequences here, and that's what makes Heavy Rain really stand out from the crowd.

So these are a few highlights of the PS3's lineup, but I can't stress it enough that I only concentrated on the PlayStation exclusive titles and that's why a bunch of amazing multiplatform games were left out like Burnout and Assassin's Creed 2.

On the whole, as you can see, the PlayStation has been the most predominant videogame console franchise for more than 15 years now for a reason. Thanks to the always up-to-date technology and the very strong and diverse game line-up, they provide the purest entertainment any gaming enthusiast can ask for.