Sony's PlayStation marks 15th anniversary
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 3rd 2009 4:42PM
posted December 3rd 2009 4:42PM
1994. A good year for many reasons, but for gamers it's best remembered as the year Sony shook things up in a big way with its original PlayStation game console (on this day in Japan, at least -- the rest of us had to wait 'til the fall of 1995). While Sega got a slight head start with its Saturn, the Sony PlayStation's lower price and strong launch line-up of games quickly vaulted it to the top of the pack, and helped bring in the slightly older audience that 3D0 and others tried and failed to capture. Of course, the original PlayStation was also just the beginning for Sony, and the company has taken this opportunity to reminisce a bit about the entire history of the PlayStation brand on a special 15th anniversary website (linked below). Feel free to share some thoughts of your own in the comments.
Sony fanboy through and through, but for good reason. Keep up the good work guys and I hope you manage to get back in the black without having to rely on TV sales.
I remember being so, so excited by Formula 1 on PlayStation. I just had to have one, but I didn't get one until the year the terrible F1 98 was released.
.........Long Live the N64!
I was playing Cybermorph on my Atari Jaguar when PlayStation was announced.
I cant believe I was 15 when that thing came out!
15 years just goes by like that.
@LAY I was 1, but who's counting?
@LAY
Same here. Happy Birthday PlayStation
From a simple rice cooker to a 15 year streak of epic consoles. Congrats to Sony!
Ahhh the days of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro before PS2........ Good times :)
@Lewis Those games were the best!
@APV
apple did not invent everything :O
Hey I recently bought a PS2 off a friend... can anyone recommend me any good games? I like RPGs, but I'm not a big fan of turn based ones.
Also known as "the thing you have to buy to play FF7"
and now Sony's swimming in red ink.
Good job guys. I'll forgive you for Crash Bandicoot. I guess
did anyone else notice that the time line has two 1994's?
the second one is in the place of 1999
@bitter buffalo
I noticed that too. "1994...a year so good, we lived it twice."
Looking forward to what new awesomeness the PS4 will bring to the gaming world, PlayStation 4ever!
It is 3DO, like vide-o. No zero.
A pretty good console for those days before the 3D mass market. A gamer had to choose between a 3DO or a Voodoo card for thier PC if they wanted decent performance.
The 3DO version of Need For Speed was a standout title. It used some graphic tricks such as only rendering the POV from one direction which made it impossible to drive backwards. But it worked. It also had much more realistic physics than the PSX (and later) versions, more civilian cars on the road, and an obnoxious challenger in another supercar who would talk smack after he beat you.
The original PlayStation was probably the most excited I ever got over a Christmas present. I remember being blown away by the dinosaur animation on the demo disc on xmas morning...and then I fired up Ridge Racer. Those were the days!
I remember the Christmas my parents bought me an n64 and got my sister a PlayStation which between the two I played the PlayStation more.
N64 was better for a group of people with Mario Kart,Goldeneye, and Super Smash Bros,Mario Party for example.
Sony had that plug-in thing for 4 player, but hardly any store stocked them with how little it was used.
I never looked for 4-player games for the PlayStation since I didn't even know about the multitap.
PS2 did the same thing too, but I haven't a clue if people bought
the multitap for it seeing as I bought my ps2 about the time the xbox360 came out.
I do have to say that if I could go back and get a PS2 instead of Gamecube I would.
Then again I don't think my parent's would of let be get GTA so maybe it was for the better.
All in all I hope Sony can recover even though this generation I'm backing Microsoft.
My only comment on Nintendo is that they have forsaken me.
@zero1221 lol things never change. The Wii gets dusted off whenever friends come over, the PS3 is happy when they don't.
This just made me realize, I had a ps1, 3 ps2, and 1 ps3. I never brought any accessories though. I wonder whats next, whatever it is, please don't call it a ps4.
@Bud92 iPS?
Thank you Sony!!
Happy birthday PLAYSTATION! I wonder how you will be like in the next 15 years.
DON'T OPEN THAT DOOR !
Hey 1994! that was the year i was born!
In honor of your birthday playstation i bought a bravia and ps3 bundle today! I just wish you would give me the ps3 now not in the mail!
Anyways! Happy Birthday!
@a falling stone
well that ironic, due to your avatar
@FritzJ92
I got it for free with the tv so i can't complain!
I still have my PS1 =D I bought it just to play the Tony Hawk demo, the original. I did eventually buy the game. I remember just how revolutionary the controller seemed back then.
And so begins our love/ hate affair with loading screens and game systems that only last about 3 - 6 months before malfunctioning. Yay!
@jfrancejr
LMFAOOOOOOOO
Am i the ONLY ONE that remember the damn disc read error on PS, PS1, PS2 arrghhh i was going crazy but no lie thought much respect so sony you've pushed the gaming industry far... now xbox is doing something (NO FLAME PLZ)
@FritzJ92 Dude, I'm still dealing with those disc errors, lol.
@FritzJ92
Never happen to me. I used to have an account with a local Game shop in San Gabriel. Often times I would be in the area making a delivery. I've had the laser in my console adjusted twice by them. Last time I saw it, it worked flawlessly.
PS1 never had an error of any kinda and my PS2 Slim is in Mint Condition dust barely collects on it.
I shall mark this very solemn occasion by buying a PS3 Slim.
You know.. I've always hated the idea of releasing a new console and adding one to a number tacked onto the end of it. They started that. Eww.
The graphic designer in me instantly noticed this...
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2008/11/1-day-savings---apple-store-%28australia%29.jpg
HBD Naaaaaa
15 years old and still the best systems and games in the industry. Wow. Congratz sony and happy birthday.
P.S. please make it so I can use a mouse with all your first person shooters!!
And they celebrated this momentous occasion by releasing a backwards compatible console again!
Oops ... daydreaming again. My bad.
I held out on Sony and waited patiently for the N64! Great graphics and gameplay is what i wanted. Amazing how far we've come. I still as of yet have never purchased a sony console at the ripe old age of 28. I hate their controllers, can never figure those damn things out. i bought a dreamcast in college and then an xbox, halo, 2, a 360 a couple times, played a bunch of wow and now it's mostly one of the COD games. Grats Sony on forever losing my business due to cybershot model cameras requiring different ac adapters, proprietary memory sticks, blu-ray, and no worthwhile online experience like Live and Arcade.
Wipeout 3. So Good I had to buy two. One to play, and the other for my CD player. Heck yes. :D
There's still a (slim) chance for Sony to win the Console Wars for the third straight time!
i sense a disturbance in the force
I've said it before -
I ordered a PS1 when it became available to order from Babbage in Thousand Oaks, CA (I lived in Simi at the time). When the finally came in, I got the call and I drove down to Babbage. I traded-in my SNES, got an $80 credit and paid I think was $130 for it. For those with short memories I believe the original console was $199, I have never complained about the cost of the PS3, its all relative.
I didn't even have a game for it! I spend my entire paycheck (what was left) on that console, I was 24 at the time. We had a Blockbuster account and I rented Ridge Racer and Air Combat. Later I bought Komani NBA, Destruction Derby, Twisted Metal and Tekken.
I knew 3D Gaming would dominate the landscape and this was the console to have. Combined with Sony's huge resources, I knew Sega and Nintendo, primarily Arcade and Home game companies, Sony would dominate.
Its apart of Pop Culture, how many people have seen the logo, the images of the console? Its even plainly seen in a episode of Cowboy Beebop...
Happy Birthday Playstation, I soon will be adding your newest addition to my collection, now if I can only find my original PS console, I do have a PS1 and PS2 Slim...
Let's see, lifetime console ownership:
PS2
PSP
PS3
NGC
Wii
Sony, you win in my book :-)
About the N64, yes it has better graphics (you would hope so) and Mario and the usual cast of favorites. But it was hopelessly inferior with 3rd Party companies as Nintendo almost sank completely convinced of piracy issues with CD-ROM. In the end, sure its a problem but only if you make it problem. How much money has Nintendo spent on litigation, compared to Sony? There's thousands of Sony PS game imagines on the net, more than a few burner tutorials, mod chips and the like and for Sony, all it has meant for them is further marketshare.
some how i can't ps3 there have they forgotten?
My Precious!!!