Celebrating 25 Years of PlayStation

It's hard to imagine a time in video games that didn't have the name PlayStation sticking in people's minds. Starting off with the first generation of fully 3D games, the original PlayStation machine ushered in a new era that has since evolved the brand into the biggest company in gaming. So with the 25th Anniversary fresh in our minds, let's look back on what made this collection of consoles so special.

A look at Sony's prototype for the PlayStation as it would have worked with Nintendo.

A Surprising Start

The electronics-company which oversees PlayStation, Sony, didn't necessarily start out with their own console in mind. In fact, this Japan-based based corporation was initially working with Nintendo. After a partnership between the two tech giants focused on developing sound chips, a deal was cut for Sony to make a CD-centric accessory to add on to the original Super Nintendo, this add-on was to be called the PlayStation. 

PlayStation Turns 25 - Kidzworld Weekly News

However, without any prior knowledge from Sony, Nintendo announced a different partnership with the company Phillips. This wound up as a bad deal for Nintendo for two major reasons. First off, the Phillips CD-i earned a legacy as one of the worst consoles ever created and ran a handful of the most horrible Nintendo games ever imaginable in both the Mario and Zelda franchises. Second, it resulted in the creation of Nintendo's biggest competitors in the Sony PlayStation. Having put significant time and money into the prototype for Nintendo, Sony decided to move forward and release its very own console and thus the PlayStation was born.

PlayStation's DualShock controller was the first to feature 2 seperate analog sticks, an easy feature to take for granted today!

Evolving Entertainment 

The PlayStation 1 certainly left a mark in the minds of entertainment enthusiasts with nearly 103 million consoles sold to this day. However, things really took off with Sony's follow-up, as the PlayStation 2 is still the world's most successful video game console with around 155 million machines sold! This was due to a few different factors including the inclusion of a DVD player back when standalone DVD players weren't so accessible and devices weren't streaming quite yet. 

The original PlayStation in all of its 1990's glory.

However, when that streaming era did get off the ground, the PlayStation 3 was right along with it. Despite some infamous struggles during the unfortunate 2011 PSN outage when PlayStation's entire online network was offline for a month, this era really laid down the groundwork for our current console: the PlayStation 4. In the past 25 years, the technology of games has grown immensely but plenty of charismatic characters have come with it.

Though they seem to be leaving handhelds behind, the PSP was an important part of PlayStation history.Courtesy of Simple Alpaca

When PlayStation entered the fold, they didn't have a family of recognizable faces as Nintendo did. But over the past two and a half decades, the PlayStation ecosystem has many big names attached to the brand. Uncharted's Nathan Drake, Crash Bandicoot, Kratos of God of War, Spyro the Dragon, and many more beloved personalities are synonymous with the name PlayStation. 

The leaked PlayStation 5 Dev Kits, though this likely won't look much like the real thing!

Happy 25th Anniversary PlayStation! With the PlayStation 5 on the horizon, we're certain that more greatness awaits. 

Share Your Thoughts!

What are your most memorable moments in PlayStation history? Which console holds a special place in your heart? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

By: Max Cannon