By Nicholas Whitt |Staff Writer|
PlayStation’s 20th anniversary has arrived, giving us a celebration of play.
Sony has drastically morphed the idea of home entertainment since the arrival of its first console, the PlayStation in 1994.
It also had enough impact to change the way consoles were built and run.
The PlayStation was one of the few consoles that successfully brought the ability to play CD-ROMs on consoles, replacing cartridges and the act of blowing into them all day so they work—eventually.
It also gave some of the first 3D in-game cut scenes from video games.
Francisco Cuevas, current PlayStation owner and Coyote stated, “The PlayStation was the greatest console of its time, with having a targeted audience of not only adults but also children too.”
Sony’s second console the PlayStation 2 (PS2), released in 2000 and brought new ideas to the industry of video games with not just upgraded hardware, but the ability for a console to read DVDs—the only console at the time.
The PS2 was also home to popular video games such as Final Fantasy XI, Kingdom Hearts, Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet & Clank.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3), with its release in 2007, featured improved graphics, HDMI support, Blue-ray capabilities, and also 3D Blue-ray support.
PS3 had many people eyeing it since the cost of Blue-ray players were $500 and above around that time, which made the PS3 lower cost of most Blue-ray players since it started $499 at release.
The PS3 also had a large impact on Sony fans, finally offering a solid, reliable online multiplayer setting, with servers and all, similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Live.
The PS3 also came with extra supportive items. For instance, the ChargeLink Cable allowed you to charge your controllers when you’re in the middle of a game, which its competitor, the Xbox 360, did not ship with the console.
Dustin Scroggins, Sony enthusiast, said, “The PS3 might not have had as a large impact on the online community compared to the Xbox since it joined later in the game, but the PS3 was meant to focus on all players.”
“The PS3 was not just for post-Sony fans with its release of new game franchises but for also newer fans to become Sony fans with new game franchises, such as Infamous, Uncharted, Journey and The Last of Us,” added Scroggins.
Sony prevailed again with the announcement of the Playstation 4 (PS4), since Microsoft’s announcement of the Xbox One had a major back-lash.
According to VG Charts, the PS4 has sold almost double the amount of consoles with 13.9 million Xbox Ones sold and 25.4 million PS4s sold currently.
It appears Microsoft has even given up on trying to outdo Sony in the console war.
In a discussion at the 2015 GeekWire Summit, Phil Spencer, Head of Microsoft’s Xbox Division and Business executive, was asked a question on whether Xbox One could outsell PS4, he said “I don’t know. They have a huge lead and a great product.”
Well done, Sony, well done.
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