The history of the PlayStation began in 1988 when Sony and Nintendo were working together to develop the Super Disc. The Super Disc was going to be a CD-ROM attachment that was intended to be part of Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Super Nintendo game. However, Sony and Nintendo parted ways business-wise and the Super Disc was never introduced or used by Nintendo. In 1991, Sony used a modified version of the Super Disk as part of their new game console - the Sony PlayStation. Research and development for the PlayStation had began in 1990, headed by Sony engineer, Ken Kutaragi.

Only two hundred models of the first PlayStation (that could play Super Nintendo game cartridges) were manufactured by Sony. The original PlayStation was designed as a multi-media and multi-purpose entertainment unit. Besides being able to play Super Nintendo games, the PlayStation could play audio CDs and could read CDs with computer and video information as well. In 1994, the new PlayStation X (PSX) was released that was no longer compatible with Nintendo game cartridges and only played CD-ROM based games.

The eventual PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or PSX due to its internal code name PlayStation Experimental) is a 32-bit fifth generation video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on the 3rd December 1994, and in North America and Europe in September 1995.

The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of console and handheld game devices, which was first created and released in Japan. On March 31 2005, the PlayStation and PS one reached a combined total of 102.49 million units shipped, becoming the first video game console to reach the 100 million mark. As of July 20, 2008, the PlayStation has sold 102 million units. Sony ceased production of the PlayStation on March 23, 2006, over 11 years since it was first produced.

This example in our collection is the DualShock Pack version, which included the DualShock controller, which was released in November 1997 in Japan, and the following year around the rest of the world. The updated controller provides vibration feedback, and featured two analog sticks.

The PlayStation retailed for $299.

The best-selling game released for the PlayStation was Gran Turismo, which sold 10.85 million copies (as of 30th April 2008).

The successor was the PlayStation2.

Manufacturer: Sony
Date: 29th September 1995

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH62595. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.