You could also be stunned to see all Playstation Consoles & handhelds once you see simply what number of there really are. I do know I positively was.
The numeric indicator on the most recent “Playstation 5” is a bit deceptive. With practically 20 consoles on this listing, you certainly will see what I imply.
Besides Nintendo, Playstation is one among my favourite console sequence’, and I’ve had one in my roster because the first iteration.
So let’s leap proper in. Get cozy, this will probably be an extended listing, however actually well worth the stroll down reminiscence lane. Here’s ALL Playstation consoles and handhelds ever.
The PlayStation was the very first house online game console from Sony, who was beforehand recognized for digital applied sciences in different genres.
Historically, the Playstation has a fairly fascinating origin story because the challenge initially was born from a failed collaboration with Nintendo.
Sony had hoped to develop a CD-Rom attachment for the Super Nintendo system much like the Sega CD.
The authentic title for the Playstation was the “SNES-CD”.
But when that deal fell by means of, Sony opted to throw their hat into the online game console business… and thank goodness they did!
The authentic Playstation gave players a 64-bit sport system that felt a step above the competitors on the time, particularly with its unbelievable lineup of video games.
Take a take a look at the 60 Best PS1 Games Of All Time. You may know a number of of them.
The Playstation was a huge success.
If we take a look at the gross sales or the most well-liked 5th gen sport consoles: The Sega Saturn bought 9.25 million, the Nintendo 64 bought 33 million, and the Playstation bought 102.5 million models!
Count that as a simple win for Sony within the 5th technology of video gaming.
And they clearly stepped onto the scene with a really sturdy effort that might set them as much as be thought-about one of many “Big 3” (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) for online game consoles to this present day.
In conjunction with the unique Playstation, Sony additionally launched their first handheld sport “console” of kinds (it was extra of a peripheral with some sport play performance), the PocketStation in Japan.
We point out it, as a result of we are going to later see their official first handheld console.
To have fun the legacy of the unique Playstation, Sony launched the PlayStation Classic in 2018: a mini console that got here preloaded with 20 of the perfect video games for the system.
The PS One was a smaller and lighter model of the unique Playstation that was launched in 2000.
It was launched in July of 2000, which made it an excellent transition machine because the Western market was nonetheless ready for the October launch of the PS2.
This was my first Playstation, and I keep in mind holding it in my palms and pondering “HOW?!”.
Same video games in a teeny tiny sport console that would simply slot in your backpack to take to your homie’s home.
The PS One helped set up the usual of releasing a “Slim” sort mannequin of a sport console a number of years after the preliminary iteration.
Which each contributed to the lifespan of the console for Sony, builders, retailers and gamers. And after all… make the corporate extra {dollars}. Everybody wins.
If you may’t get your palms on a primary gen Playstation console, you may revisit a few of these sport titles on any one of many 12 Best PlayStation Emulators.
The PlayStation 2 was first launched in Japan in March 2000. It later got here to the US in October and Europe in November.
The PS2 was a part of the sixth-generation console period, and it’s competitors was the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameDice, and Microsoft Xbox.
And whereas these units supplied some sturdy competitors, the Playstation 2 completely dominated the market.
To this present day, it’s nonetheless the primary promoting sport console of all time at over 155 million models worldwide.
It additionally took a fairly excessive spot on our listing of the 10 Best Retro Games Consoles (that’s higher than promoting 155 million models).
And with a sport library of over 10,000 titles, it’s straightforward to see why the console was so in style.
Just check out the listing of 53 Best PS2 Games Of All Time. Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy X, God of War, Dark Cloud, Devil May Cry…. come on!
The Playstation 2 had been in growth because the launch of the unique console again in 1994.
Some of the massive promoting factors for the PS2 had been the built-in DVD participant and web connectivity.
Many folks picked up a Playstation 2 based mostly purely on these two issues, even when they by no means supposed to play video games on it.
The Playstation 2 was completely one of the thrilling console launches of all time, and continued to blow folks away years into it’s lifespan.
Twelve years in complete till Sony determined to lastly discontinue the Playstation 2.
That was six years after the PS3! That simply goes to point out the demand for the console.
We completely liked the Playstation 2, and it nonetheless holds a particular place in our hearts and our gaming historical past.
If you may’t get your palms on one as we speak, you may nonetheless play any one of many Best Selling PS2 Games on one of many Best PS2 Emulators.
Following the success of the PS One, Sony launched a smaller and slimmer iteration of the PS2 console: the PlayStation 2 Slim.
Of course, it was smaller, slimmer, and quieter.
And the Slim additionally got here with a in-built ethernet port and nonetheless labored with any of the 10 Best PS2 Accessories.
Through the years, Sony launched a number of iterations of the PS2 Slim, modifying ports, adapters, and naturally… making it lighter.
The remaining mannequin within the Slim sequence was launched in 2008, which was two years after the launched of the PS3.
As if creating top-of-the-line house console traces wasn’t sufficient, Sony determined to double down and likewise create top-of-the-line handheld consoles.
The PlayStation Portable (PSP-1000) was launched in December of 2004 and competed with the Nintendo DS sequence.
Where the PSP had a powerful benefit was in it’s type issue and its graphics capabilities.
The PSP additionally might hook up with the PS2, PS3, a pc, different PSP units and the web by means of the in-built WIFI.
This might be thought-about Sony’s first handheld console because the beforehand talked about PocketStation was barely a sport console. But it actually wouldn’t be their final.
Several revisions of the PSP had been launched in its ten 12 months lifespan, together with the PSP-2000 aka the PSP Slim (PSP 1000 VS PSP 2000 – What Are The Differences?), PSP-3000 aka the PSP Brite, PSP Go, and the PSP Street.
Like with any Playstation console, the PSP got here heavy with a listing of fantastic sport titles. Check out our listing of the 55 Best PSP Games Of 2022.
The PSP was really a technical marvel on the time, and remains to be one of many favourite handhelds of the retro gaming neighborhood. It isn’t uncommon to see a number of on my Instagram feed every day.
Don’t fear, this gained’t be the final time we are going to see a handheld console from Sony. Stay tuned for that…
You know what’s higher than two? Three!
That’s proper… The PlayStation 3 first hit the streets in November of 2006 and was direct competitors to the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.
As you may count on, it was a technological powerhouse on the time of its launch.
The PS3 was the primary house online game console that used blu-ray disks for sport storage because of the sheer measurement of the sport recordsdata.
The launch of the Playstation 3 was met with some hesitation because of the excessive price ticket in comparison with the competitors, however slowly grew in reputation as hit sport titles had been launched for the console.
And hits they had been. Check out our listing of the 25 Best PS3 Games Of All Time. Drooling? Us too.
The Last of Us, Portal 2, Dishonored, Killzone 2, Grand Theft Auto V, Uncharted 3. Wow.
The Playstation 3 was additionally the primary house to one thing we’d all know and love… The Playstation Network.
Much like Microsoft, Sony was transferring in direction of an internet universe for his or her consoles, making product updates and purchases straightforward.
This could be the place you could possibly obtain sport demos, buy full video games, lease motion pictures, or patch your video games with the most recent updates.
And they built-in social media sort options into the console as nicely, encouraging players to remain related and incomes trophies!
The Playstation 3 was the place we noticed Sony’s line of consoles enter into the fashionable technology of house leisure as we nonetheless understand it as we speak.
Of course, you may nonetheless play among the Best Selling PS3 Games of All Time utilizing one of many Best PS3 Emulators.
You ought to see this one coming now… In 2009, Sony launched the brand new slimmer iteration of the PS3.
Slim fashions of house sport consoles have at all times been hits with shoppers, however the PlayStation 3 Slim bought significantly nicely on the time of its launch.
It was just about universally praised for the enhancements made to the {hardware} and the brand new lower cost.
Sony wasn’t finished with the Playstation 3 but. Stay tuned to see how a lot “slimmer” this factor might actually go.
But first, keep in mind we promised extra handheld consoles?
The PlayStation Vita is the second technology handheld sport console from Sony launched in December 2011.
The Vita featured a 5 inch OLED touchscreen, bluetooth, wifi, non-obligatory 3g, and was powered with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU and a quad-core SGX543MP GPU.
It is alleged that Sony supposed to bridge the hand held sport console world with the rising cellular gaming world in a single good transportable gaming machine.
While it’s first 12 months gross sales had been fairly excessive, the curiosity within the Vita fell in need of expectations after that.
The Vita is alleged to have bought round 16 million models in complete.
Those gross sales numbers included the second iteration of the Vita, the PCH-2000 from 2013.
That up to date mannequin, or the PS Vita Slim, was smaller and lighter and swapped out the OLED display for a extra inexpensive LCD answer.
Are you a fan of the Playstation Vita?
Did you recognize that there’s a fairly massive neighborhood of players who nonetheless love the Vita and have even hacked them to emulate lots of our favourite retro sport consoles?
Learn extra about that right here: What Can A Hacked PS Vita Do?
And after all, in the event you missed among the video games from that technology and wish to give them a strive, you may take a look at the Best PS Vita Emulator.
For now, it could appear that Sony has put handheld gaming on the again burner.
They did just lately announce a cell phone peripheral that lets you stream play video games out of your PS5, the Backbone One.
But a devoted handheld console doesn’t appear to be coming anytime quickly.
The third and remaining iteration of the PS3 would come to us in 2012 because the “PlayStation 3 Super Slim”.
As you may count on… smaller, lighter, and the quieter.
Unfortunately, this slim mannequin was not so nicely obtained in comparison with the earlier PS3 Slim.
Critics known as its design low cost and most of the people hated the brand new disc loading system.
Nonetheless, the brand new iteration of the PS3 managed to promote fairly a number of models in its quick lifespan whereas keen players awaited the incoming evolution to the Playstation sequence.
What would that evolution be? Glad you requested:
Oh yeah child… the Playstation 4. Sony’s newest and biggest house online game console in 2013.
The new design was trendy and clear. The contrasting shiny and matte surfaces. Yummy.
Plus these new DualShock 4 controllers had been completely superior. Maybe the best online game controller of all time for me.
Launched in November of 2013, the Playstation 4 launched a brand new AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) that was much less complicated than the PS3’s processor, however delivered among the strongest processing of that point.
As to be anticipated, the PS4 put additional emphases on the Playstation Network and all of Sony’s many on-line providers.
Social networking and sport streaming was greater than ever, and Sony was making themselves a snug house for these seeking to maintain their gaming social.
The launch of the Playstation 4 was very nicely obtained, and Sony appeared to take heed to the wishes of the gaming neighborhood and ship one thing past their wildest goals.
It was additionally famous that the PS4 had a really sturdy benefit over the efficiency of its competitors, the Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch.
Critics liked it. Gamers liked it. I liked it. My girlfriends (who weren’t players) liked it. Everybody wins.
Worldwide, the PS4 has bought over 106 million consoles to this point. That places it on the #4 spot on the best promoting sport consoles of all time (becoming).
Yes, we additionally obtained a PlayStation 4 Slim in 2016.
You know the way this goes by now: 40% smaller, some up to date ports, similar worth.
And you may nonetheless play the Best PS4 Games… however now with much less weight pressure in your leisure unit.
Oh… and it got here in white! Something we are going to see once more on the finish of this listing of all Playstation consoles.
If you really liked the Playstation 4, and weren’t essentially in any rush to go slimmer, maybe a efficiency increase could be extra your jam?
With the fixed evolution of gaming know-how advancing at an accelerated charge… it’s changing into harder for house console makers to maintain a succesful console available on the market.
Well, Sony didn’t need the anticipate the PS5 to offer players cause to really feel just like the Playstation was a weak possibility within the 2016-2020 gaming panorama.
So in November of 2016 (Sony likes to launch consoles proper earlier than Christmas, huh?) we obtained the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Upgraded PS4 {hardware}, 4K rendering, higher PlayStation VR efficiency, and all the interior energy boosting you may count on.
This allowed for video games to run quicker, smoother, much less stress on the {hardware}, and added numerous upscaling and framerate boosts to older video games robotically.
Your favourite video games would look and play higher than ever.
The launch of the PlayStation 5 in 2020 was not with out the covid pandemic associated delays and chip scarcity points we’d come to see and count on for just about any know-how launch that 12 months.
Of course, all of us knew the PS5 was coming… it was introduced in 2019. Long earlier than anyone heard of a “covid”.
Both Sony and Microsoft’s technology 9 consoles confronted the identical type of delays and shortages with their releases deliberate for 2020.
Delays and shortages apart, what was the Playstation 5?
Launched in November of 2020, the Playstation 5 was Sony’s newest and biggest house online game console.
Needless to say, the PS5 got here jam-packed with the entire newest and biggest {hardware} applied sciences.
The Playstation 5 makes use of solid-state reminiscence for quicker entry to sport information, an AMD GPU, 4K decision show at as much as 120 frames per second, ray tracing, and 3D audio results.
All of that energy requires some fairly in depth cooling options, and in each the PS5 and Microsoft’s latests consoles, we see these cooling programs changing into nearly the star of the present.
The new DualSense controller featured some new thrilling options by no means earlier than seen in a house online game console, equivalent to haptic suggestions and power suggestions within the triggers.
And a characteristic that’s changing into a typical within the present technology of sport consoles… the Playstation 5 can be backwards appropriate with many PS4 sport titles.
Annoyingly, we now have to speak about covid once more…
Due to the pandemic’s results on the world, the financial system, provide chains, advertising, and just about every part else… the present technology of house video gaming has been in a bizarre holding place.
It looks like we now have barely even gotten any momentum but, nearly two years after the PS5 and Xbox Series S line formally hit the market.
I used to be solely in a position to really find a Playstation 5 to buy this final month. So nearly two years had handed till I had even skilled the magic of the brand new know-how.
And it’s not simply {hardware} that has seen delays. Software builders have additionally had gigantic affect from the pandemic, which suggests sport growth moved a lot slower than anticipated, and we now have but to actually see many sport titles come to the PS5.
Of course, with it’s backwards compatibility, we now have seen numerous PS4 video games be supplied as twin PS4/PS5 compatibility.
But true present gen video games that had been made particularly for the technological advances of the PS5 are few.
So whereas the PS5 is right here… we now have but to see the true potential of the machine, and we are able to solely assume that after we begin seeing anticipated sport titles lastly launched and consoles lastly within the properties of players…
The Playstation 5 will certainly shine and be remembered as top-of-the-line house online game consoles of all time.
Anthony has been a online game lover ever since he can keep in mind. He grew to become a fulltime nomad in 2018, residing all through most of Asia. He targeted his ardour in retro gaming and commenced making a sport for the Game Boy Color whereas residing in Nara, Japan in the course of the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the place he spends most of his time gaming, happening lengthy walks and assembly as many stray canines as potential.
