searchspell:2 gamescorrected for playstation 2 games
The PlayStation is a video game console of the 32/64-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid 1990s. The original PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of console and hand-held game devices, which has included successor machines including the PSone (a smaller version of the original), PocketStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the forthcoming PlayStation 3. By June 2005, the PlayStation/PSone had shipped a total of 103 million units, becoming the first home console to ever reach that mark.
HistoryDevelopmentAn original PlayStation control pad, heavily inspired by the Super Nintendo controller. This model was later replaced by the Dual Analog, and then the DualShock. The first DualShock controller, from 1998.The first conceptions of the Playstation console date back to 1988. Nintendo had been attempting to work with disk technology since the Famicom, but the medium had problems. Its rewritable magnetic nature could be easily erased (thus leading to a lack of durability), and the disks were a piracy danger. Thus, when word came out of a new optical storage technology being developed by Sony and Philips, Nintendo was interested. Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "SNES-CD". A contract was struck, and work began. In 1991, the SNES-CD (now titled the Play Station) was to be announced at the June CES. However, when Hiroshi Yamauchi read the original 1988 contract between Sony and Nintendo and learned that it allowed Sony 25% of the profits from the machine, he was furious. He deemed the contract totally unacceptable, and secretly cancelled all plans for a joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment. Indeed, instead of announcing their partnership, at 9 am the day of the CES, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that they were now allied with Philips, and were planning on abandoning all the previous work Nintendo and Sony had accomplished. Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa had (unbeknownst to Sony) flown to Philips headquarters in Europe and formed an alliance of a decidedly different nature- one that would give Nintendo total control over its licenses on Philips machines just like it wanted. The 9am CES announcment was a huge shock. Not only was it a complete surprise to the showgoers (Sony had only just the previous night been optimistically showing off the joint project), but it was seen by many in the Japanese community as a massive betrayal- a Japanese company snubbing another Japan-based company in favor of a European one was considered unthinkable in Japanese business. Initially, Nintendo's abandonment of the joint project caused Sony to consider halting their research, but ultimately the company decided to use what they had developed so far and make it into a complete, stand alone console. This led to Nintendo filing a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in U.S. federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of the PlayStation, on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. The federal judge presiding over the case denied the injunction. Thus, on October 1991, the first incarnation of the new Sony Playstation was revealed. As for the deal between Philips and Nintendo, it fell through as well. However, because of the deal, Philips was able to create games for its CD-i computer based on Nintendo licenses. The games were terrible, and seen as another attempt by Philips to market the ill-fated computer.
LaunchThe PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, the USA on September 9, 1995 and Europe on September 29, 1995. In America, Sony enjoyed a very successful launch with titles of almost every genre including Toshinden, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, Philosoma, Wipeout and Ridge Racer. Almost all of Sony's and Namco's launch titles went on to produce numerous sequels. The PlayStation was also able to generate interest with a unique slew of ad campaigns. Many of the ads released at the time of launch were full of ambiguous content which had many gamers rabidly debating their meanings. The most well-known launch ads include the "Enos Lives" campaign, and the "You Are Not E" ads (the "E" in "You Are Not E" was always colored in red, to symbolize the word "ready", and the "Enos" meant "ready Ninth Of September", the U.S. launch date). It is believed that these ads were an attempt to play off the gaming public's suspicion towards Sony as an unknown, untested quantity in the video game market. TitlesThe console was extremely popular, spawning the so-called "PlayStation Generation". Well known titles on the PlayStation include Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy 7, Resident Evil, Tekken, Wipeout, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Parasite Eve, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear Solid. As of May 18, 2004, Sony has shipped 100 million PlayStation and PSone consoles throughout the world. As of March 2004, there were 7,300 software titles available with cumulative software shipment of 949 million. The PlayStation logo was designed by Manabu Sakamoto, who also designed the logo for Sony's VAIO computer products. VariantsThe first new version was actually a revision in early 1996, produced in response to complaints that PlayStations were overheating. Sony did not change the technical aspects or the cosmetics, but did remove the S-video port left over from the Japanese release. The new PSone logoSony produced a redesigned version of the original console, called the "PSone", in a smaller (and more ergonomic) case which was introduced in September 2000. The original PlayStation was abbreviated in Japan to "PS" and was often abbreviated as "PSX" by American gamers, as this was Sony's internal code name for the system while it was under development (PlayStation Xperimental). This led to some confusion in 2003, when Sony introduced a PS2-derived system in Japan actually called the PSX. The PlayStation is now officially abbreviated as the "PS1" or "PSone," although many people still abbreviate it "PS" or "PSX". There were only 2 differences between the "PSone" and the original, the first one being cosmetic change to the console, and the second one was the home menu's Graphical User Interface. PSone with LCD screen and a DualShock controllerA version of the PlayStation called the Net Yaroze was also produced. It was more expensive than the original PlayStation, coloured black instead of the usual gray, and most importantly, came with tools and instructions that allowed a user to be able to program PlayStation games and applications without the need for a full developer suite, which cost many times the amount of a PlayStation and was only available to approved video game developers. Naturally, the Net Yaroze lacked many of the features the full developer suite provided. It was unique in that it was the only officially retailed Sony PlayStation with no regional lockout; it would play games from any territory. Another version that was colored blue (as opposed to regular console units that were gray in color) was available to game developers and select press. Later versions of this were coloured green. Contrary to popular belief, the RAM was not 4 megabytes but instead the standard 2 megabytes. The console included a CD-ROM emulator board connected to a PC. It was also able to run in-development games which lacked region coding (which would be rejected by a normal PlayStation as though they were pirated copies). A few of these units eventually appeared for sale through somewhat dubious channels at high prices. The installation of a modchip allows the PlayStation's capabilities to be expanded. This allows unauthorized copies of games to be played, but it also allows the playing of games from other regions, such as PAL titles on a NTSC console. Since modchips allow playing games recorded on a regular CD-ROM, it created a wave of games developed without official Sony approval, using free GNU compiler tools. PlayStation Memory CardSuccessorsSony's successor to the PlayStation is the PlayStation 2, which is backward compatible with its predecessor, in the sense that it can play almost every PlayStation game. This was done by embedding the most important parts of the PSone inside the PlayStation 2 design. Unlike emulators that run on the PC, the PlayStation 2 actually contains the original PlayStation processor, allowing games to run exactly as they do on the PlayStation. For PlayStation 2 games this processor, called the IOP, is used for input and output (memory cards, DVD drive, network, and hard drive). Like its predecessor, the PlayStation 2 is based on hardware developed by Sony themselves. The next generation of the PlayStation is known as PlayStation 3, or PS3, and due to be launched in 2006. Sony has stated the PS3 will also be backward compatible with all games that were originally made for PlayStation as well as the PlayStation 2. The PlayStation Portable (officially PSP) is a handheld game console first released in late 2004. Despite the name, it is not compatible with PlayStation games; it only runs games developed specifically for the PSP on the UMD format. The success of the PlayStation is widely thought to have had some influence on the demise of the cartridge-based home console. While not the first system to utilize an optical disc format, it was the first success story, and ended up going head-to-head with the last major home console to rely on proprietory cartridges - the Nintendo 64. Nintendo was very public about it's skepticism toward using CDs and DVDs to store games, citing longer load times and durability issues. It was widely speculated that the company was even more concerned with piracy, given it's susbtantial relience on licensing and exclusive titles for it's revenue. The success of Sony's PlayStation introduced high-quality sound and longer playing times as top priorities for modern gamers, leaving little choice for competitors but to follow-suite. CriticismOn the tenth anniversary of the PlayStation, Sony Italy released an ad which outraged the Vatican. An ad showed a man, who appeared to be Jesus, smiling towards the camera and wearing a Crown of Thorns made of the PlayStation button symbols (Square, X, O, Triangle). At the bottom of the ad it said (in Italian): "Ten Years of Passion". After the incident, Sony decided to take back all the ads and discontinue the printing. Many consumers also were not happy that the PlayStation's laser track, which allowed the laser to move back and forth as it looked for data on the CD, would burn out easily if used extensively over time. This caused many people to start experiencing longer loading times, and other loading problems. Users remedied this by flipping the console up vertically, making the laser access data from the opposite track. Although this proved a temporary solution, the opposite track too would burn out, which usually meant it had to be replaced. Many consumers were forced to buy multiple PlayStations to replace broken ones due to this problem. In the PlayStation 2 this particular problem seems to be solved, but fragile laser mechanisms still remain the main source of problems for Sony consoles. Sony Computer Entertainment provides full technical support for all problems of owners as long as the console has never been opened. Screenshots
SpecificationsMain CPUA PlayStation motherboardMIPS R3000A-compatible (R3051) 32bit RISC chip running at 33.8688 MHz The chip is manufactured by LSI Logic Corp. with technology licensed from SGI. The chip also contains the Geometry Transformation Engine and the Data Decompression Engine. Features:
Geometry Transformation EngineThis engine is inside the main CPU chip. It gives it additional (vector-)math instructions used for the 3D graphics. Features:
Sony originally gave the polygon count as:
These figures were given as a ballpark figure for performance under optimal circumstances, and so are unrealistic under normal usage. Data Decompression EngineThis engine is also inside the main CPU. It is responsible for decompressing images and video. Documented device mode is to read three RLE-encoded 16×16 macroblocks, run IDCT and assemble a single 16×16 RGB macroblock. Output data may be transferred directly to GPU via DMA. It is possible to overwrite IDCT matrix and some additional parameters, however MDEC internal instruction set was never documented. Features:
Graphics Processing UnitThis chip is separate to the CPU and handles all the 2D Graphics processing, which includes the transformed 3D polygons. Features:
Sound Processing UnitFeatures:
Memory
CD-ROM DriveFeatures:
See also
External links
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