Introduction
PlayStation (officially abbreviated as PS) is a Japanese video game brand that consists of five home video game consoles, as well as a media center, an online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well as multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a division of Sony; the first PlayStation console was released in Japan in December 1994, and worldwide the following year.
Origin
The console’s origins date back to 1988 where it was originally a joint project between Nintendo and Sony to create a CD-ROM for the Super Famicom. Although Nintendo denied the existence of the Sony deal as late as March 1991, Sony revealed a Super Famicom with a built-in CD-ROM drive, that incorporated Green Book technology or CD-i, called “Play Station” (also known as SNES-CD) at the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1991.
However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology. The deal was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between the two companies.
The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga, who responded by appointing Ken Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo.
Direction Of The PlayStation
According to Sony Computer Entertainment’s producer Ryoji Akagawa and chairman Shigeo Maruyama, there was uncertainty over whether the console should primarily focus on 2D sprite graphics or 3D polygon graphics.
Eventually, after witnessing the success of Sega’s Virtua Fighter in Japanese arcades, that Sony realized “the direction of the PS became instantly clear” and 3D polygon graphics became the console’s primary focus.
The PlayStation logo was designed by Manabu Sakamoto. He wanted the logo to capture the 3D support of the console, but instead of just adding apparent depth to the letters “P” and “S”, he created an optical illusion that suggested the letters in depth of space.
Sakamoto also stuck with four bright principle colors, red, yellow, green, and blue, only having to tune the green color for better harmony across the logo. Sakamoto also designed the black and white logo based on the same design, reserved for times where colors could not be used.
Reception
As of April 2012, the PlayStation brand is the “most followed” brand on social networking site, Facebook, with over 22 million fans and followers in total which is more than any other brand in the entertainment industry.
In July 2014, Sony boasted in a company release video that the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita sold a combined total of 100 million units.[200] It was announced at Tokyo Game Show on September 1, 2014, that PlayStation home game consoles claim 78% market share of all home consoles in Japan.
As of 2015, PlayStation is the strongest selling console brand worldwide.
10 PlayStation Facts
For Fanboys and Fangirls who want to know all they can about the PlayStation. We’ve put together a list of 10 facts fans probably don’t know about the PS.
Reference: Wikipedia
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