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The PlayStation (commonly known as the PS1 or its codename PSX) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released on December 1994 in Japan, September 1995 in North America, and September 1995 in Europe.
Development of the console began after a failed co-development venture with Nintendo to create a CD-ROM peripheral for the SNES in the early 1990s.
The PlayStation signalled the shift from 2D to 3D home gaming, with much larger games, thanks to the switch to compact discs which could hold far more data than cartridges. The CD-ROM format allowed for a 660 MB maximum storage capacity per disc, which compared to cartridges was enormous.
The main processor is a 32-bit LSI R3000 CPU with a clock rate of 33.86MHz. The CPU relies heavily on its math coprocessor to render complex 3D graphics. Sony’s custom 16-bit sound chip supports ADPCM sources with up to 24 sound channels and offers a sampling rate of up to 44.1 kHz and MIDI sequencing. The system features 2 MB of main RAM, with an additional 1 MB being allocated to video memory.
The PlayStation has a maximum colour depth of 16.7 million true colours with 32 levels of transparency, with video resolutions from 256×224 to 640×480 pixels. Whilst running, the GPU can also generate a total of 4,000 sprites and 180,000 polygons per second, in addition to 360,000 per second flat-shaded polygons.
5 of the Best PlayStation Games Ever
5 of the Best PlayStation games ever made! These are not listed in order of preference, all 5 games are fantastic.
Silent Hill
The Silent Hill series is in my opinion the best video game horror series, and it all started with Silent Hill on PlayStation. Explore the fog shrouded town of Silent Hill, with its constantly unsettling atmosphere and range of twisted creatures.
Ridge Racer
The arcade actually arrived at home, with this stunning conversion. The game that sold the PlayStation to many, and truly showed what a 32-bit system could do. The gameplay, car handling and feel are perfection.
Wipeout
Very British, jaw dropping and super fast futuristic racing. Wipeout showed that Sony had made a games console that could be cool, unlike anything seen before.
Resident Evil
Zombies! Flesh eating, terrifying and unrelenting – Resident Evil was a horror movie in a game. System pushing pre-rendered 3D environments with real-time 3D zombies that looked detailed and terrifying. Unlike later games in the series, Resident Evil was full of puzzles, which really added to the gameplay and atmosphere.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
The pinnacle of the Castlevania series, and the game that cemented Metroidvania as a genre all of its own. Some of the best 2D backgrounds and sprite work ever seen, combined with gameplay perfection and a compelling story.
