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Sony PlayStation · Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph
Sony · PlayStation
PlayStation
Sony's first home console, a CD-based machine from 1995 with 2 MB of main RAM and hardware 3D graphics, for collectors and anyone comparing it with the consoles that followed.
- Type
- Home console
- Output
- –
- Memory
- 3 MB
- Storage
- –
- Weight
- –
Specifications
Report a wrong or missing specPerformance
- Type
- Home console
- CPU
- MIPS R3000A-compatible, 33.87 MHz
- GPU
- PlayStation GPU
- Memory
- 3 MB
- Disc drive
- Yes
- CPU
- Custom 32-bit R3000A-based CPU at 33.8688 MHz; a Geometry Transformation Engine coprocessor handles 3D calculations (Sony developer manual)
- GPU
- PlayStation GPU with textured and Gouraud-shaded polygons; up to 360,000 polygons per second (Sony)
- Memory detail
- 2 MB main RAM, 1 MB video RAM, 512 KB sound RAM and a 512 KB operating system ROM (Sony developer manual)
- Storage detail
- Double-speed (2×) CD-ROM drive; saves on removable 128 KB memory cards (two slots)
Display and video
- Built-in screen
- No built-in screen
- Video output
- AV Multi Out for composite and RGB; separate composite video and stereo audio RCA outputs on the original SCPH-1002
- Audio
- 16-bit Sony sound processor, 24 ADPCM channels at up to 44.1 kHz; analogue stereo out; plays audio CDs
Connections
- Ports
- 2 × controller ports and 2 × memory card slots on the front; serial I/O, parallel I/O and AV Multi Out on the back (serial and parallel ports dropped on later models)
- Controller
- PlayStation controller at launch; later bundles came with the DUALSHOCK analogue controller
Pros and cons
Pros
- Hardware 3D with textured, Gouraud-shaded polygons
- Games on CD, with full-motion video decoded in hardware
- Also plays audio CDs
Cons
- 2 MB of main RAM and 1 MB of video RAM
- Saves need a separate 128 KB memory card
- Standard-definition analogue output only
Closest rivals
Model | Type | Output | Memory | Storage | Weight | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home console | – | 4 MB | – | – | Jul 1995 | |
| Home console | 576i | 4 MB | – | 1,100 g | Mar 1997 | |
| Home console | – | 3 MB | – | 560 g | Sept 2000 |
Newer model: PlayStation 2.
Sources
- playstation.com/en-us/playstation-history/1994-ps-one
- sony.mediaroom.com/2000-09-19-Sony-Computer-Entertainment-America-Continues-to-…
- psx.arthus.net/sdk/Psy-Q/DOCS/Devrefs/Hardware.pdf
- psx-spx.consoledev.net/controllersandmemorycards
- archive.org/details/scph-1000-jp
- archive.org/details/520-playstation-scp
- web.archive.org/web/2012/http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataeu_e.html
Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph
- Sony PlayStation with disc lid open, showing the disc and internal layout: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph
- Sony PlayStation family comparison: original PlayStation on the left, PS one in the centre, PlayStation Classic on the right: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph
- Original PlayStation angled front view: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph
- Original full-size PlayStation left and original PlayStation2 right, each with controller and retail box; not the compact PS one: Sony Interactive Entertainment / PlayStation official history photograph