The PlayStation
The PlayStation, which is popularly known as PS, is actually a video game consoles series created by Sony Computer Entertainment. This game brand was first brought in on 3rd September in 1994 in Japan. The PlayStation consists of a media center, a line of controllers, an online service, three home consoles, a phone and two handhelds and several magazines.
The PlayStation was the first ever console of this series. More than hundred million units of this video game console have been shipped since its initial launch. PlayStation 2, its successor, is the bestselling video game console till now. As of 31st January, 2011, more than 150 million units of this console have been sold. PlayStation 3, Sony Computer Entertainment’s present console, has sold more than sixty-two million units across the world till 31st December, 2011.
Another inclusion in this series is PlayStation Portable or PSP. This first ever hand-held game console has sold 71.4 million units throughout the world till 14th September, 2011. In 17th December, 2011, Sony launched PlayStation Vita and as of February, 2012, more than 1.2 million units of this game have sold.
Other hardware unveiled as a part of this gaming console includes PSX, which is a digital video recorder that was incorporated both with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2, but it was very short lived because of its very high price and it was never shipped to other countries. The primary series of controllers applied by this gaming console series is DualShock. It is actually a stream of vibration-feedback gamepad and it sold around 28 million units.
The PlayStation Network, which is an online service, has more than 69 million users throughout the world as of 25th January, 2011. This network consists of an online virtual market known as the PlayStation store. It allows users to buy and download various games and other multimedia forms. This online service is based on subscription which is known as PlayStation Plus. There is also a social gaming networking service named as PlayStation Home and it has more than 14 million users throughout the world.
Sony Computer Entertainment will come up with PlayStation Suite. It is a software framework which is targeted to supply PlayStation content cross-devices and cross-platform; supported only on the PlayStation Vita and Android at present and contents are all set to be unveiled under the framework comprises of original PlayStation games.
Present day PlayStation merchandise also uses the XrossMediaBar that is actually a prize winning graphical user interface. A brand new touchscreen interface known as LiveArea has been designed for PlayStation Vita that incorporates social networking basics into the interface. In addition, the PlayStation 2 as well as PlayStation 3 consoles also had support Linux based systems after that the production has been stopped.
This gaming series is quite popular for its marketing campaigns, with most recent being the ‘Long Live Play’ commercials in US. This series also features many budget re-releases of games with different names for different regions.