20 years of PlayStation image via Sony
Part 2 of our round-up of 20 videos that sum up the 20-year history of Sony’s PlayStation gaming console, first launched back in December 1994.
The PlayStation 3 launched in 2007 marked the third iteration of the Sony series and had a ‘Blu’ trick up its sleeve over the Xbox 360 which was now on a par with them, and as they would later find out, out-selling Sony for the first time.
By making sure the PlayStation 3 was able to play Blu-ray discs, it not only gave it an advantage in the marketplace for people to watch the latest standard of film viewing, it also gave it an edge over the Xbox 360 with games being able to utilise the much-bigger disc size that comes with Blu-ray.
Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 and Microsoft’s attempts to make HD DVD the standard failed miserably, with a special disc drive to be able to play the DVDs having to be bought separately bringing back comparisons with Sega’s attempts to modernise an older system with cumbersome add-ons.
Despite this, the PlayStation 3 is still probably the least-successful of the consoles, or at least is looking likely to be given the rate of purchases of PlayStation 4s since its launch last year.
Over a year on from its release, the PlayStation 4 has seemingly come out relatively unscathed against its biggest rival, the Xbox One, which arguably lost due to simple economics, that being, Sony launching their gaming console for €100 cheaper and gearing it more towards gamers, rather than as a home entertainment system that Microsoft had for the Xbox One.
However, we’re still waiting for the first defining game of the latest generation, but this journalist’s bet is on Tom Clancy’s: The Division, scheduled for an early 2015 release, looks simply stunning.
PlayStation 3 image via Wikimedia Commons
11: This Is Living – PlayStation 3
Once again, Sony don’t feel they need to actually advertise their latest product with the first advert for the PlayStation 3 not even mentioning gaming, or dreaming, or … anything. Still cool, mind you.
12: The Last of Us
Considered one of the best games of the last 10 years, the PlayStation exclusive, The Last of Us, introduced us to Joel and Ellie as they battle through a post-apocalyptic zombie-filled America.
While the gameplay was relatively straight forward, the visuals and storytelling drew more similarities with a heartfelt indie film hit than a major video game release.
Re-released on the PlayStation 4, the game has gone on to win a number of awards and rumours are that a film is in the works.
Because it was a PlayStation 3 exclusive, the game arguably sold thousands of consoles by gamers who were just that eager to play the game which is some achievement.
13: Gran Turismo 5
The legendary racing simulator reached new heights with Gran Turismo 5, five years after the fourth iteration and the first on the PlayStation 3.
The game featured a host of celebrity inclusions, most notably Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May from TV’s Top Gear, and talk-show host and car nut, Jay Leno.
14: LittleBigPlanet
While games you could create yourself were numerous for years on PCs, console gamers were often left waiting for game desingers to present them with a product and then play it, with little-to-no input creativity-wise.
That changed however, with LittleBigPlanet, launched in 2008 on the PlayStation 3, that allowed players to create their own side-scrolling adventures and share them online for other people to play.
Eventually building communities online, the game could arguably be considered a pre-cursor to the pick-up-and-play ideals that were introduced in Minecraft, something which has since migrated to consoles making it one of the most played games of all time.
15: inFAMOUS
Launched in 2009, inFAMOUS rode the superhero train pretty hard with its creation of Cole, an average person turned into a superhero in a world where you can source your powers from the world around you.
Performing epic stunts with some stunning visuals, the game became a fan favourite on the PlayStation 3 and went on to spawn two other successors, including one for the PlayStation 4.
PlayStation 4 image via Wikimedia Commons
16: For the players since 1995
Another piece of marketing brilliance by Sony prior to the launch of the PlayStation 4 with their anniversary video charting one boy’s gaming history from school to his 20s across the four consoles. Serious nostalgia pangs going on here.
17: Quantic Dream tech demo
The Playstation 4 had one of the biggest releases of any console ever and featured some impressive tech demos, most noticeably from the team at Quantic Dream, creators of Heavy Rain, who amazed crowds in early 2013.
Check out these incredibly life-like scenes using their latest graphics engine.
18: PlayStation 4 friendly competition TV advert
Safe to say Sony just goes all-out nowadays with its marketing budget with one of its latest adverts showcasing Destiny, Far Cry 4, NBA 2K15 played between two friends in blockbuster style.
19: GTA V next-gen upgrade
Just missing out on the release of the next-gen consoles, Rockstar Games decided that it had to do GTA V justice by re-launching the game, with added profits no doubt, to bring it graphically to the current standard.
Now featuring first-person mode, the game looks more dangerous and chaotic than ever before and arguably a lot of fun.
20: Tom Clancy’s: The Division
So looking forward, the game on everybody’s lips is most definitely Ton Clancy’s: The Division which pictures a stunningly-detailed re-creation of New York following its collapse after a virus.
Here’s hoping it promises to be everything that it says it will and not like Watch Dogs which ended up being a shadow of its original demo presentation.
