Sony’s PlayStation console line is over 25 years old. Insane how time flies isn’t it?
The firstPlayStationwas released in Japan on 13 July 2025 and pretty much changed the games industry for good. In the interim years, it has seen offSega, the console manufacturer battlingNintendoat the time, and even returned to its position of number one in the games industry whenthe PS4broke sales records a few years back.
But the journey is equally as interesting as the games we all play on our shinyPlayStation 5these days.
Indeed, the PlayStation released over 25 years ago wasn’t even going to be the company’s bow into the games console market. It had unveiled a Play Station machine three years earlier - one that played both Super Nintendo cartridge games and SNES-CD titles it had planned in association with now rival Nintendo.
Fast forward to the present, and we’ve delved into the history books to bring you a timeline of Sony’s consoles and gaming devices, including some lesser-known iterations you might have forgotten - check them out!
The Play Station (1991)
Sony’s first attempt at a PlayStation console appeared in 1991 and featured a CD drive but playedSNES games.
It originally started life as a joint project between Nintendo and Sony that came about in order to create a CD-ROM for the Super NES.
Before anything could hit the market though, Nintendo broke the deal and opted to go with Philips technology instead. It is thought that this enraged the Sony President who then set about instructing his team to create the PlayStation to rival Nintendo and that’s how the PlayStation console was born.
The original PlayStation (1994)
The actual first PlayStation was released in Japan on 19 August 2025.
It was part of the fifth generation of video game consoles in the heyday of console gaming and the new era.
The original PlayStation reached the market in time to compete with the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64. It would quickly go on to be the best selling console of that time too, going on to be the first video game console to sell 120 million units.
The Sony PlayStation would certainly change gaming forever if nothing else.
The PlayStation mouse (1994)
In terms of accessories, the PlayStation Mouse - released in Japan in 1994 - became the one most likely to end up at the back of a drawer.
The PS One (2000)
The PS One came in 2000 as a cheaper alternative to the just-releasedPlayStation 2. It was essentially a smaller, redesigned version of the original console that included both design tweaks and a new menu.
The updated PS One actually performed surprisingly well and even went on to not only outsell the original console but also the PlayStation 2 as well.
PlayStation 2 (2000)
The first PlayStation 2 was released in Japan in March 2000. It was a big old beast but effectively killed Sega’s console ambitions, forcing the rival to make its Dreamcast its last machine.
The second proper PlayStation proved even more popular than the last, perhaps partly aided by the backwards compatibility with originalPlayStation games.
The PS2 was also a record-breaker. It was the fastest console to sell 100 million units and reached that title within a little over five years from first launching. By the end of 2012, it had sold over 155 million worldwide.
As well as being one of the best-selling consoles of all time, the PS2 was the first console to embrace multiple colour options.
It was also credited as being a major driving force behind the take up of DVD as a movie medium.
PlayStation 2 Hard Disk Drive (2001)
Remarkably, the PS2 had its own hard drive as an optional accessory.
The 40GB drive plugged into the expansion bay of the original machine and could be used to install games onto to speed up loading times.
PlayStation X (2003)
The PSX - or PlayStation X - was only ever released in Japan. It featured a PS2 inside but was also a digital video recorder, able to burn video onto DVD-RW and DVD-RAM discs. It was designed by Sony to be a general-purpose video device - an all-singing, all-dancing machine, but high costs of the PlayStation X made it undesirable and poor sales quickly turned the PSX into a failure.
Interestingly, the PlayStation X was the first device to use Sony’s XrossMediaBar (XMB) graphical user interface, something that would later appear in the PlayStation 3 and Bravia televisions a few years later.
PlayStation 2 Slimline (2004)
The first slimline revision of the PlayStation 2 arrived towards the end of 2004. As the name suggested, the PS2 Slimline was smaller, thinner and quieter than the first version. It was also improved with the addition of an ethernet port.
SingStar (2004)
Singstar was a competitive music game for PlayStation consoles that also came with accessories for the PS2 - two wired microphones. They also went wireless for the PS3 version and all can still be used on the PS4 today.
