Introduced in 1994 by the Japanese electronics manufacturer Sony and available on the retail market up until 2006, the PlayStation is today considered the epitome of the modern computer games console. What started out as a collaborative project between Sony and the video games producer Nintendo, eventually developed into an enormously successful console that entered the video games market as a competitor to the then-dominant Super Nintendo and the hastily launched Sega Saturn.

With sales totaling over 100 million units, the PlayStation was ultimately outdone by its own successor, the PlayStation 2. Instead of modular software units, games were offered in CD format. The console’s combat and role playing games, for example Tekken, Final Fantasy VII, Tomb Raider and Resident Evil, proved especially popular with the game-playing public. Later versions expanded on the overall diversity of gaming options with additional features such as karaoke microphones, dancing mats and other interactive functions. The fourth generation PlayStation, released in 2013, has primarily competed with Nintendo’s Wii U and Microsoft’s Xbox One for the status of the world’s most popular gaming machine.