Long story short, Nintendo overlooked the fine print on a contract with Sony by Hiroshi Yamauchi, then-president of Nintendo. The contract gave Sony all profits for a potential CD-ROM add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that was being developed by Ken Kutaragi. Yamauchi didn't like the deal, so he went with Phillips to develop a different CD-ROM add-on for the SNES, a deal which also imploded and caused Nintendo to spurn optical media for several years, as well as spawning the four infamous games based on Mario and Zelda on the Philips CD-i.
Feeling insulted by Nintendo's actions (as Nintendo chose to make the announcement in front of a public audience at CES, where the Sony CEO and Ken Kutaragi were also at)note , Sony moved on to attempting to woo the other hot video game company of the time: Sega. They sent Sony Electronic Publishing president Olaf Olafsson and Sony Corporation of America president Micky Schulhof to meet with Sega of America president Tom Kalinske, with the logic that both companies had a common enemy in Nintendo. The proposal of partnering with Sony intrigued Kalinske, who met up with Kutaragi, similarly bullish over the concept. The hardware, which both companies agreed had to be CD-based, would likely be sold at a loss, and the partnership could mean Sega and Sony splitting the losses. Kalinske then brought the idea to the attention of his Japanese counterpart Hayao Nakayama and the Sega Board of Directors, who promptly shot it down, claiming "That's a stupid idea, Sony doesn't know how to make hardware. They don't know how to make software either. Why would we want to do this?" note Sony and Nintendo would announce that they had mended fences for one final attempt on their aborted CD-ROM add-on, with a deal more favorable towards Nintendo this time, and with even more advanced spec sheet no less, on the very day Sega launched the Sega CD in Japan no less. Ken Kutaragi, the architect of the CD-ROM idea, had other ideas. Now emboldened with the experience gained in the gaming industry, and the launch of Sony Imagesoft, convinced the upper management of Sony, who were inclined towards hedging their bets with an alliance with a more experienced gaming company, that there was more to gain by going solo. They had the money, the connections and the clout.
Thus, the PlayStation as we know it was conceived when Sony reworked their fancy CD drive for the SNES into their own full-fledged video game console. Developers were getting excited by 3D gaming, so Kutaragi designed the system with that in mind and also made sure software development was easy so programmers could get their 3D system right out the gate. Sony's developer license had a "come one, come all" approach with very lax censorship policies, which meant that if you could develop a game, you could put it on the PlayStation. This led to games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, horror titles for mature audiences that Nintendo and Sega would not have published at the time. Sony also had a fairly generous US$10 licensing fee; since PlayStation games sold for about US$50, this was lower than the industry standard 30% (which would have been $15).note Thus began two generations of PlayStation dominance. The hardware was also adopted (often in enhanced form) for numerous Arcade Games by major companies such as Namco, Capcom, 8ing/Raizing, Taito, and Tecmo. This had the benefit of making arcade ports easier since they could actually be ports rather than total conversions (essentially remaking the game from the ground up for drastically different hardware) or Reformulated Games, which had previously been the norm.
In Japan, the PlayStation had a smooth start, but the pickup was still slower than a new console from the established brands. The Sega Saturn was putting up a strong fight owing to ports of Virtua Fighter and its sequel, becoming Sega's biggest console in the homeland, while PS1, solidly performing as it was, had yet to really take off. The platform was also initially unpopular for RPG titles, as it did not have any released for it despite debuting in Japan in 1994. The previous-gen Super Famicom was still the most popular system to release RPGs for by this point, as Enix chose to release Star Ocean on that system instead of the PlayStation, as did Namco with Tales of Phantasianote It wasn't until the deafeningly loud positive response for Square Soft's ground-breaking Final Fantasy VII that other major RPG developers were finally convinced to get on board.
While it had always been a success in North America, with a solid launch line-up and the $299 price announced at E3 1995 as an unintentional but convenient response to the Saturn's $399,note it had a bit of a slow start. Sony hired Bernie Stolar as head of Sony Computer Entertainment America, the arm responsible for licensing content and developers for the PlayStation in North America. Stolar's policies, specifically his "Five-Star Policy" that he used to prevent 2D games and JRPG localization releases from being released in North America, held back the system while prioritizing sports titles. However, the Japanese arm caught on, and following Stolar's removal, the PlayStation really began to take a foothold in the U.S. with the release of killer apps like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider I, the aforementioned Final Fantasy VII, and Metal Gear Solid.
Much of the PlayStation's success can be attributed to the actions of its competitors. The Sega Saturn left a lot to be desired thanks to its hardware being difficult to program for, plus Sega was making many poor decisions at the time (including, but not limited to, launching the Saturn four months early in America, leaving early adopters with nothing but its six launch titles to play for several months, and bringing the aforementioned Bernie Stolar aboard to institute the same anti-2D policies after Sony laid him off) that caused the console to flounder outside of Japan. While the Nintendo 64 was a more powerful machine and managed to outsell the PS1 in North America initially, its potential was bottlenecked by Nintendo's decision to stick with cartridges, which were more expensive to produce than CDs and had significantly less storage space. It also came to market nearly two years after the PlayStation, giving Sony a substantial head start. All of this, combined with the low licensing requirements mentioned previously, lead to the PlayStation being the console of choice for third-party developers, giving it a massive and diverse library of nearly 8,000 games, compared to the Saturn having just over 1,000 and the N64 not even getting 400.
Although the PlayStation is now often referred to as the "PS1" in order to differentiate it from its long line of successors, only the smaller, redesigned version of the original console, which was released late in its lifespan in 2000, is officially known as the "PS one" and was titled as such to avoid confusion between the original PlayStation model and its successor, the PlayStation 2. Despite this, written discussion of the console typically uses "PS one" to specifically denote the redesigned models and "PS1" to refer to the PlayStation console in general. That said, Sony has kept the "PS one" designation for its downloadable "PS one Classics" line. Don't confuse it with the latter-day PSX video device, even though it was common before the announcement of the PS2 to abbreviate the original PlayStation as "PSX", referring to its original codename "PlayStation X".note However, referring to the console as "PSX" isn't unheard of.
While it was acclaimed for introducing many to 3D consoles and harboring a large library that mostly took full advantage of CD media, the console had some infamous hardware issues. Many games had Loads and Loads of Loading that sometimes reached two minutes, and the console was prone to overheating, which was a huge problem when early models put the optical lens right next to the power supply (it would be moved to a less dangerous position in later revisions). The first batches even had a reputation for CD drive problems, as the fully plastic tray moved the laser into a position where it was no longer parallel with the CD surface over time. However, none of this stopped the PlayStation from becoming the highest-selling home video game console in the world at the time. Aside from the inevitable deluge of '90s kids with fond memories of Sony's 32-bit bombshell, the PlayStation also lives on among the audiophile community due to its sound quality allegedly being significantly better than many dedicated CD players.
In September 2018, Sony announced their own miniature Plug 'n' Play Game console: the PlayStation Classic
, in an attempt to ride off Nintendo's runaway success with their similarly named mini-consoles. It was released on December 3, 2018 (exactly 24 years after the original PlayStation's release in Japan), and contained 20 built-in games.Western List (exclusives in bold)Japanese List (exclusives in bold) While many had high hopes that it would be a worthy competitor to Nintendo's offerings, the final product was met with disappointment from critics and fans, who considered its game selection questionable at best, even considering the licensing issues for some of the more popular titles. The console also came with the original joystick-less controllers as well, making some games way more difficult to play than intended, and despite the fact that the PlayStation had been readily emulated for over two decades, the console was plagued with performance issues and inaccuracies (so much so that the NES Classic is considered a better PS1 emulator), and even more puzzling, some games had the inferior PAL versions included instead (likely due to the multilingual support that would make it easier to sell units worldwide). Not only did this mean that owners had to put up with the lower 50 Hz refresh rate, it also didn't play well with 60 Hz displays, as it introduced a lot of microstutter. Finally, the console was considered quite lacking in the feature department, with a bare-bones UI and no graphical filtering options or save states. It used an open-source emulator one could readily install on a PC or Raspberry Pi without having to buy an official device (which is hilariously ironic considering Sony's history of suppressing unofficial emulators like Bleem). Word spread of the device's cheap quality very quickly, and retailers had so much trouble selling it that its price was slashed mere weeks after its launch from USD $99 to USD $59, and even that wasn't enough to get rid of the mountains of unsold stock that retailers were stuck with. Much of the problems with the device have been attributed to it having been Christmas Rushed.
Specifications:
Processors
- A MIPS R3000-A 32-bit RISC CPU at 33.8688 MHz.
- A Vector Unit called the "Geometry Transformation Engine", built inside the CPU.
- A GPU. Although the CPU/GTE rotates and translates the polygons, the GPU rasterizes and shades them.
Memory
- 2 MB main Random Access Memory and 1 MB Video RAM. Bandwidth has a maximum of 130 MB.
- 512 KB of SRAM memory for sound with BBR compression.
- 32 KB CD buffer, used for commonly-accessed sectors of the disk.
- 128 KB (or 15-"block"note ) Memory Cards.
- Games came on standard CD-ROMs, holding up to 650MB each. They are easily identifiable by their iconic black backs, supposedly as an anti-piracy measure (and while this isn't true, it does make counterfeit games harder to produce). As the system's life progressed and the size and complexity of video games increased, companies began releasing their games on two discs, and a handful (23 in total) came on three or more. The largest game by total file size is the five-disc Tokimeki Memorial 2, at approximately 2.18GB.
- Optical drive is rated for 2x speeds for a read bandwidth of 2.4Mb/s.
- Supported the following formats:
- PlayStation Format CD-ROM
- CD-DA
- Video CD (SCPH-5903 only, this model was only released in Southeast Asian countries. Other models require a 3rd party "Movie Card" add-on)note
Graphics
- Polygon processing was done in the Geometry Transform Engine or GTE, which was built as a co-processor in the CPU itself. Texturing and shading the polygons is done through a seperate GPU.
- Sony claimed, with optimizations, that the GTE could process 1 million flat-shaded polygons or 500,000 textured polygons per second. This was likely only if the CPU was doing nothing else. In practice, the figures were more like 380,000 flat shaded polygons or 160,000 texture mapped polygons per second.
- Textures could be high quality for the time if they were programmed correctly, and could have quite a bit of detail. However, the GPU lacked any texture filtering, so textures often looked pixelated, especially when viewed up close. Nor was it able to do texture mapping well; due to the use of affine texture mapping (no accounting for perspective or depth), textures generally appear to warp if placed on triangles because the graphics processor does not process depth information, which is required to properly apply a texture map to a triangle. Textures applied only to quadrilaterals are correctly processed because the locations of a quadrilateral's corners provide enough information to properly texture it, unlike triangles. Some developers came up with tricks to minimize these effects, but it was just something that PlayStation owners got used to. This was made worse because most 3D modeling tools are based on triangles as their only primitives, so converting objects to use quadrilaterals instead of triangles to make texture mapping more smooth meant extra work.
- Furthermore, the graphics processor does not process depth at all. It requires the CPU to sort polygons from the back to the front, the order that the processor draws them in. Since no perfect system to do so can exist, especially if some polygons go through others, objects that are behind other opaque objects are sometimes shown when they should be hidden.
- The graphics processor can perform Gouraud shading on triangles where the lighting and color assigned to a non-textured triangle's vertices are smoothly blended throughout the triangle. If the triangle has a texture map, only the lighting can be smoothly blended through a triangle. Unfortunately, the graphics processor can only apply flat shading to a quadrilateral, meaning that a quadrilateral without a texture has one color and amount of light throughout it, and a textured quadrilateral has one shade of light applied throughout the whole shape. Developers were forced to choose good shading or good texture mapping, but not both.
- Finally, despite both the vector unit and rasterizer working with fixed-point mathematics (not as good as an FPU, but much better than nothing), only integers can be passed between the two with no Z-buffer in place, leading to the Line Boil-esque movement of polygons that typify PlayStation graphics. This causes the characteristic "wobbling" effect you'll see with polygons and textured polygons having crooked details.
- The "Motion Decoder", a hardware decompressor for JPEG-like image data. This can be used for still images, but its main purpose is to decode a video format similar to Motion JPEG. This made it feasible to mix FMV and polygon graphics, although most games only used it for cutscenes. By contrast, the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 used software decoding for FMV (though the Saturn had two CPUs and an optional hardware MPEG decoder for White Book video, while the N64's typically 8-64 Mb carts mostly precluded the use of FMVs).
- The system supports standard composite cables, S-video cables, and an RF Modulator for coaxial, all via the AV Multi Out port. However, very early models also had regular composite ports (with the very first model also including an S-video port) like a VCR, which was considered very unique as most consoles used proprietary AV ports. These AV Direct Out ports allegedly delivered superior audio quality than the AV Multi Out ports, making the early models popular among audiophiles for use as CD players. The AV Direct Out ports were removed starting with the SCPH-55XX revision.
Peripherals
- DualShock: Since the PlayStation was developed as a 3D system from the start, having three-dimensional control in its games would be vital, so the original PlayStation controller design featured not one, but two pairs of shoulder buttons for three-dimensional movement. Eventually, in 1997, Sony responded to the Nintendo 64's analog controller and rumble feature by incorporating force feedback and dual analog sticks into the controller. This controller design would later serve as the basis of all Sony first-party gamepad controllers, ranging from the PlayStation 2's DualShock 2 (with analog pressure-sensitive face buttons) to the PS3's Sixaxis and DualShock 3 (the former added motion-sensing abilities at the cost of force feedback and the latter brought rumble back while still using the motion sensor).
- In North America, Nintendo attempted to sue Sony for adding vibration and analog capabilities to the controller, but lost the case because using a different set of technology to produce the same result didn't violate its patents. Later, in 2002, California technology corporation Immersion successfully sued Sony and Microsoft on the same charge, winning in 2006 because the DualShock violated their patents (Immersion would later partner with Nintendo to develop the "HD Rumble" technology used in the Nintendo Switch).
- Dual Analog: Actually preceding the DualShock, the Dual Analog controller shared the same button placement as its successors, but distinguished itself with its longer grips, concave sticks, ridged shoulder buttons, and an additional compatibility setting for games that supported the little-known analog joystick note . It also lacked rumble outside of Japan.
- In North America, Nintendo attempted to sue Sony for adding vibration and analog capabilities to the controller, but lost the case because using a different set of technology to produce the same result didn't violate its patents. Later, in 2002, California technology corporation Immersion successfully sued
- Link Cable: A peripheral allowing for playing games with multiplayer modes without the need of Split Screen. However, it has two issues: 1) a set of two TVs, two PlayStation consoles, and two copies of the game are required, and 2) the cable isn't compatible with the redesigned PS one. About 30 games are compatible with the Link Cable, among which are the Armored Core series, the WipEout series, TOCA 2 Touring Cars, and Final Doom.
- Multitap: Allowed for four controllers to be connected to a single port, as the system otherwise only offered two-player support. Note the use of the word "port", as there was no limitation on using two of these, so the system theoretically could have up to eight controllers connected to it. Unfortunately, due to the barrier to being able to use more than two controllers in place, the console wasn't close to the multiplayer behemoth its main competitor was, in addition to the fact its weaker specs made it less practical to implement. Nonetheless, a small handful of games did support it.
- Net Yaroze: Sony's gift to bedroom programmers all over the world, the Net Yaroze (Yaroze being Gratuitous Japanese for "let's do it") was a one-of-a-kind development kit marketed to computer hobbyists as a chance to create their own PlayStation games. The $750 package included a special region-free black PlayStation console, manuals, instruction books, and software to get users started, although users had to supply their own computers and programming skills to create software for it. Usually, these games could be submitted to Sony to be published on the demo discs of the Official PlayStation Magazine. While most of the games produced with the Net Yaroze were fairly amateurish clones of commercial games such as Doom, Puzzle Bobble, and Pac-Man (one Doom clone going so far as to hang a lampshade on it by calling itself Clone), some of them were surprisingly ambitious (such as the Zelda-like RPG Terra Incognita). Although future Sony consoles have not featured similar in-depth homebrew options, it's possible to run distributions of Linux on both the PlayStation 2 and, until a firmware update released after the redesigned model, the PlayStation 3, and the demo disc that comes with the PlayStation 2 features a YABasic programming tool.
- PlayStation Mouse: A peripheral designed for games with mouse-friendly (or required) interfaces, such as Real-Time Strategy games (Command & Conquer series), Point & Click Adventure games (Broken Sword, Clock Tower, Discworld), or FPS games (Final Doom, Quake II). About 50 games, a number of which being Japan exclusive, are compatible with the PlayStation Mouse. A Tokimeki Memorial-themed mouse◊ was issued as one of the goods of the Tokimeki Memorial 1 Limited Edition Box.
- PocketStation: Sony's first handheld gaming system, despite it not even being its own console. Instead, it was sold as a memory card peripheral with a Tamagotchi-like design, similar to the VMU of the later Sega Dreamcast (though the VMU actually came first). It featured a small monochrome screen, a directional pad, and an action button, which could be used to play small minigames transferred to the system from its parent console. The system itself never saw release outside of Japan note , but some globally-released PocketStation-compatible games retained their compatibility with the system, including Final Fantasy VIII, where the PocketStation game Chocobo World was included as a bonus in the PC port. On the original game, Chocobo World could still be played if you had imported a PocketStation from Japan. It also serves as a way for select WonderSwan titles to interface with select PlayStation titles (Mostly Bandai ones) via a WonderWave attached WonderSwan interfacing with a PocketStation attached PlayStation (i.e. the WonderSwan game Digital Partner interfacing with the PocketStation game Pocket Digimon World, for example).
- SCPH-131 LCD Screen: A small, speaker-equipped LCD screen for the PS one. Released as a bundle with the PS one model, the screen attaches to the back of the console via two large bolts (typically screwed on with a coin), making the PS one semi-portable if you can commandeer a power outlet (e.g. a car adaptor). The screen also had ports in the back to allow for full AV pass-through to a television, meaning the screen could remain attached indefinitely.
Games/Series:
- Abala Burn
- Aconcagua
- Actua Sports:
- Actua Soccer
- Actua Golf
- Actua Soccer Club Edition
- Actua Golf 2
- Actua Soccer 2
- Actua Ice Hockey
- Premier Manager 98
- Actua Tennis
- Actua Golf 3
- Actua Soccer 3
- Pool Shark (also known as Actua Pool)
- Premier Manager Ninety Nine
- Actua Ice Hockey 2
- Advanced Variable Geo
- Advanced V.G. 2
- The Adventure of Little Ralph
- Air Combat
- AirGrave
- Akuji the Heartless
- Alien Trilogy
- Alnam no Kiba
- Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge
- Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
- Alundra
- Ape Escape
- Apocalypse
- Arc the Lad
- Arc the Lad II
- Arc the Lad III
- Area 51
- Armed Fighter
- Armored Core
- Army Men
- Assault Retribution
- Asuka 120% Excellent BURNING Fest.
- Asuka 120% Special BURNING Fest.
- Asuka 120% Final BURNING Fest. (developed by SUCCESS Corp. instead of Fill-in-Café)
- Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life
- Azure Dreams
- Backyard Soccer
- Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!!: Eternal Wings
- Banshee's Last Cry (as Kamaitachi no Yoru Tokubetsu Hen)
- Barbie:
- Barbie Explorer
- Barbie Gotta Have Games
- Barbie Race & Ride
- Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise
- Barbie: Super Sports
- Baroque
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
- Battle Arena Toshinden
- Battle Arena Toshinden 2
- Battle Arena Toshinden 3
- Battle Arena Toshinden 4
- Toshinden Card Quest
- Puzzle Arena Toshinden
- Battle Arena Nitoshinden
- Battle Athletes: Daiundoukai GTO
- Battle Hunter
- Beast Wars: Transformers
- Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals
- beatmania
- Beyond the Beyond
- Bishi Bashi Special (two versions of the game was released for the console: the original Japanese version and a European version that combines both this game and the sequel into one CD)
- Bishi Bashi Special 2
- Bishi Bashi Special 3
- Salaryman Champ: Tatakau Salaryman
- Black/Matrix
- Blade 2000
- Blast Chamber
- Blaster Master: Blasting Again
- Blasto
- Blazing Dragons
- Bloody Roar
- Bloody Roar 2: Bringer Of The New Age
- Blue Breaker: Egao no Yakusoku
- Blue Breaker Burst: Bishou Hohoemi o Anata to
- Blue Breaker Burst: Egao no Asu ni
- Bob the Builder: Can We Fix It?
- Boku no Natsuyasumi
- Bomb Boat
- Bomberman:
- Bomberman Fantasy Race
- Bomberman Land
- Bomberman Wars
- Bomberman World
- BRAHMA Force: The Assault on Beltlogger 9
- Brain Dead 13
- Bratz
- Brave Fencer Musashi
- Brave Prove
- Brave Series:
- Brave Saga: Shin Sedai Robot Senki
- Brave Saga 2
- GaoGaiGar: Blockaded Numbers
- Bravo Air Race
- Air Race Championship
- Breakout
- Breath of Fire:
- Brigandine: The Legend of Forsena
- Broken Helix
- Broken Sword
- Bubsy 3D
- Bushido Blade
- Bushido Blade 2
- Bust a Groove
- Bust a Groove 2
- Bust-A-Move (not to be confused with the above Bust a Groove)
- Bust-A-Move 2
- Bust-A-Move 3
- Bust-A-Move 4
- Buster Bros. Collection
- C-12: Final Resistance
- Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro
- Captain Commando
- Cardinal Syn
- Carmageddon
- Cartoon Network:
- Castlevania:
- Centipede (1998)
- Chaos Break
- Chase the Express
- Chicken Run
- Chrono Trigger
- The City of Lost Children
- Civilization (Japan exclusive)
- Civilization II
- Cleopatra Fortune
- Click Medic
- Clock Tower (1995)
- Codename: Tenka
- Colin McRae Rally
- Colin McRae Rally 2
- Colony Wars
- Colony Wars: Vengeance
- Colony Wars III: Red Sun
- Community Pom
- Constructor
- Contra:
- C: The Contra Adventure
- Contra: Legacy of War
- Cooking Fighter Hao
- Cool Boarders
- Cool Boarders 2
- Cool Boarders 3
- Cool Boarders 4
- Cool Boarders 2001
- Cosmo Warrior Zero
- Cotton Original
- Cotton 100%
- Countdown Vampires
- Cowboy Bebop
- Crash Bandicoot:
- Crazy Climber:
- Hyper Crazy Climber
- Crazy Climber 2000
- Crime Crackers
- Crime Crackers 2
- Crisis Beat
- Crisis City
- Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
- Croc 2
- Crypt Killer
- Crusader: No Remorse
- CT Special Forces
- Cu-On-Pa
- Cyber Org
- Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness
- Cyborg 009: The Block Kuzushi
- Cyborg Kuro-chan
- D
- Daikoukai Jidai IV: Porto Estado
- DanceDanceRevolution:
- DanceDanceRevolution
- DanceDanceRevolution Disney Mix
- DanceDanceRevolution Konamix
- Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi!
- Dancing Blade Katte ni Momotenshi II: Tears of Eden
- Dangan
- Danger Girl
- Darius Gaiden
- G.Darius
- Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors
- Darkstalkers 3
- Dark Seed
- Dead or Alive
- Deathtrap Dungeon
- Defeat Lightning (released as Future Racer in Europe)
- Descent
- Destrega
- Dezaemon:
- Dezaemon Plus
- Dezaemon Kids!
- Diablo
- Diablo (1997)
- Die Hard Trilogy
- Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas
- Digimon:
- Dino Crisis
- Dino Crisis 2
- Discworld
- Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!
- Discworld Noir
- Disney:
- Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge
- Atlantis: The Lost Empire
- A Bug's Life
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- Dinosaur
- Donald Duck: Goin' Qu@ckers
- The Emperor's New Groove
- Lilo & Stitch: Trouble in Paradise (not subtitled on the game's American release)
- The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure
- Mickey's Wild Adventure
- Monsters, Inc.: Scream Team
- Peter Pan: Return To Never Land
- Tarzan (a port of the computer game of the same name)
- Tigger's Honey Hunt
- Toy Story 2
- Treasure Planet
- Disruptor
- The Divide: Enemies Within
- DonPachi
- DoDonPachi
- Doom: Custom PlayStaton Edition
- Double Dragon (Neo-Geo)
- Dragon Ball:
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
- Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout
- Dragon Quest:
- Dragon Seeds
- Dragon Valor
- Driver
- Driver 2
- Duke Nukem:
- Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes
- Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
- Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
- Dynasty Warriors
- Eagle One: Harrier Attack
- Echo Night
- Ecsaform
- Eggs of Steel
- Ehrgeiz
- Einhänder
- Elemental Gearbolt
- EOS: Edge of Skyhigh
- Eternal Eyes
- Evil Dead: Hail to the King
- Evil Zone
- Excalibur 2555 A.D
- Expert
- Extra Bright
- Extreme Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Invasion
- Fade to Black
- Fatal Fury:
- Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition
- Real Bout Fatal Fury
- Real Bout Garou Densetsu Special: Dominated Mind (Japan exclusive)
- Fear Effect
- Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix
- Felony 11-79
- Runabout 2
- Fighter Maker
- Fighters' Impact
- Vs. (an American localized version of Fighters' Impact)
- Fighting Eyes
- Fighting Force
- Fighting Force 2
- Final Fantasy:
- Fire Pro Wrestling: Iron Slam '96
- Fire Pro Wrestling G
- Forget Me Not: Palette
- Forsaken
- Fox Hunt
- Frenzy!
- Frogger:
- Frogger (1997)
- Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge
- Front Mission
- Front Mission Alternative
- Front Mission 2
- Front Mission 3
- Future Cop: L.A.P.D.
- Fuuun Gokuu Ninden
- G-Police
- G-Police: Weapons of Justice
- Gaia Seed: Project Trap
- Galaxy Fraulein Yuna: Final Edition
- Galerians
- The Game Of Life
- Gamera 2000
- Ganbare Goemon:
- Ganbare Goemon: Kuru nara Koi! Ayashige Ikka no Kuroi Kage
- Ganbare Goemon: Ōedo Daikaiten
- Ganbare Goemon: Shin Sedai Shūmei!
- Ganbare Goemon: Uchū Kaizoku Akogingu
- GEAR Fighter Dendoh
- GeGeGe no Kitarō: Gyakushuu! Youkai Daikessen
- Gekido: Urban Fighters
- Gekioh: Shooting King
- Gekisou TomaRunner
- Gekitotsu Toma L'Arc: TomaRunner vs. L'arc-en-Ciel
- Genei Tougi: Shadow Struggle
- Critical Blow
- Geppy-X
- Gex
- Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko
- Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko
- Ghost in the Shell
- Glover
- Gobli's Adventure
- Goiken Muyou II
- Gold And Glory The Road To El Dorado
- Gradius Gaiden
- The Granstream Saga
- Gran Turismo
- Gran Turismo 2
- Grand Theft Auto
- Grandia
- The Great Battle VI
- The Grinch (2000)
- Guardian's Crusade
- Gubble
- Guilty Gear: The Missing Link
- The Gun Shooting
- The Gun Shooting 2
- Gunbare! Game Tengoku 2
- Gunbird
- Gundam:
- Gundam: The Battle Master
- Gundam: The Battle Master 2
- Gundam: Battle Assault
- Gundam Battle Assault 2
- Gunfighter: The Legend of Jesse James
- Gungage
- Gunmm: Martian Memory
- Gunners Heaven (released as Rapid Reload in Europe)
- Gunparade March
- Gussun Oyoyo
- Zoku Gussun Oyoyo
- Gussun Paradise (released as YoYo's Puzzle Park in Europe)
- Hakaiou: King of Crusher
- Hard Edge
- Harmful Park (a limited release, copies nowadays are a rarity)
- Harry Potter:
- Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (the original one)
- Harvest Moon: Back to Nature
- Harvest Moon: Back To Nature For Girl (Japan exclusive for the console, but was translated internationally for a PSP port)
- Heart of Darkness
- Heaven's Gate
- Hell Night
- Herc's Adventures
- Hermie Hopperhead: Scrap Panic
- Tamago de Puzzle
- Hexen
- High School! Kimengumi: The Table Hockey
- Hogs of War
- Hokuto no Ken: Seikimatsu Kyūseishu Densetsu
- Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth
- Hydro Thunder
- Hyper Speed GranDoll
- In the Hunt
- Incredible Crisis
- Intelligent Qube
- I.Q. Final
- Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
- Iron & Blood: Warriors of Ravenloft
- Irritating Stick
- ...Iru!
- iS: Internal Section
- Jackie Chan Stuntmaster
- Jade Cocoon
- James Bond:
- Jersey Devil
- Jet Moto
- Jet Moto 2
- Jet Moto 3
- Johnny Bazookatone
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future
- Jump Start: Wildlife Safari Field Trip
- Jumping Flash!
- Jumping Flash! 2
- Robbit Mon Dieu
- Junk Brain Diagnosis: Kanako Enomoto
- Jurassic Park:
- Kaisoku Tenshi: The Rapid Angel
- Kakuge Yaro
- Kamen Rider:
- Kamen Rider (a video game based on the first series that started the entire franchise)
- Kamen Rider V3
- Kamen Rider Kuuga
- Kamen Rider Agito
- Kamen Rider Ryuki
- Kamen Rider: The Bike Race (features various Riders up to Agito)
- Kartia: The Word of Fate
- Kensei: Sacred Fist
- Kero Kero King
- Kid Klown In Crazy Chase 2: Love Love Honey Soudatsusen
- The Bombing Islands: Kid Klown's Craze Puzzle
- Kileak
- Killing Zone
- The King of Fighters:
- The King of Fighters '95
- The King of Fighters '96 (Japan exclusive)
- The King of Fighters '97 (Japan exclusive)
- The King of Fighters '98 (Japan exclusive)
- The King of Fighters '99: Millennium Battle
- The King of Fighters Kyo (Japan exclusive)
- King's Field (Japan exclusive)
- King's Field II (King's Field outside Japan)
- King's Field III (King's Field II outside Japan)
- Kingsley's Adventure
- Kitchen Panic
- Klaymen Klaymen: Neverhood no Nazo (Japan exclusive)
- Skullmonkeys
- Klaymen Gun Hockey (Japan exclusive)
- Klonoa:
- Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
- Klonoa Beach Volleyball
- KoroKoro Post Nin
- Koudelka
- Kowloon's Gate
- Krazy Ivan
- Kyuutenkai
- Langrisser:
- Langrisser I & II
- Langrisser IV & V Final Edition
- Lattice: 200EC7
- Legacy of Kain:
- Legend (1998)
- The Legend of Dragoon
- Legend of Legaia
- Legend of Mana
- LEGO:
- LEGO Island 2: The Brickster's Revenge
- LEGO Racers
- Lemmings:
- 3D Lemmings
- The Adventures of Lomax
- Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings
- Lethal Enforcers I & II
- Lightning Legend: Daigo no Daibouken
- Linda Cube Again
- Loaded
- Re-Loaded
- Lone Soldier
- Looney Tunes:
- The Lost Vikings 2 (also known as Norse by Norsewest: The Return of the Lost Vikings)
- Love & Destroy
- LSD: Dream Emulator
- Lucifer Ring
- Lunar:
- Machi
- Machine Hunter
- Macross: Do You Remember Love?
- Mad Panic Coaster
- Mad Stalker: Full Metal Force
- Magical Drop
- Magical Drop III
- Magical Drop F
- Majokko Daisakusen: Little Witching Mischiefs
- Majotachi no Nemuri
- Makeruna! Makendou 2
- Martian Gothic Unification
- Marvel vs. Capcom:
- Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen:
- Crush Course
- Magical Mystery Mall
- Winners Circle
- The Masters Fighter
- MDK
- Medal of Honor:
- Medarot R
- Medarot R Parts Collection
- MediEvil
- Mega Man:
- Mega Man (Classic):
- Mega Man 8
- Mega Man: Battle & Chase
- Rockman Complete Works
- Super Adventure Rockman
- Mega Man Legends:
- Mega Man Legends
- Mega Man Legends 2
- The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
- Mega Man X:
- Mega Man (Classic):
- Megatudo 2096
- Memories Off (original and 2nd)
- Metal Gear:
- Metal Gear Solid
- Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (originally released as a third disc for the Japan exclusive Integral update of the main game)
- Metal Slug:
- Metal Slug
- Metal Slug X
- Micro Machines:
- Micro Machines V3
- Micro Maniacs
- Mitsumete Knight
- Mizzurna Falls
- Monkey Hero
- Monkey Magic
- Monster Racer
- Monster Rancher
- Monster Rancher 2
- Monster Rancher Episode 2: Battle Card
- Monster Rancher: Hop-A-Bout
- Moon: Remix RPG Adventure (Japan exclusive)
- Moonlight Syndrome
- Mort the Chicken
- Mortal Kombat:
- Mortal Kombat II (Japan exclusive)
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy
- Mortal Kombat 4
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero
- Mortal Kombat: Special Forces
- Motor Toon Grand Prix
- The Mummy
- The Muppets:
- Myst
- N2O: Nitrous Oxide
- Namco Museum:
- Namco Museum Vol. 1
- Namco Museum Vol. 2
- Xevious
- Mappy
- Gaplus
- Grobda
- Dragon Buster
- Super Pac-Man (International version exclusive)
- Cutie Q (Japanese version exclusive)
- Bomb Bee (Japanese version exclusive)
- Namco Museum Vol. 3
- Namco Museum Vol. 4
- Namco Museum Vol. 5
- Namco Museum Encore (Japan exclusive)
- NASCAR Rumble
- Nectaris: Military Madness
- Need for Speed:
- Nekketsu Oyako (launch title)
- NFL Blitz (2000 and 2001)
- Nickelodeon:
- Night Raid
- Night Striker
- Nightmare Creatures
- Nightmare Creatures II
- Ninja Hayate
- Ninja Jajamaru-kun: Onigiri Ninpouchou
- Ninja: Shadow of Darkness
- No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
- Noon
- Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
- Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus
- Off-World Interceptor
- Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
- Oh No!
- Omega Boost
- ONE.
- One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e
- One Piece Mansion
- Otenki Kororin – Weather Tales
- OverBlood
- Pac-Man:
- Pac-Man World: 20th Anniversary
- Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
- Pajama Sam:
- Pandemonium! (1996)
- Pandemonium 2
- Panzer Bandit
- Panzer Front
- PaRappa the Rapper
- Parasite Eve
- Paranoiascape
- Parodius:
- Gokujou Parodius Da! Deluxe Pack
- Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius
- Paro Wars
- Sexy Parodius
- Pepsiman
- Philosoma
- Phix: The Adventure
- Pinball Fantasies
- Pinball Golden Logres
- Pinobee
- Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
- Play with the Teletubbies
- Policenauts (Japan exclusive)
- Pocket Fighter
- Point Blank (1994)
- Point Blank 2
- Point Blank 3
- Ghoul Panic
- Pong: The Next Level
- Power Instinct 2
- Power Move Pro Wrestling
- Power Rangers:
- Power Shovel
- PowerSlave note
- Primal Rage
- Pro Pinball:
- Project: Horned Owl
- Psychic Force
- Psychic Force 2
- Psychic Force Puzzle Taisen
- Puchi Carat
- Punky Skunk
- Puyo Puyo:
- Quiz Nanairo DREAMS
- R-Type:
- R-Types
- R-Type Delta
- Racing Lagoon
- The Raiden Project
- Raiden DX
- Rakugaki Showtime
- Rama
- Ranma ½: Battle Renaissance
- Rascal
- RAY Series:
- RayStorm
- RayCrisis: Series Termination
- Rayman:
- Re-Volt
- RC Revenge
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
- Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
- Real Robots Final Attack
- Reboot
- Resident Evil:
- Resurrection: Rise 2
- Reverthion
- Steeldom
- Revolution X
- Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
- Rhythm 'n' Face
- Ridge Racer:
- Ridge Racer
- Ridge Racer Revolution
- Rage Racer
- R4: Ridge Racer Type 4
- Rising Zan: The Samurai Gunman
- Rival Schools
- Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Nekketsu Seisyun Nikki 2 (a Japan exclusive update of the first game)
- Road Blaster
- Road Rash
- Road Rash 3D
- Road Rash: Jailbreak
- Robotron X
- Rock Raiders
- Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012
- Roll Away
- Rollcage
- Rollcage Stage II
- Firebugs
- RPG Maker
- Running High
- Running Wild
- Saber Marionette J: Battle Sabers
- Sabrina The Teenage Witch: A Twitch In Time!
- SaGa (RPG):
- Saiyuki: Journey West
- Sakigake!! Otokojuku: The Dodgeball
- Samurai Deeper Kyo
- Samurai Shodown:
- Samurai Spirits: Kenkaku Shinan Pack (a Compilation Re-release of Samurai Shodown and Samurai Shodown II)
- Samurai Shodown III: Blades of Blood
- Samurai Shodown IV: Amakusa's Revenge (Japan exclusive)
- Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage
- Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits: Bushidou Retsuden
- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Shooting
- Serial Experiments Lain
- Shadow Man
- Shadow Master
- Shaman King: Spirit of Shamans
- Shin Megami Tensei:
- Shin Megami Tensei I
- Shin Megami Tensei II
- Shin Megami Tensei if...
- Soul Hackers
- Persona:
- Revelations: Persona
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin & Eternal Punishment
- Shin Senki Van-Gale: The War of Neo-Century
- Sidewinder
- Sidewinder 2: Let's Dance in the Skies
- Silent Hill
- Silent Bomber
- Silhouette Mirage
- The Silver Case
- Skeleton Warriors
- Slam Dragon
- Slap Happy Rhythm Busters
- Slayers Wonderful
- Sleeping Cocoon (Nemu Lu Mayu)
- Snatcher (Japan exclusive)
- Sol Divide: Sword of Darkness
- Solar Eclipse
- Sonic Wings Special
- Soukyugurentai: Oubushutsugeki
- Soul Blade
- South Park
- Soviet Strike
- Nuclear Strike
- Space Jam
- Space Shot
- Speed Freaks (released as Speed Punks in North America)
- Speed Power Gunbike
- Speed Racer
- Spice World: The Video Game
- Spider: The Video Game
- Spider-Man (2000)
- Spyro the Dragon:
- Spyro the Dragon (1998)
- Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer in Europe)
- Spyro: Year of the Dragon
- Stahlfeder: Tekkou Hikuudan
- Star Gladiator Episode I: The Final Crusade
- Star Ocean: The Second Story
- Star Sweep
- Star Wars:
- Star Wars: Dark Forces
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode I - Jedi Power Battles
- Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi
- Star Wars: Rebel Assault II: The Hidden Empire
- Starblade α
- Starfighter Sanvein
- Steel Harbinger
- Steel Reign
- Street Fighter:
- Street Fighter Alpha:
- Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
- Street Fighter Alpha 2
- Street Fighter Alpha 3
- Street Fighter Collection
- Street Fighter EX:
- Street Fighter EX Plus α
- Street Fighter EX 2 Plus
- Street Fighter: The Movie
- Street Fighter Alpha:
- Street Racer
- Strider:
- Strider 2note
- Strider Hiryu: Capcom Game-Book
- Strikers 1945
- Strikers 1945 II
- Suiko Enbu
- Suikoden
- Suikoden II
- Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 1 - Swordsman of Harmonia
- Genso Suikogaiden Vol. 2 - Duel at Crystal Valley
- Summon Night
- Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
- Super Robot Shooting
- Super Robot Wars:
- Shin Super Robot Wars
- Super Robot Wars Complete Box, which has remakes of:
- Super Robot Wars F
- Super Robot Wars F Final
- Super Robot Wars Alpha 1
- Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden
- Super Sentai:
- Super Tokusatsu Taisen 2001
- Susume! Taisen Puzzle Dama
- Suzuki Bakuhatsu
- Syphon Filter
- Syphon Filter 2
- Syphon Filter 3
- T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
- Tail Concerto
- Tail of the Sun
- Tales Series:
- Tatsunoko Fight
- Team Buddies
- TearRing Saga
- TechnoMage: Return of Eternity
- Tecmo Stackers
- Tecmo's Deception: Invitation to Darkness
- Kagero: Deception II
- Deception III: Dark Delusion
- Tekken:
- Tekken
- Tekken 2
- Tekken 3
- Tempest X3
- Tenchu: Stealth Assassins
- Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins
- Tetris:
- Magical Tetris Challenge
- Tetris Plus
- Tetris with Cardcaptor Sakura: Eternal Heart
- Theme Hospital
- Theme Park
- Threads of Fate
- Thousand Arms
- Three Wonders
- Thunder Force V: Perfect System
- Time Bokan:
- Bokan to Ippatsu! Doronbo
- Bokan Desuyo
- Bokan Go Go Go
- Time Commando
- Time Crisis
- Time Crisis: Project Titan
- Time Gal
- Tiny Tank
- Tobal No. 1
- Tobal 2
- Tokimeki Memorial (Kirameki and Hibikino sagas)
- Tokyo Mew Mew: Tojo Shin Mew Mew! – Minna Issho ni Gohoshi Suru Nyan
- Tomb Raider:
- Tomba!
- Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return
- Top Shop
- Touki Denshou: Angel Eyes
- Trap Gunner: Countdown to Oblivion
- True Pinball
- Tunnel B1
- Twilight Syndrome:
- Twilight Syndrome: Tansaku-hen (Search Volume)
- Twilight Syndrome: Kyūmei-hen (Investigation Volume)
- Moonlight Syndrome
- Twilight Syndrome: Saikai (Reunion)
- TwinBee:
- Detana!! TwinBee Yahoo! Deluxe Pack
- TwinBee RPG
- TwinBee Taisen Puzzle Dama
- Twin Goddesses
- Twisted Metal
- Twisted Metal 2
- Twisted Metal 3
- Twisted Metal 4
- Twisted Metal: Small Brawl
- Tyco R/C: Assault with a Battery
- Ubik
- Ultraman Fighting Evolution
- Umihara Kawase Shun
- Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
- Uprising X
- Urban Chaos
- V-Ball: Beach Volley Heroes (released as Chou Sentou Kyuugi Vanborg in Japan)
- V-Rally
- V-Rally 2
- Vagrant Story
- Valkyrie Profile
- Vampire Hunter D
- Vanark
- Vandal Hearts
- Vandal Hearts II: Heaven's Gate
- Vanguard Bandits
- Vib-Ribbon
- Viewpoint
- Vigilante 8
- Virtual Hiryū no Ken
- Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer
- WarGames Defcon 1
- War Gods
- Warhawk
- Warriors of Might and Magic
- WCW:
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
- Wild 9
- Wild ARMs:
- Wing Commander:
- Wolf Fang
- WWE:
- WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game
- WWF In Your House
- WWF War Zone
- WWF Attitude
- WWF SmackDown!
- WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
- The X-Files Game
- X-Men: Mutant Academy
- Xena: Warrior Princess
- Xenogears
- Yarudora:
- Double Cast
- Kisetsu o Dakishimete
- Sampaguita
- Yukiwari no Hana
- You Don't Know Jack
- YDKJ: Mock 2
- Yu-Gi-Oh!:
- Yuuyami Doori Tankentai
- Zanac X Zanac
- Zeiram Zone
- Zero Divide
- Zero Divide 2: The Secret Wish
- Zoop
- Digimon Tamers: Pocket Culumon
- Doko Demo Issyo
- Koneko mo Issho
- Pocket Digimon World
- Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc
- Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc
- Pocket MuuMuu
- Pocketan
- Pocket Tuner
- Pokeler
- Pokeler DX Black
- Pokeler DX Pink
- Sno Pokeler
The PlayStation provides examples of:
- Advertising Campaigns: "U R Not E" (with the "e" colored red - thus, "You are not ready"). It was big the first couple years of the console's life.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The PS1 came with a cord that lets you play two-player multiplayer. Sounds awesome, right? Well, no, at least not when you go into how much effort is needed. If you happen to have two TVs, two PS1s, two controllers, and two copies of the same game, then you get to play two-player multiplayer. Despite the fact that the PS1 came with a port for a second controller already.
- Blipvert: Some of those early "U R Not E" ads had images on the screen for only a couple frames. The intro sequences on the first few Interactive CD Samplers had cheat codes flash on the screen that were impossible to read without recording the footage with a VCR and pausing it.
- Boring, but Practical: Of the three 5th generation consoles, the PlayStation was the easiest to develop for but the least specialized, lacking the hardware 2D capabilities of the Sega Saturn, the hardware Z-buffering and floating point unit of the Nintendo 64, and the RAM expandability of either. It instead just did 2D and 3D competently enough to get the job done for either type. This ease of development, combined with Sony making the liscensing cost fairly cheap, caused third party developers to flock to the PlayStation despite its competitors being more powerful on paper.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The DualShock controller design has become such an iconic piece of the product lineup that the original joystick-less PlayStation controller looks bizarre by comparison. However, the use of the right stick for camera control didn't become standardized until the next generation, so even later-day games on the system (for example, all three Spyro the Dragon games) often map camera control to dedicated buttons while the right stick does nothing.
- The Greatest Hits releases of games have green labels, as opposed to red as seen with the PlayStation 2 onwards.
- The PlayStation and its PS one redesign are top-loading consoles with a spring-operated lid. Every following PlayStation console would be front-loaded, first with an extending tray (the PlayStation 2) and later with cushioned conveyors.
- The DualShock controller design has become such an iconic piece of the product lineup that the original joystick-less PlayStation controller
- Easter Egg:
- One of the cool things about the system was that in many games that used Red Book/Compact Disc Digital Audio, it loaded the level data into the RAM, allowing the laser to read the soundtrack data on the CD. So, if you pop open the CD lid, take the game disc out, and insert a music CD, you can play the game with different music (at least, until the next time the game has to load more game data). Believe it or not, that was pretty nifty at the time. Vib-Ribbon in particular turned this unintended trick into a full-on gameplay feature, allowing the player to create custom levels simply by swapping out the game disc for a music CD (though track one will always be unplayable, as the Vib Ribbon disc uses that for game data, which translates extremely poorly when converted to audio).
- The Interactive CD Samplers had this; if you pressed the shoulder buttons on certain tiles, they would have three-button codes on the backside when they flipped. Insert the code and you would get a static screen of codes, or a hidden video or playable demo.
- Magazines: Had a number of official and unofficial magazines dedicated to just the PlayStation throughout its peak years. Also, Sony itself produced PlayStation Underground, a quarterly "magazine" that was a double disc with playable demos, as well as non-interactive items like interviews, behind-the-scenes/making-of videos, tips and tricks, cheat codes, and save file downloads.
- Mascot: Unlike its more traditional competitors, the PlayStation didn't have a first-party mascot. Instead it adopted a number of third-party mascots as certain games became smash successes — chiefly Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft and Sweet Tooth.
- No Export for You:
- Inevitable, given how massive the console's library was. Tons of titles from Japan never saw the light of day in America, although PlayStation Underground subscribers got a small sampling of a few of them, as they often included an Imports section with playable demos on their discs.
- The PocketStation was an add on for the PSX that could store small amounts of data to be taken with the player while they're out and about to play on. It was released in Japan, but never came to North America and Europe due to small sells even in its home country, and even moreso the worry that they might not have enough stock in Japan was another reason. As a result, several games that used the PocketStation for bonus content or as part of the balance simply lost it when exported internationally. Infamously, Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories ended up becoming brutally difficult compared to the Japanese version, due to the PocketStation being one of the main intended ways to get better cards without significant grinding.
- Overcrank: Used to provide the system startup sound of all things: the PS1 simply runs three different sound clips (a saw wave, windchimes, and a reversed recording of breaking glass) at an incredibly slow speed, leading to the booming, elegiac tune that has since become a hallmark of the console's identity. Additionally, the samples are slightly detuned between sound channels and run through the console's reverb processor, further enhancing the stereo image of the sound. Incidentally, these clips are also how the console ensures that it boots up and loads a disc properly; errors during either process cause the samples to play back improperly, which is what causes error sounds like "Personified Fear"* and "Fearful Harmony"*.
- Pre-Rendered Graphics: Pre-rendered cutscenes were a staple of many PS1 games, especially early on. FMV had existed before on the Sega CD and Philips CD-i, but the PS1 was the first console to successfully do so in a manner comparable to actual home videocassettes, thanks to its higher processing power.
- Product Facelift: The system had over 20 models within its lifetime. Most of these use the same shell and are differentiated by their BIOS and components, the latter of which were altered to fix hardware issues and/or reduce manufacturing costs. The most drastic overhaul was the PS one (lowercase intended), which used a new, smaller casing and had exclusive access to an LCD screen add-on that made it semi-portable (contrary to popular belief, it did not introduce the grey tiled menu screen and reverb effects for the CD player; these were available on units sold in Europe from the very start). It was released around the launch of the PlayStation 2 to extend the life of the PlayStation.
- Regional Bonus: Initially, the CD player's reverberation effects - and, by extension, the grey tile menu design as a whole - were features exclusive to earlier PlayStation models sold in PAL markets. It was only with the release of the PS one five years later that these features were brought over to Japan and America, albeit slightly modified.
- Truncated Theme Tune: When playing a PlayStation game on a PlayStation 2, it omits the first part of the logo animation (with the Sony Computer Entertainment logo), and skips to the PlayStation logo note . Conversely, playing a non-NTSC-J game on earlier Japanese units (either by disc swap or mod chip) skips the PlayStation logo entirely note .
- Video Game 3D Leap: The PlayStation was part of the generation where 3D graphics were brand new and everyone wanted to take advantage of the new tech. Sony's console famously hosted the 3D leaps of Final Fantasy (with Final Fantasy VII) and Metal Gear (with Metal Gear Solid), which went on to be hailed as some of the most influential games in history. The PlayStation also hosted the 3D leap of the Bubsy series with Bubsy 3D in Furbitten Planet, the chief example of a 3D leap gone wrong.
