The PlayStation is a video game console of the 32-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the mid 1990s. The original PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of console and hand-held game devices, which has included successor machines including the PSone (a smaller version of the original), PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the forthcoming PlayStation 3.
By June 2005, the PlayStation/PSone had shipped a total of 100 million units, becoming the first home console to ever reach that mark.
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is Sony's second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000 and in the North American market on October 26, 2000. It was released in Europe on November 24, 2000.
The PS2 is part of the sixth generation era, and has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, with over 100 million units shipped, beating the previous record holder, the PlayStation, by three years and nine months.
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) ,a handheld game console, is a product of Sony Computer Entertainment. It's Sony's third installment in the successful PlayStation line of video game consoles and their first entry into handheld systems. The PSP was first announced during E?2003 and was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E?2004.
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is Sony's next generation video game console in the market-leading PlayStation series. The Playstation 3 will be launched in the United States on April 29, 2006. It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will mainly compete against the Nintendo Revolution and Xbox 360. Sony has announced that the PS3 will be backward compatible with PS1 and PS2 games. At the moment, little more is known in public about the PS3 apart from its hardware specifications and reports that it will be based on open APIs for game development.
PSX is the name of a Sony media center, PVR and DVD recorder based on the PlayStation 2 video game console. Since it was designed to be a general-function audiovisual device, it was marketed by the main Sony Corporation (whereas SCEI markets the corporation's specific game-related hardware). It was released in Japan on December 13, 2003. There were plans to release it in other territories in 2004, but as of 2005, these plans appear to be postponed indefinitely.