While Sony’s current image in the industry has taken a major hit — an errant focus on live service games, controversially choosing to do away with discs, and severing ties with Hideo Kojima will do that for you — the PlayStation brand continues to perform strongly to this day. From the early days of the PlayStation to the tumultuous period of the PS5’s launch, gamers have flocked in droves to get their hands on every PlayStation console.
With console-selling exclusives like “Uncharted,” “God of War,” “The Last of Us,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” and “Horizon,” Sony’s focus on quality single-player experiences has worked out well. Even with a lack of heavy hitters on the PS5 in this department — again, the live service experiments may be to blame for this — it’s clear that Sony is committed to the strategy of strengthening its console with a lineup of exclusive games that will compel people to stick to the PlayStation brand. The fact that it has abandoned the approach of releasing PlayStation games on PC exemplifies this in spades.
PlayStation Vita
As much as Sony celebrates its victories, it also isn’t too keen on letting people know about its biggest failures. The PlayStation Vita falls in the latter category — this high-profile mistake is the biggest blip in Sony’s otherwise successful hardware pursuits, so much so that they never bothered to release the official sales figures for this console. According to industry analysts, this portable console is estimated to have sold 16 million units.
The PSP was successful, and Sony only needed to carry that momentum forward with its next portable offering. On paper, it seemed like the PS Vita had a lot of things going for it, aside from more powerful hardware — a larger screen that discarded the PSP’s LCD display for a touchscreen OLED, two analog sticks, a gyroscope for motion sensing, a rear touchpad, and front and rear cameras.
However, for all its hardware achievements, Sony failed to support this title with quality games. Shuhei Yoshida said that the gaming division simply didn’t have the resources to focus on both the PS3 and PS4 along with the PS Vita (via Video Games Chronicles). “Uncharted: Golden Abyss” and “Killzone: Mercenary” were great starting points, but the console eventually dwindled in terms of true exclusives, turning into a JRPG machine of sorts with “Persona 4 Golden” spearheading this shift. As a result, the PS Vita eventually faded into obscurity, with the Nintendo 3DS the de facto portable console everyone thought of buying at the time.
PlayStation Portable
The Nintendo DS is one of the best handheld game consoles ever made, so it’s an achievement in its own right that the PlayStation Portable managed to give this device some competition. Sony’s official sales metrics state that the PSP sold over 76.4 million, making it a great success even if it may be the least-selling Sony console after the PS Vita. The strong hardware helped it run a bunch of quality games, including “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker,” “God of War: Chains of Olympus,” “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite,” and both “Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories” & “Vice City Stories.”
Despite the lack of a second joystick, this didn’t stop people from enjoying these amazing titles on the PSP. It helped that Sony added enough features to help this console operate as a multimedia device on top of its gaming capabilities. After the release of the original device, Sony released various variants of the PSP. The PSP-2000 and PSP-3000 — also known as the PSP Slim or Lite, depending on your region — were arguably the most popular ones of the lot. Along with this, the PSP Go served as a digital-only version of this console, while PSP Street served as a budget-friendly alternative.
PlayStation 3
Given the poor launch of the PlayStation 3, it’s a massive achievement that it managed to come back to sell more than 87.4 million units. The inclusion of a Blu-ray player was ahead of its time, but it bumped up the price of the PS3 quite a bit. Gamers were shocked when the $599 and $499 price tags were announced for the 60GB and 20GB models, respectively. This, coupled with the powerful Cell processor that was challenging for developers to work with, set up a ton of self-imposed hurdles that helped the one-year-old Xbox 360 outsell its competitor for three years.
Unlike the PS Vita, Sony didn’t give up on the PS3 after this horrendous launch. They released the PS3 Slim in 2009 for a much more affordable $299 price tag, which helped. However, the biggest way that the PS3 positioned itself as a must-have console was the sheer number of quality exclusives that you could get on this console. “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” is still considered by many to be the most action-packed entry in the series; “God of War III” served as a fitting conclusion to Kratos’ Greek Mythology adventures; “Infamous” is a beloved open-world game with fans still clamoring for a remaster or a remake, and “The Last of Us” was such a visual and emotional treat that it’s still hard to believe that it was released on the PS3.
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 is yet to reach its final sales tally, so expect the 95 million metric to increase considerably before the console is finally shelved. This is especially true given how people are buying consoles in droves to play “Grand Theft Auto 6.” Despite its high sales, these numbers don’t tell the full story. Exclusive titles have been sparse on this console. Most big-budget titles are sequels to established IPs — such as “The Last of Us Part II,” “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” and “Horizon Forbidden West.” The ones that do try to do something original haven’t exactly received rave reviews. Sure, “Astro Bot” was a step in the right direction, but “Marvel’s Wolverine” proved that even the most loyal PS5 fans won’t be satiated with half-baked games.
This generation also showed a major shift in Sony’s approach to first-party exclusives. Single-player experiences were shelved in favor of pursuing the live-service payload, which has seen mixed results. “Helldivers 2” is their biggest success, but Sony acquiring Bungie ended up being a bad move for “Destiny 2,” although recent damage control measures might just help this game reach its lofty heights once again. “Marathon” has yet to see the high player numbers seen for successful live-service titles, but the biggest way they shot themselves in the foot was with the legendarily poor launch of “Concord.” In a way, the console’s impressive sales numbers despite these missteps and the PS5’s major price hike are indicative of just how poor Microsoft’s strategy has been with the Xbox Series X and S.
PlayStation
It’s a miracle that the PlayStation even exists. Sony initially intended to enter the console market in a partnership with Nintendo, aiming to launch a console that supported CD-ROMs. Unfortunately, before this partnership could evolve into something meaningful, Nintendo pulled out of this merger, leaving Sony high and dry. They tried to pitch a similar idea to Sega but to no avail. Thankfully, the company’s deep pockets meant that they had no problems entering the market on their own. Thus, Project PS-X came to be. This eventually evolved to become the PlayStation, with a resounding $299 price announcement that felt like more of a mic drop, serving as an instant response to the Sega Saturn’s $399 price tag.
The console launched on December 3, 1994, in Japan and sold 100,000 units on the very first day. Sony also tied up with major companies to develop games for the PS1, including Konami, Namco, and — perhaps the most infamous tie-up of them all — SquareSoft. The company’s switch from Nintendo to Sony for the release of “Final Fantasy VII” was seen as something of a betrayal. An updated version of this console, called the PS One, was released on September 19, 2000 — puzzlingly enough, around the same time as the PS2’s launch. All in all, Sony hit a home run with the PlayStation. They sold more than 102 million units of this console, which gave Sony the confidence it needed to become a major player in the video game hardware market.
PlayStation 4
Sony learned a ton of lessons from the PS3’s disastrous launch. It was clear that it needed to nail the launch of its console to maintain a strong presence in the industry, and it helped that Xbox had set up an easy layup after a disastrous showing at E3. It was almost as if the competition had forgotten that people buy video game consoles to play video games. Instead, Microsoft marketed its console as a second TV of sorts, and gamers widely derided the anti-consumerist restrictions on sharing games. Later that day, the legendary PS4 conference happened, with Sony announcing a $399 price tag — making the PlayStation 4 cheaper by $100 than the Xbox One, reminiscent of how the PS1 outdid the Sega Saturn in a similar manner — and showing how easy it is to share games on the PS4. It was a fantastic rib, and it’s a shame that Sony itself has walked back on this approach by announcing that PlayStation will stop producing physical discs in 2028.
Either way, this press conference was a hit on all fronts, which played a major role in helping the PS4 sell 117 million units over the course of its lifespan. Sony didn’t let up with a string of incredible titles for this console. The “God of War” reboot, “Marvel’s Spider-Man,” “Bloodborne,” “Horizon Zero Dawn,” “The Last of Us Part II,” and “Persona 5” all pulled their weight, making this console a must-have for anyone who wanted to play big-budget AAA games.
PlayStation 2
The first PlayStation marked a strong start for Sony, and it was important to carry this momentum forward for the next-generation offering. With the capabilities of a DVD player and backward compatibility, the PlayStation 2 had already made some major strides, but these aren’t the only reasons that led to the PS2 becoming the highest-selling home console of all time. Rather, it was the ultra-affordable $299 price tag that made it very easy for households to add a PlayStation 2 to their living room.
Some of the best PS2 games are still worth playing if you haven’t already. “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” ended the 3D trilogy on a high note, “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” was a perfect entry point into the series, “Shadow of the Colossus” showed how immersive video games could be with a minimalist approach, and “Final Fantasy X” was the last turn-based mainline title in a franchise that is yet to reach this peak. As a result, the PlayStation 2 flew off store shelves, selling more than 160 million units and becoming the highest-selling video game console of all time before ending its manufacturing after 12 years on the market. The Nintendo Switch came dangerously close to unseating the PS2 from its throne, although the company’s forecasts suggest that its innovative hybrid console won’t break this legendary record.
