Sony has made a name for itself as one of the three main players in the gaming world, along with Nintendo and Xbox. They have delivered some of the best gaming consoles to date with the PlayStation. This trend has continued in today's world, with owners of the PS4 and PS5 still getting treated to high-end entertainment with great games coming out on both systems.
Each of Sony's reveal events has been centered around players, while other console makers like Microsoft have made the case that consoles can be more than just for playing games. Sony, rather, has stayed with games as being the center of these events. That consistency has made the PlayStation one of the most sought-after pieces of technology today, and for good reason. Players can enjoy great games, usually without breaking the bank. This list shows how important each reveal event was for each console, and what it meant for players.
6 PlayStation 3
Midway into the 2000s, gaming got more complicated. Both Sony and Microsoft had their respective consoles adapt to the times, and Sony's PlayStation 3 debuted with a futuristic look that has become a staple for how PlayStations look now. It wasn't the most successful reveal because of the price tag, which was more expensive than their direct competitor, the Xbox 360. However, Sony did fix this issue by releasing two slimmer, more affordable models later on.
Not everything about the initial reveal was bad, though. The PlayStation 3 was home to some great RPGs, which made it the go-to console for fans of the genre. Because of that, future PlayStation models have become the console for RPGs. What made the PlayStation 3 great before the price reveal was how expansive it was. Players could hook up many devices on it, and it was first console generation to have wireless controllers, which made players feel freer.
5 PlayStation 4 Pro
The high variant of the PlayStation 4 was revealed as a better option for gamers who didn't want to overspend. Just like the base PlayStation 4, players were at the forefront: this high-end variant made games run better. Since players had devices that already could do 4K, the PlayStation 4 Pro made the best use of those devices. It was the first PlayStation console to do 4K, whoch made players a little more excited because they didn't need to spend money on a PC.
Sony leaned on the success of the PlayStation 4, because without that console, the PlayStation 4 Pro wouldn't have been successful. And without those games to show the power of the PlayStation 4 Pro, the reveal would have been hollow and unnecessary.
4 Playstation 5
This console was revealed in a much different way due to the looming pandemic, but what players took away from it was the look of the PlayStation 5, which created an ever-flowing supply of internet memes. Because of the success of the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 was already met with acclaim because of its launch titles and exclusives, and it was priced in the middle of expensive and affordable. However, for the first time in Sony's history, the console was accompanied by an all-digital version that had no disk tray meaning players would need to download games. This was a direct response to the Xbox's Xbox Series S, which had the same all-digital feature.
This helped make the PlayStation 5 more enticing, because now players didn't need to spend a lot of money in order to get the modern gaming experience. Unlike the Xbox Series S, which is a technical downgrade from the Xbox Series X, the all-digital PlayStation 5 is the exact same as the disked Playstation 5, so it makes sense for players to opt for the cheaper one. Memes aside, the PlayStation 5 has become a fan favorite, thanks to the games on the system.
3 Playstation 1
The first time Sony dipped its toes into gaming, it left an impact that can be felt today. Moving towards disk-based games that expanded memory changed gaming for a time, but the Playstation 1 helped pioneer the way gamers play today. At the time Sony's direct competitor was Nintendo, which was very clear in the games that were being made for the console. PlayStation's mascots Crash Bandicoot and Spyro were their response to Nintendo's Mario, and left a positive impact on the gaming world.
But what made the Playstation 1 reveal so impactful was how brief the price reveal was. $299 was considered somewhat expensive, but at the same time, accessible. This helped make the Playstation 1 the main home console for many gamers at the time, and further cemented the company as a serious force to be reckoned with for Nintendo. Because it was disk-based, games got even more complex and better-looking — and that alone helped shift the gaming world towards wider use of disks.
2 Playstation 2
Probably the most important and impactful console that Sony has put out, the PlayStation 2 left quite the legacy behind, and there's good reason for players to remember the reveal event vividly. First, the PlayStation was revealed to be online-ready before the original Xbox. This was a huge step for console gaming.
While it was rather expensive, that price tag came from how powerful and technologically advanced for its time PlayStation 2 was. The best part was that the console was backwards compatible, meaning that that PlayStation 1 controllers, games, and memory cards worked on the new system. The jump in technology was evident in many of the games that looked amazing on the PlayStation 2 at the time, and many games started to not just look better but perform much better. The fourth Grand Turismo, for example, was applauded for being a great-running game overall. While the PlayStation 3 made RPGs its main genre, it wouldn't have done so if the PlayStation 2 didn't have such an amazing catalog of RPGs of its own.
1 Playstation 4
Thanks to the polarizing reveal of the Xbox One, Sony leapt into the spotlight. Players were in an uproar because the Xbox One required players to be online at all times, and used games wouldn't work because players needed to verify the game, which made borrowing games useless. Sony saw all this, and their reveal at E3 took plenty of jabs at Microsoft. With the PlayStation 4, players can be offline, they can play borrowed or used games — and the console cost one hundred dollars less than the Xbox One.
Not only was the console reveal well-received, but so were the games that came along with it. The PlayStation 4 has housed many record-breaking games like The Last of Us Remastered that are highly rated. All this made the perfect storm for the PlayStation 4 to be not just one of the best PlayStation consoles, but probably one of the best consoles to date. The reveal showed how Sony is still consistent with their gaming at the center, because everything about the Playstation 4 is catered towards the gamer.