PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5. If there’s one manufacturer that sticks to simple names, it’s Sony. Their consoles are given a number and this will likely continue indefinitely as long as they make consoles. There have been five PlayStations (as you of course know) (apart from the Pro versions) and we here at Gamereactor have weighed them up against each other, considering pros, cons, innovations and durability, and ranked them all. These are Sony’s best (home) consoles.
5. PlayStation 3 (2006)
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There is a certain misunderstanding that we in the editorial office often come across among many gamers, and it concerns which of the seventh-generation consoles sold the most (if we disregard the Wii, which surpassed both of its closest rivals). It’s clear that the Xbox 360 was probably the more popular and, above all, the better-liked console of the two, and looking back at Gamereactor, we have more truly fond memories of it than of Sony’s luxury alternative. That said, Sony sold 90 million PS3 consoles, while Microsoft sold 84 million Xbox 360 units, despite the PS3 getting off to a rough start, largely because Sony misjudged the market somewhat and priced its third machine far too high at launch.
It featured a really good Blu-ray player and an 8-core Cell processor with 90nm technology, making the machine cost significantly more than the Xbox 360 at launch. On paper, it was also clearly more advanced, but this was never really noticeable in the best-selling multi-format games, as the major developers testified that Microsoft’s machine was easier to develop for. However, the PS3 was a pure premium product and apart from the terrible Spider-Man font on the launch edition, it was a very lavish affair designed to be the centerpiece of the living room.
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4. PlayStation 4 (2013)
With the PS4, Sony abandoned the expensive and on paper impressive Cell architecture and instead opted to partner with AMD and their X86-64 architecture, giving us a gaming machine that could theoretically squeeze out 1.84 teraflops per second. With the PlayStation 4, Sony introduced its first touchpad on the included DualShock 4 controller, which we all know has carried over to the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, and is a very useful feature when used correctly. It was also during this console generation that Sony first entered the VR market with the PlayStation Camera and PlayStation VR. All in all, the PS4, and especially the PS4 Pro, was a very fine console that will always be close to our hearts.
3. PlayStation 5 (2020)
When deciding on the criteria for writing these lists, we had a directive that they should not focus (too much) on the console’s game library. Basically, we rate the machines themselves, not the games. So if you break down Sony’s latest machine, it’s a truly impressive powerhouse with plenty of impressive technical features. The fact that the console’s flash memory is directly connected to the motherboard provides impressively fast loading times, and it’s easy to expand the storage space with an NVMe hard drive so you can play the PlayStation 4 games you have on disc. And then of course we have to highlight DualSense, a controller that feels like a small piece of the future with its wonderful haptic feedback, which in many games gives an extra degree of immersion. The PlayStation 5 is a technically very impressive machine, and although this generation’s game library may be among the weakest, it is hardly the console itself that is any obstacle or cause of this.
2. PlayStation 2 (2000)
The first thing that usually comes to mind about this black box, apart from all the amazing games, is that it could play DVDs. You didn’t just buy a console, you also got the opportunity to play the new and rapidly growing movie format. Considering the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console of all time, it’s no surprise that it felt like it was in every other home, because to exaggerate a bit, that’s exactly what it was. The fact that the PlayStation 2 was backwards compatible greatly contributed to its success, as did the aforementioned ability to play DVD movies. But the console’s graphical properties were of course also one of the reasons for its success. Today, as mentioned, the PlayStation 2 is the best-selling console ever, and it is not particularly difficult to understand why. Sony produced the console for a full twelve years, and it was also launched as a significantly slimmer slim model. But it was the larger, first version that we still associate most with the overwhelming success that is the PlayStation 2.
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SONY’S CONSOLE CONNECTIONS:
1. PlayStation (1994)
Everything changed when the gray box of top feeding arrived. What could have been a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony was instead the Japanese electronics giant’s foray into a market that Nintendo and Sega had dominated since the mid-1980s. With a 33.87 MHz processor and 2 MB of RAM, Sony chose to focus primarily on 3D graphics, with a console that was marketed as “tougher” and more grown-up than its competitors’ options. Where Nintendo stuck to cassettes, Sony opted for CDs, and the console was designed to attract third-party manufacturers because, unlike the other console giants, Sony did not have its own games division that developed its own games.
The third-party support was not long in coming. This was largely thanks to its simplicity, the support that developers received directly from Sony, and the significantly cheaper CD format compared to cassettes. The rest is history. The PlayStation game library is almost staggering, with just about every major studio that released the start of game franchises still around today, and when Square chose to develop Final Fantasy VII for the format, there was no doubt that Sony had all the support they could need. In addition to this, the brand itself became an icon. With aggressive and cool marketing, PlayStation quickly became a brand for all ages. With over 100 million consoles sold, it can only be described as a resounding success. We therefore award the gray iconic console as Sony’s very best for everything it did and was for the gaming industry.
