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September 19th, 2020 
Carl Williams 
When the Sony PlayStation was launched it was an anomaly. Gamers were not quite sure what to expect from this newcomer. Sony had plenty of experience in gaming prior though. They worked with both Sega and Nintendo during the 16-bit era for instance. The first Sony console would go on to devastate the old school gaming companies. Nintendo fared slightly better than Sega did, but not by much. Almost five years later, Sony launched their only major revision to the first PlayStation, the PS One.
PS One outsold PlayStation 2
How well the PS One performed was probably just as much a surprise to Sony as it was everyone else. The console revision outsold the PlayStation 2 console which had just launched. According to The Register, this was partly because PS2 consoles were scarce.
It was also probably helpful that a few popular titles were also released in September 2000. Parasite Eve II, Spider-Man, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 all hit PlayStation around the launch of the PS One console.
Big things come in a small package
The PS One console was a bit smaller than the original PlayStation. This smaller form factor made the PS One much more portable for many gamers. Along with this form factor change came other changes to the hardware and software.
The new revised console featured a unique port on the back. This port was used to couple the portable television attachment to the PS One. This allowed gamers to play PlayStation games on the go.
This portable screen also featured inputs for audio and video. This allowed use of other consoles or VCRs/DVD players.
Backwards compatibility matters
The PS One console is fully backwards compatible with each region’s games. This was something Sony was big on until around the launch of the PlayStation 3 console. With the launch of that console Sony selectively controlled playing PS2 games on the newer console. Original PlayStation games were still compatible though.
What is your favorite PlayStation franchise or game? Is it Spyro the Dragon? The Tekken fighting series? Maybe you rocked Crash Bandicoot or Gran Turismo. Let me know in the comments below.
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So many great games I used to play on the PlayStation.
Crash and Spyro to name a few.
It made sense for Sony to release the PSOne