Some 15 years ago today, the original PlayStation went on sale in North America. Though it had Sony behind it--a brand revered in electronics circles--the console was no sure thing. It had, in fact, been created almost by accident, after a proposed deal between Sony and Nintendo fell apart famously in 1991.

　　PlayStation-branded hardware has now sold more than 377 million units to date.

　　At that year's Consumer Electronics Show, Sony announced it had struck a deal with the Mario Factory to provide the SNES with a CD-based game-media reader. The following day, though, Nintendo announced that it was opting to have Netherlands-based Phillips make the peripheral, forging one of the more bitter rivalries in game-industry history.

　　The PlayStation 3 has lagged behind Nintendo in the current generation of consoles, with Wii sales topping 74 million worldwide versus just 38.1 million PlayStation 3s sold. The original PlayStation had sold more than 102 million units as of mid-2005, and the PlayStation 2 had sold more than 145 million as of July 2010.

　　However, Sony was not shy about using the PlayStation brand's anniversary to throw around its platforms' impressive statistics. To date, PlayStation-branded hardware--including the original PlayStation, PS2, PSP, and PS3--has sold some 377 million hardware units and more than 2 billion software units worldwide. In the US, some $63 billion of PlayStation-branded products have been sold since 1995, making up 40 percent of all domestic game sales, according to Sony.

　　To commemorate the North American anniversary of the PlayStation--which first went on sale in Japan in December 1994--Sony is releasing a series of free PSP and PS3 themes, as well as weekly discounts on PSOne digital downloads from the PlayStation Network.

　　You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos.

　　Click To Unmute

　　E3 2010 Sony Press Conference

　　Tears Of The Kingdom Is A Technological Marvel

　　Resident Evil 4 Is A Perfect RemakeHow Alan Wake II Made Me Face My Fear of Horror GamesGameSpot's Top 10 Games of 2023Thompson: The Pop Culture Icon’s Strange Legacy - LoadoutFirearms Expert’s FAVORITE Weapons Of 2023State Of Gaming Handhelds In 2023Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Ichiban Kasuga Character Spotlight TrailerHow Lies of P Cracked the Souls GenreLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Chitose Fujinomiya Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Eric Tomizawa Character Spotlight TrailerLike a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - Official Kazuma Kiryu Character Spotlight Trailer

　　Share

　　LinkEmbed

　　Size:640 × 360480 × 270

　　Start at: End at: Autoplay Loop

　　Want us to remember this setting for all your devices?

　　Sign up or Sign in now!

　　Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos.

　　This video has an invalid file format.

　　00:00:00

　　HTML5

　　Auto HD High Low

　　Report a problem

　　Sorry, but you can't access this content!

Please enter your date of birth to view this video

　　By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

　　Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

　　enter