0713 08 videoGames

The PlayStation (プレイステーション, Pureisutēshon^?, officially abbreviated PS) brand is a series of video game consoles created and developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. Spanning the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth generations of video gaming, the brand was first introduced on December 3, 1994 in Japan. The brand consists of a total of three home consoles, a media center, an online service, a line of controllers, two handhelds and a phone, as well as multiple magazines.

The first console in the series, the PlayStation, was the first video game console to ship 100 million units after 9 years and 6 months of its initial launch. Its successor, the PlayStation 2, is the best-selling console to date, having reached over 150 million units sold as of January 31, 2011. Sony's current console, the PlayStation 3, has sold over 062000000 !62 million consoles worldwide as of December 31, 2011 (2011 -12-31)^[update].