====== Sony PlayStation (1994) ======
===== Features =====
* CPU: MIPS R3000A-compatible (R3051) 32bit RISC 33.8688 MHz
* RAM: 2 MiB
* Video RAM: 1 MiB
* CD-ROM Buffer: 32 KiB
* Operating System ROM: 512 KiB
* Support: CD-ROM
===== Known Issues =====
CD Emulation is still missing. The driver can anyway run demos and games in executable form.
MESS supports several Playstation BIOS revisions (and few are known to be still undumped). You can switch between them, changing the -bios parameter. At command line,
== psj ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 1.0J" = SCPH-1000/DTL-H1000 (09/22/94)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 1.1J" = SCPH-3000/DTL-H1000H (Version 1.1 01/22/95)
"-bios 2" or "-bios 2.1J" = SCPH-3500 (Version 2.1 07/17/95 J)
"-bios 3" or "-bios 2.2J" = SCPH-5000/DTL-H1200 (Version 2.2 12/04/95 J)
"-bios 4" or "-bios 2.2D" = DTL-H1100 (Version 2.2 03/06/96 D)
"-bios 5" or "-bios 3.0J" = SCPH-5500 (Version 3.0 09/09/96 J)
"-bios 6" or "-bios 4.0J" = SCPH-7000/SCPH-9000 (Version 4.0 08/18/97 J)
"-bios 7" or "-bios 4.3J" = SCPH-100 (Version 4.3 03/11/00 J)
== pse ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 2.0E" = DTL-H1002/SCPH-1002 (Version 2.0 05/10/95 E)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 2.1E" = SCPH-1002/DTL-H1102 (Version 2.1 07/17/95 E)
"-bios 2" or "-bios 2.2E" = SCPH-1002/DTL-H1202/DTL-H3002 (Version 2.2 12/04/95 E)
"-bios 3" or "-bios 3.0E" = SCPH-5502/SCPH-5552 (Version 3.0 01/06/97 E)
"-bios 4" or "-bios 4.1E" = SCPH-7002/SCPH-7502/SCPH-9002 (Version 4.1 12/16/97 E)
"-bios 5" or "-bios 4.4E" = SCPH-102 (Version 4.4 03/24/00 E)
"-bios 6" or "-bios 4.5E" = SCPH-102 (Version 4.5 05/25/00 E)
== psu ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 2.0A" = DTL-H1001 (Version 2.0 05/07/95 A)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 2.1A" = DTL-H1101 (Version 2.1 07/17/95 A)
"-bios 2" or "-bios 2.2A" = SCPH-1001/DTL-H1201/DTL-H3001 (Version 2.2 12/04/95 A)
"-bios 3" or "-bios 3.0A" = SCPH-5501/SCPH-7003 (Version 3.0 11/18/96 A)
"-bios 4" or "-bios 4.1A" = SCPH-7001/SCPH-7501/SCPH-7503/SCPH-9001 (Version 4.1 12/16/97 A)
"-bios 5" or "-bios 4.5A" = SCPH-101 (Version 4.5 05/25/00 A)
== psa ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios 3.0A" = SCPH-5501/SCPH-7003 (Version 3.0 11/18/96 A)
"-bios 1" or "-bios 4.1A" = SCPH-7001/SCPH-7501/SCPH-7503/SCPH-9001 (Version 4.1 12/16/97 A)
===== History and Trivia =====
The first conceptions of the PlayStation date back to 1986. Nintendo had been attempting to work with disk technology since the Famicom, but the medium had problems. Its rewritable magnetic nature could be easily erased (thus leading to a lack of durability), and the disks were a piracy danger. Consequently, when details of CDROM/XA (an extension of the CD-ROM format that combines compressed audio, visual and computer data, allowing all to be accessed simultaneously) came out, Nintendo was interested. CDROM/XA was being simultaneously developed by Sony and Philips. Nintendo approached Sony to develop a CD-ROM add-on, tentatively titled the "SNES-CD". A contract was struck, and work began. Nintendo's choice of Sony was due to a prior dealing: Ken Kutaragi, the person who would later be dubbed "The Father of PlayStation", was the individual who had sold Nintendo on using the Sony SPC-700 processor for use as the eight-channel ADPCM sound synthesis set in the Super Famicom/SNES console through an impressive dem
onstration of the processor's capabilities.
Sony also planned to develop another, Nintendo compatible, Sony-branded console, but one which would be more of a home entertainment system playing both Super Nintendo cartridges and a new CD format which Sony would design. This was also to be the format used in SNES-CD discs, giving a large degree of control to Sony despite Nintendo's leading position in the video gaming market.
In 1989, the SNES-CD was to be announced at the June Consumer Electronics Show (CES). However, when Hiroshi Yamauchi read the original 1988 contract between Sony and Nintendo, he realized that the earlier agreement essentially handed Sony complete control over any and all titles written on the SNESCD-ROM format. Yamauchi was furious; deeming the contract totally unacceptable, he secretly cancelled all plans for the joint Nintendo-Sony SNES CD attachment. Indeed, instead of announcing their partnership, at 9 am the day of the CES, Nintendo chairman Howard Lincoln stepped onto the stage and revealed that they were now allied with Philips, and were planning on abandoning all the previous work Nintendo and Sony had accomplished. Lincoln and Minoru Arakawa had, unbeknownst to Sony, flown to Philips headquarters in Europe and formed an alliance of a decidedly different nature - one that would give Nintendo total control over its licenses on Philips machines.
The 9am CES announcement was a complete shock. Not only was it a complete surprise to the show goers (Sony had only just the previous night been optimistically showing off the joint project under the "Play Station" brand), but it was seen by many in the Japanese business community as a massive betrayal: a Japanese company snubbing another Japan-based company in favor of a European one was considered absolutely unthinkable in Japanese business.
After the collapse of the joint project, Sony considered halting their research, but ultimately the company decided to use what they had developed so far and make it into a complete, stand alone console. This led to Nintendo filing a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in U.S. federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of the PlayStation, on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. The federal judge presiding over the case denied the injunction. Thus, in October 1991, the first incarnation of the new Sony PlayStation was revealed; it is theorized that only 200 or so of these machines were ever produced.
By the end of 1992, Sony and Nintendo reached a deal whereby the "Sony Play Station" would still have a port for SNES games, but Nintendo would own the rights and receive the bulk of the profits from the games, and the SNES would continue to use the Sony-designed audio chip. However, at this point, Sony realized that the SNES technology was getting long in the tooth, and the next generation of console gaming was around the corner: work began in early 1993 on reworking the "Play Station" concept to target a new generation of hardware and software; as part of this process the SNES cartridge port was dropped, the space between the names was removed, and the PlayStation was born.
The PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, the United States on September 9, 1995, Europe on September 29, 1995, and Asia-Pacific in November 1995. In America, Sony enjoyed a very successful launch with titles of almost every genre including Battle Arena Toshinden, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, Philosoma, and Ridge Racer. Almost all of Sony's and Namco's launch titles went on to produce numerous sequels.
The PlayStation was also able to generate interest with a unique series of advertising campaigns. Many of the ads released at the time of launch were full of ambiguous content which had many gamers rabidly debating their meanings. The most well-known launch ads include the "Enos Lives" campaign, and the "U R Not e" ads (the "e" in "U R Not e" was always colored in red, to symbolize the word "ready", and the "Enos" meant "ready Ninth Of September", the U.S. launch date). The Enos ad could also be read as Sony written backward with phonetic sound of "E" replacing the "y". It is believed that these ads were an attempt to play off the gaming public's suspicion towards Sony as an unknown, untested entity in the video game market. The PlayStation 3 slogan, "PLAY B3YOND", resembles this slogan, as the 3 is red.
The PlayStation logo was designed by Manabu Sakamoto, who also designed the logo for Sony's VAIO computer products.
Having lasted over 11 years, the PlayStation has enjoyed one of the longest production runs in the videogame industry. On March 23, 2006, Sony announced the end of production.
== Variants ==
The PlayStation went through a number of variants during its production run, each accompanied by a change in the part number. From an external perspective, the most notable change was the gradual reduction in the number of external connectors on the unit.
This started very early on - the original Japanese launch units (SCPH-1000) had an S-Video port, which was removed on the next release.
This also led to the strange situation where the US and European launch units had the same part number series (SCPH-100x) as the Japanese launch units, but had different hardware (Rev. C silicon and no S-Video port) - they were the same as the Japanese SCPH-3000, so for consistency should have been SCPH-3001 and SCPH-3002 (this numbering was used for the Yaroze machines, which were based on the same hardware and numbered DTL-H3000, DTL-H3001, and DTL-H3002). This series of machines had a reputation for CD drive problems - the optical pickup sled was made of thermoplastic, and eventually developed wear spots that moved the laser into a position where it was no longer parallel with the CD surface - a modification was made that replaced the sled with a die-cast one with hard nylon inserts, which corrected the problem.
With the release of the next series (SCPH-500x), the numbers moved back into sync. A number of changes were made to the unit internally (CD drive relocated, shielding simplified, PSU wiring simplified) and the RCA jacks and RFU power connectors were removed from the rear panel. This series also contained the SCPH-550x and SCPH-555x units, but these appear to have been bundle changes rather than actual hardware revisions.
These were followed by the SCPH-700x and SCHP-750x series - they are externally identical to the SCPH-500x machines, but have internal changes made to reduce manufacturing costs (for example, the system RAM went from 4 chips to 1, and the CD controller went from 3 chips to 1).
The final revision to the original PlayStation was the SCPH-900x series - these had the same hardware as the SCPH-750x machines with the exception of the removal of the parallel port and a slight reduction in the size of the PCB. The removal of the paralllel port was probably partly because no official add-on had ever been released for it, and partly because it was being used to connect cheat cartridges that could be used to defeat the copy protection.
The PSone was based on substantially the same hardware as the SCPH-750x and 900x, but had the serial port deleted, the controller / memory card ports moved to the main PCB and the power supply replaced with a DC-DC converter that was also on the main PCB.
With the early units, many gamers experienced skipping full-motion video or dreaded physical "ticking" noises coming from their PlayStations. The problem appears to have come from poorly placed vents leading to overheating in some environments - the plastic
moldings inside the console would warp very slightly and create knock-on effects with the laser assembly. The solution was to ensure the console was sat on a surface which dissipated heat efficiently in a well vented area, or raise the unit up slightly by propping something at its edges. A common fix for already affected consoles was to turn the PlayStation sideways or upside-down (thereby using gravity to cancel the effects of the warped interior) although some gamers smacked the lid of the PlayStation to make a game load or work.
Sony then released a version dubbed "Dual Shock", which included a controller with 2 analog thumbsticks and a built in force-feedback feature.
Another version that was colored blue (as opposed to regular console units that were grey in color) was available to game developers and select press. Later versions of this were colored green - on a technical level, these units were almost identical to the retail units, but had a different CD controller in them that did not require the region code found on all pressed disks, since they were intended to be used with CD-R media for debugging - this also allowed the use of discs from different regions, but this was not officially supported, and different debug stations existed for each region. The two different color cases were not cosmetic - the original blue
debug station (DTL-H100x, DTL-H110x) contained "Revision B" silicon, the same as the early retail units (these units had silicon errata that needed software workarounds), the green units (DTL-H120x) had Rev. C hardware. As part of the required tests, you had to test your title on both. Contrary to popular belief, the RAM was the same as the retail units at 2MB. The firmware was nearly identical - the only significant change was that debug printf()s got sent to the serial port if the title didn't open it for communications - this used a DTL-H3050 serial cable (the same as the one used for the Yaroze).
A white version was also produced that had the ability to play VCDs - this was only sold in Asia, since that format never really caught on anywere else. From a developer perspective, the white PSX could be treated exactly like any other NTSC:J PlayStation.
== Net Yaroze ==
A version of the PlayStation called the Net Yaroze was also produced.
It was more expensive than the original PlayStation, colored black instead of the usual gray, and most importantly, came with tools and instructions that allowed a user to be able to program PlayStation games and applications without the need for a full developer suite, which cost many times the amount of a PlayStation and was only available to approved video game developers.
Naturally, the Net Yaroze lacked many of the features the full developer suite provided. Programmers were also limited by the 2 MB of total game space that Net Yaroze allowed. That means the entire game had to be crammed into the 2 MB of system RAM. The user couldn't officially make actual game discs. The amount of space may seem small, but games like Ridge Racer ran entirely from the system RAM (except for the streamed music tracks). It was unique in that it was the only officially retailed Sony PlayStation with no regional lockout; it would play games from any territory.
== PSone ==
The PSone (also PSOne, PS one, or PS1), launched in 2000, is Sony's smaller (and redesigned) version of its PlayStation video game console. The PSone is about one-third smaller than the original PlayStation (38mm x 193 mm x 144 mm versus 45 mm x 260 mm x 185 mm). It was released in July 7, 2000, and went on to outsell all other consoles - including Sony's own brand-new PlayStation 2 - throughout the remainder of the year. Sony also released a small LCD screen and an adaptor to power the unit for use in cars. The PSone is fully compatible with all PlayStation software. The PlayStation is now officially abbreviated as the "PS1" or "PSone." There were three differences between the "PSone" and the original, the first one being cosmetic change to the console, the second one was the home menu's
Graphical User Interface, and the third being added protection against the mod-chip by changing the internal layout and making previous-generation mod-chip devices unusable. The PSone also lacks the original PlayStation's serial port, which allowed multiple consoles to be hooked up for multi-TV multiplayer. The serial port could also be used for an external mod-chip, which may have been why it was removed, although size-constraints may also be to blame.
//(info from Wikipedia)//
===== Links =====
* Official Playstation Sites -- http://www.playstation.com
===== Other Emulators =====
* pSX -- http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com/
* ePSXe -- http://www.epsxe.com/
* PSXeven -- http://batard.psxfanatics.com/
* PCSX -- http://www.pcsx.net/
* SSSPSX -- http://www.ssspsx.com/
* Xebra -- http://members.at.infoseek.co.jp/DrHell/ps1/index.html
Generated on Sun Jul 19 10:17:28 2009