A Farm production

The PlayStation has had many guises and spaceman has had them all (even being forced to buy the slimline models due to console malfunction or burglars).  But in the internet age, the PlayStation 3 has come into its own, which is why this section of the website has come about.

The page below gives a brief history of the life of the PlayStation, but elsewhere you can find a list of The Players (PS3-playing people whom spaceman knows). a far-from-exhaustive list of the best and worst games on the PS3 in The Games (with game information, reviews from some of The Players and useful links), an attempt to categorise games into The Genres (which covers all formats, not just the latest Sony console), and diarised coverage of the famous (to The Players, or infamous to their other halves) COD4 Night.

PlayStation - a brief history:

PlayStation (aka PS or PS1)

Released by Sony in December 1994 (in Japan, not being released in the North America or Europe until September 1995), this 32-bit console was a fairly chunky monkey, all square edges and big buttons.  Classic games owned by spaceman on this machine included Brian Lara Cricket, Driver, Gran Turismo, Tekken 3 and Worms.  Unfortunately, however, burglars stole the beloved box (amongst other things) from spaceman's Monton flat in 2000.

PSOne (aka PS1 slimline)

Not quite ready to splash out on a PlayStation 2 (more on this shortly), spaceman picked up the cheaply available reduced size PSOne, barely the size of a video tape.  In total, the PS1 and PSOne have sold over 100 million units (within 9 years and 6 months since release).  Phew.

PlayStation 2 (aka PS2)

The successor to the PS1 was released in 2000, the PS2 became the fastest game console to reach 100 million units in sales (within 5 years and 9 months).  Able to sit upright or flat, the initial PS2 was a fairly large beast, being 128-bit and enabling network connection for online gaming (albeit to a fairly limited extent).  Classic games which sucked up huge swathes of spaceman's life include the Burnout series, the Pro Evolution Soccer series, Everybody's Golf, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and the Buzz series.  Annoyingly, 4-way joypad adaptors for the PS1 were not compatible with the PS2.

PlayStation 2 slimline (aka PS2 slimline, aka PSTwo)

Alas, the original PS2 failed to last too long, eventually succumbing to laser failure (or something), forcing spaceman to once again consider the options.  With the PlayStation 3 some way off at this time, picking up a PS2 slimline for about £100 from Argos.  Almost as tiny as the PSOne, the reduced size PS2 meant greater noise from the spinning of the CD and the requirement to (yet again) buy a new 4-way joypad adaptor (which spaceman this time declined).

PlayStation 3 (aka PS3)

It took a while for spaceman to get involved, baulking at the initial £425 asking price, eventually picking the 60GB version up for £350 including two games in late 2007 (by which time a £300 40GB version had been released, eventually becoming the only version available).  Happily, this version of the PS3 supported spaceman's back catalogue, as well as offering wireless internet access, wireless controllers, a 60GB hard drive, a Blu-ray drive, improved online gaming and a vastly more powerful CPU.  Already classic games are abound (see The Games).  Had a bit of a problem with the Blu-Ray drive, but fell within the year's warranty, so all was well.