PlayStation - From Retro to Pro

Sony have come a long way since their first console – the PlayStation. A whopping twenty-two years and eight consoles later (including handhelds and Virtual Reality) the PlayStation Pro is released today. In simple terms, many may describe the Pro as an upgraded PS4, though when you look at how far the PlayStation series has come – it can seem a lot more than that.

The PlayStation was originally set out to be the ‘Play Station’, which would serve as a disc addition for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). A collaboration between Nintendo and Sony was revolutionary for its day and would have expanded on the Nintendo universe. However, due to multiple issues between both companies working together, the ‘Play Station’ fell apart. When the plans had ultimately failed, unusually Sony got to keep most the rights to the product, and after pitching it around large gaming companies such as Sega, being rejected every time, they decided to work on the potential system themselves.

The name ‘Play Station’ was kept for a while, though through using the same name Nintendo still had some rights to the system. This led to Sony dropping the space in-between Play Station, therefore gaining the full rights to the console.

Soon after the PlayStation was born, becoming the biggest and best-selling console of its era spawning an entire series of consoles, handhelds and now even VR.

The PlayStation Pro, being a mid-era console, can and has been ignored by many, though this does not mean it is not a great console within itself. The graphics move with the times with the pressures of the modern day race for the highest quality HD almost mirroring the ‘bit wars’ of the 80s and 90s. This console has certainly grown with the times – through using beautiful, luxury 4K graphics there is nothing this console can’t show.

Games have been a big worry amongst PlayStation fans, wondering what titles from the PS4 will be optimised to feature the 4K graphics. However, frequently updated on the PlayStation Blog a list of games including hits such as Battlefield 1, Hitman, The Last of Us, Skyrim and many more just for the release day. (With other hit titles such as Final Fantasy XV and Resident Evil 7 having said to be optimised for the Pro by the end of year.)

Another plus for the Pro is that it can support and enhance the PlayStation VR. As a more powerful machine than the PS4, it will be able to support and smoothly run the PSVR with no trouble whatsoever – only improving the players experience. Making the new releases, Pro and VR, work hand in hand with each other.

The marketing for the Pro console has been interesting, after being announced at E3 earlier this year they have released 80s and retro-themed adverts for the console such as this one that was tweeted from the PlayStation Twitter account.

Considering the journey that Sony has been through with the PlayStation consoles is remarkable. From being turned down from large companies who believed that they could never make a functional games console to the lofty heights PlayStation sit at today – becoming and maintaining a household name over the 22 years that the company has spanned. While we love the modern games that the Playstations have to offer, we still love our retro roots, like our custom arcade cabinets that allow you to play 1000's of classic arcade and retro console games, including old ps1, 2 and 3 games!