December 3rd is “PlayStation Day”. It was enacted on December 3, 1994, following the home video game console “PlayStation” was released.
We will introduce some PlayStation trivia that can help you become a “person who understands the difference”, such as which model sold the most.
Sony: Don’t call me PlayStation!
The original PlayStation was the next-generation console that was the first home video game console to feature full-fledged textured 3D graphics.
A high-performance computer for business use is called a “workstation,” so the name “PlayStation” was used in the sense of a high-performance computer used for play.
Among users, it is popular to call it “PlayStation” for short, but “PS” is consistently used in commercials and official websites.
This is because Sony’s honorary chairman, Akio Morita, thought that the part of “ste” was associated with “throw away” and ordered to avoid using it.
However, since it is a registered trademark, it seems that rival company Sega obtained permission from Sony when using the word “PlayStation” in commercials.
What was the best-selling PlayStation?
Twenty-eight years have passed since the first PlayStation was released, and the latest model is the 5th generation PlayStation 5. Even now, two years following its release in 2020, it is still in short supply and is being reserved and sold by lottery.
Do you know which PlayStation has sold the most over the years?
The correct answer is the second generation “PlayStation 2” released on March 4, 2000. The cumulative global sales volume is 155 million units, which is among all game machines including other companies No. 1. This record is still unbroken.
The second place is “Nintendo DS” with 154.02 million units, and the third place is “Game Boy” with 118.69 million units. 4th place is “PlayStation 4” with 117 million units, and 5th place is “Nintendo Switch” with 114.33 million units.
The reason why PlayStation 5 became “decide with the x button”
What shocked me when the first PlayStation was released was not only the beautiful graphics, but the buttons on the controller were “△○×□”.
It is also registered as a trademark of PlayStation, which is not found in other game consoles.
According to Mr. Teisuke Goto, who worked on the design, “○ and × are YES and NO, and the colors are red and blue, △ is the head and viewpoint, and the color is green, following the traffic light, and □ is paper that indicates menus and documents. , the color was pink from the overall balance.”
The in-game operation is also intuitive and easy to understand, with “○ to confirm / × to cancel”.
However, the latest model, PlayStation 5, is the opposite of the conventional one, “X to confirm/○ to cancel”.
In fact, in Europe and the United States, there is no recognition that “○ is YES”, but rather “Check (✓) is a decision”, so it is more intuitive to say “X to confirm / ○ to cancel” in order from the left. It has always been that way in the European version.
What was a double standard between the Japanese version and the Western version has become a unified form from the latest PlayStation 5 to the Western version.
You can change it back in the settings, but since it only replaces the signals, the game screen will display “Confirm with x” as it is.
It may be better to memorize the position of “left is YES, right is NO” and get used to it.
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