- published: 10 May 2016
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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 latest console, the PlayStation 3, has sold over 063900000 !63.9 million consoles worldwide as of March 31, 2012 (2012 -03-31)[update].
The first handheld game console in the PlayStation series, the PlayStation Portable or PSP, has sold a total of 71.4 million units worldwide as of September 14, 2011. Its successor, the PlayStation Vita, which launched in Japan on December 17, 2011 and in most other major territories in February 2012 has sold in excess of 1.2 million units as of the end of February 2012.