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PlayStation

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The PlayStation (Japanese: プレイステーション) is a video game console of the 32-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the 1990s. The original PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of console and hand-held game devices, which has included successor machines including the PSone, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the forthcoming PlayStation 3.


History

The PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, the USA on September 9, 1995 and Europe on September 29, 1995. In America, Sony enjoyed a very successful launch with titles of almost every genre including Toshinden, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, and Ridge Racer. Almost all of Sony and Namco's launch titles went on to produce numerous sequels.

The console was extremely popular, spawning the so-called "PlayStation Generation". Among many other games, the PlayStation is well known for the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Tekken, wipEout, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Metal Gear Solid series of games. As of 18 May 2004, Sony has shipped 100 million PlayStation and PSOne consoles throughout the world. As of March 2004, there were 7,300 software titles available with cumulative software shipment of 949 million.

Nintendo and Sony's earlier co-operation in developing a CD-ROM based system (see SNES) lead to the former 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.

Variants

An original PlayStation control pad. This model was later replaced by the DualShock PSone with LCD screen and a DualShock controller

Sony now produces a redesigned version of the original console, called the "PSone", in a smaller (and more ergonomic) case. The original PlayStation was often abbreviated to "PSX", the system's indevelopment codename, until 2003, when a new system formally named the PSX was introduced by Sony (an upgraded PlayStation 2 which includes a DVD burner, a hard drive, and digital video recorder). The PlayStation is now officially abbreviated as the "PS1" or "PSOne," although many people still abbreviate it "PSX".

A version of the PlayStation called the Net Yaroze was also produced. It is more expensive than the original PlayStation, coloured 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 developers suite (which could cost many times the amount of a PlayStation). However, the Net Yaroze lacks many of the features the full developers suite provides. It is also unique in that it is the only official Sony PlayStation with no regional lockout; it will play games from any territory.

Another version that was colored blue (as opposed to regular console units that were gray in color) was available to game developers and select press. It had double the main RAM size (4 Megabytes instead of 2 Megabytes) and a CD-ROM emulator board connected to PC. It was also able to run in-development games which lacked region coding (which would be rejected by a normal PlayStation as though they were pirate copies). A few of these units eventually appeared for sale through somewhat dubious channels at high prices (~£299 when the PlayStation itself was selling at around £99).

The installation of a modchip allows PlayStation's capabilities to be expanded. This allows unauthorized copies of games to be played, but it also allows the playing of games from other countries. Since modchips allow playing games recorded on a regular CD-ROM, it created a wave of games developed without official Sony approval, using free GNU compiler tools.

Successors

Sony's successor to the PlayStation is the aptly titled PlayStation 2, which is largely compatible with its predecessor, in the sense that it can play most PlayStation games unmodified. This is done by embedding the most important parts of the PSOne inside the PlayStation 2 design, so two systems can be provided for the price of one. Unlike emulators that run on the PC, the Playstation 2 actually contains the original Playstation processor, allowing games to run exactly as they do on the Playstation. For Playstation 2 games this processor, called the IOP, is used for input and output (memory cards, DVD drive, network, and harddrive). The PlayStation 2 is based on a custom processor, known as the Emotion Engine, that Sony developed.

The next generation of the PlayStation is known as PlayStation 3 or PS3 and expected to be launched in 2006. The PS3 appears to be the first game console to use grid computing technology.

The PlayStation Portable (abbreviated PSP) is a handheld PlayStation for on-the-go gaming. The portable device will be available in Europe somewhere around early summer 2005, while it has already been released in Japan, the exact date being December 12, 2004, and was released in the US on March 24, 2005.

The PlayStation has historical links to an abortive CD-ROM add-on to the SNES, which would have been able to include large multimedia. For various reasons, including the failure of the Sega CD, that project was cancelled.

Screenshots

Specifications

Main CPU

A PlayStation motherboard

MIPS R3000A-compatible (R3051) 32bit RISC chip running at 33.8688 MHz

The chip is manufactured by LSI Logic Corp. with technology licensed from SGI. The chip also contains the Geometry Transformation Engine and the Data Decompression Engine.

Features:

  • Operating Performance of 30 MIPS
  • Bus Bandwidth 132 Mb/s
  • Instruction Cache 4 KB
  • Data Cache 1 KB (non associative, just 1024 bytes of mapped fast SRAM)

Geometry Transformation Engine

This engine is inside the main CPU chip. It gives it additional (vector-)math instructions used for the 3D graphics.

Features:

  • Operating Performance of 66 MIPS
  • 360,000 Flat-Shaded Polygons per second
  • 180,000 texture mapped and light-sourced polygons per second

Sony originally gave the polygon count as:

  • 1.5 Million Flat-Shaded Polygons per second
  • 500,000 texture mapped and light-sourced polygons per second

These figures were given as a ballpark figure for performance under optimal circumstances, and so are unrealistic under normal usage.

Data Decompression Engine

This engine is also inside the main CPU chip. It is responsible for decompressing images and video. Documented device mode is to read three RLE-encoded 16×16 macroblocks, run IDCT and assemble a single 16×16 RGB macroblock. Output data may be transferred directly to GPU via DMA. It is possible to overwrite IDCT matrix and some additional parameters, however MDEC internal instruction set was never documented.

Features:

  • Compatible with MPEG-1 and H.261 files
  • Operating Performance of 80 MIPS
  • Directly connected to CPU Bus

Graphics Processing Unit

This chip is separate to the CPU and handles all the 2D Graphics processing, which includes the transformed 3D polygons.

Features:

  • Maximum of 16.7 Million Colours
  • Resolutions from 256×224 to 640×480
  • Adjustable frame buffer
  • Unlimited Colour Lookup Tables
  • Maximum of 4000 8×8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation
  • Emulation of simultaneous backgrounds (for parallax scrolling)
  • Flat or Gouraud shading, and texture mapping

Sound Processing Unit

Features:

  • Can handle ADPCM sources with up to 24 channels and up to 44.1 kHz sampling rate
  • Could perform digital effects including:
    • Pitch Modulation
    • Envelope
    • Looping
    • Digital Reverb
  • Could handle up to 512Kb of sampled waveforms
  • Supports MIDI instruments
  • PC file name format: .PSF

Memory

  • Main RAM: 2 Megabytes (4 Megabytes on "Blue" development console)
  • Video RAM: 1 Megabyte
  • Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes
  • CD-Rom Buffer: 32 Kilobytes
  • Operating System ROM: 512 Kilobytes
  • PlayStation Memory Cards have 128 Kilobytes of space in an EEPROM

CD-ROM

Features:

  • Originally Single Speed, later replaced with a Two Speed drive, with a maximum data throughput of 300 KB/s
  • XA Compliant

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Features:. Other minor league sports teams:. Features:. The Minor League baseball teams are:. Features:. The religious affiliations of Idaho are as follows:. This chip is separate to the CPU and handles all the 2D Graphics processing, which includes the transformed 3D polygons. Idaho is also the only state to have large numbers of both Mormons and non-Mormon Christians.

Features:. As with many other western states, the percentage of non-religious people in Idaho is fairly high when compared to the percentage of non-religious in the nation as a whole. It is possible to overwrite IDCT matrix and some additional parameters, however MDEC internal instruction set was never documented. The five largest ancestries in the state are: German (18.9%), English (18.1%), Irish (10%), American (8.4%), Norwegian (3.6%). Output data may be transferred directly to GPU via DMA. The racial makeup of Idaho is:. Documented device mode is to read three RLE-encoded 16×16 macroblocks, run IDCT and assemble a single 16×16 RGB macroblock. As of 2003, the population of Idaho was 1,366,332.

It is responsible for decompressing images and video. The Idaho National Laboratory (INL), a government lab for nuclear energy research, is also an important part of the eastern Idaho economy. This engine is also inside the main CPU chip. Important industries in Idaho are food processing, lumber and wood products, machinery, chemical products, paper products, electronics manufacturing, silver and other mining, and tourism. These figures were given as a ballpark figure for performance under optimal circumstances, and so are unrealistic under normal usage. Other important agricultral products are beans, lentils, sugar beets, cattle, dairy products, wheat, and barley. Sony originally gave the polygon count as:. Idaho is an important agricultural state, producing nearly one third of the potatoes grown in the United States.

Features:. The Per Capita Income for 2003 was $25,902. It gives it additional (vector-)math instructions used for the 3D graphics. The state's gross product for 2003 was $40 billion. This engine is inside the main CPU chip. Idaho's lowest point is in Lewiston, where the Clearwater River joins the Snake River and continues into Washington. Features:. Idaho's highest point is Borah Peak in the Lost River Mountains north of Mackay.

The chip also contains the Geometry Transformation Engine and the Data Decompression Engine. Other significant rivers include the Boise River and the Payette River. with technology licensed from SGI. The major rivers in Idaho are the Snake River, the Clearwater River and the Salmon River. The chip is manufactured by LSI Logic Corp. Shoshone Falls plunges down rugged cliffs from a height greater than that of Niagara Falls. MIPS R3000A-compatible (R3051) 32bit RISC chip running at 33.8688 MHz. The churning waters of Snake River rush through Hells Canyon, which is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

For various reasons, including the failure of the Sega CD, that project was cancelled. Idaho has towering, snow-capped mountain ranges, swirling white rapids, peaceful lakes and steep canyons. The PlayStation has historical links to an abortive CD-ROM add-on to the SNES, which would have been able to include large multimedia. Idaho has a rugged landscape with some of the largest unspoiled natural areas in the country. Idaho is a Rocky Mountains state with exciting scenery and enormous natural resources. The portable device will be available in Europe somewhere around early summer 2005, while it has already been released in Japan, the exact date being December 12, 2004, and was released in the US on March 24, 2005. Idaho borders Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming and the Canadian province of British Columbia (the Idaho-BC border which is 48 miles long). The PlayStation Portable (abbreviated PSP) is a handheld PlayStation for on-the-go gaming. See: List of Idaho counties.

The PS3 appears to be the first game console to use grid computing technology. House of Representatives: Idaho has two House Representatives. The next generation of the PlayStation is known as PlayStation 3 or PS3 and expected to be launched in 2006. United States Senators:. The PlayStation 2 is based on a custom processor, known as the Emotion Engine, that Sony developed. Idaho has a bicameral legislature, elected from 35 legislative districts, each represented by one Senator and two Representatives. For Playstation 2 games this processor, called the IOP, is used for input and output (memory cards, DVD drive, network, and harddrive). The constitution of Idaho provides for 3 branches of government: the executive, legislative and judicial branches.

Unlike emulators that run on the PC, the Playstation 2 actually contains the original Playstation processor, allowing games to run exactly as they do on the Playstation. See: List of Idaho Governors. This is done by embedding the most important parts of the PSOne inside the PlayStation 2 design, so two systems can be provided for the price of one. The current Governor of Idaho is Dirk Kempthorne (Republican), re-elected in 2002. Sony's successor to the PlayStation is the aptly titled PlayStation 2, which is largely compatible with its predecessor, in the sense that it can play most PlayStation games unmodified. In 2002 the Aryan Nations compound, which had been located in Hayden Lake, Idaho, was confiscated as a result of a court case, and the organization moved out of state. Since modchips allow playing games recorded on a regular CD-ROM, it created a wave of games developed without official Sony approval, using free GNU compiler tools. Boise recently installed an impressive stone Human Rights Memorial featuring quotations from Anne Frank and many other writers extolling human freedom and equality.

The installation of a modchip allows PlayStation's capabilities to be expanded. This allows unauthorized copies of games to be played, but it also allows the playing of games from other countries. Although Idaho is a conservative state politically, the vast majority of its residents reject such hateful ideologies. A few of these units eventually appeared for sale through somewhat dubious channels at high prices (~£299 when the PlayStation itself was selling at around £99). These groups are most heavily concentrated in the northern part of the state, particularly in the vicinity of Coeur d'Alene, a resort town. It was also able to run in-development games which lacked region coding (which would be rejected by a normal PlayStation as though they were pirate copies). A troubling recent development in the Idaho panhandle region has been the location therein of a few right-wing extremist and "survivalist" political groups, most notably one holding Neo-Nazi views, the Aryan Nations. It had double the main RAM size (4 Megabytes instead of 2 Megabytes) and a CD-ROM emulator board connected to PC. Hewlett-Packard has operated a large plant in Boise, in southwestern Idaho, since the 1970s, devoted primarily to Laserjet printers.[1] (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar04.html).

Another version that was colored blue (as opposed to regular console units that were gray in color) was available to game developers and select press. manufacturer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips. It is also unique in that it is the only official Sony PlayStation with no regional lockout; it will play games from any territory. Boise is the home of Micron Technology Inc., the only U.S. However, the Net Yaroze lacks many of the features the full developers suite provides. Since in the late 1970s Boise has emerged as a center of semiconductor manufacturing. It is more expensive than the original PlayStation, coloured 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 developers suite (which could cost many times the amount of a PlayStation). Today, Idaho's industrial economy is growing, as plants are built to process the state's rich agricultural and natural resources.

A version of the PlayStation called the Net Yaroze was also produced. Although Idaho's dependence on mining has decreased, the state remains a top producer of silver and lead. The PlayStation is now officially abbreviated as the "PS1" or "PSOne," although many people still abbreviate it "PSX". By the 1890s, for example, Idaho exported more lead than any other state. Sony now produces a redesigned version of the original console, called the "PSone", in a smaller (and more ergonomic) case. The original PlayStation was often abbreviated to "PSX", the system's indevelopment codename, until 2003, when a new system formally named the PSX was introduced by Sony (an upgraded PlayStation 2 which includes a DVD burner, a hard drive, and digital video recorder). As Idaho approached statehood, mining and other extractive industries became increasingly important to her economy. The federal Judge presiding over the case denied the injunction. Idaho still operates under its original (1889) state constitution.

federal court, to obtain an injunction against the release of the PlayStation, on the grounds that Nintendo owned the name. Sectionalism in early Idaho was abated by moving the University of Idaho from its planned location in Eagle Rock (near Idaho Falls) to Moscow in northern Idaho. Nintendo and Sony's earlier co-operation in developing a CD-ROM based system (see SNES) lead to the former filing a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and attempted, in U.S. An interesting fact is that Idaho almost never became a state - in 1887, President Grover Cleveland refused to sign a bill that would have combined southern Idaho with Nevada and northern Idaho with the Washington Territory. As of March 2004, there were 7,300 software titles available with cumulative software shipment of 949 million. state on July 3, 1890, the population was 88,548. Among many other games, the PlayStation is well known for the Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Tekken, wipEout, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Metal Gear Solid series of games. As of 18 May 2004, Sony has shipped 100 million PlayStation and PSOne consoles throughout the world. When President Benjamin Harrison signed the law admitting Idaho as a U.S.

The console was extremely popular, spawning the so-called "PlayStation Generation". The 1861 discovery of gold in Idaho and the completion of the transcontinental railway in 1869 brought many new people to the territory, including Chinese laborers who came to work the mines. Almost all of Sony and Namco's launch titles went on to produce numerous sequels. In 1865, Boise replaced Lewiston as capital. In America, Sony enjoyed a very successful launch with titles of almost every genre including Toshinden, Twisted Metal, Warhawk, and Ridge Racer. Almost immediately, a public school system was created, stage coach lines were established and a newspaper, the Idaho Statesman, began publication. The PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994, the USA on September 9, 1995 and Europe on September 29, 1995. The political stability of the territorial period encouraged settlement.


. On March 4, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act creating Idaho Territory. The original PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of console and hand-held game devices, which has included successor machines including the PSone, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the forthcoming PlayStation 3. When organized as a territory in 1863, Idaho's total population was under 17,000. The PlayStation (Japanese: プレイステーション) is a video game console of the 32-bit era, first produced by Sony Computer Entertainment in the 1990s. While thousands passed through Idaho during the California gold rush of 1849, few people settled there. The first organized town in Idaho was Franklin, settled in 1860 by Mormon pioneers. XA Compliant. Idaho was subsequently part of Oregon Territory and later Washington Territory, fur trading and missionary work attracting the first settlers to the region.

Originally Single Speed, later replaced with a Two Speed drive, with a maximum data throughput of 300 KB/s. At that time, approximately 8,000 Native Americans lived in the region. PlayStation Memory Cards have 128 Kilobytes of space in an EEPROM. The Lewis and Clark expedition entered present-day Idaho on August 12, 1805, at the Lemhi Pass. Operating System ROM: 512 Kilobytes. Eventually the controversy was forgotten, and modern-day Idaho was given the made-up name when the Idaho Territory was formally created in 1863. CD-Rom Buffer: 32 Kilobytes. Willing suggested "Idaho," an Indian term he claimed meant "gem of the mountains." It was later revealed Willing had made up the name himself, and the original Idaho territory was re-named Colorado because of it.

Sound RAM: 512 Kilobytes. When a name was being selected for new territory, eccentric lobbyist George M. Video RAM: 1 Megabyte. Idaho is perhaps the only state to be named as the result of a hoax. Main RAM: 2 Megabytes (4 Megabytes on "Blue" development console). The USS Idaho was named in honor of this state. PC file name format: .PSF. postal abbreviation is ID.

Supports MIDI instruments. Its capital is Boise and the U.S. Could handle up to 512Kb of sampled waveforms. Idaho is a state located in the northwestern United States. Digital Reverb. See Category:People from Idaho. Looping. Idaho Steelheads.

Envelope. Idaho Stampede. Pitch Modulation. Idaho Falls Chukars. Could perform digital effects including:

    . Boise Hawks. Can handle ADPCM sources with up to 24 channels and up to 44.1 kHz sampling rate. Non-Religious — 20%.

    Flat or Gouraud shading, and texture mapping. Non-Christian Religions — 0%. Emulation of simultaneous backgrounds (for parallax scrolling). Mormon — 16%. Maximum of 4000 8×8 pixel sprites with individual scaling and rotation. Catholic — 16%. Unlimited Colour Lookup Tables. Other Protestants/general Protestants — 22%.

    Adjustable frame buffer. Presbyterian — 3%. Resolutions from 256×224 to 640×480. Lutheran — 3%. Maximum of 16.7 Million Colours. Methodist — 10%. Directly connected to CPU Bus. Baptist — 10%.

    Operating Performance of 80 MIPS. Protestant — 48%

      . Compatible with MPEG-1 and H.261 files. Christian — 80%
        . 500,000 texture mapped and light-sourced polygons per second. 2% Mixed race. 1.5 Million Flat-Shaded Polygons per second. 0.4% Black.

        180,000 texture mapped and light-sourced polygons per second. 0.9% Asian. 360,000 Flat-Shaded Polygons per second. 1.4% American Indian. Operating Performance of 66 MIPS. 7.9 Hispanic. Data Cache 1 KB (non associative, just 1024 bytes of mapped fast SRAM). 88% White.

        Instruction Cache 4 KB. 2nd District: Mike Simpson (Republican). Bus Bandwidth 132 Mb/s. "Butch" Otter (Republican). Operating Performance of 30 MIPS. 1st District: C.L. Mike Crapo (Republican).

        Craig (Republican). Larry E.