Ready to feel old? Wednesday marked the 20th birthday of the original PlayStation, which was released on Dec. 3, 1994 in Japan. It was Sony Computer Entertainment's first foray into the gaming console wars, and it competed primarily against the Nintendo 64. The PlayStation's primary advantage was its CD-ROM drive, which enabled larger, more detailed game worlds than Nintendo's cartridge-based system. The result was a legendary library of games: Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, and of a host of Final Fantasy games all called the PlayStation home, along with hundreds more.
To celebrate this milestone, Sony has released a special 20th-anniversary version of its new PS4 console with a color scheme resembling the original. "We sincerely thank you for joining us on our exciting 20-year journey," wrote SCE Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida. "You have made every bump and scrape we took along the way worthwhile." Even the company's biggest rival had some kind words to say. Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's Xbox division, tweeted:
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