The (officially abbreviated as
PS, and commonly known as
PS1 or
PSX) is a
home video game console developed and marketed by
Sony Computer Entertainment. The console was released in Japan on December 3, , and in North America and Europe in September 1995. The PlayStation is the first of the
PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. As part of the
fifth generation of gaming, it primarily competed with the
Nintendo 64 and the
Sega Saturn. In 2000, a re-designed "slim" version called the
PSone was released, replacing the original grey console and named appropriately to avoid confusion with its successor, the
PlayStation 2.