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FOR PLAYSTATION FANS across Europe, today’s a big day as they finally get their hands on the Playstation 4. Both it and the Xbox One are released in time for the Christmas season and will battle it out for a place in people’s living rooms.
Yet the Playstation has come a long way since it first arrived on our shores in 1995. To mark the arrival of the PS4, we take a look back at the consoles, the games and advertisements that came before it.
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Release date: September 1995
Sold: 102.49 million worldwide
Specs:
CPU: 32-bit (33mhz)
GPU: 32-bit (33mhz)
System RAM: 2mb
Video RAM: 1mb
Resolution: 640×480
Media: CD-ROM
If you want to pinpoint the birth of the original Playstation, you may be surprised to learn that it was Nintendo that got Sony into the console market. Wanting to compete against Sega – who brought out the ill-fated Sega CD at the time – it experimented with bringing a CD add-on to the Super Nintendo and worked with Sony. After that deal fell through, Sony decided to go it alone and the rest is history.
The Playstation became one of the most influential consoles released and opened up gaming to a new audience. This was thanks to a large number of quality titles appearing on it such as Gran Turismo, Tomb Raider, Wipeout, Silent Hill, Tekken, Driver, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid. The console was so popular that even after the PS2 arrived, games were still being developed for it until 2006.
Best selling games
Figures given are number of copies shipped worldwide. Also included are figures for both sequels and prequels on the same console.
Gran Turismo (10.85 million)
Its sequel Gran Turismo 2 sold 9.37 millon.
(Video: MrYASSER111/YouTube)
Final Fantasy VII (10 million)
Its sequels FF VIII and IX sold 8.15 million and 5.3 million respectively
(Video: ROFLSoup/YouTube)
Tomb Raider 2 (8 million)
The original Tomb Raider sold 7 million.
(Video: cubex55/YouTube)
Metal Gear Solid (7 million)
(Video: Marek Šterbinský/YouTube)
Crash Bandicoot (6.8 million)
(Video: cubex55/YouTube)
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Release date: March 2000
Sold: 155 million worldwide
Specs:
CPU: 128-bit (299mhz)
GPU: ‘Graphics Synthesizer’ (147mhz)
System RAM: 32mb
Video RAM: 4mb
Resolution: 720×480 for SD, 1280×720 for HD
Media: 4.7 GB DVD
Building upon the success of the Playstation wasn’t going to be an easy task, but the PS2 not only surpassed its predecessor but became the most successful Playstation model released. Seeing off challenges from both Nintendo’s Gamecube and Sega’s Dreamcast, the latter ended up leaving the console market entirely, it dominated the console market until it made way for the PS3.
Best Selling Games
Figures given are number of copies shipped worldwide. Also included are figures for both sequels and prequels on the same console.
GTA: San Andreas (17.33 million)
GTA: Vice City sold 9.61 million while GTA III sold 7.9 million
(Video: Moiz009/YouTube)
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (14.89 million)
Gran Turismo 4 sold 10.76 million
(Video: Tomsas1roed/YouTube)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (7 million)
(Video: SneakingFox/YouTube)
Final Fantasy X (6.6 million)
FF XII saw 5.2 million copies shipped.
(Video: Playstation/YouTube)
Kingdom Hearts (5.9 million)
(Video: cubex55/YouTube)
(Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Release date: March 2007
Sold: 80 million worldwide
Specs:
CPU: ‘Cell’ (3.2ghz)
GPU: ‘Reality Synthesizer’ (500mhz)
System RAM: 256mb (3.2ghz)
Video RAM: 256mb
Resolution: 720×480 for SD, 1280×720 and 1920×1080 for HD
Media: 25gb BD,
The Playstation 3 faced a number of obstacles when it launched. A high price and strong competitors in the form of the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii meant that it didn’t have quite the impact it would have liked. While it didn’t get off to the strongest start, thanks to titles like The Last of Us, the God of War series and GTA V, it still kept up the momentum Sony had with the PS2.
Best Selling Games
Figures given are number of copies shipped worldwide. Also included are figures for both sequels and prequels on the same console.
Gran Turismo 5 (10.66 million)
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue sold 5.35 million
(Video: Hostilenemy/YouTube)
GTA V (7 million)
GTA 4 sold 2.73 million
(Video: GameNewsOfficial/YouTube)
God of War III (5.1 million)
The God of War collection sold 2.4 million.
(Video: VISO Games/YouTube)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4.8 million)
Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 3.2 million, Modern Warfare sold 1.9 million and World at War sold 1.83
(Video: Gamehelper/YouTube)
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (3.8 million)
Uncharted 2 also sold 3.8 million while the original sold 2.6 million.
(Video: UNCHARTED/YouTube)
Release date: November 2013
Sold: Unconfirmed (sold one million in 24 hours in the US)
Specs:
CPU: low power x86-64 AMD ‘Jaguar’, 8 cores
GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS
System RAM: 8GB GDDR5
Video RAM: 1GB
Resolution: 720p, 1080p and 1080i
Media: BD x 6 CAV, DVD x 8 CAV
Since it’s only been released today, it’s far too early to say whether the PS4 is going to be a success or not, but the early signs are encouraging. It sold one million consoles in 24 hours in the US and Sony expect to sell 5 million by March, meaning that there are high hopes it will come out on top this generation.
Beyond the 30 launch titles, gamers can look forward to titles like Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, Infamous: Second Son, The Witcher III, Minecraft, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Kingdom Hearts III which are expected to arrive next year.
As great as the games were, the Playstation wouldn’t be as significant as it was if it wasn’t for the numerous advertising campaigns it ran. Since its launch, it’s been responsible for some of the most memorable ad campaigns shown on TV and while some of them didn’t go to plan, there were more than enough ads to make sure the console stuck in your mind.
Double life
(Video: DigThatBoxRETRO/YouTube)
Alien girl
(Video: VideoGameAds/YouTube)
Long live play
(Video: IGN/YouTube)
This is living
(Video: Antonio Hagiu/YouTube)
For the players since 1995
(Video: Playstation Acesss/YouTube)
Playstation 4 ‘Perfect day’
(Video: Playstation/YouTube)
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That’s what one calls a jail sentence Take note judiciary in ireland
They won’t take note, why would they?
In Ireland the mandatory sentence for murder is “Life”. The judge has no power to give any other sentence. They are not allowed to put in minimum terms. The actual terms served for life sentances have been increasing over the years. It is up the Minister of Justice as to when they get released – the judiciary have no input in that.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/why-does-life-now-mean-a-much-longer-sentence-1.1857296
“In Ireland, a life sentence prisoner can expect to spend 22 years in prison. This is in marked contrast to the single-digit figures served by such offenders in the 1970s.
Ireland has now surpassed England and Wales in terms of time served. The relatively consistent approach to time served by murderers in England and Wales over the last decade ( 14 to 17 years) is in stark contrast to the increases in Ireland (from 11 to 22 years).”
The newspaper article you’re quoting is an opinion piece. The CSO figures also clearly illustrate a wide range of time served which in itself indicates a considerable variable in the likely length of time you’ll spend in prison, thus mitigating the effects of a mandatory ‘life’ sentence. Also, the numbers of convictions for ‘life’ sentences is considerably less than those for other serious offences where someone has been killed, like manslaughter or dangerous driving causing death.
So on the whole, it’s not a great article to quote. It’s fairly weak in fact, and it’s mostly opinion rather than fact (albeit with a few facts thrown in).
The fact remains that when you look at all prison sentences where someone was killed, then the likelihood is that you will serve single digit years. Sentencing should be a lot more harsher in Ireland; especially where you take the life of another person.
But you cannot compare manslaughter with murder. Manslaughter covers a much wider range of crimes. A single punch after a loud drunken argument where both sides have been aggressive can lead to death. That is manslaughter but it is not the same as pre-meditate killing and in such circumstances a suspended sentence may be the correct decision. Sometimes terrible things happen and they are by awful chance and not intended.
I understand where you are coming from, and I wasn’t suggesting that we compare manslaughter with murder. The two points I was trying to draw attention to were (1) that on ‘life’ sentencing alone there is a considerable variable in ‘Life’ sentencing which suggests a wide range of application of the term ‘life’ to a sentence and thus reduces what a ‘life’ sentence actually is. And (2) that if you include, not compare but include other sentences where a life has been lost that the overall figure of prison sentencing means that the number comes down to single digits.
I’m a great believer in the likes of broken windows’ theory and of restorative justice, and dare I say it, but suspended sentencing is a useful thing in the right circumstances. But I’m personally of the believe that if you take another’s life as a result of your actions that you should then be put in prison for the rest of your life. I do not see any natural justice or common justice in having one person six feet under and their family handed a lifetime of pain, and for the other person(s) to be left free after X amount of time. There are tragic occurrences, as you mentioned like one punch incidents, but a life has been lost forever as the result of another’s chosen actions. I personally feel there needs to be an accountable responsibility to ones actions. I may well be alone in thinking that however.
Very sad.
Victoria looks like a lovely person, a gentle soul.
She did not deserve to die like that.
From previous information relating to the couple she was far from gentle however nobody deserves to be murdered.
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