The PSX was one of Sony’s failures of trying to do too much.
When looking back at the history of video games, it’s always fun to examine some console curiosities. Long before Meta Quest broke into the VR market, Nintendo dipped its toes into the VR waters with Virtual Boy. Then there was Sega, which tried to cash in on the success of the Genesis with its bizarre 32X add-on. And who could forget the Nintendo 64DD? Oh, that’s right: everyone.
Speaking of weird machines that were never released outside of Japan, here’s Sony’s PSX: a hybrid PS2 that was also a DVR, among other features. Not to be confused with the internal codename of the original PlayStation, there are several reasons why the PSX never got a worldwide release (we’ll get to that).
If you’ve never heard of Sony’s niche machine, we don’t blame you. Released at the height of the PS2 era but a few years before the PS3, the PSX was a confusing offering. It was a clunky beast that failed to capture the imagination of gamers or DVD enthusiasts. Let’s take a look at exactly what the PSX was and why it failed so badly.
What is PSX console?
The Sony PSX was an all-in-one entertainment system released in Japan in December 2003 and was never released in other regions. Not only was it a fully functional PlayStation 2, but it also had a DVR (remember those?) and DVD burner. In addition to this impressive to-do list, the PSX could play PS1 games, sported a built-in TV tuner, and finally boasted broadband compatibility following a post-launch patch.
Unlike the PS2, which didn’t natively support a hard drive – although you could optionally install one via the PS2’s expansion bay – the PSX came with either a 160GB or 250GB hard drive. With the company apparently viewing it more as a digital video recorder/entertainment player than an actual console, the PSX was promoted under the Sony brand and not the PlayStation brand.
This doomed machine’s greatest legacy was being the first Sony system to feature the XrossMediaBar (XMB) home menu that the PS3 would later make famous…or should that be infamous?
Why was the PSX never released outside of Japan?
“It was a big sales dud” is the short answer. Despite initially selling 100,000 units during its launch week in late 2003, sales quickly declined, even after the release of an updated model in 2004 (which Woozad covered at the time). Although Japanese reports at the time suggested that Sony had shipped several hundred thousand units by March 2004, the company was reluctant to release concrete sales data. More than 20 years later, there are still no reliable lifetime sales figures for the PSX.
Why did PSX bomb so hard? The system’s somewhat niche selling point didn’t help: a hybrid video recorder/DVD player that’s also a PS2 is difficult to market succinctly. In the spring of 2004, GameSpot Reported internal conflicts at Sony could have hampered any potential success the PSX would have had. An anonymous source “close to Sony” told the site: “Much has been said about the failure of the PSX within the company, but that was probably due to the unrealistic way its development was handled.” This source would then claim that Sony’s games division and its Blu-ray disc department (both of which handled production of the PSX) “could not work together very well”, resulting in “a machine that is neither a games console nor a DVD burner”. Report that the machine was phased out in early 2005.
A few additional factors sealed the PSX’s untimely demise. In particular, it costs a lot more than a PS2. The 160 GB model cost ¥79,800, while the 250 GB PSX cost ¥99,800 (about $730 and $910 respectively, circa 2003). In contrast, the PS2 had fallen to around ¥19,800 in Japan the month before the PSX launched, with the colossally successful console then costing around $179 in the United States.
There were also broadcast rights issues that made it difficult to achieve a large-scale international release. Since the PSX was a DVR designed around Japanese television, a foreign version of the machine would have required additional coordination between Sony and American and European broadcast regulators.
Is PSX the same as PS1?
It’s a pretty easy mistake to make, but no, these consoles are separate. “PSX” was a code name used by Sony internally during the development of the original PlayStation, which video game journalists and eventually gamers adapted to refer to it. At the time, “PS1” would not have been used since there was no second console yet, and “PS one” was eventually used as the official name for the system’s slimline redesign. Sony never actually released the first PlayStation under the PSX name.
There’s naturally a big difference between one of the most successful consoles of all time and a super-niche hybrid system that was never sold outside of Japan. As a reminder, the PS1 sold 102 million units during its lifespan, while the PSX was discontinued not even two years after its launch. So don’t confuse Sony’s iconic 32-bit system with some weird digital recorder and console.
But hey, at least the company learned its lesson and never made such a misstep again, like when PlayStation delivered a hammer blow to game preservation. Wait a minute…
