PlayStation Quiz
From a failed Nintendo deal to Kratos and the PS5: 15 questions on three decades of PlayStation.
In which year did the original PlayStation launch in Japan?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1994
Sony released the PlayStation in Japan on December 3, 1994, with North America and Europe following in September 1995. It became the first console to ship 100 million units.
The console's launch line up in Japan included Ridge Racer, a near perfect conversion of Namco's arcade hit.
Which PlayStation console sold about 160 million units, more than any other PlayStation?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2, launched in Japan in March 2000, sold around 160 million units over its 13 year production run, a figure Sony formally confirmed in 2024, and remains the top selling PlayStation.
A big part of the PS2's early appeal was that it doubled as an affordable DVD player.
Kratos is the protagonist of which PlayStation series?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
God of War
Kratos first appeared in God of War on the PlayStation 2 in 2005 as a Spartan warrior taking revenge on the Greek gods, and the 2018 reboot moved him to the world of Norse mythology.
God of War (2018) won Game of the Year at The Game Awards and introduced Kratos's son Atreus.
Nathan Drake is the treasure hunting hero of which series?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Uncharted
Nathan Drake stars in Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, which began with Drake's Fortune on the PlayStation 3 in 2007 and wrapped up his story in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in 2016.
Tom Holland played Drake in the 2022 Uncharted film, with Mark Wahlberg as his mentor Sully.
The PlayStation 3 doubled as a player for which high definition disc format?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Blu-ray
The PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006 with a built in Blu-ray drive, and its popularity is widely credited with helping Blu-ray win the format war against Toshiba's HD DVD.
UMD was the small disc format Sony used for its PSP handheld between 2004 and 2014.
Which studio developed The Last of Us, released on PlayStation 3 in 2013?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog released The Last of Us on June 14, 2013, following smuggler Joel and teenager Ellie across a United States ravaged by a fungal infection. It won more than 200 game of the year awards.
HBO's adaptation premiered in January 2023 with Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.
What is the name of the PlayStation 5 controller?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
DualSense
Sony broke with the DualShock name for the PS5, calling the new controller DualSense to highlight its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers that resist your finger.
Sixaxis was the original PS3 controller and Move was Sony's motion wand, so all four names are real PlayStation hardware.
The PlayStation 4 launched in November of which year?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
2013
The PlayStation 4 went on sale in North America on November 15, 2013, a week before the Xbox One, and its lower price and simpler message helped it dominate that generation.
The PS4 sold more than 117 million units, making it the second best selling PlayStation after the PS2.
Which studio developed Horizon Zero Dawn, the 2017 adventure starring the huntress Aloy?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Guerrilla Games
Guerrilla Games, the Dutch studio previously known for the Killzone shooters, released Horizon Zero Dawn for PlayStation 4 in February 2017 and followed it with Horizon Forbidden West in 2022.
Horizon Zero Dawn sold more than 24 million copies, making it one of Sony's most successful new franchises.
Which Sony engineer is known as the father of the PlayStation?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Ken Kutaragi
Ken Kutaragi pushed Sony into gaming after working on the sound chip for the Super Nintendo, led the original PlayStation project and later ran Sony Computer Entertainment.
Kutaragi left Sony in 2007 after the expensive PlayStation 3 launch and later became an executive in robotics.
The PlayStation began life in the late 1980s as a CD add-on planned for which rival console?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Super Nintendo
Sony and Nintendo agreed to build a CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo, but Nintendo publicly abandoned the deal in 1991 in favour of Philips, prompting Sony to turn its Play Station into a rival console.
A single surviving Nintendo PlayStation prototype from that partnership sold at auction in 2020 for $360,000.
Which studio makes the Gran Turismo racing series?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital, led by Kazunori Yamauchi, has made every Gran Turismo since the original launched in Japan in December 1997, and the series has sold more than 100 million copies.
Turn 10 Studios makes Forza Motorsport for Xbox, which has been Gran Turismo's long standing rival since 2005.
At E3 1995, Sony's Steve Race announced the US price of the PlayStation with a one-word speech. What was the price?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
$299
Race walked on stage, said 299 and walked off, undercutting the Sega Saturn's $399 by $100 just hours after Sega had announced it. The moment is remembered as one of E3's first mic drops.
Sega had surprised everyone by launching the Saturn that same day, four months ahead of schedule.
Which 1996 platformer gave the original PlayStation its unofficial mascot?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Crash Bandicoot
Naughty Dog chose the PlayStation for Crash Bandicoot partly because Sony had no mascot character, and the September 1996 release sold more than six million copies, making Crash the face of the console.
Spyro the Dragon arrived two years later from Insomniac Games, the studio that now makes Marvel's Spider-Man.
Which studio developed the 2015 PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
FromSoftware
FromSoftware, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, built Bloodborne for Sony as a faster, more aggressive cousin of Dark Souls set in the plague ridden gothic city of Yharnam. It launched in March 2015.
Bloodborne's optional Chalice Dungeons are procedurally generated, a real rarity among FromSoftware's otherwise carefully handcrafted worlds.
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All Technology quizzes →About the PlayStation Quiz
The PlayStation was born from a broken partnership with Nintendo, launched in Japan in 1994 and conquered America after Sony's Steve Race walked on stage at E3 1995, said $299 and walked off again. The PlayStation 2 went on to sell about 160 million units, more than any other PlayStation.
These 15 questions cover every console generation, the controllers, the studios and the exclusives, from Crash Bandicoot and Gran Turismo to The Last of Us, Horizon and Bloodborne. Casual players will cruise through the opening questions, while the later ones on Ken Kutaragi and PlayStation's origins reward anyone who has followed the brand since the grey box.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What does the PlayStation Quiz cover?
Consoles from the original PlayStation to the PS5, the DualSense controller, Sony's studios and exclusive series such as God of War, Uncharted, Gran Turismo and Bloodborne.
How hard is the PlayStation Quiz?
Medium. Kratos, Nathan Drake and the PS5 controller are easy, while the E3 1995 price and the Nintendo partnership are deeper cuts for long-time fans.
Are explanations included?
Yes. Every question comes with an instant explanation and a bonus fact about PlayStation history.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- In which year did the original PlayStation launch in Japan?
1994 Sony released the PlayStation in Japan on December 3, 1994, with North America and Europe following in September 1995. It became the first console to ship 100 million units. The console's launch line up in Japan included Ridge Racer, a near perfect conversion of Namco's arcade hit. - Which PlayStation console sold about 160 million units, more than any other PlayStation?
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2, launched in Japan in March 2000, sold around 160 million units over its 13 year production run, a figure Sony formally confirmed in 2024, and remains the top selling PlayStation. A big part of the PS2's early appeal was that it doubled as an affordable DVD player. - Kratos is the protagonist of which PlayStation series?
God of War Kratos first appeared in God of War on the PlayStation 2 in 2005 as a Spartan warrior taking revenge on the Greek gods, and the 2018 reboot moved him to the world of Norse mythology. God of War (2018) won Game of the Year at The Game Awards and introduced Kratos's son Atreus. - Nathan Drake is the treasure hunting hero of which series?
Uncharted Nathan Drake stars in Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, which began with Drake's Fortune on the PlayStation 3 in 2007 and wrapped up his story in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in 2016. Tom Holland played Drake in the 2022 Uncharted film, with Mark Wahlberg as his mentor Sully. - The PlayStation 3 doubled as a player for which high definition disc format?
Blu-ray The PlayStation 3 launched in November 2006 with a built in Blu-ray drive, and its popularity is widely credited with helping Blu-ray win the format war against Toshiba's HD DVD. UMD was the small disc format Sony used for its PSP handheld between 2004 and 2014. - Which studio developed The Last of Us, released on PlayStation 3 in 2013?
Naughty Dog Naughty Dog released The Last of Us on June 14, 2013, following smuggler Joel and teenager Ellie across a United States ravaged by a fungal infection. It won more than 200 game of the year awards. HBO's adaptation premiered in January 2023 with Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. - What is the name of the PlayStation 5 controller?
DualSense Sony broke with the DualShock name for the PS5, calling the new controller DualSense to highlight its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers that resist your finger. Sixaxis was the original PS3 controller and Move was Sony's motion wand, so all four names are real PlayStation hardware. - The PlayStation 4 launched in November of which year?
2013 The PlayStation 4 went on sale in North America on November 15, 2013, a week before the Xbox One, and its lower price and simpler message helped it dominate that generation. The PS4 sold more than 117 million units, making it the second best selling PlayStation after the PS2. - Which studio developed Horizon Zero Dawn, the 2017 adventure starring the huntress Aloy?
Guerrilla Games Guerrilla Games, the Dutch studio previously known for the Killzone shooters, released Horizon Zero Dawn for PlayStation 4 in February 2017 and followed it with Horizon Forbidden West in 2022. Horizon Zero Dawn sold more than 24 million copies, making it one of Sony's most successful new franchises. - Which Sony engineer is known as the father of the PlayStation?
Ken Kutaragi Ken Kutaragi pushed Sony into gaming after working on the sound chip for the Super Nintendo, led the original PlayStation project and later ran Sony Computer Entertainment. Kutaragi left Sony in 2007 after the expensive PlayStation 3 launch and later became an executive in robotics. - The PlayStation began life in the late 1980s as a CD add-on planned for which rival console?
Super Nintendo Sony and Nintendo agreed to build a CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo, but Nintendo publicly abandoned the deal in 1991 in favour of Philips, prompting Sony to turn its Play Station into a rival console. A single surviving Nintendo PlayStation prototype from that partnership sold at auction in 2020 for $360,000. - Which studio makes the Gran Turismo racing series?
Polyphony Digital Polyphony Digital, led by Kazunori Yamauchi, has made every Gran Turismo since the original launched in Japan in December 1997, and the series has sold more than 100 million copies. Turn 10 Studios makes Forza Motorsport for Xbox, which has been Gran Turismo's long standing rival since 2005. - At E3 1995, Sony's Steve Race announced the US price of the PlayStation with a one-word speech. What was the price?
$299 Race walked on stage, said 299 and walked off, undercutting the Sega Saturn's $399 by $100 just hours after Sega had announced it. The moment is remembered as one of E3's first mic drops. Sega had surprised everyone by launching the Saturn that same day, four months ahead of schedule. - Which 1996 platformer gave the original PlayStation its unofficial mascot?
Crash Bandicoot Naughty Dog chose the PlayStation for Crash Bandicoot partly because Sony had no mascot character, and the September 1996 release sold more than six million copies, making Crash the face of the console. Spyro the Dragon arrived two years later from Insomniac Games, the studio that now makes Marvel's Spider-Man. - Which studio developed the 2015 PlayStation 4 exclusive Bloodborne?
FromSoftware FromSoftware, directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, built Bloodborne for Sony as a faster, more aggressive cousin of Dark Souls set in the plague ridden gothic city of Yharnam. It launched in March 2015. Bloodborne's optional Chalice Dungeons are procedurally generated, a real rarity among FromSoftware's otherwise carefully handcrafted worlds.
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