Looking through the albeit short lifespan of the ultimate in time wasting machine in creation, the video game, many great consoles have come and gone. Some are classics (NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis), some are pitiful demonstrations of big business trying to cash in (Atari Jaguar, 3DO, M2). But really, one particular piece of hardware stands out - Sony's PlayStation. No, it's far from perfect, but it's pretty damn close. All it takes is the strong library of superlative games to know how truly great this hunk of bolts, plastic, and computer chips is. The PlayStation's beginning was, oddly, a partnership with Nintendo. Around the time of the Sega Genesis' Sega CD-ROM bomb, Nintendo inquired with Sony to create a Super NES CD-ROM of it's own. But typical Nintendo brass, they let it slip through their fingers and terminated the system. Sony, hurt obviously by the rejection, vowed revenge (yeah, I'm being waaayyy too dramatic here). So in 1993, they unveiled the new, 32-bit PlayStation. Built to compete with Sega Saturn and Nintendo Project Reality (now known as Nintendo 64), it promised big-name games and great graphics. In 1994, the system was released in Japan. It didn't have the initial takeoff expected, but with time the system caught fire. On September 9, 1995, the PlayStation was released in the United States. It hit with a handful of games meant to show off the power of the system; Ridge Racer, a beautiful racing game with little depth by today's standards, Battle Arena Toshinden, which demonstrated the 3D capabilities and nothing else, and best of all NFL GameDay, which was so good it scared Electronic Arts' Madden series off for a year (and some say they never recovered). Initial sales were the highest for a video game console in history (something that the Dreamcast shattered in 1999). Flash forward to 2000. In October of this year, PlayStation 2 will be unveiled in the US. Built with DVD, broadband internet capability, and backwards compatible (meaning it will play all old PS1 games), it's sure to be an instant hit, despite the sadistic challenge of programming for it (that and the $300 price tag). Of course, there would be no PlayStation 2 if it wasn't for the success of the PlayStation. Without the library of great games, there would be no reason to release a backwards-compatible system either.