Sorry I'm a bit late getting this up this month, my computer is currently out of commission!
This month we'll be taking a look at Sony's first foray into the console market with the Sony Playstation. Released in 1994 in Japan and 1995 everywhere else, the Playstation was a massive hit that sold over 100 million units, making it the best selling system of all time when it was current, and still one of the best selling consoles to this date.
The Playstation aimed for a mainstream and more mature market than previous console and was successful in this goal, bringing video game more into the public eye. Several thousand games were released for the system, giving it an incredible library.
Let's discuss Sony's first home console this month!
The PlayStation is just such a weird phenomenon. It started as a joint project Sony brought to Nintendo for a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES, and when ultimately snubbed by Nintendo over Sony wanting licensing revenue, something Nintendo guarded fiercely, Sony decided not to simply give up on that licensing revenue. They already had history developing hardware components and dev tools for consoles, why not simply do it themselves? A lot of folks consider the PlayStation's embrace of rudimentary 3D as the primary reason for its success, but it's not that simple. 3D alone wasn't enough. It was, in fact, Sony's purchase of Psygnosis that really helped seal the platform's success. Psygnosis was largely a publisher and gave Sony access to lots of publishing experience with western markets, but by happenstance Psygnosis also published dev tools from SN Systems, the developer of great dev tools for computers going under the name SNASM. The PS1's native dev environment was custom and a hard sell, so Psygnosis tasked SN Systems with developing dev tools for PS1 for standard PCs. It would be easy to say the rest is history, and perhaps also a little disingenuous, but it really is the roots of Sony's favorable relationship with developers. Sony, through Psygnosis, became committed to providing an easy on-ramp to PS1 development, to ensure that the power of the PS1 was easy to tap into. Sony used their corporate size and presence in electronics to keep the base system affordable. Through Psygnosis they reached out to western devs and were able to provide great dev tools. And they also were very open to partnerships and handling publishing duties in the west (FF7 was published by Sony if you recall). Sony basically made all the right moves and used it's existing size and financials to partner and support instead of to browbeat and demand.
This was very much the opposite of Sega's approach to the Saturn. It was easy to tap into the basic 2D functions of the Saturn, but utilizing the second CPU effectively and using the 3D modes were overly complicated (especially for western developers) under Sega's original development tools. It wasn't until Sega finally released better development tools on the heels of Virtua Cop that decent 3D on the Saturn was finally accessible outside of Sega and a few Japanese prestige developers.
Here's one of my favorite hot takes: The Saturn had a better library until the release of Final Fantasy 7 (late 1997).
Panzer Dragoon / Zwei Virtua Fighter 2 X-Men Sega Rally Virtua Cop / 2 Guardian Heroes X-Men vs Street Fighter Dragon Force Powerslave / Exhumed Nights Saturn Bomberman Die Hard Arcade Fighters Megamix Shining the Holy Ark Legend of Oasis DecAthlete Galactic Attack
What did the PS1 have in that time frame? Ridge Racer / Revolution Tekken / 2 Twisted Metal Warhawk Mortal Kombat 3 PaRappa Alien Trilogy Blood Omen King's Field 3 Madden Persona Formula 1 Crash Bandicoot WipEout XL / 2097 Wild Arms Suikoden
Perhaps I've missed out some titles, but comparing these two lists, the Saturn looks superior to me. Granted, after late 1997 (FF7, SotN, Einhander, etc.) the PS1 was the clear winner.
RobertAugustdeMeijer wrote:Here's one of my favorite hot takes: The Saturn had a better library until the release of Final Fantasy 7 (late 1997).
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Perhaps I've missed out some titles, but comparing these two lists, the Saturn looks superior to me. Granted, after late 1997 (FF7, SotN, Einhander, etc.) the PS1 was the clear winner.
I dunno. Both those lists look pretty solid to me.
PS1 is without a doubt my favorite console to collect for. I got my PS1 for Christmas the year it launched. When all was said and done with gifts & Christmas money, I got Battle Arena Toshinden, Gex, Tekken, and Warhawk. I remember looking at the back of the PS1 box and gawking at the various upcoming titles. Blood Omen stood out as a particularly cool looking game and I recall being very disappointed to learn it was delayed to late 1996. I can't be certain, but I am pretty sure the next game I got was Resident Evil (I still have the same copy!). Boy was I blown away! Like a lot of 90's kids, it was my first survival horror game. Resident Evil set the stage for what (in my opinion) would be one of the best years in gaming.
The US PS1 library was largely devoid of RPGs for the better part of a year - possibly due to Sony Computer Entertainment of America's apparent bias towards 3D games? Blood Omen, Suikoden, and Wild Arms scratched that RPG itch until Final Fantasy VII was released in September 1997. After FFVII did so well, RPGs seemingly exploded onto the North American PS1. It was a good time to be an RPG fan although I would not acquire many of them until much later because I was starting to shift into PC gaming and MMOs.
My OG PS1 was a trooper and followed me through college until the PS2 came out. Despite being a launch model PS1, it only overheated on me once during an all-day Chrono Cross playthrough back in 2000. When the laser eventually gave out sometime in the 2010's, I replaced it with a PSOne which is still going strong.
Since this is really my only collection worth showing off, I took some pictures just for this thread:
No unsightly Greatest Hits here folks! The uncommon SCPH-1180 Dual Analog Controller that I got at Media Play back in the day.
Collecting for the PS1 has slowed down for me considerably since retro prices in general have skyrocketed. There are still some titles on my wishlist to be had for reasonable prices. I really need to get on that.
I had a N64 during that generation and then an old friend of mine introduced me to Final Fantasy X while in college. A short while later, I had Final Fantasy X and a PS2. I picked up a few more PS2 games until I suddenly realized that I had a PS1 as well. I was exploring RPG's for the very first time and the PS1 had an unlimited supply of them in my mind. So, for several years, I was searching out so many PS1 RPGs. It took me a bit and I am still discovering some of the classics for the system that are not RPG's, but I have grown to love the PS1. I would say it is a great B-Tier System for me.
Some of my favorites: Capcom Vs. SNK Pro Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy Tactics Grandia Legend Of Mana Lunar: Silver Star Story Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Parasite Eve Pocket Fighter Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure Saiyuki: Journey West Suikoden II Tactics Ogre Tetris Plus Threads Of Fate Twisted Metal 2 Valkyrie Profile Vandal Hearts II Wild Arms Xenogears
I think my absolute favorite is Suikoden II. That game has to be in my top 10 and one of my favorite RPG's. Worth every penny!
My friends and I organized football tournaments(FIFA Soccer 97) together in the evenings. And when our parents were not at home, these days became holidays for us.
Life is a game, and astrology is part of our life. I recently found out from the Cancer compatibility chart that my best couple is Pisces, and now I'm looking for her!
My first PS1 was my PS2. By that I mean, I didn't originally own a PS1. I can remember when the PS1 first launched, being that it was neither Sega nor Nintendo there was a certain mystique to it. I had a number of friends and cousins that owned a PS1, and I always had a blast playing it. I had an N64 during that generation, and being a dumb kid with no income I couldn't afford another current gen console. The PS1 had such a different style of games compared to the N64, so I was always intrigued by it.
The, when I was in Jr High or High School, I got a PS2. I was only able to afford two PS2 games, and those were the only two I had for a while. But PS1 games could be had for very cheap. So my first few years with the PS2 I actually played mostly PS1 games. Which was great because I always wanted a PS1. I would go to my local Blockbuster, they always had a great selection of used games as well as Greatest Hits titles for cheap. I was able to purchase Medal of Honor, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid, all brand new Greatest Hits version for about $15 each. Right now, I can only recall one pre-owned PS1 game that I got from Blockbuster, Final Fantasy Origins. And all of these happen to remain some of my favorite games for the console.
My local K-Mart was still around, and I was able to pick up the Driver/Driver 2 double pack. These were definitely two games I wanted to get as soon as I had my own PS1 (or PS2, as it were). I had fond memories of playing these two games at my cousin's house. We mostly played Survival Mode and Free Play in Driver 2. But when I got my own copies of the games, I was finally able to play the single player story mode. Man, I had a blast with it. It's been on my replay list for a while now. Maybe I'll finally get to it this month!
A more recent favorite of mine is Mega Man X4. The X series really grew on me in recent years. I didn't think I would ever like X4 as much as I do, it surprises me how much I ended up liking it. I played through it once a few years back and enjoyed it. Then I recently played through it again and realized that I like it even more than I could remember LOL.
I actually really like using original the non-Dual Shock controllers for games that don't make use of the sticks.
There's a few more games I've enjoyed over the years, but there's definitely a huge list of PS1 games I'd like to eventually play. I picked up an XStation a while back, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. I have a 1001 with a dead disc drive. Maybe I'll get to finally doing that this month.
Markies wrote:I think my absolute favorite is Suikoden II. That game has to be in my top 10 and one of my favorite RPG's. Worth every penny!
Despite being a big fan of the original Suikoden, I somehow completely missed Suikoden II's release. It wasn't until I saw Suikoden III on store shelves that sought out Suikoden II. By then it was already over MSRP in the early 2000's.
Do you think you will pick up the Suikoden I & II remaster when it comes out next year? I'm on the fence. The upgraded visuals look nice but I'm not sure it is enough of an upgrade when I already have the original copies.
Ziggy587 wrote:I picked up an XStation a while back, but I haven't gotten around to installing it yet. I have a 1001 with a dead disc drive. Maybe I'll get to finally doing that this month.
Do it! At least I'm not the only one slacking on PS1 goals. I did manage to setup some lowball eBay snipes for titles I'm interested in thanks to this thread. No wins yet sadly. Non-BuyItNow auctions seem to be ever dwindling.
Markies wrote:I think my absolute favorite is Suikoden II. That game has to be in my top 10 and one of my favorite RPG's. Worth every penny!
Despite being a big fan of the original Suikoden, I somehow completely missed Suikoden II's release. It wasn't until I saw Suikoden III on store shelves that sought out Suikoden II. By then it was already over MSRP in the early 2000's.
Do you think you will pick up the Suikoden I & II remaster when it comes out next year? I'm on the fence. The upgraded visuals look nice but I'm not sure it is enough of an upgrade when I already have the original copies.
I don't think I will buy any of them rather quickly, but I can see myself buying the Suikoden Remaster along with the Suikoden spiritual successor.
I own and have played through all five of the Suikoden games on PS1 and PS2. I miss that series and it would be a great reason to replay them again.
Awesome to hear about everyone's experiences with the PS1! Interesting take by RobertAugustdeMeijer ... I really do like the look of that Saturn line up but the PS1 list is formidable too. Also, awesome collection posted by bmoc -- great selection of games there!
My story with the PS1 in a weird way originally starts with the Panasonic 3DO. IIRC, it was in the summer of 1995 when I first played my cousins' 3DO -- they had Alone in the Dark, Syndicate, Star Control 2, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo. I had a good time playing the games they had and asked my parents for the console that Christmas, which I was gifted, along with Return Fire, Need for Speed, and Space Ace. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two games mentioned.
However, by the spring of 1996, my 3DO stopped reading discs properly. Sometimes it would play, but sometimes it wouldn't work. Being a young kid, I mentioned it to my parents and I think my father felt bad that the device he bought me a few months ago was already busted. Within a few weeks, my father took me to a Software Etc to replace the 3DO with a Playstation. Thanks, dad! Luckily, the two 3DO games I enjoyed already had ports to the PS1, so I also got it with Return Fire, Need for Speed, a RF adapter, and a third party Ascii controller, as the first party controllers were sold out. This is an especially memorable experience for me, as this was the only time I received a console as a gift that wasn't at Christmas.
The other early long box games I got shortly after I received the console were Battle Arena Toshinden 2 and Resident Evil. As others mentioned, Resident Evil was a mind-blowing experience. I originally played at my cousins' house and knew I had to try to get it as well. Luckily, I was able to buy a copy shortly after it was released. I spent a lot of hours playing this game and showing it to friends and kids in the neighborhood.
I specifically remember one summer afternoon, where it was really nice out, and bringing RE over to a friend's house. Instead of enjoying the great day outside, we were huddled up in his living room playing RE all afternoon. His mom came by a few times to suggest that we go do something outside, but we just kept playing RE. Lol. Looking back on it, I think it's pretty funny how young I was, not even a teenager yet, and playing this game.
As Markies and bmoc mentioned, the RPG selection on the system was also a big draw for me. FF7 was another mind-blowing experience, I originally saw the game when a friend of mine who had got it shortly after release brought it by my place. I really enjoyed the fact that an RPG was set in a more modern, darker, cyberpunk type of setting. At that time, I had mostly played or seen RPGs with a fantasy theme. I'm due for a replay of the game, and it's something I'd like to tackle.
The other early RPGs -- Wild Arms and Persona, I did not own myself but my other buddy had both of those games along with Suikoden and Beyond the Beyond, so I got a chance to see a bit of those, and I was pretty impressed by them as well. I always enjoyed the artwork for Beyond the Beyond, but at the time I didn't realize it was developed by Camelot.
Another game that I have to mention here, that I also found to be an amazing at home experience was the port of Time Crisis. To have a light gun game like this at home was just awesome. This was also the first light gun game I owned, and the accuracy of Namco's Guncon totally spoiled me, because some of the light guns I ended up getting for other consoles later on just did not live up to the accuracy and comfortability of the Guncon. I seriously spent a lot of hours playing this game and to this day, I have a lot of the sequences memorized. Just a great game, IMO.
One of my issues with the PS1, was that I ended up being gifted a third party memory card, and the thing would randomly delete save files. I lost numerous saves of RPGs I was deep into, which was always frustrating the first year or so I had the console, until I got a first party card. The only other issue I had with the PS1 games I owned or rented, is that there didn't seem to be a great co-op game to play together with a friend. I was itching for that next gen co-op beat em up that my friends and I could stay up late playing, but I never came across that on the PS1. I did have Fighting Force, but I never found it to be up to par with the great beat 'em ups of the 16 bit era.
Overall, the PS1 is up there for me! I will never forget purchasing the system with my father and the good times checking out games with my cousins and friends. I still have all of my original PS1 games, except for Return Fire. Unfortunately, one of my cousins borrowed it and never brought it back ... however, I tracked down another copy years ago. There are still games on the system I missed out on and want to check, and I especially would like to experience some of the RPGs I never played. Also, the opening jingle when you fire up a game is amazing!
