September 9th is fast approaching, and it will mark the 20th Anniversary of Sony's entrance into the U.S. gaming market with the release of the Playstation. Often referred to as the PS1 or PSX, Sony's first foray into the console market changed the landscape of gaming in ways that continue to impact the medium to this very day. Along the way, we've seen numerous consoles, handhelds, third- and first-party exclusive games, and a variety of peripherals that all came together to bolster the Playstation brand as a household name in gaming. And throughout it all those of us who've been part of the Playstation ecosystem have surely formed dozens of memories that we look back on fondly.
Whether it be nostalgic recollections of late nights with friends or family, midnight console launches, or groundbreaking games that would serve as the spark for an interest in a new genre or franchise, I'm interested in reliving this 20-year ride with you all in the form of personal anecdotes and discussion of how the brand has evolved and changed with the times. This is not a place for bashing other players in the industry. It's just an excuse to indulge in a little communal nostalgia to commemorate this anniversary.
I'll start with a quick bulleted list to get the ball rolling, and then I'll follow up later with more detailed musings and remembrances. Here are some highlight moments from Playstation's 20-year history that stick out for me:
PS1/PSX Era
- Playing Twisted Metal four-player with some friends in 1997 and realizing that I simply had to have a PS1.
- Getting a Playstation along with Loaded for Christmas 1997. I was taken by the grungy, gory vibe of Loaded and felt like it was a distinct deviation from what I had been playing on Nintendo and Sega systems up to that point.
- Playing Resident Evil 2 as my first foray into survival horror and learning that games were capable of eliciting real fear.
- Buying Final Fantasy 7 on a whim and being introduced to the world of Squaresoft RPG's.
- Signing up for Playstation Underground and eagerly awaiting new demo discs every month in the mail. I still have all of my old PU discs.
- Playing Destruction Derby for the first time and being impressed with how much polygonal graphics could impact game design
- Being introduced to Metal Gear Solid by a friend who brought over the demo disc. Once I saw him play the intro to the full game, I had to have it. I got it along with the Versus Books strategy guide later that Christmas, and it would go on to become one of my absolute all-time favorite games ever made. This opened my eyes to cinematic presentation in games and affected my tastes greatly.
- Living through Square's golden age. It seemed like one masterpiece after another was coming from them every few months for a good 3-5 years. What a time to be alive.
PS2 Era
- My dad surprising me with a PS2 for Christmas in the year 2000. They were so hard to come by, and I had resigned myself to the likelihood that I've had to wait until Spring 2001 for them to come back in stock. My dad had called around dozens of stores every day for months leading up to the holiday, and he managed to reserve and snag a lone system that came in right before Christmas. Getting that PS2 along with Tekken Tag Tournament stands out as one of my favorite Christmas memories ever.
- Enjoying the god-tier, unmatched, expansive library of the PS2 for the better part of a decade. The PS2 served me well throughout almost all of high school and all of college. There are so many amazing games and memories attached to this system that I think I'll be able to better do them justice in a more longform post later in the thread.
- Playing ICO for the first time and being blown away. I can safely say that this game opened my eyes to all sorts of games that I previously probably never would have tried. It expanded my horizons, and it's one of my favorite games ever.
- Eagerly awaiting the release of Shadow of the Colossus and then spending days and nights playing through it in college. This is probably my most replayed game ever, and I can confidently call it my favorite game of all time.
- Playing GTA3 for the first time and feeling like I was witnessing a Mario 64 moment. The flagpole moved for console gaming with GTA3 dropped, and anyone who was there to experience it would agree.
- Giving Jak & Daxter a try despite being initially uninterested and being impressed with the seamless, huge platforming environments with no load times and great animation.
- Checking online every day for months leading up to the release of Vice City, reading rumors about helicopers and motorcyles. The rumor mill was in full effect for Vice City with some stuff that didn't end up in the game, but once it dropped I was floored by all of the new features and the 80's vibe. My favorite GTA game to this day.
- Being so excited for MGS2's release that I could barely sleep. Kojima did a great job building hype for MGS2 with those incredible trailers at every trade show.
- Many late nights in college spent playing Burnout 3's Takedown mode with roommates.
PS3/PSP Era
- Going to the midnight launch of MGS4 to pick up my MGS4 PS3 bundle.
- Playing GTA4 and noticing that pedestrians were running for cover from the rain and shielding their heads with newspapers and umbrellas. That was when I first felt like the "next gen" had arrived.
- Playing Uncharted 2 after having only mildly enjoyed the first game and having to pick my jaw up off the floor several times throughout the course of the game. The helicopter fight with the collapsing building and the train mission stand out clear as day in my mind's eye.
- Playing the best-executed western game ever made: Red Dead Redemption. I was so taken with it by the time the credits rolled that I made the soundtrack a permanent fixture in my car stereo.
- Picking up the Ico/SotC HD Collection. I still can't believe this got a release. I was overjoyed.
- The Last of Us serving as the PS3's swan song. After UC2 and this, anything Druckmann directs is going to be a day-one purchase for me.
PS4/Vita Era
- Seeing the crowd go nuts when Sony announced that they'd be supporting physical media, used games, and offline playability with the PS4. Also when they dropped the 8GB GDDR5 RAM bomb. They really got off to a good start capturing the goodwill of the players with the launch of the PS4.
- Playing Bloodborne late into the night with my brother and a few friends in an online party.
- Playing Grim Fandango Remastered after years of wanting to play it, and being just as taken with it as everyone else.
- Buying a Vita a few years into its lifecycle and being floored by the number of great games available for the system in the form of indies and PS1 Classics. It's the best way to play PS1 games on PSN, IMO.
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