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Post by Ex on Sept 9, 2020 21:10:51 GMT -5
Today marked the day the original PS1 debuted in the USA, twenty five years ago. That's right, it's been a quarter century since the PlayStation released stateside on the Saturday of September 9th, 1995. I thought on this monumental day, we might all reminisce about our personal history with this console. So here's a few questions to get the conversation started: When did you first learn of the PlayStation's existence?
When and where did you first play the PS1?
Did you think Sony had a chance against Nintendo and SEGA?
What did you think of the PS1's graphics back in its day? What are your top favorite PS1 releases? Do you still play PS1 today, despite the fact we're about to be on the fifth generation of this console brand?
Edit: And yes, I'll be back with my own answers later.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 9, 2020 21:57:33 GMT -5
> When did you first learn of the PlayStation's existence?
Probably in some EGM magazine or something. I read mags at the newsstand pretty often.
> When and where did you first play the PS1?
To be honest, I don't remember. If I had to wager a guess, though, in a Toys 'R' Us.
> Did you think Sony had a chance against Nintendo and SEGA?
I mean, I didn't know. The idea that Sony, an electronics manufacturer, was going to roll up into a landscape dominated by Sega and Nintendo seemed far-fetched. Of course, this was before I knew about all the stuff that went on behind the scenes with the PSX and CDi and all that jazz.
> What did you think of the PS1's graphics back in its day?
Impressive from a technical perspective, although perhaps not quite as impressive since that was about the time frame I got my first PC. And I'd seen 3D stuff on PC before that was more impressive. But for a console, definitely really cool. I still remember that big fight sequence with a mech that was being demoed at that local Babbage's. The scale of things that could be on screen was really impressive when compared to what you could do on 16-bit consoles.
From an artistic perspective, though, they were pretty ugly. I never bought into the "3D is superior to 2D" argument, especially since I was much more a pencil-and-paper artist that envisioned better-looking 2D games more than anything. Those were some pretty funky looking first steps... but also steps the industry had to take. Thankfully, we have emerged from the "2D is inferior" mindset in a lot of ways, so I still manage to get games I really like that play like the classics.
> What are your top favorite PS1 releases?
Boy, this would take a while, but ones that come to mind immediately:
Symphony of the Night - I can't say I was a massive Castlevania fan at this point. I thought they were fine, but I didn't get all the hype for this entry until I bought it. Yeah, I was hooked. Still in my top two games of all time. Metal Gear Solid - Sure, it looks quaint now, but what they were doing with the hardware, and from a story perspective, was nothing short of mind-blowing. Was it better than Ocarina of Time? Maybe. That it was even in that conversation is impressive. This was also the first M-rated game I ever bought. Legend of Dragoon - I know folks don't care for it now, but it might actually be the best non-Final Fantasy game in that style on the system. Vagrant Story - Super impressive graphics paired with a really great script. Definitely a game I enjoyed, and am due for a revisit. Xenogears - Not my favorite RPG on the system, but I remember them finally making another print run and ordering it from GameStop while I was in Bristol, England. Fun stuff! Valkyrie Profile - We've talked about this one before. One of the most unique games on the system, and I loved the character stories. Tremendous, if obtuse, game. Ape Escape - For my money, this might be better than the N64 platformers of the era. There. I said it. Come at me. Arc the Lad II - Impressive fusion of Chrono Trigger and Shining Force, basically. Don't sleep on this one! Breath of Fire IV - I loved this game. The dual protagonist/antagonist setup was really cool, and the art is gorgeous. Dragon Warrior VII - Ugly as sin, but played fantastically. After enduring a massive gap between Dragon Warrior IV and this, it was a welcome sight.
> Do you still play PS1 today, despite the fact we're about to be on the fifth generation of this console brand?
Not as much as the 8-bit and 16-bit generations, but yes. I finished Breath of Fire III finally (another one of those 25-hour save files!), and also replayed Ape Escape. Haven't finished anything this year on it, but maybe that Goemon game will solve it for me. And I'm due for another SotN run eventually.
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Post by Ex on Sept 10, 2020 11:35:02 GMT -5
>When did you first learn of the PlayStation's existence?I recall catching whiffs of the PS1 in EGM back in '94. But the PS1 didn't register in mind as something to care about initially. Just another weird console that would surely fail, like the Philips CD-i or the 3DO. >When and where did you first play the PS1?On one hot summer day in 1995, I was over at a friend's house, and a friend of his showed up with a PlayStation and a copy of Battle Arena Toshinden. We played that 3D fighter for a while, and I realized the 3D graphics on the PS1 were a lot smoother than what I'd seen before. My experiences with 3D at that time had been via the SNES FX chip and choppy DOS 3D games. At that point I realized the PS1 could have potential. However in 1995 there was no way for me to afford a PS1. All my part-time job money was going towards building my first car, and my parents wouldn't buy me a console that expensive. That said, I knew multiple people who had PS1s in the late '90s, so I still got to play the console off and on. I ending up owning a PS1 from 1999-2000, but ceded it to my younger brother after VGS and ePSXe became a thing. >Did you think Sony had a chance against Nintendo and SEGA?When I started seeing more M-rated games releasing on PS1, yes I did think Sony had a chance. Sony seemed to be chasing a different, older demographic. A lot of us first generation gamers were now in our late teens and early '20s, so we appreciated games that took our more mature tastes into consideration. Also the large amount of memory the CD-ROM format offered over cartridge, was clearly a big advantage for Sony at the time. Everybody was crazy about CGI FMVs back then, and CD storage allowed plenty of that. >What did you think of the PS1's graphics back in its day?I was never much impressed with the fidelity of the polygons and their low resolution textures. I had already seen DOS 3D games that ran at higher resolution, with much better texturing. I was however impressed with the smoother frame rates those first gen PS1 console games accomplished. My initial experience with 3D games came by way of software rendering on PC. So playing 3D games on a console that had hardware specifically designed to play 3D games was revelatory. (Although to be honest, the most impressed I ever was with a 3D game back in the mid-'90s, was via Super Mario 64.) >What are your top favorite PS1 releases? To do a top 5:Vagrant Story = Without a doubt my all time favorite PS1 game. It's just brilliant. King's Field III = The apex of the series on PS1. An awesome adventure in a darkly foreboding world. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night = Pure exploratory platforming bliss, its only detriment is being a cakewalk. Metal Gear Solid = For its time, this game was absolutely revolutionary. Still fun today as well. Mega Man Legends = I'd happily take this over Ocarina of Time any day. >Do you still play PS1 today, despite the fact we're about to be on the fifth generation of this console brand?Absolutely, for two reasons. One, I don't mind crusty old '90s 3D graphics. A lot of people act like they can't stand low res polygons and blurry textures, but that aesthetic stuff doesn't bother me, insofar as the gameplay itself is still good. (I've always cared more about gameplay than graphics, so dismissing an entire generation of gaming because "caveman 3D" isn't happening for me.) Two, the PS1 had loads of JRPGs, and I've barely scratched the surface of what its library offers in that genre. There's still a whole lotta PS1 JRPGs I'd like to sample, if not beat. Since I've never been someone who could binge JRPGs back to back, finishing one a week, it's taking me decades to play through the PS1's JRPG library. Nowadays I prefer to play PS1 on my PSP, so all those old console JRPGs have become handheld games for me. That helps make them more accessible personally.
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Post by toei on Sept 10, 2020 13:22:41 GMT -5
When did you first learn of the PlayStation's existence? I remember a magazine I had with coverage of the 1994 E3, where IIRC, Sony had set up Playstations outside for people to try as a surprise move. That's probably where I first heard of it.
When and where did you first play the PS1? Definitely at a friend's house, as I no interested in anything but the Sega Saturn in the early years of the 32-bit era. I remember playing Twisted Metal for a bit - exactly the sort of game a '90s kid who have found cool at the time - and later on, I tried Final Fantasy 7 before it was officially released because my friend's father was the announcer in the local TV commercial for it. This is how heavily they promoted the game - having a commercial in French made just for Quebec TV to advertise a specific game was extremely rare, in my memories.
Did you think Sony had a chance against Nintendo and SEGA? I don't remember what I thought about it. I wasn't attracted to the console when it was first announced, and in the early days. I had no image of Sony as a video game company. Even the 3DO seemed cooler at first. That must have changed quickly, cause I remember EGM's special 3D issue about the Saturn & PSX launch was praising the PSX pretty heavily. They also called Toshinden a killer app, so lol.
What did you think of the PS1's graphics back in its day? I was fully on board with early 3D, and I remember when FMV cutscenes were a huge deal for gamers. They were to me, too.
What are your top favorite PS1 releases? Mostly RPGs. Xenogears, Alundra, Vagrant Story, Breath of Fire 3... I'm probably forgetting some. Also, Silent Hill and Resident Evil 2. Natsume made a great Hokuto no Ken beat-'em-up, too.
Do you still play PS1 today, despite the fact we're about to be on the fifth generation of this console brand? Not often, but there are still a few games I want to play for it. Most of the PSX I played was long after its time, anyway.
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Post by Sarge on Sept 10, 2020 13:56:55 GMT -5
I'm due for an Alundra replay, although if I do it, it should probably be through the UnWorked Designs patch that makes enemies less spongey.
Y'all have made a good point about the PSX's power - there really hadn't been anything that fluid at that low a price point in the console space. The 3DO was the closest, but we all know how expensive that was. Sony nailed it with that original design. Even the system shortcomings (no Z-buffer! no floating-point vertex precision!) didn't matter all that much.
I do wonder how Nintendo would have fared had they gone with CD media for the N64. I have to think Square doesn't abandon them, and all of a sudden, things are looking awfully rosy for them. As someone pointed out elsewhere, Nintendo's business model from the cartridge generation was too good for them, as they controlled the means of production and made a pretty penny off of it. That made them too late to abandon the cartridge format... which still has advantages, but they severely misread the market (and various companies' loyalty to them).
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Post by toei on Sept 10, 2020 15:03:32 GMT -5
You could say they finally paid in full for their arrogance towards 3rd parties earlier. I'm sure they knew Squaresoft was going to make FF7 on CD, but they decided to stick to cartridge. Once it was announced that both FF7 and Dragon Quest 7 would go on the Playstation (and this was known in Japan long before DQ7 was finally released - it had a long development period, as you might expect), nearly all the Japanese 3rd parties gave up on Nintendo. As a result, the N64 was basically a flop in Japan (especially considering what market position Nintendo was coming from previously), though it did well elsewhere. They never really got the 3rd parties back like before.
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Post by Ex on Sept 10, 2020 15:28:24 GMT -5
later on, I tried Final Fantasy 7 before it was officially released because my friend's father was the announcer in the local TV commercial for it That was an interesting anecdote, thanks for sharing it. though it did well elsewhere What bolstered the N64, especially in the west, was its built in local 4-player hardware. That was a great move, and all my best memories of the N64 have to do with local multiplayer. The PS1 also supported 4-player simultaneous play, but you had to buy a special adapter. I'm due for an Alundra replay, although if I do it, it should probably be through the UnWorked Designs patch that makes enemies less spongey. That's how I plan to play the game. Bless Supper and his "Un-Worked Designs" patches. The PS1 would have been the only console Sony made. - I should mention I still have that original PS1 from 1999. My brother ended up giving it back to me in 2006. I later modded it in 2007 to use PS-X-Change, mainly to play local multiplayer games. But nowadays it's just put up in storage in my dork cave's closet. I bet it still works.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 10, 2020 15:51:19 GMT -5
When did you first learn of the PlayStation's existence? - I have no idea. In the mid 90's I was 8-10 years old in later grade school, so I was still too young to really pay attention to these things. But I think I saw a PSX in passing at a friends of my parents once or twice. Kind of like when I'd see someone that had a cool PC setup at the time and those scary covers like DOOM or whatnot.
When and where did you first play the PS1? - At some point I used to help my mom clean homes for her job at the time. One family had the PSX along with DOOM, Crash, some Jurassic Park game, and maybe something else. They didn't mind that I played some of that stuff. I remember how alien the controller felt, the CD thing I had seen with PC's but not a console, etc. But it left a good impression on me.
- Eventually towards the end of grade school though, probably 5th-6th grade, I had my legendary PSX friend who truly broke me in. This guy had the holy trinity, RE2, FF7, and MGS1. Still to this day some of my favorite games of all time. I was a Nintendo/N64 kid initially during this era but even I could still tell back then, that cartridges could not have those cutscenes, or produce such quality music, and I noticed the stylistic differences too with PSX games often going for pre-rendered backdrops moreso over the N64 which focused purely on the 3D. Ironically nowadays I think a lot of PSX stuff holds up far better visually. They had more interesting ways at getting around things from a visual standpoint, sometimes. That friend had so much more, the Duke Nukem's, Parasite Eve (I remember him showing me some shower scene, and other suggestive stuff like this you wouldn't find on Nintendo back then), etc.
- At other friends', demo discs were a thing for sure. Twisted Metal, the MGS1 demo, Wild 9...
Did you think Sony had a chance against Nintendo and SEGA? - See my first response at the top, too young to care or notice these things. Even though I had a Genesis and all. I just assumed Nintendo were the best, until around this point...
What did you think of the PS1's graphics back in its day? - As mentioned above they blew me away, especially with cutscenes and the cool hyper detailed pre-rendered backgrounds in some games. I can still go back to many PSX games to this day and be impressed with artistic elements. It's harder for me to feel that way when I look back on most N64 games in comparison.
What are your top favorite PS1 releases? - Metal Gear Solid - Resident Evil 2 - Xenogears - Suikoden 1-2 - Final Fantasy 7 - Symphony of the Night - Mega Man X4-X6 - Mega Man Legends 1-2 - Tomb Raider
- Front Mission 3 - Vagrant Story - Silent Hill - Koudelka
- Breath of Fire 4 etc
Do you still play PS1 today, despite the fact we're about to be on the fifth generation of this console brand? - Glancing over my personal notepad files, I have played and beaten a few PSX games per year dating back to 2013, that I've tracked at least. So yes. The PS2/PS3 being backward compatible has made it easy to remain a relevant system.
I do gravitate more quickly to the 8/16bit era when the retro gaming mood strikes, but when I get through a new PSX game and it leaves an impression it's such an amazing feeling. Koudelka, Front Mission 3, Tomb Raider, and Vagrant Story are some brand new gems I beat within the year and you can see they rank among my top favorites now. I'm sure there's some more gems to discover along the way.
EDIT: So many typos. Work is killing me.
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Post by toei on Sept 10, 2020 16:03:34 GMT -5
One thing I'll add about the N64 is that even though Mario 64 looked good overall, I remember thinking those 2D fences were hideous. Lots of N64 games had similarly weird 2d objects that stood out like a sore thumb. It also has a very particular style of 3D that's instantly identifiable, for some reason.
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Post by Xeogred on Sept 10, 2020 16:37:59 GMT -5
Nowadays I find charm in that, just in an amusing way. You still see some 2D sky boxes and stuff here and there. There's been some interesting interviews and quotes going on the discussion some of you are getting at, Nintendo's splintered relationship with Square and Sony:
Former Square Enix president Yoichi Wada describes patching up with Nintendo in early 2000s
^ Maybe it wasn't Yoichi Wada related though, but I thought I was reading some recent articles that detailed the breakup more specifically. Square did get their hands on the N64 and had that mock up 3D FF6 material. I think they maybe urged Nintendo that they weren't too into the hardware, or were speaking with Sony and liked what they saw there. Then Nintendo maybe got wind of that and cut them off. Something like that... it read more like Nintendo were being the bullies for sure. Well, as Ex said, they paid for their mistake brutally and ripples of this are still felt today, lol.
Former Nintendo President Explained Why PS1 Beat N64 in Japan
^ This one cracks me up. Dude is probably taking that to the grave. Funny wonder if any Yakuza ties into these huge Japanese publishers. A few old men with arch enemies or resentment towards the smallest things can change the trajectory of entire companies. I don't know if we see that as much thesedays with invenstors keeping companies in check, but I'm no expert... I just know Japanese business politics seems like an intense world over there. It's easy to see Nintendo are kind of back to being a bit cocky in ways lately with their Switch success, plus current president Furukawa has been at the helm for 2018 and it feels like we know nothing about this guy, other than he's a pure businessman. Could be stifling creativity behind the scenes (heard a nice podcast today on Monolith Soft and how they might be a bit frustrated at times being under Nintendo's thumb). I'm just rambling though.
Let's just say my relationship with Nintendo definitely changed when I went hardcore on the PSX and the PS2 dropped. For a long time I temporarily traded my N64 to a friend for his PSX. I remember the first PSX game I bought was Chrono Cross, that sums up that I was playing catch up jumping in late, but I definitely caught up in a big way haha.
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