No doubt some of you out there are shaking in your boots.
“25 years of PlayStation?? But I just played the original PlayStation like…YESTERDAY.”
I mean you did. Except yesterday was 25 years ago and yes, may your existential crises match the exponential increases in power the console has had.
While you deal with that, I thought to myself that I’d reflect upon first experiences I’ve had with each console launched. I can somehow recall all of this because, hey, maybe PlayStation has had a bit of an impact on me.
PlayStation One
I think I’m part of a small group of people that loves calling it the PlayStation One or PSOne. That was a model name picked up in its later iterations where it got a sick-AF LCD screen add-on while getting trimmed to hell.
But that wasn’t my first experience with the big grey boi.
Nope, it was at a mate’s house for his birthday and we hired it from the local video store. I believe the first game we played was Ridge Racer.
So before that series got to the even more arcadey-drifty feels of its later sequels, it was a pretty flat-out racer. And with that 32-bit processing power being used, we’d never seen racing at home look that good or be that fun.
And Gran Turismo hadn’t even been released yet.
PlayStation 2
The PSOne had set some damn records (and expectations). So the PlayStation 2 decided to come along and sh*t on that, cause younger siblings rule.
155 million units moved worldwide.
Absolute bat-sh*t insanery to be fair. Showcasing an improvement in graphics fidelity, and bringing sequels to games that established their legend on the PSOne, the PS2 was destined to lead.
Lead it did, as I went to my local electronics store which had demo units and Tekken Tag Tournament on display. I remember feeling like I’d never see a game as good as that ever again.
How foolish I was…
PlayStation 3
THE ALMOST DOWNFALL.
BOI this launched terribly. It was that price that got it. Got a little bit cocky they did. I also like to blame the use of the Spider-Man font for its first iteration as a fault.
But it began to climb back as time went on, delivering new legends in the form of Uncharted, The Last Of Us and inFAMOUS whom all stated “HEY! WE AIN’T DONE YET PUNKS!”.
I set up the display for this at my local retail giant, cackling at the giant curvaceous box. Connecting it to the new standard of an HD LCD TV screen, it powered on with gusto. Resistance: Fall Of Man was the first treat to be tested. It didn’t do enough to pull me away from the 360’s capitalization during that period.
But by the end of this generation, PlayStation had me back in their palms.
PlayStation Portable
I believe I’d just received a bonus at work for the financial year. I also believe that’s now a foreign thing that only people in EXECUTIVE positions receive, as I haven’t received one for a while.
Do they still exist? I digress.
I purchased a unit because I wanted to play Dissidia, a weird fighting game featuring characters from the Final Fantasy universe.
Was it worth it? I don’t know, I’m bad with money. Did I have fun? Potentially. The UMD discs for it were just great. Very sci-fi. That’s probably the best way to describe the PSP’s life.
PlayStation Vita
I legitimately can’t remember how I ended up with a Vita. But I had one. I also can’t recall what I did with it.
I’m bad with money, we have established this.
The first title I believe I played was Uncharted: Golden Abysss because that title was just everywhere. And also Uncharted. But there were some other fun memories like getting to revisit Alundra and using Remote Play on it.
You almost did it Vita. But the PS4 had other plans for profit…
PlayStation 4
By this time I’d finally learnt the ‘S’ is a capital in PlayStation.
I’d also made some headway into being recognised by PlayStation as a fan. No idea how, probably just sheer passion for the brand (being annoying).
I feel my first experience with the console was the launch party. I felt damn lucky that night to be there. Entering the venue with a good friend, we were informed to give our names. We did. I left out my surname cause “why not”.
Partaking in the “play everything” competition that was taking place, I played the majority of the launch titles for the PlayStation 4. Then the draw for the 4th and final competition of the night took place.
It was for everyone who gave their names at the door.
“You fool” I thought, recalling that I’d only given my first name. Then 2 miraculous things happened:
- The first name drawn had left the party for some reason (it was a great party).
- The next name drawn was somehow mine and I was the only one there with said name.
My friend literally jumped off the floor as I was gob-smacked said miracle had occurred, and I was left holding a PlayStation 4 console before it had launched.
My first game for this system will therefore be Killzone: Shadow Fall, which was part of the prize.
You see, when I was younger, my sister told me of a family she stayed with in Auckland for a school trip. The father was some form of role for Sega and had a basement full of games. This became a sort of ‘dream’ for me.
Now I don’t think I hoard that badly, but I definitely have enough things. I didn’t place myself into a role like that, but came through in an age that provides more variety in said field.
Which means instead of this journey being with Sega, it appears it would be with PlayStation. And for this, I can’t thank them enough for being a part of this dream.
