20th anniversary of Playstation

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scotland
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20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby scotland » September 9th, 2015, 8:50 pm

While Apple was the big news event today, and Dave not loving a PS4 game, today is the 20th anniversary of the Sony PlayStation coming to America. Who won the 16 bit wars is a fun conversation, but Sony won what came after. The newcomer had the tech that prompted Sega to modify the Saturn in trying to compete, and lured in third party developers in with a better relationship, and got many to jump brands to the newbie. Maybe the early polygon graphics are unpalatable today, maybe it the Sega CD had shown how not to use the CD, maybe the focus on 3D was too much, maybe the Saturn got overlooked,...but the system made its mark.

Any one get one for the 1995 holiday season? What is everyones thoughts on the original PlayStation? Best games then and now? Thoughts on why it suceeded where others have not? Any lessons from the this period of gaming?

jon
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby jon » September 9th, 2015, 10:03 pm

The early polygon graphics are unplayable today period. I got it for the holidays in 1995 and it had a few games I liked, but almost all of them are unplayable today and not even worth revisiting. And everyone comes up with some bogus excuse like how the cardboard graphics had to be agonizingly ugly because that was the only 3d that was available at the time and it either had to be like that or foggy, I forget which poster came up with that absurd theory. I point out that systems like the Jaguar and 32x had nice looking 3d graphics before the PS1 even got released, and 3d arcade games looked great. By 1997-1998 the PS1 was pretty much mandatory with it's headache inducing, horrifically unpleasing graphics, with the N64 barely putting out any games. Not to mention the load times. It's bad enough the graphics were horse manure. But to have to wait so long just seemed unfair and like it wasn't worth it. And it seems like we're in the same place we were since late 1995 when all of this started, except now Microsoft is in this thing. To me, there's a pre PS1 industry and a post PS1 industry. 1995 is the line in the sand. I'll take everything before centralization, and reputable developers being forced out of business.

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Rookie1
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby Rookie1 » September 10th, 2015, 6:52 am

Wow, I cant believe its been 20 years! I got a N64 when it first came out, but didnt get a PS until Christmas of 96 or maybe 97. It was bundled with Twisted Metal and Crash Bandicoot and an extra controller and memory card.

Great system. Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil really changed my perspective on gaming.

I have some fond memories of that system, and still get a little giddy when I hear the intro sound when it turns on.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » September 10th, 2015, 7:58 am

Did I just see the marshmallow brick polygons of the 32x and Jaguar win a graphics contest with Crash Bandicoot, Tekken 3, and FFIX? To each their own, I suppose.

For me, the PSX was the first console to give you more to do than just beat a game. Once I experienced my first create-a-character, there was no going back. I could care way more about the adventures of a small sociopathic succubus and her giant zombie rabbits than I could the carefully safe heroes most other games offered.

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MoarRipter
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby MoarRipter » September 10th, 2015, 9:51 am

I never appreciated the PS1 in its heyday, I thought the graphics looked like ass back then and I never was a fan of the original Dualshock controllers. But I was also a SEGA fan in those days and I thought that Saturn games done well (like VF2) mopped the floor with PS1 graphics. I will say that PS1 had the best racing simulator I'd ever played up to that point with the first Gran Turismo and later GT2 which simply blew me away with how many cars it had and all of the little touches it featured in customization and whatnot. I ended up buying the $20 Greatest Hits version of GT2 even though I didn't have a PS1, just so I could play it on my PC with Bleem but I could never get it to run properly. Probably too weak of a PC or because I was using Win2K by that point, but GT2 with Bleemcast on the Dreamcast through the VGA adaptor looks pretty good. Too bad it's just too old of a racing game for me to bother with now, I can't bring myself to play something so old when there's games like GT5, GT6, Driveclub, and even the new Forza that I still need to play. Happy anniversary Playstation but I was never a fan of it, PS4 is the first Sony console I've actually enjoyed for gaming and the first one with a decent controller in my opinion.

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Rev
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby Rev » September 10th, 2015, 12:01 pm

I love the PS1. I think it was one of the most important consoles to ever come out and while the graphics are bad for the 3D games, the 2D are pretty good (not Saturn good, but still solid). I have close to 200 PS1 games and it really has strong library, with many 2D and 3D games still holding up fairly well today (at least when it comes to game play). The graphics have never really bothered me and the tank controls of a lot of early 3D games definitely have their place in history. I think that the 2D games are really where it is at these days and are one of the few things keeping the console relevant to a lot of gamers.

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nesfan
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby nesfan » September 10th, 2015, 1:19 pm

jon wrote:The early polygon graphics are unplayable today period.
That's true. But to be fair, I don't think playable graphics exist.

Tron
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby Tron » September 10th, 2015, 8:06 pm

Tekken & Twisted Metal impressed me. Resident Evil convinced me to buy the PS1 instead of waiting for Nintendo's 64. It was a surprise move on my part. I loved the NES & Super Nintendo. I thought I was going to wait for the 64. Not only was this the birth of Sony for home consoles, but it was also the beginning of the decline for Nintendo. It was the 64 that started to make Nintendo the "kiddie" system.

jon
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby jon » September 10th, 2015, 9:22 pm

The only games I still like are the Twisted Metal series, ESPN Extreme Games, and maybe a couple others. Of course it has a strong library it had over 2,000 games and every developer flocked to it. I'd certainly hope it had a strong library. By the late 90s the gaming landscape just freaking sucked. The N64 barely had any games coming out, and one was forced to put up with the PS1's lousy graphics and load times. I remember in 1994-1995 Gamepro covered like a million consoles. By the late 90s it was basically a PR machine for the PS1. As if they needed it, the only competition they had was from the woefully disappointing N64, with nary a game in sight. Those years absolutely sucked. All the promise of the early 90s faded away. In that regard, the PS1 is important. But if its legacy is 2d RPG's, then what kind of legacy is that.

Wallyworld
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Re: 20th anniversary of Playstation

Postby Wallyworld » September 10th, 2015, 10:35 pm

Seems like a lot of hate going around for PS1. This console was jaw dropping when it came out. Ridge Racer blew my mind as a teenager. There is a ton of games still great today on this console. My personal favorites are the jrpg's and shmups. Breath of fires, Final Fantasies,Dragon Quests, r-types, raiden project,g-darius the list just goes on and on. There are literally hundreds of games on ps1 that are still great today.

Suggesting Jaguar handled 3d better than ps1 is the most asinine thing I've heard today. Jaguar is one of the most underpowered consoles of all time at its release. Genesis with virtua racer handled 3d better than jaguar and that console was released in 89'. I know they added a 3d chip to the cart but it was still better. I bought a Jaguar at release and it was the most disappointing console I've ever purchased. I was hoping checkered flag would be even better than Virtua Racer... boy talk about disappointment.


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