This week, Sony’s PlayStation turned 20. The original grey system launched in Japan back in December 1994, and through its ups and downs, the brand is still going strong. To commemorate the system’s anniversary, the GameSpot staff share some their standout PlayStation memories from across the various consoles.
Final Fantasy IX to the End
I lugged my PlayStation 2 with me everywhere before it finally died while I was in college. The last game I ever played on it was my third or fourth playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. I remember constantly cleaning out the system, cleaning the disc, switching cables, finagling with whatever I had to in order to get the console to work, just to finish FFIX one last time. And when the credits rolled, it died. It felt like I lost a beloved friend.
I’ve since replaced it, but that first piece of hardware saw me through my adolescence, numerous heartbreaks, the stress of getting into the best high school classes and THEN the best college. It was my companion, bringing me away from the cares of the world when I needed it most. — Alexa Ray Corriea
Snaaaaaaake!
Lame but true: During my first year of university, in 2002, I feared the dance floor. So when my housemates went out for the night, sometimes I would hang back and play a friend’s PS2. I probably would have regretted this more at the time had this social hang-up not led to all-nighters with Grand Theft Auto III and Metal Gear Solid 2. Both these games conjure beautiful memories, but the night I’ll never forget was my final stretch on Metal Gear.
I remember hearing the Colonel confessing his financial problems. I remember glimpsing at that skull overlaid on his face. I remember how he turned away from me. I remember hearing the rumours that my wife was having an affair. I remember the game becoming self aware, collapsing in on itself, presenting phoney game over screens with the words “Fission Mailed”. I remember freezing in my seat, awestruck, confused, legitimately paranoid. Each year that goes by, I look back on that breakdown with a sense of awe. It’s one of the bravest things a triple-A game could do, and considering how safe things have become, it’s something I don’t suspect we’ll see again. — Rob Crossley
To Midgar and Beyond
The first time I saw the PlayStation, I felt one emotion: incredible envy. For the longest time, Final Fantasy was synonymous with Nintendo consoles, and I bought a Nintendo 64 with the hope that the series might still come to the system that brought it so much initial acclaim. But that never happened. Instead, my first look at Final Fantasy VII, with it’s unbelievable (for the time) graphics and cinematics is the first game that made me question my unwavering devotion to Nintendo’s consoles.
We didn’t get an RPG on N64 until the mediocre Quest 64 a year later. Instead, I was forced to watch my favorite franchise get better and better with each iteration on PlayStation’s platform. When the PlayStation 2 came out, I finally succumbed to the other side in the console war. After being a Nintendo fanboy for so long, I never thought that the PlayStation 2 became the place where I spent the majority of my gaming time. And it all started with FFVII. –Justin Haywald
My Summer Vacation
I was a Nintendo kid growing up, and had limited exposure to anything PlayStation-related. One fond memory, however, was a trip my family took to the Outer Banks of North Carolina one year in my youth. We were excited to enjoy the beach and some lovely, sunny weather, but my father’s “poor weather” curse held true and it rained for a good portion of our trip. Thankfully, the house we rented for the week had a PlayStation 2, and boy we put it to good use. Tony Hawk and Spyro dominated the TV, with me and my brothers fighting over the controller–there was only one, as I recall. Thank you, PlayStation, for saving our vacation. — Eddie Makuch
Cleaning up Liberty City
In early 2002, at the age of 15, I couldn’t afford a PlayStation 2. However my good friend Sheamus was leaving town for a week and was happy with lending me his console for a few days. It came with a bunch of games, but one stood out from the crowd. The sequel to a series I had relished on PC, and it’s entry into an exciting new 3D era. I must have spent fifty hours that week driving around the streets of Liberty City. For me, the world of Grand Theft Auto 3 opened up entirely new avenues for games that I hadn’t considered before.
I’d wake up early before school just to spend one extra hour exploring the city, shooting up crooks and scurrying away from keystone cops. The PlayStation 2 didn’t just play host to some of the most influential games of that era, it was the shepherd of an incredibly important and daunting era in game design. It set the pace for the industry for a decade. And I made sure that by the summer I’d saved up enough pocket money to explore the future of gaming, and Liberty City, whenever I wanted. — Danny O’Dwyer
Bringing the Arcade Home
My first PlayStation was the PlayStation 2, a machine I coveted the moment I saw screens of the wonderful Tekken Tag Tournament. It looked absolutely stunning–the first time a home console (at least in my mind) had adequately replicated the visuals I’d seen at my local arcade. I remember making my mind up about buying one whilst on an overseas trip, and was eager to buy it at the airport back home the moment I landed. Back then, I was living in Australia, and the cost of a PS2 was close to A$800, a staggering amount of money to spend at a time when I wasn’t exactly rolling in the stuff. But hey, it could also play DVDs, which was the key selling point for justifying this extravagant purchase to my partner. The PS2 was easily worth every cent. — Randolph Ramsay
Kick! Punch! It’s All in the Mind!
Fighting games have always had a spot in my heart for sparking my foray into esports, and it all started with Tekken 2 on the PS1. My uncle was the one who introduced me to the game as a child, and I remember starting off as most kids do: button mashing. It soon occurred to me that specific button presses strung together formed combos and moves. I realised that pressing square multiple times started a punching combo. That triangle and circle was a grab. The realisation that fighting games were not random and had a strategic element was a powerful one, and it would shape how I went on to approach other games. — Zorine Te
It is Useless to Resist Us
From the shining dunes of Journey to the dark depths of Demon’s Souls, my PlayStation 3 has stirred, shocked, and satisfied my soul on many, many occasions. However, the force that spurred me to buy my first PlayStation system was the social pull of…Resistance 2? Yes, Sony’s shooter franchise is far from the first name in cooperative play, but the class-based action in this sequel was stellar. Rushing to ever-shifting objectives and cutting through your ferocious alien enemies required sharp reflexes and even sharper teamwork. The simple, interwoven dynamics captivated me as I reviewed the game, gripping my imagination so strongly that it was no longer enough to play in the office or on borrowed time at friend’s houses. I finally had the motivation–and the paying job–to join the PlayStation family. — Chris Watters
What are your own PlayStation memories? Let us know in the comments below!
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