9-9-95

Fifteen years ago today the first Playstation was unleashed on the world. Sony releasing a console was considered a big risk at the time because in the past new upstart game consoles usually failed in a few months to a year never to be heard of again. After being unable to work with Nintendo to make a CD add on for the Super Nintendo Sony decided to blaze a trail on their own to make what would become one of the biggest console and video game brand name in history.

There isn't a whole lot more that can be said about the Playstation that hasn't been said in the past. It was responsible for many people who had never touched a game console in the past to pick up a PS1 and get into it, not unlike what the Wii has been doing in the last few years but the PS1 had a positive influence on gaming in general. Not to rag on the Wii but the whole release of the PS1 was similar to the release of the Wii.

I remember when I got my PS1 with a copy of Tekken and I was blown away. I couldn't believe how close to the arcade version of Tekken the PS1 version was and I was air juggling fools in no time. I use to be a huge fighting game player and suddenly having access to the more advances 3D fighters at home was freaking crazy. Eventually I picked up the first Toshiden which was interesting but in the end it wasn't that great of a fighter but it did look nice.

With tons of titles coming out at a very fast pace I've sure there were a bunch of games I never played but I tried my best to play as many as I could. I'm not sure if many people remember a game called Loaded. It was a top down two player Gauntlet clone. It was over the top violent with very dark and gritty levels and you and a second player smoking dudes and splattering their guts all over the floors as you run to the exit. It was a lot of fun to play and totally reminded me of Gauntlet which was what drew me to it in the first place.

The Playstation also saw the start of two of gamings biggest franchises, Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid. I was completely blown away the first time I played Resident Evil. I had never played the original Alone in the Dark so the whole survival horror genre was new to me. Playing the game at 2 in the morning walking through the hallways and having that dog jumping through the window scared the living hell out of me. Fantastic game and an amazing experience.

Metal Gear Solid was a landmark in story telling in games. Some people complain about the cut scenes in the MGS series but to me it was a fantastic way to get the story out there. The presentation was very well done especially the voice acting, it was top notch.

I should mention Kings Field, made by From Software who also made Demon's Souls. This was a first person RPG that came out close to the release of the PS1. I was mesmerized by the world and the overall feel of the game it was so cool to play a RPG where you actually went into building and houses. The people look at you as they talk to you and the immersion is there and for the time is was great.

Jumping Flash! First person shooter where you're a giant robot Rabbit shooting at bad guys it was crazy and a lot of fun.

I'm sure I've skipped some games and I know I skipped one big PS1 release but I don't want to mention that one just because I don't have anything to say about it.