DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

PLAYSTATION @ 20 - Part 1 - A retrospective

4/12/2014

8 Comments

 
Picture
So, the PlayStation is 20 years old then is it? Yes. Yes it is. That is true. That is correct. That is a fact.

The first time Digitiser ever laid eyes on a PlayStation it was encased in a Perspex cube atop a gently-lit plinth. 
That’s not even a lie. Frankly, if we were going to lie about it we’d have said something more interesting. 

Specifically, we'd have said something like this: “The first time Digitiser ever laid eyes on a PlayStation it was glued to the jaw of a torpid, displaced Jacobite”. 

That would be a good lie. That would be the best lie.

But no.

We did see one in Perspex, atop a plinth at some games show or other, a year or so before it was officially released in Europe. We weren’t allowed to touch it. We weren’t even allowed to know any stuff to do with it or nothing. And that famous t-rex demo - So much real! So scare! - had yet to be unveiled. But that iconic design was there, and already being drilled into the deep, flatulent, fabric of our soiled consciousness.


Indeed, into everyone's soiled consciousness.

Picture
SCEPTIC TANK

At the time we were pretty sceptical – Sony didn’t exactly have much of a track record in games. Back then it was all about the Sega and the Nintendo, and – as is the way when you’re a ridiculous, ignorant child – we couldn’t ever imagine things being any different. 

Sony trying to muscle into our console industry felt like some uninvited rich kid hanging around a bunch of street toughs, hoping their urban cool would rub off on him. See him there, standing at the edge of the basketball court, pretending to chew gum and click his fingers. See now as he jiggles his left leg in apparent nervousness, and bobs his head at their socially-deprived quips. Is he having a stroke? No, he is just trying to fit in.

Oh, how very wrong we were.

The PlayStation somehow managed to transcend its thoroughly uninspired launch software (pretty, but pretty limited, Ridge Racer aside) to smear the floor and walls with its competition.

Like some randy, bandy-legged centaur, it pounced on the mistakes of its rivals (terrible marketing from Sega, and some weird, oddly outdated-feeling hardware from Nintendo). Consequently, Sony belched out a chest-depilating 102.5 million PlayStations to the Nintendo 64’s 33 million, and the pitful Sega Saturn’s 9.5 million. Its successor, the PS2, would sell even more lewdly. 


As a brand, it was a quantum vault in terms of making gaming a legitimate lifestyle option – PlayStation became cooler than the street toughs could ever dream.

So cool in fact, that the North Pole - literally the coolest place on earth - is still to this day renamed "The North PSole" once a year, on the anniversary of the PlayStation's launch. 

Unfortunately, that is a lie - and not even a very good one. Please try to keep up.

Picture
OUR STRUGGLE

The truth is, while we’d struggle to deny the importance of the original PlayStation, we confess that we never entirely warmed to it. Yeah, it had Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Wipeout, Final Fantasy VII and that – but even while we accept the general wisdom that those are all classics, we weren’t really fans of any of them. 

Sorry about that. We gave it our best shot.

Plus, we never did much like that joypad. It says it all that they’ve now made the PS4 design basically the same as the Xbox pad. Still, you have to admire them for sticking with it through a subsequent two hardware redesigns.

And by "admire" we mean "detest".

But that's not to say we can't raise a glass to the part its parts played in turning gaming away from a being slightly embarrassing hobby, practiced solely by young boys and social inadequates, to something slightly more acceptable. It transcended our expectations to become the cool kid on the block, the one that all the urban street toughs wanted to hang out with and stroke.

Maybe that was the problem. Before, we felt like gaming was a hobby for the likes of us. It was ours. After the PlayStation - the first console to make regular appearances at nightclubs - there were new, unfamiliar, cool types at the party. And we were never cool.

It would take another generation or so, but gaming was on its way to becoming something for everyone.

COMING UP LATER IN PART 2: 20 hastily-compiled PlayStation facts 

Picture
8 Comments
Pevin
4/12/2014 07:41:22 am

I do remember a detectable coldness towards the Playstation from Digitiser. And the popularity of it (with – honestly – dick heads at school) repulsed me initially. But looking back on it, for its vast library of duds, there was still an impressive number of classics released for the machine, by any generation's standards.

Reply
Mr Biffo
4/12/2014 11:32:00 am

Oh, we know. It was a landmark machine. I think half the problem we had with it was Sony's PR guy, who REALLY didn't like us...

Reply
thekelvingreen link
4/12/2014 11:23:28 am

I think the PlayStation controller is a wonderful design and the DualShock version is perhaps the best controller ever, but so it goes.

Anyway, it's good to see Digitiser back!

Reply
Mr Biffo
4/12/2014 11:32:39 am

Yeah, each to their own I guess. The Xbox 360 pad is probably my favourite. But... glad you're glad to have us back.

Reply
Pevin
5/12/2014 05:18:36 am

Was the controller not simply a SNES pad but with big knobs that fit into your hands for better grip. I do love a knob in my hand when playing games.

Reply
Mr Biffo
5/12/2014 05:20:32 am

Dunno. Maybe I'm weird, but the knobs always made my palms hurt.

Ian link
5/12/2014 05:25:09 am

My goodness, it's good to see a return to the short form Digi article.

You talk of not liking the million sellers on the first Playstation. I was the same with Tomb Raider. I simply didn't see what all the fuss was about.

I'll read you every day.

Reply
Mr Biffo
5/12/2014 05:34:33 am

Thanks, man. I think we might've gotten a bit carried away with the length of some of our pieces. I actually intended to sit down today and write a couple of shorter bits... and then got a little swept up in the GTA thing.

We'll try to get the balance right in future. Thanks for the feedback.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2022
    May 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ