A look back...

The year was 1995. The Saturn and Playstation were fighting it out, trying to prove themselves to a public that was hearing about the new Ultra 64, later renamed Nintendo 64. The 32/64 bit wars were just beginning, and looking back at some magazines from that time, the promises of this new generation of game consoles were almost the same ones we are seeing now: newer, better looking games with revolutionary new gameplay.
The big story was 3D; the public wanted 3D games with polygons, and they wanted it now. The Saturn itself was a good system, but it sold poorly in the US because of spotty 1st party support and general public apathy. And yes, the Saturn is much more adept at handling 2D than 3D; thusly making the Playstation seem like the only game in town until the Nintendo 64 was launched. And now, 6 years later, the Playstation (or PSX as it is affectionately called)
has become the most popular console in the world, rivaling the stranglehold that Nintendo had during the NES days. So how did they do it?

As you've probably heard a million times, it's all about the games. And the fact is, the PSX has dynamite games in every conceivable category (except strategy...but if you buy consoles to play strategy games, you obviously haven't done your homework). I, like most people, didn't know what to make of the PSX at first. I had heard of the Sony company before, but the thought of a game console by them puzzled me. In fact, it's kinda like the PS2 right now: it has some good games, but nothing great. It had games like Warhawk, Twisted Metal, and Ridge Racer; but the future was uncertain. The Saturn seemed a better system to me. I was familiar with the Sega brand name, and the games seemed good. Virtua Fighter 2 was amazing to me, and the Panzer Dragoon games were some of the most dazzling mixes of 3D graphics and shooter gameplay I had ever seen. My only reservation was the price, I think it was some outrageous sum like $400 or more. The PSX launch price was $300, which was still unsettling for me; as I was in 5th grade and didn't have a job to get the money. I decided to wait until prices went down and better games came out.
Flash forward to mid-1996. The Nintendo 64 was on the horizon. The world was abuzz, for many reasons. First of all, the N64 was a cart system, and many thought the prices per game would reach into the $70 range. Sometime around late spring (May or so) of 1996, Squaresoft announced they would develop for the Playstation. And it wouldn't be just any game, it was the next Final Fantasy game. I almost choked when I heard about it. I had lived happily with my Super NES, playing all the great Squaresoft games for it. This news was very nerve wracking. I thought "Well, I can't believe they wouldn't release it on the N64...." and decided to wait and get the N64, as it seemed technologically superior to the PSX.
It seemed more good games were coming out for the PSX, many were deemed "great" by the gaming press. Resident Evil, by today's standards, looks ancient and laughable. But back then, everyone was in love with the game. Other notable games include Wipeout, Loaded, and Destruction Derby. And still, I waited for the N64...
I didn't get a N64 until the summer of 1997, but I thought it was well worth the wait. Starfox was the big story, as it brought the rumble pak and the promise of force feedback to an eager public. The N64 met my every expectation graphically. Mario 64 had to be seen to be believe at the time, and the sheer fun of Star Wars: Shadow Of The Empire's opening level was seemingly unsurpassable. But one thing was buggine me in the back of my mind: I want a RPG, and I want it now. The Zelda game on the N64 had already been announced, but it would a long wait (Until November of 1998, to be precise) until it was released. In the mean time, the PSX kept chipping away at me. "Look! Final Fantasy 7! And Squaresoft is making more games for me! And more Resident Evil games! And and...."

I'd just like to take a step back from this time tale for awhile, and talk more about the actual system. The PSX is CD based, and more or less the first hugely successful CD system. I am still amazed at how long it has lasted, a good 6 years of gaming. There are many, many great games for it, and some must have, killer apps as well. Who can ever forget when they played through Metal Gear Solid? Or how about Tony Hawk 1? Or even the game that I feel really made the PSX, Final Fantasy 7? On the software side, the PSX is unmatched in it's sheer variety and amount of titles available.
It has given birth to some new genres, including the still somewhat niche rhythm/dance games with Parappa the Rapper. It has updated old genres with freshness and amazing new gameplay (the over mentioned Final Fantasy 7 was the first true next generation RPG), and simply perfected others to a healthy sheen, as with the Tekken series. The PSX has accomplished much over the past 6 years.

But by today's standards, the hardware specs aren't very convincing. Though you must remember, back then the PSX was the true 3D system, as it could push more polygons and do it better than the notoriously hard to develop for Saturn. The rule of thumb is that the Saturn is better at 2D, and the Playstation is better at 3D. However, you wouldn't know this from playing such PSX 2D greats as Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (which I've read runs much smoother than the Japan only Saturn port) and the gorgeous, water painting come to life graphics of games like Legend of Mana and SaGa Frontier 2.
I believe the PSX also realized the promise of a completely CD based system that the Sega CD had only hinted at. The PSX actually began life as a SNES CD add-on, but the deal with Nintendo went south and Sony decided to still release the machine on its own; and I think it was the best decision they ever made. While the voice acting in Resident Evil is so bad it's funny, I can't say I wasn't amazed when I first heard it. And the FMV in games like Final Fantasy 7 added an almost cinematic depth to games, giving people more reason than ever to declare video games legitamate art.

But back to history. It was November of 1998 when I first realized I wanted a PSX. I had been disapointed by the inadequate initial shipment of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, and a bit mad at myself for not reserving a copy. I started to look at the PSX game case in my local Target and realized "Hey...there's plenty of copies of all these great games! And the PSX has a lot of great RPGs, unlike the N64..." The seed was planted, and a month later on Christmas day I had a PSX. I was astounded by the amazing Resident Evil 2, it's crisp gritty storyline and graphics matched only by it's simplistic and gratifying "shoot zombies and other monsters and solve puzzles" gameplay. I managed to track down a copy of Parappa the Rapper before my winter break was over, and already I loved the PSX.
And rest is history, basically. I am just one of the 10s of millions of people worldwide that own a PSX, and my story might be similar to theirs. People were tired of Sega and Nintendo and gave an upstart a chance, and we certainly reaped what we sowed.

With sheer volume of sales, the Playstation wins over the Saturn, N64, and yes, the Dreamcast too. But what truly set the PSX, as I've said before, was the games. We saw truly mature games with mature storylines like Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy 8; games that had blood and violence but never resorted to them to sell games, instead using them to show how terrible violence really is such as in Metal Gear Solid; and we also had fun, almost childlike games that hit our sweet spot and we can't really say why, like Parappa the Rapper. It's been a great 6 years, and I only hope the next generation of games and consoles can produce something like the revolution the PSX brought.

(This review is part of my series, where I’m looking back at ‘dead’ or ‘mostly dead’
systems and re-vising my reviews. In case you want to see the others, I also redid my
Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast reviews which should be up sometime.)