30 Years of PlayStation

[dataDave]

The PS3 is the first mainstream console that I’ve never owned. The two or three exclusives I had a minor interest in came far too late, roughly around the same time I was playing the superior versions of both the SF4 series and Bayonetta on rival hardware.

[endo]

I had a PS3 at launch, mainly because I had a preorder and never got round to cancelling it after deciding I couldn't be arsed with it. Motorstorm was OK and I played bits and bobs on it, but the PS3 is probably (and probably a bit unfairly, in hindsight) my most unloved console. I just didn't really want it. I already had a launch 360 too, which I played to death, so that didn't help its cause.

PS1 I got shortly after launch, after seeing my mate's. Think it was the dinosaur demo and Toshinden, of all things, that swayed me. Sold my beloved SFC and carefully curated, as they'd no doubt say these days, collection of games to fund it. Still regret that decision to this day, despite buying back a good chunk of said collection.

PS2 I got at Christmas 2001, when they were really hard to get hold of. Managed to track one down in Dixons in Belfast in the end. I'd started my first proper job a few months earlier, so it was time to get one. I got a ton of use out of the PS2 and built up a decent collection of games for it, which I've still got. Got me back into importing as well, when I had it chipped.

PS4 I got a good while after release, when Bloodborne came out. We'd had our first baby a few months before the PS4 launch and I was a bit hesitant after the experience of the PS3, but I was made up with it when I finally picked one up. Played loads on the PS4 and it totally restored my faith in PlayStation.

PS5 I got on release. Total no-brainer, as I was hyped for it. Gets played all the time and I can play with my kids now too as there's lots of stuff they enjoy on there, so a lovely bonus.

I've got both handhelds too, both on launch. They've probably had what, 10-20 hours, playtime each.

[QualityChimp]

My PS3 is still hooked up because I still dip into PS2 Gradius V.
There was this period where Sony refused to do BC stuff, so there's a bit of a black hole for some games that never got remastered.

it's funny that the last two games I've played are remasters of Uncharted 1 and Arkham 1 from this era.
Both still completely playable and fun games. Some bits are clunky and have been improved, but for the most part, it's like gaming hasn't made particularly massive strides since this era.

[wakka]

Yeah, it was definitely a generation where game design advanced quickly before slowing down again pretty radically. Open world, third person action adventure and racing games all reached a point of maturity where further changes slowed. I think part of the reason is that it happened in tandem with budgets ballooning as fidelity increased, which made publishers more conservative, too.

We haven't moved tremendously further forward in AAA design than Skyrim and GTA 5, which were both PS3/360 games.

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2009 --
Looking to keep its handheld rolling, Sony debuted the PSP Go which shifted the design of the system in a digital only sliding panel form. Later in the year they also unveiled the PS3 Slim which would prove to be a well received redesign of the console that along with its lower RRP would help Sony to regain momentum in sales. New franchise inFamous launched and the number of Sony's quirky PSN releases also increased with positive feedback accompanying them. Japan also saw the quiet launch of what would go on to become a major gaming legacy with the debut of Demon's Souls. The PS3 also received its critically acclaimed, attention grabbing showcase for Xmas with Uncharted 2.



At a time when X360 was building up to the launch of Kinect, had Sony finally regained your love this year?

[Asura]

I had A PSP Go... For about a week. I took it back and exchanged it for a PSP-3000. I just found it very uncomfortable to hold.

[Neon Ignition]

I owned a white one for quite a bit towards the absolute tail end of the systems life and quite liked it having originally really disliked the idea. It wasn't as comfortable, particular on the shoulder buttons but it was very pocket sized and I had it set up with songs etc on it so it was a handy all in one media device until better options emerged.

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2010 --
Another year unrolled and the PS3 continued to build momentum, catching up more with the X360 in the markets it had originally lost ground in the most. The emergence of the single player exclusives they are known for now also began to cement itself further as they followed up the success of Uncharted 2 with the epic scaled God of War III. Just before Microsoft made its move to cash in on the Wii's success with Kinect, Sony launched the more similar Move controllers. As part of their aim to widen the systems appeal we also saw the large scale multiplayer game MAG launch as well as Modnation Racers whilst Red Dead Redemption bouyed attention on the market in general. With the aged PS2 now firmly settled into being the most successful console of all time. Good will was rebuilding around the brand and the most forward looking question they faced now was pointed toward what would come after the now aging PSP.




Were you enticed to Move?

[Asura]

I got a full Move set when HMV closed down. The one in my town was down to "anything not bolted down" part of the fire-sale (literally, they were selling their spare lightbulbs and freestanding shelving) and I bought a stack of PSMove games, a camera, two controllers and two navi controllers for something daft like £20. Consequently I tried most of the stuff the Move ever put out, even things like Wonderbook.

In a way, it was a real shame, because of the Kinect, Move, Wii and Motion+, the Move's implementation was by far the most accurate. The motion controls in the game were detailed and fun in and of themselves. The WiiMote for the Wii is actually a pretty naff controller in many ways, it only worked because Nintendo executed really well with its games, but it just wasn't capable of many of the things people wanted it to do (even Motion+ only did so much).

Obviously it got a second life as the trackers for PSVR and that's a testament to just how good it was. Playing the shooting gallery mode in The Heist on VRWorlds, you could really see how well-made it was.

I also really enjoyed the implementation on Killzone 3.

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2011 --
Third party releases would keep things bouyed for everyone with games like the good-enough-to-last-two-decades-whether-you-like-it-or-not Skyrim launching along with Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City and Dead Space 2. The PS3 would continue its drive toward cinematic third person exclusives with the arrival of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception launching on the system. Sony's biggest moment should have been the Japanese launch at the end of the year of its highly anticipated second handheld the PlayStation Vita and whilst that was a notable launch the biggest moment ended up being the hacking of PSN earlier in the year which saw Sony forced to take the service offline for over three years, face huge fall out and hand out free games to its userbase as way of apology costing the company a small fortune.




What were your first thoughts of the Vita and your memories of the PSN Hack?

[QualityChimp]

Move: got a pair bundled with the PSVR that I won and they've been great for that. I can imagine a lot of games suffer or don't work without them.
PSP Go: Love that form-factor and thought the Xperia was a nice follow on from that, but neither are ideal for long gaming sessions.
Vita: Was really late to the party and I should look at some games that work really well with the format as I've recently loved playing Darkest Dungeon until it got too hard to be enjoyable for me.
PSN Hack: My main memories are that they gave us a couple of indie games to make up for the breech. Some fish-eat-fish game and an isometric zombie blaster. That was decent, if I remember?

[Neon Ignition]

The Vita was and is (OG Model) lovely. There are a few tweaks that could have been made to improve it but broadly Sony really threw it away with their weak backing of it. For the hack I remember the drama around it but despite primarily using PS3 for online it wasn't a huge hit waiting for it to come back on as the system wasn't as dependent on it as modern systems are. Thanks to the system multiple accounts system I ended up with around 8 free games

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2012 --
PSVita was trying to get into full swing with its western launches unfolding and September saw the launch of the PS3 Super Slim but beyond that it was a quiet year of wound licking for Sony as speculation about the next generation began to ramp up once more and third parties did most of the heavby lifting with titles such as Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3 and Far Cry 3 hitting stores.




What did you make of the Super Slim?

[QualityChimp]

I can't stand the Super Slim.
Everything about it shouts cheap. They took out the BC, I think there are less slots (although I just checked and they're the same) and I bet that little PS logo doesn't rotate!
Worst is the disc input changed from the fancy ejection to the ugly slide, which not only seems more bargain stereo like a Sanyo from Tandy's, but also impractical if it sits in a TV cabinet shelf.

The design is hideous too, in my eyes, looking like it's a whisky flask:

[Lebowski]

Spot on that super slim was horrible it didn't just look horrible, but the build quality was awful too, like some sort of budget line supermarket electronics made by Polaroid and sold in Asda.

Really thin flimsy plastic, a paper thin hardrive bay that was held on with tiny clips and, fell off every time you looked at it the wrong way. Cheaper internal components including revised ram chips as well as Bluetooth and wireless chips. They removed some heat shielding and put a cheaper disk drive that was prone to failing and ports that moved and flexed when you plugged items into them.

It also wasn't any cheaper than the PS3 slim despite all the downgrades.