30 Years of PlayStation

[Atticus]

I was super-hyped for the PS2 launch. RRV was, and is, soooooooooo amazing, jaggies n'all.

Moving forward, yeah, GTA3 seemed to arrive from nowhere and it knocked me for a six. Couldn't believe how good it was. A non-gamer mate of mine played it at my house and bought a PS2 the same week, just for that game.

[Neon Ignition]

GTA3 really did a number, coming out of nowhere and following all of those redacted middling score reviews that magazines and sites quickly reversed because it showed they hadn't played it much the game became an obsession. It was a nice note to finish the year on too as MGS2 had been a bit underwhelming

[Lebowski]

Didnt Edge magazine give GTA3 a 5 or something and then say they had printed the wrong score despite the review text reading like a five

[Neon Ignition]

It's really hard to find who gave what, I remember one PS focused mag giving it something like 6/10 as it was one of the reasons I bordered on not bothering with it. Then a month or two later the same mag referred back to their review and said it was 10/10 and I remember thinking sod off

[teddymeow]

Edge gave GTA3 a 6 / 10 and then, in a later issue, corrected the score to say it should have been 8 / 10.

[Asura]

I remember the PS2 feeling a bit of a non-starter in its first few months, no real system sellers coming with it at launch and its big exclusives like the bouncer looking really poor. Tekken had kind of had it's day and Tekken Tag wasn't something I was really that bothered about playing, as it didnt feel as good to play as Tekken 3, it took a fair bit to get started and is one of the reason why I skipped it on launch.

I've always felt that the PS2's first real "must not miss" title was Devil May Cry.

Prior to that, it certainly had good games but nothing that sold me the machine. Tekken Tag was great looking but at the time I felt it broadly equated to Soul Calibur (even if it's technically better in some ways), the UK version of Ridge Racer V was disappointing (I didn't know what it was, but I always felt something was wrong with it). Plus, Tekken Tag is literally old-school DLC for Tekken 3 (the arcade version looks almost exactly like Tekken 3).

[wakka]

For me it was SSX that was the earliest game that felt like something we hadn't really had on PS1. It was a brilliantly put together game that felt like a graphical leap forward. I remember being amazed that individual members of the crowd cheering you on at the top of the hill were rendered in 3D, rather than part of a flat texture as they would have been on PS1. Then the fireworks went off with lots of particles when it said GO, and it felt like 'Yeah, this is next gen'.

Devil May Cry was an even bigger leap forward though, I agree. I remember looking at the fire burning in the torches on the castle wall and thinking they would never be able to make fire look better in a videogame than that, like they'd solved fire

[hudson]

I didn't get a PS2 until Final Fantasy X came out. I had moved to PC gaming after the PSone.

[Lebowski]

I've always felt that the PS2's first real "must not miss" title was Devil May Cry.

Prior to that, it certainly had good games but nothing that sold me the machine. Tekken Tag was great looking but at the time I felt it broadly equated to Soul Calibur (even if it's technically better in some ways), the UK version of Ridge Racer V was disappointing (I didn't know what it was, but I always felt something was wrong with it). Plus, Tekken Tag is literally old-school DLC for Tekken 3 (the arcade version looks almost exactly like Tekken 3).

What a game, i remember being blown away by it when it first came out, fantastic world to explore insane combat and genually something that felt new and different at the time.

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2002 --
This year saw all three of the rival systems openly racing against one another even if it was clearly a battle for second place. The year saw Tekken 4 launch along with other sequels like Onimusha 2, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4, TimeSplitter 2 and Burnout 2.



Which one of the three consoles drew you in during their peak era?

[Wools]

I remember the PS2 feeling a bit of a non-starter in its first few months, no real system sellers coming with it at launch and its big exclusives like the bouncer looking really poor. Tekken had kind of had it's day and Tekken Tag wasn't something I was really that bothered about playing, as it didnt feel as good to play as Tekken 3, it took a fair bit to get started and is one of the reason why I skipped it on launch.

Same.

If you owned a Dreamcast, the PS2 lineup on launch day felt really rubbish in comparison. I got a PS2 when GT3 was released and that felt like the kick start the console needed.

As time went on though, the PS2 really hit its stride. In-between Dragon Quest XI, I’ve recently re-discovered GT4 on my Steam Deck and it still looks and plays marvellously!

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2003 --
By this point the transition between generations was well behind us and the PS2 was ploughing ahead even faster than its predecessor had managed. Sony was at the peak of their powers and their eye began to look at how they could expand that success beyond the core console. Two new pieces of hardware would emerge as a result of this, the bigger of the two was the reveal of a new prototype - the PlayStation Portable. The second was an alternate model of PS2 that would launch in the December of this year, the PlayStation X, a device that would finally formally use the PSX abbreviation that the original console had often been referred by. The PSX was a PS2 combined with a digital recorder and following launch saw Sony faced with the risk of their first potential hardware sales embarassment as the system floundered. They would go on to make several versions with sales sustaining it for two more years but Sony opted to play safe and decided to deny it a release outside of Japan. On the software side, the PS2 would overshadow such developments with hit releases such as Final Fantasy X-2, SSX3, Ratchet and Clank 2, Silent Hill 3 and Jak II.




Did you ever see a PSX in person?

[wakka]

The PSP wouldn't come out till the next year of course, but, damn, I loved that thing. Probably my favourite console launch ever, it absolutely blew my socks off. Having a Japanese one on import felt like the coolest thing ever.

The PSX is a great example of 'weird Sony' in action. I saw a boxed one at London Gaming Market a while back, someone was negotiating to buy it. It's absolutely ginormous. Notable, I believe, for the being the first ever appearance of the XMB.

[Finsbury Girl]

I remember the day I bought my PS2 - it was a Metal Gear bundle, when I fired it up at home later that night with Snake in the rain jumping off the bridge onto the tanker I was like HOLY ****ING **** That was peak gaming (at the time )

[Neon Ignition]

-- 2004 --
Thsi year was one of the biggest in gaming across the industry but despite so many titles being released and companies making big changes in the market Sony wouldn't be squeezed out. Late in the year they released the PlayStation 2 Slim, reducing the systems size and bursting its sales momentum for the next few years whilst also launching the anticipated PlayStation Portable. Though Xbox had managed to finally wrestle GTA3 and Vice City to its platform it was for naught as the PS2 played host to the enormous Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, sealing up the Xmas season. In addition to this acclaimed sequels Gran Turismo 4 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater also landed in stores in addition to Red Dead Revolver and Onimusha 3.



Was this PlayStations best year yet?