PlayStation/PSone thread

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 12:54pm #1

Howdy, longtime lurker, first-time poster here.

Just plucking up the courage to kickoff a general PSone love thread and ascertain the following for the grey box and its dinky successor, as well as the following:

- Official UK PlayStation Magazine
- Official PlayStation Magazine - Ireland
- PocketStation and third-party expanded memory cards
- 2D shmups in PAL format/casing
- Midas, Phoenix, etc. latter-day budget titles
- The case for 1998's winter lineup being among the greatest in gaming history
- The Tombi series

What say you, retro geeks?

Mr.Saturn · 14-07-2015 1:25pm

To this day, it astounds me just how much Sony got right with the original Playstation, and perhaps more impressing, how they built upon that momentum with the PS2.

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 1:34pm

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

To this day, it astounds me just how much Sony got right with the original Playstation, and perhaps more impressing, how they built upon that momentum with the PS2.

A couple of unfulfilled promises (broadband, face-scanning, etc.) and a bad case of sequelitis, but you can't argue with the success of it.

14-07-2015 1:54pm

I remember the first time seeing this on launch week in my uncles house!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y1qQlgFX70

horgan_p · 14-07-2015 2:15pm

I spent nearly a week doubting and second guessing myself installing an MM3 chip only to find it doesn't play imports without a boot disk.
One of the few times I want an original disk to boot in a PSX (albeit a JAP one)

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2015 3:03pm

Official Playstation Magazine was an absolute rag of a magazine. Terrible writing mostly (they tried a few times to get more serious) and awful Sony bias a lot of the time but the cover discs usually had the best demos on them and it was especially great for the NET Yaroze games. The Irish Playstation Magazine was the single worst magazine I've ever read. Awful stuff. I'd rather a copy of Bunty.

Third party memory cards can go die in a fire. Had so many fail on me, the worst case was when I was on the second last stage of Tomb Raider 3.

2D shmups in PAL format are sacrilege. They had much better box art than the American games (that G Darius box art is glorious) but the fact they ran at 50 Hz just ruined them, especially since it's a genre that relies on the frame rate.

As for the line up for 1998, it wasn't just the PS1 that made it special. The PC, N64 and Saturn had absolute crackers that year. What a great year for game and I'd be hard pressed to name a year better considering it gave us the likes of Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ocarina of Time, Half Life and that's not even going into the PS1 library.

Tombi, the game so great everyone loved the demo and didn't buy the game

horgan_p · 14-07-2015 3:09pm

I worked in GAME at the launch.

I remeber we got in a jap unit for display and being blown away by it. The saturn couldn't compete with it at the time.
I also remember just putting on Wipeout on a rear projection big screen TV and the playstation pretty much sold itself , between the soundtrack and the trippy club type graphics.

One of very few times that the first time I saw a piece of hardware in action it made me stop dead and be impressed.

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2015 3:27pm

AS Mr. Saturn said it managed to get everything right. Focusing on 3D instead of 2D was really forward thinking (3D was kind of seen as a fad back then). But even still it was the little stuff like having controllers that drew a lot of power meaning peripherals and add ons didn't need batteries. The N64 introduced rumble first but the dual shock didn't need a seperate power supply. And the cables were super long as well. They did everything right, even in getting support and allowing developers to code in C (even if it meant a lot of games at launch that weren't in assembly were ****e). The only thing they did wrong was the terrible CD drive as in nearly all Sony products. It really stands in contrast to the PS2 which was so safe and really succeeded inspite of itself on brand name alone.

The Last Bandit · 14-07-2015 3:49pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

They did everything right, even in getting support and allowing developers to code in C (even if it meant a lot of games at launch that weren't in assembly were ****e).

This was one of the major game changers. Sony invested heavily in a solid development kit created by SN Systems who they later bought.

This brought console development to the masses thru 'C' and an extensive set of libraries, whereas Sega simply gave out the Saturn assemblers and reference manuals as had always been the case with console development.

CiDeRmAn · 14-07-2015 4:08pm

Retro geeks....

Is he talking about us?

I mean, Retr0 sure, but the rest of us?

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2015 4:08pm

All the games programmed in C were absolute dirt though. Really if you weren't coding in assembly your game was running at sub 15 fps. Still it opened it up to students with the net yaroze and they did bring out solid libraries and development platforms that made it a lot easier to work with while Sega was basically, code this to the metal or it's not going to work at all... and even at that good luck. Nintendo was another disaster as well with dev kits being multi million dollar SGI workstations that cost a fortune and wer terrible to work with.

CiDeRmAn · 14-07-2015 4:16pm

I worked in Gamesworld, later to be Gamestop aka Evil Corp, at the time of the PS launch.
It was exciting times indeed and the fact that it was the only thing people could talk about at the time was a sad thing for the Saturn, that came out around the same time.
The launch lineup was stellar, or at least it seemed that way, with Ridge Racer and Wipeout being mind blowing, to be able to play these at home.
I still have a lot of love for my PS, though the PS2 gets far more play and the PS3 is shaping up to be every bit as diverse a games platform as it's progenitors.
Those budget publishers you mention, what people didn't realise, at least outside of these forums, is that these were often Japanese titles that seemed to fail to find a publisher elsewhere.
Now, they butchered some releases, to be sure, but the likes of those mentioned released games that would simply not have seen a release otherwise, such as Strikers 1945.

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2015 4:27pm

A lot of them were from the simple 1000 series in japan. Plenty of absolute cack in there but some gems as well. It lead to GDF on the PS2.

CiDeRmAn · 14-07-2015 5:42pm

The one thing that the PS made aassive business of was modding and piracy.
Gone some 10 years were the days of tape to tape copying of Spectrum and C64 games.
Instead we were seeing mod chips and games at markets.
That said, I also got my first taste of importing with the PS and a modchip, with Pocket Fighter followed by many more.

Retr0gamer · 14-07-2015 8:18pm

I never pirated on the PS1 until well after it was dead. It however was the first console I imported for. FFVII turned me into a massive weeaboo and turned me on to all the RPGs that the US and Japan was getting and we weren't. My first import was Final Fantasy Tactics and my god was it worth it. Got a swap disc for import games from the shop down the road from games exchange. Never realised until much later it could play back ups

CiDeRmAn · 14-07-2015 9:31pm

Tekken 3 and MGS, the delay in them being translated over to the EU market was appalling, and inevitably the sales of the games were hurt upon release as everyone who really wanted to play them already had.

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 10:54pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Official Playstation Magazine was an absolute rag of a magazine. Terrible writing mostly (they tried a few times to get more serious) and awful Sony bias a lot of the time but the cover discs usually had the best demos on them and it was especially great for the NET Yaroze games. The Irish Playstation Magazine was the single worst magazine I've ever read. Awful stuff. I'd rather a copy of Bunty.

Third party memory cards can go die in a fire. Had so many fail on me, the worst case was when I was on the second last stage of Tomb Raider 3.

2D shmups in PAL format are sacrilege. They had much better box art than the American games (that G Darius box art is glorious) but the fact they ran at 50 Hz just ruined them, especially since it's a genre that relies on the frame rate.

As for the line up for 1998, it wasn't just the PS1 that made it special. The PC, N64 and Saturn had absolute crackers that year. What a great year for game and I'd be hard pressed to name a year better considering it gave us the likes of Panzer Dragoon Orta, Ocarina of Time, Half Life and that's not even going into the PS1 library.

Tombi, the game so great everyone loved the demo and didn't buy the game

Tend to disagree on PSM UK, was a formative experience for me to read growing up in the late nineties. OIPM was more of a look at an Irish gaming media that might have been, but didn't appreciate syndicated content where irish journos could have been employed.

Funny that - I have an 8mb deal that's still going strong 15 years later.

I agree on the slowdown but I wouldn't have had Strikers, Sonic Wings without the PAL editions.

I ****ing bought it! By that I mean, pestered my poor folks to find it somewhere!

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 11:03pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

All the games programmed in C were absolute dirt though. Really if you weren't coding in assembly your game was running at sub 15 fps. Still it opened it up to students with the net yaroze and they did bring out solid libraries and development platforms that made it a lot easier to work with while Sega was basically, code this to the metal or it's not going to work at all... and even at that good luck. Nintendo was another disaster as well with dev kits being multi million dollar SGI workstations that cost a fortune and wer terrible to work with.

I loved playing Yaroze games and following the fates of those involved. The Yaroze megadisc doing the rounds on the emulation circuit is a blast.

zenarcadian · 14-07-2015 11:04pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I worked in Gamesworld, later to be Gamestop aka Evil Corp, at the time of the PS launch.
Those budget publishers you mention, what people didn't realise, at least outside of these forums, is that these were often Japanese titles that seemed to fail to find a publisher elsewhere.
Now, they butchered some releases, to be sure, but the likes of those mentioned released games that would simply not have seen a release otherwise, such as Strikers 1945.

I adored their rag-tag means of going about things - Chris Kamara's Street Soccer, Buttsubushi, Kotobuki GP, The Hunter and more are little gems in their own right. :-)

CiDeRmAn · 15-07-2015 12:35am

The Official Irish PlayStation Mag was published out of the basement of Gamesworld on Liffey St, where Gamesworld is now.
True story....

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2015 9:21am

zenarcadian wrote: »

Tend to disagree on PSM UK, was a formative experience for me to read growing up in the late nineties.

It might have been formative but it didn't mean it wasn't a load of rubbish. They were very childish and they put a lot of focus on the THQ and Wrestling game rubbish to appeal to that crowd. The writing was pretty terrible as well.

zenarcadian · 15-07-2015 12:42pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It might have been formative but it didn't mean it wasn't a load of rubbish. They were very childish and they put a lot of focus on the THQ and Wrestling game rubbish to appeal to that crowd. The writing was pretty terrible as well.

After 1999, yes, absolutely. The PS2 announcement pretty much doomed the PS1 to a younger audience of casual gamers and console-inheritors. However, its print run from 1995-1998 were among the most cerebrally-written, incisive, intelligent games mags ever put together.

zenarcadian · 15-07-2015 12:43pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The Official Irish PlayStation Mag was published out of the basement of Gamesworld on Liffey St, where Gamesworld is now.
True story....

T.P. Media, I believe? A few of its writers went on to stock tech writing positions elsewhere in Irish media.

CiDeRmAn · 15-07-2015 1:16pm

I was once told just look who has taken double page Adverts in a given magazine, and then be sure they have gotten a very forgiving review.

But, back in the day, I pretty much read everything and, working in Gamesworld, got to play everything, Yay!

I can recall Driver stopped the shop when a rep brought it in. Everyone driving around the Underground carpark, figuring with some time at home they'd get past it.... the fools!
Also, the mic drop that was Gran Turismo, wow...

zenarcadian · 15-07-2015 1:26pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I was once told just look who has taken double page Adverts in a given magazine, and then be sure they have gotten a very forgiving review.

But, back in the day, I pretty much read everything and, working in Gamesworld, got to play everything, Yay!

I can recall Driver stopped the shop when a rep brought it in. Everyone driving around the Underground carpark, figuring with some time at home they'd get past it.... the fools!
Also, the mic drop that was Gran Turismo, wow...

That's the way in every stream of media, it's down to the journalist to be honest. I remember the kerfuffle when Star Wars Episode 1 got 9/10 in 1999, and the journo involved had been treated to a trip to the set and such in exchange for a favourable review. It was later re-reviewed after the truth outed and revised down to a 6/10.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2015 2:25pm

zenarcadian wrote: »

After 1999, yes, absolutely. The PS2 announcement pretty much doomed the PS1 to a younger audience of casual gamers and console-inheritors. However, its print run from 1995-1998 were among the most cerebrally-written, incisive, intelligent games mags ever put together.

It might just be nostalgia there but I remember it being very juvenile and far behind the other magazines of the day and the american ones. PS1 format magazines were pretty awful for the most part back then with the multiformat ones being were the better games journalism was. It might have been one of the better PS1 mags but that's not saying much.

The Irish one though was so bad. The letters section was painful.

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2015 2:28pm

zenarcadian wrote: »

That's the way in every stream of media, it's down to the journalist to be honest. I remember the kerfuffle when Star Wars Episode 1 got 9/10 in 1999, and the journo involved had been treated to a trip to the set and such in exchange for a favourable review. It was later re-reviewed after the truth outed and revised down to a 6/10.

Happened a lot back in the day. 10/10 reviews for the likes of Rise of the Robots in Amiga Format, Driv3r getting similar scores and there was also the case of the UK exclusive review of Manhunt getting taken off PS Max (I think) since they gave it a 2/10 and then going to OPSM where it got a 9 or 10.

15-07-2015 4:18pm

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I can recall Driver stopped the shop when a rep brought it in. Everyone driving around the Underground carpark, figuring with some time at home they'd get past it.... the fools!

please elaborate !

Retr0gamer · 15-07-2015 4:58pm

I think he is talking about the next to impossible tutorial stage in driver that about 0.99% of the population could beat.

CiDeRmAn · 15-07-2015 7:34pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I think he is talking about the next to impossible tutorial stage in driver that about 0.99% of the population could beat.

That's the one.
Reflections bookended the game with a pair of just stupid hard levels.
The tutorial was ridiculously hard and the last level made the tutorial seem like a Kirby level, just impossible.

I never played the second one but picked up the third one very early from Gamestop, and then returned the broken piece of crap. They asked why, I told them and then they told me of the shelves and shelves they had brought in of the thing to sell based on the Promo and advertising material.
I think it wound up being one of the most returned games of the lot.

zenarcadian · 15-07-2015 9:55pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It might just be nostalgia there but I remember it being very juvenile and far behind the other magazines of the day and the american ones. PS1 format magazines were pretty awful for the most part back then with the multiformat ones being were the better games journalism was. It might have been one of the better PS1 mags but that's not saying much.

The Irish one though was so bad. The letters section was painful.

I remember PSM winning media awards at its brainiest/wordiest, though it went off the cliff after 1999-2001, briefly becoming a very likeable cult mag for the rest of its run until 2004.

My flatmate used to write in to OIPM. He's threatened to disown me if I ever reveal who he is. :-D

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