B_Campbell's Full Review: Sony PlayStation Console
Few products can claim the same level of success reached by Sony's Playstation. It surely acheived record breaking unit and sales figures, but it did more than just hit greta numbers. The Playstation made gaming cool; it helped popularize new styles of video gaming and helped launch several successful game franchises, which today outlive the console itself. Not only is the Playstation a sales success, but it proved to be a popular cultural icon.
The Playstation (PSX) is a 32-bit, CD-media game console. "32-bit" is a general measure of the hardware's ability to handle complex input and output, and the 32-bit consoles (the Sega Saturn was the PSX's main rival) were the first able to effectively handle complex 3D graphics. This marks a milestone in console gaming as games began to look more lifelike and the graphics involved the gamer more effectively. The PSX hardware was particularly suited for these 3D applications, giving it an advantage over the Saturn. While the Saturn could process complex 2D graphics better, the types of games where this was apparent were few and far between thanks to the industry shift to 3D graphics.
Videogame History 101
After the PSX's launch in 1995, it was quickly apparent that 3D graphics were the way to go, and the timing of the PSX matched with it's abilities helped it take advantage of this. The 3D weak Saturn was quickly snuffed out as PSX games became more and more refined, and the envelope was continually pushed. For years after release, title after title showed that the PSX had plenty of graphical capability, and gamers were amazed by beach new improvement.
Not only was the PSX the dominant console for several years, but it was relatively easy and cheap to program for. While other consoles to this date were populated by mainly first party games (games published by the console developer), the PSX was deluged by titles from dozens upon dozens of publishers, from large well established names to brand new software houses. To date, the PSX library numbers many hundreds, and even though it is 7 years old, games continue to appear on this platform.
The PSX even helped several game dynasties become the popular series they are today. Perhaps best known are the Final Fantasy role-playing games, which hadn't been seen in the U.S. for years prior to the release of Final Fantasy 7 on the PSX. Tekken was a 3D fighter developed by Namco for the arcades and ported to the PSX early in its life; Tekken 3 was one of the best PSX titles ever and Tekken continues to be successful on the Playstation 2. Gran Turismo and its sequel pioneered a new style of racing game, and it has gone on to PS2 success as well. There are dozens of other popular series which were either pioneered or widely developed on the PSX; Resident Evil, Monster Rancher, Ridge Racer, etc, etc.
The ability for smaller developers to publish games for the PSX also meant that there are tons of wacky, niche titles for any type of player. There is no way to list them all, but rest assured that gamers of almost any age and taste can find something they like. Of course, there's a downside to this as well, as there are many titles which just aren't worth playing. If one were to look at a rack with every PSX game available, it would be extremely difficult to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, today most PSX games are inexpensive as it becomes older, so this is not as much of a risk, but such a wide library of games always means there will be more unappealing ones.
Boring, Please Wait...
There are other downsides to the system as well. The CD media means that there are often long loading times where the player must simply wait for the game to read information from the disk into memory. In some games, this waiting can take over 30 seconds, and happens several times during the course of play. Luckily, in later titles loading time is either reduced or 'hidden' in a way that it isn't quite as much of a bother. Yet, this is still a problem with this type of media in general, and in this case only exacerbated by the low amounts of RAM in the PSX.
The Controllers Are Better Than Pong's...
The standard PSX controllers are chock full of buttons. Not only is there an 8-way directional pad and four face buttons, but there are also four shoulder buttons which can be pressed with your fingers on your left and right hands. I have only two criticisms with the standard PSX controller: first, the d-pad is terrible. Instead of being a seperate pad 'floating' above the contacts like most controllers before it, the four cardinal directions on the pad are raised through the face of the controller, as a seperate peice of plastic. This is somewhat hard to describe, but the problem with this setup is that it becomes extremely hard to get diagonals correctly (instead of actually pressing the pad diagonally, you have to be pressing two of the cardinal directions), and complex manuevers like full circular rolls or the 'dragon punch' fighting game move become nearly impossible.
My second controller criticism are the face buttons. The shoulder buttons are intelligently labeled R1, R2, L1, L2, but the face buttons are Circle, Square, Triangle, and X, each a different pastel color. This is obviously confusing, and after all these years I still can't tell you which button is which without looking straight at them. I would have preferred the traditional 'A, B, C, D' or 'A, B, X, Y'. But that's farily small nitpick, as one generally gets used to the game controls over time.
A few years into the PSX's life, the Dual Shock Analog controller was introduced. Not only did it have a rumble function with 3 levels of force feedback, but it also carried two analog sticks on the face to improve upon the controls. I find this controller much preferable to the standard controller in games that support it, and even in games that don't it can function as the standard controller and has a bit more weight, resting more pleasingly in the hands. There are several other controller peripherals available, from aracde sticks and steering wheels to dance pads and fishing controllers. The PSX features only two controller ports, but a multitap is available and a few games support more than 2 players.
Memories...
With no internal memory (probably the only other way in which the Saturn was superior), games must be saved on seperate memory cards. In general, the memory cards don't hold too much information, so if you have more than 5-10 games you will need several. There are third party 'mega-memory' cards that can hold many times the standard Sony card, however there are so many horror stories related to them erasing themselves that they aren't worth the hassle. What I don't understand is why Sony didn't use its patented Memory Stick storage, which today holds up to 64 or more megabytes of information... dozens of times that of the Memory Card.
Hook Me Up!
Designed in 1995, the PSX only supports RF or Stereo RCA output, not S-Video or Component Video like many modern consoles. It is extremely easy to set up and get started; just plug the power cord into the wall and hook it up to the TV. The PSX is pretty small, too; with a thin profile it can fit in with most audio/video equipment in an entertainment center, though you will need extra space above it to accomodate the hinging CD lid. Also, you will need to make sure there is plenty of airflow along the side vents, or it can quickly overheat and run into problems.
Being inexpensive today, the PSX is an excellent gaming value. While graphics are dated compared to modern consoles, there are tons of games available, many of them better in terms of gameplay than anything on the new systems. A few games to look out for in a couple of genres:
Fighting Tekken 3 is the definitive PSX 3D fighter. The various Marvel vs. Capcom games are great 2D fighters as well. Soul Blade is a quirky 3D fighter from the makers of Tekken, though not as graphically advanced.
RPG
The Final Fantasy series is the must-have if you're an RPG fan. However, the PSX is home to dozens of offbeat and interesting RPG titles. Final Fantasy Tactics is a great tactical RPG, as well as Brigandine. Dragon Warrior 7 is another great traditional RPG, though it has a very 'old-school' feel. Xenogears and Suikoden are two other extremely popular RPG titles, among many others. The PSX is practically the RPG system.
Racing Gran Turismo and its sequel, Gran Turismo 2, are undoubtedly two of the best racing games ever made on a console. The Ridge Racer and Need for Speed series are also good if you like a more arcade style of racing game
Platform
The PSX didn't features as many platform games as its predecessors, however there are many excellent action games. Rayman and Rayman 2 are both wonderfuly challenging, as is the late title Ape Escape.
There are dozens of other great games, as well, in almost any genre you can imagine. A glance through the lists of review Playstation games in my or any other gamers' Epinions profile will turn up huge lists of good titles. Yet I can't overstress the fact that there are lots of poor quality games as well, so a bit of research before buying can be helpful.
Today used Playstations are extremely inexpensive, and Sony has 'rereleased' the playstation in a sleeker package as the PS One. The PS One is a more compact and reliable update of the Playstation costing about $50, however it does not have some of the additional ports which the PSX features. While few to no games use these ports, they can be useful for other peripheral devices like the Gameshark.
With a low price, plus low prices on the huge library of games, the PSX is a peice of hardware that must be owned by anyone calling themselves a gamer. There are games aplenty for anyone, and it's easy to use and fairly reliable. The only real reason not to get a PSX is if you have a Playstation 2, as it is backward compatible with Playstation games (though still $200). Otherwise, if you haven't picked one up for yourself or your kids, the only question is WHY NOT!!?!
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