Why Sony’s Playstation one is the best console ever created
The year is 1994, Nintendo had the SNES and SEGA had the Saturn both still going strong without any real competition. The industry was craving something new, something revolutionary, something next-gen. Sony had a lot to compete with at the time and yet they were about to release a true powerhouse, its name being the PlayStation. By March 31, 2005, the PlayStation and PS one had shipped a combined total of 102.49 million units, becoming the first video game console to sell 100 million units, but why was that?
In my opinion the PS1 is the greatest console ever created and it’s all because of the amazingly good games library that it had. The origins of many classic game series go back to PS1, which was technologically the most advanced platform at the time. We saw classics such as; Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, The Legacy Of Kain, Spyro The Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, Medieval, Rayman, Tomb Raider, Abe’s Odyssey, Command & Conquer, Medal Of Honour, Driver and Gran Turismo all made their debut on the PlayStation and that’s just to name a few.
For me it was the console that I truly grew up with, I played many of the classics from SEGA & Nintendo and I have some very fond memories that I have both companies’ respective consoles to thank for but next to the PlayStation and all of the variety it had to offer they just couldn’t compare. I played countless hours running scared through corridors as Chris Redfield giving me my first taste of survival horror. I spent days, wielding the soul reaver through the landscapes of nostgoth as Kain; I led entire armies in battle against the brotherhood of NOD and cried with Otacon as sniper wolf lay bleeding in the snow.
Due to numerous delays, Nintendo’s next gen console the N64 was released one year later than its competitors. By the time it was finally launched in 1996, Sony had already established its dominance and the Sega Saturn was starting to struggle. Its use of cartridge media rather than compact discs alienated some developers and publishers due to the space limits and the relatively high cost involved. However, the Nintendo 64 was popular in the America, selling 20.63 million units there (more than half of its worldwide sales of 32.93 million units), and is home to highly successful games such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, GoldenEye007, Banjo-Kazooie, and Super Smash Bros. While the Nintendo 64 sold far more units than the Sega Saturn, it failed to surpass the PlayStation, which dominated the market.
In 1997 a year after Nintendo had launched the N64, Sony announced that for the first time ever a Final Fantasy game was to appear exclusively on their console. Until that point in time all Final fantasy games had appeared on Nintendo consoles but no longer. Final Fantasy VII became an immediate critical and commercial success. It has continued to sell solidly with 10 million copies sold by May 2010, making it the best-selling title in the series. Final Fantasy VII was praised for its graphics, gameplay, music and story and it just so happens to be mine and many others favourite game but that’s a story for another time.
I’m sure anyone reading this has had the pleasure of playing a PS1 and all it had to offer but if not then I highly recommend picking one up or getting a VITA and playing some of these classic games. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever see another console that will spawn so many great gaming franchises, some of which are still releasing sequels today. The PlayStation 1 truly was one of a kind and I’ll certainly never forget all of the wonderful moments that I have it to thank for.
