Let’s Get Really Nostalgic About The Early Days Of PlayStation

August 5, 2023 12:41 PM

At a GameStop store on Launch Day of PS2 in 2000 [YouTube] ““There was a sense that video games were toys. And Sony is not a toy company.” That’s how a new mini-oral history about PlayStation revolutionizing console gaming begins over at IGN. The words belong to former head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Shawn Layden, and they ring true for anyone who grew up with an NES or SNES. The Nintendo consoles built for angular cartridges could take a beating like children’s building blocks, and the games often revolved around colorful worlds full of knights, dragons, and magic mushrooms. In the ‘90s, PlayStation felt like something entirely different. [...] In addition to the pitch of bringing arcade-level graphics into the home, there was the idea of a video game console that could channel the same feeling of cool imbued in the Sony Walkman and your older sibling’s collection of grunge and hip-hop CDs.” [via: Kotaku]
posted by Fizz (15 comments total)

Watching that 'Launch Day of PS2' video is a wild trip back in time. I can almost taste the Surge energy drink and jorts that's radiating from the screen!!
posted by Fizz at 12:54 PM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

It wasn't that there was "a sense" that video games were toys - it was an intentional move by Nintendo to get their foot in the door after the Crash of '83, and the failure of their initial AES design to attract attention at CES. It's also why video games were more heavily targeted to boys, as toy departments have historically been heavily gendered, and thus consoles were also gendered.

As for consoles not being seen as toys anymore, while Sony was quick to ride that wave, what drove it was the first generations of console gamers becoming adults with actual discretionary income and an interest in console games.
posted by NoxAeternum at 1:00 PM on August 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

In the ‘90s, PlayStation felt like something entirely different... channel the same feeling of cool imbued in the Sony Walkman and your older sibling’s collection of grunge and hip-hop CDs.

Grunge and hip hop? PSX was the platform for breaks.
posted by aubilenon at 1:14 PM on August 5, 2023 [3 favorites]

This is the music I associate with the PS1.
posted by chromecow at 1:21 PM on August 5, 2023 [7 favorites]

what drove it was the first generations of console gamers becoming adults with actual discretionary income and an interest in console games.

Tracks for me - friends started getting the Atari 2600 around age 6/7, then NES around 8-10, then Sega Genesis or SNES in high school. First PS came out sometime when I was in college, I bought one shortly after graduating, and then used the $300 stimulus check under Pres Bush to get the PS2.
posted by LionIndex at 2:31 PM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

The most ingenious thing about the PS2 was that it doubled as a DVD player, back when standalone DVD players weren't exactly cheap. That was a major reason why I got one, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I even bought the DVD remote for the thing; still have it around here somewhere.

Currently, we play DVDs, and Blu-rays, on the ol' PS3. Some things never change!
posted by May Kasahara at 2:50 PM on August 5, 2023 [10 favorites]

The most ingenious thing about the PS2 was that it doubled as a DVD player, back when standalone DVD players weren't exactly cheap. That was a major reason why I got one, and I'm sure I'm not alone. I even bought the DVD remote for the thing; still have it around here somewhere.

The PS2/PS3 drove DVD/Blu-Ray adoption by building a critical mass base for the tech. It's also part of why HD-DVD failed, when Microsoft chose to not integrate it into the 360.
posted by NoxAeternum at 3:40 PM on August 5, 2023 [4 favorites]

I still use a pair of PS3 Super Slims for Blu-ray playback. Super solid machines.
posted by porn in the woods at 4:45 PM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

That said, I'm amazed at how many idiots there were at Sony doomsaying the Playstation, given how closely Sony was involved with the development of the SNES - from Kutaragi developing the console's legendary sound hardware to the long running and ill-fated SNES CD-ROM project which was literally the genesis of the PS1(something I discussed here.) The PS1 brilliantly exploited a hole in the video game market (created in part by the two leaders in the industry having their heads up their asses), and it was easy to see why they had a winner.
posted by NoxAeternum at 5:23 PM on August 5, 2023

I had an Atari growing up, but didn't get any gaming systems again until my wife bought me a PS2. Not only did it have some really good games, it was a better DVD player than several DVD players that we owned. We finally got rid of it this year.
I skipped the PS3, but the PS4 is our current Blueray player. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the remote working for it.
posted by Spike Glee at 7:15 PM on August 5, 2023

I will never forget playing Battle Arena Toshinden in the video game room at DragonCon in Atlanta right before the PlayStation was released. It was a complete revelation, and we stood in line to play it over and over. We had been waffling on buying it, as huge Nintendo players, but my boyfriend and I pooled our money to buy it, it was so exciting!
posted by gemmy at 2:42 AM on August 6, 2023 [1 favorite]

Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64 was released the same day. I remember walking past a very long line of PS2 people into Best Buy, picking up my preorder and walking back out again. I was looking over the box as I walked past a kid and his mom loading the PS2 and stuff into their car. He spotted what was in my hand and immediately got excited. "Mom! Mom! The new Zelda! Mom!" and I didn't hear exactly what she yelled at him as I walked to my car, but I definitely got the tone of it, and I hope that dude has the same story he relates from time to time.
posted by phong3d at 8:45 AM on August 6, 2023 [6 favorites]

I was surprised to learn that the PlayStation actually did quite poorly in Japan at first, compared to the Sega Saturn, and it took a year or two to really take off.

However, this wasn't the case in the US - in Japan, Sega was basically coasting on the back of Virtua Fighter, while American consumers weren't as interested. Sega of America were scared of the PlayStation, and decided to steal a march on them, announcing at E3 that, instead of the chosen launch date, they were instead launching that day - despite stock not being in stores, and a bunch of the launch titles not being ready.

And then Sony did their presentation - intentionally dry, as a leadup to one of Sony's executives doing one of the intentionally funniest things a video game executive has ever done: walked up to the podium, adjusted the mic, said "two ninety nine", and then left - $100 cheaper than the "just-launched" Saturn, and absolutely dooming it hours after it launched.
posted by Merus at 12:33 AM on August 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Sega of America were scared of the PlayStation, and decided to steal a march on them, announcing at E3 that, instead of the chosen launch date, they were instead launching that day - despite stock not being in stores, and a bunch of the launch titles not being ready.

And telling their sales channels which ones Sega actually valued. The head of Kay-Bee Toys (which at the time was a major console retailer) severed ties with Sega when they learned at the conference that they were not one of the elect.

This era of Sega was marked with a lot of bad decisions.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:42 AM on August 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Currently, we play DVDs, and Blu-rays, on the ol' PS3. Some things never change!

The funny thing about that is that cheap DVD players followed the PS2 release by mere months, but it took literally years before you could buy any Blu-Ray player for less than the launch price of the PS3.

Those original PS3s really were great machines, what with being able to play PS1, PS2 (even stuff like Singstar that required accessories!), PS3 games, DVDs, Blu-Rays, Video CDs, SVCDs, audio CDs, DVD-Audio, SACD, and a variety of video and audio formats from USB sticks, CompactFlash cards, SD/MMC cards, or a Memory Stick. Plus they were pretty decent streaming media players, though the firmware was more picky about codecs and container formats for streaming media than physical disks or USB drives. Still, it worked fine for watching TV from my network tuner once that got DLNA support.

I don't think it's currently possible to buy an off the shelf media consumption device that comes anywhere close to the PS3's versatility.
posted by wierdo at 5:41 AM on August 7, 2023 [4 favorites]