Can you believe that the Playstation has finally turned 15? What really started out for Sony as a crazy ambition has really rocked the technology sector since then, helping with the adaptation of both DVD with PS3 and now Blu-ray and potentially 3D with the PS3. During 1995, when the Playstation was set to arrive, nobody took Sony seriously on it. Back then, the gaming world was dominated by Nintendo and Sega and for a electronics maker to get into the gaming culture only meant certain disaster. Fortunately for both Sony and the gaming market, that’s not how it turned out.

Sony took a different approach with the Playstation. They wanted to give consumers cutting edge technology and a great gaming device. Thus, the Playstation could play back audio CDs and play games that were 3D, not 2D based. For the first time, characters had depth and the music could have actual scores and games could have true cinematic scenes with the extra space that you were able to get on a CD versus the then standard cartridge.

I remember this commercial like it was yesterday. For those of us who grew up then, you knew that when you say the commercial for Final Fantasy 7 and then actually go to play it, the visuals were jaw dropping. The starting train sequence alone could convince anybody to pick up the system and play one of the greatest games of all time. The Playstation also lent itself to some fantastic tricks.

 After you loaded up Ridge Racer you could remove the disc and put in your own audio CD to race along to your own music. If you swapped out discs while using a pencil eraser to fool the system into thinking it wasn’t open, you could play imported games. Audio CDs could be played with an interesting visual program running in the background. 

I know my own personal story with the Playstation because it’s really what helped this site form. At the time, I was only 10 years old and I had always heard of the Nintendo 64. Now we have to remember that times werent like now where you could go online and look at videos and reviews. You heard about the N64 and you would have to go to Sears to maybe find one in the gaming section to play with. I knew the N64 is what I wanted but my dad begged to differ. He kept telling me that he would do some research and see what else is out there and I of course, kept getting more pissed. One day, in 1995, my dad walks home and what does he have with him? A Playstation One. Since then, I’ve been pulled into the Sony world and have been a believer of their products. Games like Twisted Metal 1 and 2, Warhawk, Final Fantasy 7-9 and Resident Evil 1-3 on the Playstation really changed me and defined my future. It’s with this view that I look back to the Playstation era and get a big smirk on my face.

Happy birthday Sony and Playstation.