PS1 at 30: When Gaming Got Weird (and We Loved It, Mate)
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
The PS1's 30th anniversary reminds us of a time when PlayStation embraced truly weird and experimental games, a stark contrast to today's blockbuster-focused landscape. It made 3D gaming accessible and spawned both beloved franchises and delightfully bizarre titles that still hold a special, janky charm.
Right, so apparently, the PlayStation's first generation is hitting the big 3-0, and I've been tinkering with this story all morning. Bloody hell, it's wilder than it first appeared, especially when you compare it to today's shiny, meticulously polished blockbusters.
Back in '95, things were... different. Before ray tracing made our eyeballs melt, before every single game demanded an always-on internet connection (for reasons I still can't quite fathom, honestly), there was just the PlayStation. A scrappy underdog, born from a famously ill-fated fling with Nintendo, it ended up launching in North America and absolutely *blew up*. Sega Saturn got there first, but the PS1 – a console that looked like a cool grey Discman cosplaying as a spaceship – totally eclipsed it in sales in a mere two days. Fair dinkum, that’s a quick win in anyone’s book.
What was it about this clunky grey box? Well, beyond the iconic button symbols (triangle, square, circle, cross – etched into our gaming souls forever, right?), it did something pivotal: it made CD-ROM gaming and proper 3D graphics mainstream and, crucially, *affordable*. Remember when hardware prices actually *dropped* a year after launch? Sony slashed it from $299 to $199. Ah, a simpler time, when your wallet didn't cry quite so much after a console purchase. These days, you'd be lucky if the box itself didn't cost extra, eh?
Now, the PS1 was obviously the launchpad for a heap of franchises that are still massive today – think *Resident Evil*, *Tomb Raider*, *Gran Turismo*, *Tekken*. Absolute bangers, all of them. But here's where it gets interesting, mate. That original PlayStation was also a veritable playground for the truly experimental, the wonderfully janky, and the just plain *weird*. Something, I reckon, the PS5, for all its power and graphical wizardry, just isn't quite as good at anymore.
Take *Final Fantasy VII*, for instance. Not only was it the system's second-best-selling game, but it's also a masterclass in delightful oddness. You're joining an explicitly anti-capitalist eco-terrorist group to smash the faces of corporate executives – already pretty spicy, eh? Then there's an entire side quest involving cross-dressing in a nightclub, where you might end up with bikini briefs from a bloke called Muuki who's keen for you to join his 'young Bubbys group' and laments that 'Daddy's so lonely.' Oh, and one of your party members abuses his partner, but it's played for laughs. Wild, right? Compare that to 2023's *Final Fantasy XVI*, with its tasteful heterosexual coitus on a deserted island and its clear-cut opposition to slavery. Brilliant game, no doubt, but 'weird'? Nah, it's more 'epic fantasy inspired by Game of Thrones.'
The PS4 and PS5 eras have largely leaned into the tentpole blockbusters: *The Last of Us*, *Spider-Man*, *God of War*, *Elden Ring*. We're talking polished, cinematic experiences designed to hit those eight-figure sales numbers and spawn TV shows and movies. And don't get me wrong, many of these are fantastic; they've pushed the medium forward, no argument there. But sometimes, when every game feels like it's auditioning for an Oscar, you just want something a bit… different. A bit more like a mad scientist's explosion in a digital lab rather than a perfectly choreographed ballet.
PS1 devs, both first- and third-party, weren't quite as obsessed with 'pushing' hardware in the hyper-realistic sense. There was ample room for a paper-cutout rhythm game like *PaRappa the Rapper* to sit comfortably alongside the cinematic espionage of *Metal Gear Solid* or the pixel-art beauty of *Suikoden*. For every *Tony Hawk's Pro Skater*, you had the tranquil *Boku no Natsuyasumi* (a kid's summer vacation), the cowboy RPG *Wild Arms*, or the truly unhinged *LSD Dream Emulator* – a conceptual exploration game where everything you touch teleports you and runs end after ten minutes. Imagine trying to pitch *that* to a modern triple-A publisher! They'd look at you like you'd just tried to summon Cthulhu in the boardroom.
Now, this isn't to say that indie or 'weird' games have vanished. Quite the opposite! There are more of them than ever, and that's indisputably a good thing for us gamers. We've seen some absolute off-the-wall gems recently like *Promise Mascot Agency* or *Blue Prince*. But, generally speaking, they're not endemic to a single platform like the PS1 once was. You'll find 'em mostly on Steam or the Nintendo Switch these days. There are exceptions, of course; *Helldivers 2* has a wonderfully 'AA' feel to it (and I mean that as a compliment!), and *Astro Bot* is a proper AAA game that's just utterly besotted with Sony's quirkier past. That scrappy, unpolished charm of the original PS1 library still resonates, and *Astro Bot*'s willingness to dive into it is a huge part of its appeal.
Former PlayStation VP Adam Boyes once made a cracking analogy: 'PlayStation is HBO, Microsoft is Netflix, and Nintendo is Disney.' And it fits, doesn't it? But, I can't help but get a bit nostalgic for the years when Sony's offerings felt less like prestige television and more like the gloriously loopy, anything-goes stew of Adult Swim. Maybe it's time we blew a few more holes through reality and embraced the unexpected once more, eh?
_This article was inspired by a piece originally published on Polygon._
Tags: PlayStation, PS1, Gaming History, Retro Gaming, Indie Games
Original article: Polygon