Farewell…
Sony have announced that they are ceasing production of the Playstation. A poignant moment – the official end of the road for the most groundbreaking console in gaming history. It needs no better tribute than a reminder of some of the all-time classic games, which count the PSX as their home
- Final Fantasy VIII. Ignore what the FFVII (also a PS game btw) fanboys shout at you – Final Fantasy VIII is the Best. Game. Ever
- Tekken 3. Sure, Soul Calibur and its successors have better graphics, and are more free-flowing, but I still think this is better. Its sequels aren’t fit to tie its shoelaces
- Metal Gear Solid. Still the best stealth game around – I’ve played all three Splinter Cell games, and MGS beats them hands down.
That list could go on forever, a testament to how fantastic a console the Playstation was. OK, a significant proportion of games are complete dross (take a bow, Spec Ops Stealth Patrol), but this isn’t something we should hold against it. The quality of the good far outweighs the quantity of the bad. The Playstation is the best example of a bygone age in gaming – where graphics could not be used to sell a game (although the FMVs in the Final Fantasy games were awesome) and the developers therefore had no choice but to rely on gameplay.
Gamespot says that Sony are planning to release a PS1 emulator for the PSP, and make some of the games available as (paid-for, obviously) downloads. If this happens (and they can get the licensing permissions for the third-party published games such as all three of those on my list) it will be fantastic – a whole new generation will be exposed to games they were too young for first time round. If Sony can pull this off, it might even convince me to buy a PSP despite the console’s significant shortcomings.
See Also