Summary
- Memory cards were essential for PS1 players, with no internal storage, leading to some unique game-saving challenges.
- Utilizing PS1 discs in CD players was possible, showcasing a unique advantage of disc-based technology over cartridges.
- Flipping the PSX console upside down became a common trick to fix disc reading issues, showcasing the oddities of the original PlayStation design.
The original PlayStation was a huge deal in its time, as Sony was a big electronics manufacturer jumping into the gaming landscape. It was a bold move to challenge Sega and Nintendo, the two gaming juggernauts of the '80s and '90s, but the gamble paid off handsomely for Sony as they survived the console wars, while Sega didn’t.
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The PS1 was the first console for many gamers today, and fans of it have very distinct memories that younger gamers today just can’t imagine. It’s hard to picture the 90s without the PlayStation and its large library of RPGs, platformers, shooters, and more. From games to technical feats, these are the m emories that will stand out to PlayStation 1 fans the most.
Memory Cards
Getting Home And Not Being Able To Save
If players did grow up with other consoles, like the NES or SNES, then they were used to internal cartridge storage when the P1 hit shelves. However, during this new high-tech generation, memory cards were necessary to save games, and the PS1 was one of the first big examples to make this switch. It’s become an obvious accessory for the PS1 now, but players who bought the PS1 and started playing a game without a memory card were in for a rude awakening.
No one wants to lose progress in a game, especially an RPG, which led many players to keep their consoles running, ratcheting up their parents' electricity bill until they could afford to go back and get a PS1 memory card. They crossed their fingers that they would remain untouched by power outages. This was well before the days of easy deliveries from Amazon, so they actually had to go to the store and buy storage space to save their game. Thankfully, PlayStation and other consoles no longer require memory cards, unless players want to count expanded hard drives or micro SD cards.
Inserting Your PS1 Games Into CD Players
It Still Works
Among many things, the PS1 had an advantage over the N64 because it used disc-based technology. It was cheaper for companies to print discs, and the savings were passed along to consumers. The N64's games were typically double the price of the PS1's, since manufacturing costs for cartridges in the late 90s we sky high. Because the PS1 used discs, many treated it like their home music player, as it could play any music disc as well as video games.
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Then there was the secret usage of PS1 discs: they could be played in other music players. The greatest example has to be Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, which explicitly warned players that it wasn’t a music CD, but played music when placed in a CD player anyway. Other early examples of this include Twisted Metal and Tomb Raider. When players tested out this idea for the first time, it was a mind-blowing experience.
Playing Games Upside Down
The PSX Was Odd
The original gray PlayStation is often called the PSX now, while the redesign is referred to as the PS1, or PSOne. Names aside, there was a problem with the original gray design that made reading discs more difficult over time, thanks to the console's laser reader. Sometimes a perfectly new disc could not play on the console, which was a bummer.
To solve this problem, someone, somewhere, found out that flipping the console upside down would make it work better. This trick was passed along through the playground with no origin point. No one knows why it works, either, but universally, it became a known trick in the 90s. It was like the Red Ring of Death for the Xbox 360 generation, except that PlayStation fans found a cheaper solution than just replacing their console or sending it for repairs. Imagine if a modern console had a weird fix akin to the PSX’s flipping method, like playing the Switch upside down for a better frame rate.
Going Into Analog
A New Age Of Controllers
The original PlayStation controller was lightweight and did exactly what it needed to. Then, in 1997, three years after the console debuted in Japan, Sony released the Dual Analog and DualShock controllers, which added two sticks and a vibration function to the original controller's design. Not every game released after 1997 supported the new controller initially, but there were often re-releases dedicated to the new setup.
For example, Resident Evil 2 had a separate edition that supported the new controller, although the D-Pad still suited the game's tank controls best. Another good example was the first Ape Escape, which put the two sticks to good use between movement and action. While the support for these features was all over the place, players can still recall how amazing it felt to have two sticks on a controller.
Metal Gear Solid Breaks The Fourth Wall
I See You Like Konami Games
Metal Gear Solid
- Released
- October 20, 1998
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Stealth
Let’s go beyond the technical aspects of the PS1 and mention a few exclusive games that blew the minds of players in the 90s. Metal Gear Solid is a fine example for a number of reasons, as it pushed narrative storytelling in games forward and boasted a lot of intricate gameplay mechanics, too. There was also the Psycho Mantis boss fight, which is famous because he uses psychic powers, including mind reading and telekinesis. Hideo Kojima, the game's director, used this opportunity to put the PS1 hardware to good use.
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Psycho Mantis could read the player's memory card if they had played Konami games on it, like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Suikoden, or Vandal Hearts, and he would comment on it during the fight. There were even more examples of games Psycho Mantis could detect in Japan, but they were for titles that never crossed over to the West. To defeat Psycho Mantis, players had to put their controller in the console's second controller slot. Again, it was a mind-blowing stunt that broke the fourth wall in ways no one had seen before, and this boss fight is still frequently referenced to this day as a result.
The Epic Value Of Final Fantasy 7
Is This Real Life?
Final Fantasy 7
- Released
- January 31, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- RPG
PS1 RPGs before 1997 were good, but it wasn’t until Final Fantasy 7 that the roof was fully blown off. The commercials leading up to the game’s release made it feel like a phenomenal event, and it was. Popping the disc in and watching that intro cutscene made many PS1 players RPG fans that very day. The CG cutscenes didn’t end there, though, as fans all have their favorites, from firing the Junon Canon for the first time to awakening the Weapons at the Northern Crater.
Beyond cutscenes, the in-game graphics, while severely dated now, were beyond what typical RPGs had and were about as realistic as graphics got in that era. The turn-based gameplay was solid, and the story was mature and exciting. It was Squaresoft that practically announced that this was a new era for Final Fantasy, and they were right, because Final Fantasy 7’s legacy is still ongoing in 2025. The PS1 became a must-have console between this game and Metal Gear Solid, a lineup that no other console could replicate at the time.
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