Console Debate #3: Sony Playstation

[Hammerfestus | 3,833]

I’ve had piles of PSX controllers of every model including the original  pre dual shock dual analog controller and  I can’t recall one ever giving out on me.  Now PS4 controllers...

[Estil | 1,264]

6 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

I've never encountered a single broken PS1 controller in my entire life.  I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 different PS1 controllers of all styles and colors.  That is definitely not a common issue even after all of these years.  You are probably mixing them up with PS2 controllers which, unfortunately are not nearly as reliable.  But even then, it took most PS2 controllers more than 10 years before they started showing issues, and even then, cleaning them fixes most problems.  I'm not sure why PS2 controllers allow dirt inside more than PS1, but it happens.    

You wouldn't happen to have any new ones would you?  I could use a good fresh one...it has to be one with the joysticks though.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Great system. Loved the light gun games and series like Resident Evil really took my attention away from the 64. 

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

@Estil, I sent you a PM.  

[Jicsan | 589]

Gave it an 8.  I really do love many games on it. Castlevania Symphony of the Night is one of my all time favorite games.  The Resident Evil series, the two Lunar remakes, Klonoa, Einhander, and Grandia being a few more favorites right off the top of my head.  I will say I have a harder time revisiting this gens older polygon games, more than any other generation of games (except maybe pre-NES gens).  

[Jeevan | 8,910]

I loved the playstation when I finally got one.  

I got it for FF7 and found myself playing tomb raider, twisted metal and a lot of other games!!!!  This is honestly one of my favorite consoles of all time and I must start collecting for it even more!!!!!  When I get some irl stuff out of the way, this might be my next thing to add besides the Nintendo Stuff I am collecting!!!!!

9/10

So many good games, still remember when my brother came back from college and introduced me to Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time!!!!!  Spent all summer playing that!

[Sumez | 2,941]

18 hours ago, TDIRunner said:

You are probably mixing them up with PS2 controllers which, unfortunately are not nearly as reliable.

That might very well be true. I've had 4 out of 4 PS2 controllers break, and now that I think of it, I'm not sure how many PS1 ones did. They feel similarly flimsy, though.

[Hammerfestus | 3,833]

Lol I love it.  Guy mildly questions durability of controllers and is immediately accosted by 47 other members.

[Sumez | 2,941]

It was fair. I use controllers across PS1 and 2 whenever it's possible, so it's easy to mix them up. And all the PlayStation controllers I've had breaking on me has been a constant annoyance for me. I've never experienced any other controllers for any other console breaking, across a ton of other platforms.

But it's entirely possible that all the ones I had the issue with were in fact PS2 ones. They are notably awful.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Sumez

[mbd39 | 2,020]

On 11/22/2020 at 2:20 AM, Dr. Morbis said:

I voted low, because for me, it feels like the Atari of the 3D world of gaming: it ushered in a new era, but everything is so janky and awkward (controller, load times, graphics, etc) that it makes me wonder why I would ever choose this library over the many thousands of more modern games that have near-perfected pretty much every 3D genre since.  I mean, even the PS2 is miles upon miles ahead of the PS1 library for me.  I definitely respect it's position in video game history, but in terms of playability in 2020, it doesn't really have anything for me.  It's like, why go back to Atari when NES and SNES exist?  I feel the same way about the PS1: why go back to that when the PS2,3,4,5, Xboxes and Steam exist????

 At least the Playstation could do the same sort of games as later 3D systems, but rougher graphics. It had full 3D platformers, first person shooters, racers, RPGs, etc. It could be considered the NES of 3D gaming rather than the Atari.

For example, Soul Reaver is a proto God of War.

 

I'm not sure there was an Atari 2600 era of 3D consoles... maybe the 3DO and Jaguar.

[Br81zad | 629]

On 11/23/2020 at 10:11 AM, TDIRunner said:

Find yourself a Dual Analog controller.  My favorite controller of all time.  My biggest disappointment with the PS1 was that when they went from the Dual Analog to the Dual Shock, they made the controller smaller.  I always wished they had stuck wit the Dual Shock size.  

This is the first time I've ever heard about another 1st party analog controller being available for the PS1. I only ever had the Dual Shock.

And now I'm down a rabbit hole trying to find one of these things. lol

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

Just now, Br81zad said:

This is the first time I've ever heard about another 1st party analog controller being available for the PS1. I only ever had the Dual Shock.

And now I'm down a rabbit hole trying to find one of these things. lol

They are unfortunately not easy to find.  They were not out long before they were replaced by the Dual Shock.  I bought one right away when they came out, and then bought the Dual Shock when it came out later.  I hardly ever see the Dual Analogs today.

Interesting fact about the Dual Analog.  It has 3 "modes" instead of the 2 "modes" on the Dual Shock.

• No light - same mode as the original PS1 controller
• Green light - same mode and the dual analog flight stick controller
• Red light - traditional dual analog mode 

The Dual Analog controller has all three modes above, but the Dual Shock only had the first and third.  

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

Size comparison.  

[Tanooki | 4,932]

18 hours ago, Jeevan said:

I loved the playstation when I finally got one.  

I got it for FF7 and found myself playing tomb raider, twisted metal and a lot of other games!!!!  This is honestly one of my favorite consoles of all time and I must start collecting for it even more!!!!!  When I get some irl stuff out of the way, this might be my next thing to add besides the Nintendo Stuff I am collecting!!!!!

9/10

So many good games, still remember when my brother came back from college and introduced me to Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time!!!!!  Spent all summer playing that!

So in a way you were the primary target and bullseye for the entire Sony driven campaign back in that year and it worked.  They scooped Square, then used FF7 as a huge coup and ad blitz how Nintendo was out of date and for the kids (despite reality at the time) and that you needed to come over to Sony and CDs, to keep playing Final Fantasy as it was THE game to own. But like many, you got enamored for a stretch, but it was the other games that kept you coming back for more, which in the end makes far more sense than FF7 IS THE SAVIOR types.

[Br81zad | 629]

12 hours ago, Tanooki said:

So in a way you were the primary target and bullseye for the entire Sony driven campaign back in that year and it worked.  They scooped Square, then used FF7 as a huge coup and ad blitz how Nintendo was out of date and for the kids (despite reality at the time) and that you needed to come over to Sony and CDs, to keep playing Final Fantasy as it was THE game to own. But like many, you got enamored for a stretch, but it was the other games that kept you coming back for more, which in the end makes far more sense than FF7 IS THE SAVIOR types.

I had a SNES and made the switch to Sony as well. For me it was similar, but instead of FF7, it was Legend of Dragoon in the RPG genre that enticed me, and the Twisted Metal and Mega Man X series that kept me on team Sony for that Generation. I also appreciated all of the fighters that the PS1 had. The Capcom Fighter's Edge set was awesome, and I liked the Tekken and Gundam Battle Assault games too.

[RH | 4,902]

14 hours ago, Tanooki said:

So in a way you were the primary target and bullseye for the entire Sony driven campaign back in that year and it worked.  They scooped Square, then used FF7 as a huge coup and ad blitz how Nintendo was out of date and for the kids (despite reality at the time) and that you needed to come over to Sony and CDs, to keep playing Final Fantasy as it was THE game to own. But like many, you got enamored for a stretch, but it was the other games that kept you coming back for more, which in the end makes far more sense than FF7 IS THE SAVIOR types.

It's funny that FF VII wasn't even Square's first PS1 game.  It's Tobal No. 1, and though I own it, I've never played it.  Regardless, I am 100% one of those kids that got a PS1 for Final Fantasy VII.  I'm not ashamed of that.  That game is 100% pure nostalgia for me and to this day, I love the materia system better than any other weapons/armor combo system because of the insane possibilities.

But, of course, owning a PS1 meant buying other games.  It's crazy, I bought a lot of PS1 games.  Maybe around 35-40 of them and to my knowledge not a single one was bad.  There were some I'd call just ok, but they were all good enough to feel worth the purchase.  Well... there was Star Wars Masters of Teras Kasai, but even back then I found it fun.  No it wasn't the best fighting game, but it was sure fun kicking tail as Chewbacca or Darth Vader!

Edited November 25, 2020 by RH

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

12 minutes ago, RH said:

But, of course, owning a PS1 meant buying other games.  It's crazy, I bought a lot of PS1 games. 

I did too.  Because of my age when the console came out, it was the first console I owned where I had the means to buy my own games, and therefore, my collection of PS1 games was considerably larger then the consoles I had before it.  I rented a lot of stuff as well, but I always remember having such a large selection of quality titles to choose from.  

[Webhead123 | 675]

Even though I'm probably not the most qualified, I'll give it an 8/10.

The system was certainly notorious for ushering in the age of shovelware, and it boasted those weird, wobbly polygons, but there is a huge assortment of games on the console that are still incredibly worthy of being played today and, among them, some of the industry's all-time classics.

I never had a Playstation in the 90's, instead opting to stick to my roots as a "Nintendo kid". As such, I don't have a lot of "direct nostalgia" for the console but I do have some "indirect" nostalgia, as I did play a fair bit of it through demo units and friends' systems. Even so, my exposure was fairly limited. The whole "Circle/Square/Cross/Triangle" scheme I found to be incredibly off-putting back in the day (and it still trips me up on occasion).

With the benefit of hindsight (and picking up a used console in the early '00s), I realized what an amazing little system it was. That original boot screen music and logo are still iconic.

Edited November 25, 2020 by Webhead123

[RH | 4,902]

41 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

The whole "Circle/Square/Cross/Triangle" scheme I found to be incredibly off-putting back in the day (and it still trips me up on occasion).

Yeah, I'll admit I still get tripped up too, and that was the worst part of the system.  However... at least they've avoided the madness of every other console having a different A/B button configuration, so I guess that's kinda a win for SONY.

[TDIRunner | 2,731]

For reasons I can't explain, the circle/square/cross/triangle always worked for me.  Before I had a memory card, I had to "save" my progress in Crash Bandicoot with their password system.  I used to type those passwords in without looking down at my controller just like I was typing on a keyboard.  I don't know why, but it just worked.  And it wasn't because of their original design.  I didn't know the symbols represented their actions until many years later.  

[JamesRobot | 5,795]

Playstation buttons make the most sense to me.  I know instantly which button is which symbol.  Nintendo is the worst.  They lost me when they went from Nintendo to Super Nintendo and fucked up the orientation of B and A.  I am constantly hitting the wrong buttons in menu.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

48 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Playstation buttons make the most sense to me.  I know instantly which button is which symbol.  Nintendo is the worst.  They lost me when they went from Nintendo to Super Nintendo and fucked up the orientation of B and A.  I am constantly hitting the wrong buttons in menu.

Except sometimes PS games switch the meaning of O and X (let alone across regions). AND the Japanese configuration makes sense, but now they're forcing the western configuration worldwide  Xbox is the only layout that has stayed consistent and made sense over the years, so even though Nintendo's SNES-style layout is their original layout, I still look at a Switch Pro Controller and think "ew, weird".

[JamesRobot | 5,795]

41 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Except sometimes PS games switch the meaning of O and X (let alone across regions). AND the Japanese configuration makes sense, but now they're forcing the western configuration worldwide  Xbox is the only layout that has stayed consistent and made sense over the years, so even though Nintendo's SNES-style layout is their original layout, I still look at a Switch Pro Controller and think "ew, weird".

I like the ergonomic layout of the XBox controller best.  The joystick is in the right spot but the arbitrary ABXY layout till seems wrong to me.  At least they're colored.  This is how the Super Nintendo face buttons should be laid out; and any subsequent controllers that use the letter theme.

[DefaultGen | 5,401]

50 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

I like the ergonomic layout of the XBox controller best.  The joystick is in the right spot but the arbitrary ABXY layout till seems wrong to me.  At least they're colored.  This is how the Super Nintendo face buttons should be laid out; and any subsequent controllers that use the letter theme.

This layout would perhaps be the only layout that could add more confusion into the button layout marketplace of ideas.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

12 hours ago, Br81zad said:

I had a SNES and made the switch to Sony as well. For me it was similar, but instead of FF7, it was Legend of Dragoon in the RPG genre that enticed me, and the Twisted Metal and Mega Man X series that kept me on team Sony for that Generation. I also appreciated all of the fighters that the PS1 had. The Capcom Fighter's Edge set was awesome, and I liked the Tekken and Gundam Battle Assault games too.

I get that.  I've explained my feelings on marketing negative ads and how it has affected my purchases for decades.  Sonys antics in the mid later 90s put me off them so I just blew off the PS1 up until the PS2 was launched, and it was like a back to back pick up nearly when working at Midway in 2001 when I finally got in on that.  I had also then scored a Saturn too, personally I preferred the Saturn for the stuff you're talking about other than RPGs as Sony nailed it there.

 

 

Uhh James, that right there is blasphemy.  Fix that controller right now, that's an image of nightmares.  B A are in the right place, your hand grips from the four o'clock position so B and A naturally would lay equally spaced apart for your thumb.  As is you can rock the thumb between the two for the primary buttons, otherwise it's a slower(slightly) up down reach for them on your spread.