Celebrating 15 Years of PlayStation

David Perry, CEO, Gaikai

What were you doing 15 years ago?

Sheesh, it feel like 10 minutes ago. What the heck happened? Where did this grey hair come from? I think we were in the Earthworm Jim/MDK phase. I was super stressed about moving to 3D when we had such a good team of 2D guys (I'm not kidding, Earthworm Jim was drawn with pencils!). Luckily the bet on introducing sniper mode into a game turned out to be a good one and MDK allowed us to smoothly make the transition into the world of 3D.

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation?

I still remember Battle Arena Toshinden, I liked it because I found some move combinations that let me win against nearly everyone. I also remember just staring at Ridge Racer thinking "how the hell are they doing that?" It was just so stunning for its time.

Which titles would you say have been the most influential?

I think that Metal Gear Solid was one of my favourites, they were smart. The games didn't look great by chance, the work they put in was insane. I was sitting once with Kojima and Stan Lee - the creator of Spider-Man - they were signing autographs, and amusingly Stan Lee ran out of people wanting his autograph. Kojima had a long line, people were bringing games and having him sign their belongings etc.

Stan Lee looked over to me and said "Who the heck is this guy?". For me Kojima has always been a pillar of the PlayStation and always kept us excited to see what could be done next.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

It changed everything. Suddenly 3D wasn't just kind of possible (like the Genesis 32X), it was real and in every console. After that dinosaur demo the energy was incredible and Sony jumped in with both feet firing up all marketing cylinders. My hat also goes off to Phil Harrison who got on the road and really made sure everyone paid attention. Great hardware, great support, great games, it's no surprise that even 15 years later you still want to write about it.

Martyn Brown, business development director and co-founder, Team 17

What were you doing 15 years ago?

Fifteen years ago we were readying the original Worms for PlayStation, wondering if our simple looking little 2D game could really wrestle with the likes of FIFA 96 and Tomb Raider.

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation?

On the original PSX, I think stuff like Tekken, Ridge Racer were early highlights, it's odd to remember being so excited about high quality 3D – although obviously looking at the PSX now, it's pretty groggy.

Which titles would you say have been the most influential?

There are many games whose purpose really flew with the advent of the PSX and the mass market it delivered, I'd say the EA Sports series, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear series, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider were all very influential in terms of driving quality and production value.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

The legacy of the PSX for me was a real step-up in terms of the production of games, the complexity of environments, licensing of music, celebrities – it was as if the industry moved on a gear. Some may suggest that this has little to do with the quality of games itself, but certainly the PlayStation became a household name, a huge brand – and that made the world take notice of the industry in return.

Martin de Ronde, chief creative officer, Vanguard Entertainment

What were you doing 15 years ago?

Working my butt off in all kinds of sh***y jobs to get the money to get one of the first import machines from Japan, for the ludicrous amount of what would now be €1000 (for a games system!)

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation?

Ridge Racer, the launch title, so close to the coin-op (which was very important to me back then) and a great game in itself. I still like to believe 48.53 seconds in the black Diablo is the world's fastest laptime on the original Ridge Racer.

Which titles would you say have been the most influential and why?

Wipeout, for almost single handedly turning gaming's niche and nerdy image into the complete opposite of that, thanks to a great concept, new style visuals, a superb selection of music and great controls all coming together at exactly the right moment in time.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

Several great franchises, more mature gaming content, disc-based storage of videogames (for 15 years now) and a controller with 'handles'. And a great new publisher (SCEE) which has brought the games industry many great new franchises.