Celebrating 15 Years of PlayStation

James Brooksby, studio head, double six games

What were you doing 15 years ago?

15 years ago I was starting as a junior artist on my first job in the games industry. It was awesome and I could not believe I had made it in considering I trained as an engineer and art was something I had been practicing at home on the Amiga while I was supposed to be at lectures.

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation and why?

It has to be Final Fantasy VII. I loved that game so much and it made me cry at the end of disc one (all those who played it know). Of course there was also Gran Turismo - number two was my favourite as it had my car in it. And who can forget Metal Gear Solid, I loved that game for its clever set pieces and heart busting tension. And finally I was busy importing the first dance mat and guitar games and playing them on it too, so Guitar Freaks was also at the top of my list (although everyone said it would never sell in the West. Hah!).

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

Its hard to say, but for me personally it has to be FFVII as it made me change from someone with quite a hard core and almost solely PC view on the world of gaming (as PC up to then had provided me with all my favourite RPG and strategy games) and changed me to someone who would now forever have a console under the TV.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

The PlayStation legacy lives on through mass recognition of what the brand brings. People still are heard referring to all games consoles as PlayStations (not the hardcore consumer of course), and for many it was their first console as the PlayStation truly went mass market and pushed the gaming world out of the niche it had been up to that point. The family gathered around the PlayStation and played together, having fun together around the family TV like never before, and all of us in the industry now live off of the back of that success

Andrew Eades, co-founder, Relentless Software

What were you doing 15 years ago?

15 years ago I was a programmer at DMA Design with Dave Jones working on a Nintendo 64 game.

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation?

Ridge Racer. We used to play this all the time. It was amazing. Like nothing we'd ever seen on a SNES or Megadrive.

Looking back, which titles would you say have been the most influential and why?

I think Tomb Raider has to be one of the most influential games from that time because it broke the mould with a complex 3D environment and a main character that was completely fresh. It was a long way from Mario and Sonic.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

PlayStation enabled more games to be made as Sony really made an effort to enable third-parties to make games for their machine. It was much more of a closed shop before PlayStation with Nintendo and Sega calling all the shots.

Andrew Oliver, chief technical officer, Blitz Games

What were you doing 15 years ago?

PlayStation had just started using 3D graphics and so we were writing a new 3D graphics engine and creating a toolset/pipeline for creating 3D environments exported from 3DS Max. The work we were doing then was an early forerunner to our licensable middleware, BlitzTech.

What were your favourite games on the original PlayStation?

The PlayStation had so many classic games it's hard to pick. Tomb Raider was obviously a massive success; it had 3D worlds, Indiana Jones style adventure and Lara Croft - a killer combo. I also enjoyed the fact that it was written just up the road by guys I knew and really put British talent on the map. I'd also choose Wipeout, it was a good spectacle, fast and fluid with a pumping sound track. Finally, I'd pick Gran Turismo, as it was a fantastic showcase for what could be achieved on the PlayStation.

Looking back, which titles would you say have been the most influential and why?

I think a lot of the PlayStation games were so influential because they started incredibly strong franchises, so FIFA, Madden, Tiger Woods and Need for Speed are good examples. There were also some iconic characters that started with the PlayStation, like with Tomb Raider and Lara Croft, which now has its own series of blockbuster films.

What has been the legacy of the original PlayStation?

3D. Before the PlayStation all games were 2D and Sony gave developers the opportunity to add a whole new dimension. I remember lots of developers complaining that not all games should be 3D, but the PlayStation changed a lot of people's perspectives. The other major legacy of the PlayStation was that it made gaming cool. Before the console's release, if you were a gamer or developer you were automatically labelled a geek, but once the PlayStation was on the scene owning a console became cool and the games developers almost rock stars.