/vr/ - Retro Games

Cds are cheaper to produce and had much bigger storage compared to carts. Now we could have fmvs, cd audio and full voice acting.

I was 12 at the time, I remember playing the Ridge Racer demo at a circuit city kiosk and just being blown the fuck away. What a huge leap from 16 bit platforms.
That summer I immediately began mowing lawns every day so I could buy myself a ps1. Stacked up about $160 and my dad paid for the rest

>>8746006
It was cheaper than Saturn, ran 3D games better, and N64 was using cartridges still. What did you expect?

Sony covered the costs of copying CDs.
Developers could order Net Yaroze Playstation development kits from the mail, complete with debuggers, make and test games on the fly.
Based Psygnosis basically put Playstation development lightyears ahead of the competition with Psy-Q.
More disc space than a cartridge could ever hope to have.
CD quality music.
And it had the best RAM architecture of the generation, so 30fps was very easy to achieve.
And it got the first actually good home port of an arcade cabinet game as its first ever game (Ridge Racer).
PSXbros can't stop winning.

>>8746006
>people
Absolutely not. PS1 took a little while to get rolling after launch.
>publishers
Sony did a good job supporting smaller developers by making development kits easy to get with full documentation about how to utilize the system's capabilities. The PS1 dev kits were fully assembled products you could just order compared to the things 3rd party developers had to cobble together themselves sometimes in the past.

>>8746006
If you were old enough to remember the PS2 launch, the PS1 wasn't any different. It obviously took some time to build the fanbase it ended up having, but in essence both consoles had the same edgy allure to them that was the opposite of what Nintendo was offering, and perfectly in line with the cultural direction of the late 90s/early 00s. Really, they used the same strategy Sega used back with the Genesis, but because they had an easy hardware to program for and a heavy 3rd party-oriented model (none of which Sega did), they really had all the good developers on their side.

Ironically enough, part of the PS3's failure early on was doing the opposite, it was trying to ride on prestige rather to adapt properly to the culture of the time, which Microsoft did excellently, and had incredibly obstuse hardware to write for, consequently it "had no games".

>>8746047
That ps3 has no games meme is such bullshit. In the end PS3 has more exclusives, especially with japanese developed games, than the 360 and every big game was multiplatform across the both of them.

Also most developers were getting tired of Nintendo's faggotry and embraced a change.

>>8746006
>what was the hype for the PS1 like?
From an American perspective the hype was big but also incredulous. There were only two console companies in the world, Nintendo and Sega. Every attempt by a 3rd party to muscle their way into the console market had ended in miserable failure. Sony was a big name but this was uncharted territory for them and there was no guarantee the Playstation wouldn't end up like the 3DO and Atari Jaguar. Nothing was certain. It was an exciting time to be alive.
>How would you rate the launch lineup?
3/10. Pretty fucking bad. The 1996 lineup really saved its ass.

>>8746047
>Hi guise I'm a zoomer born after the year 2000 but here's what I learned about video game history after glossing over a 5 minute youtube video while simultaneously playing Candy Crush on my iPhone
Leave.

>>8746006
As a Saturn fan I can tell you what it was like from the other side. It felt like every month a port or simultaneous release was cancelled on the Saturn or a game was moved to PlayStation exclusive. It happened with Tomb Raider 2, Resident Evil 2 and I think eventually even the EA sports games and the like.
PlayStation definitely had such a huge volume of games streaming in for it compared to Saturn and even N64.

>>8746047
>If you were old enough to remember the PS2 launch, the PS1 wasn't any different
I don't remember anyone talking about its reveal like the PS2. It was radically different between the two consoles.
>>8746106
It stuck because the early years of the PS3 was an utter drought of exclusive games.

>>8746106
Honestly, I hate anything with an Xbox logo on it, but the PS3's only saving grace in terms of exclusives right now are the PS2 remasters and the classics, which is what I'm using mine for. Everything else that remains exclusive ranges from forgettable to okay. The early HD era really was a mess that the PS3 also managed to run terribly.

>>8746006
devs did for reasons others have already stated. for millennial console kiddies too young for the arcade heydey like myself the leap to 3d that gen was pretty yuge. i for one was coming off both snes and genny but the price and lack of games ruled out getting a saturn. eventually went with psx in '97 then got n64 as well in '98. the general consensus for me and my friends was that psx was better for solo play whereas the n64 was better for groups

>>8746006
pretty much how i remember it. we were all pretty stoked on N64 so when crash and all those WAY better looking games started coming out, our ears perked up. then literally every 3rd party started pumping games out

that said i didnt get it on release
in fact i was unironically a bleemfag and emulating it since i had a pretty decent PC at the time. ended up getting one after they put out the psone model so that me and my friends could play THPS2 and coolboarders 2 together

>>8746047
Maybe in the USA, but Europe their ADS campaign was different.

>>8746378
Don't bother talking to him, Anon. He claimed the PS2 launch wasn't any different from the PS1 launch which means he wasn't alive in 1995 or 2000. He's just a retarded zoomer poorly trying to roleplay a boomer.

>>8746138
>3/10. Pretty fucking bad. The 1996 lineup really saved its ass.

- Battle Arena Toshinden (basically a tech demo fighting game. Looked really impressive, though. )
- ESPN Extreme Games - It's a Road Rash "Extreme Sports" game. It was fun upon release.
- Kileak: The DNA Imperative - Early FPS(?) Never Played it,
- NBA JAM Tournament Edition - Rock Solid arcade port.
- Power Serve 3D Tennis - Never got into this one.
- The Raiden Project
- Rayman - This is one of the first games that I ever played for the console. This and Wipeout. I was impressed by the visuals are 32bit 2D graphics.
- Ridge Racer - very good arcade port for the time.
- Air Combat - Another good launch line-up game from Namco.
- Street Fighter: The Movie - They reworked these to play more like SSF2T, or something?
- Total Eclipse Turbo - Never played this version. Played Total Eclipse on the Saturn, instead. It was good enough for a rental.

Not long after launch there were games like Mortal Kombat 3, Wipeout (this one impressed me) , Destruction Derby , Doom, Twisted Metal, and others. The system had a lot of car combat and racing. But overall, it had a good launch line up for the US.

$400 piece of shit that can play old arcade games like Raiden.
Holy shit, an overpriced Super Nintendo that uses CDs.
Wonder how long it will take for this thing to die off.

>>8746567

To be honest, the Sega Saturn did launch months earlier in May 1995, and it had a pretty good launch line-up too:
- Daytona USA
- Virtua Fighter
- Panzer Dragoon
- Worldwide Soccer: Sega International Victory Goal Edition
- Pebble Beach Golf Links
- Clockwork Knight

say what you want about the sports games like Golf and Soccer, but they were good to have to help diversify the software. Daytona wasn't the greatest of ports. I had it fort he Saturn. I never thought it looked good. But it played well enough. Virtua Fighter 1 was a good port too, if a little buggy. Sony used Battle Arena Toshienden to show how much better the PS1 hardware looked up against VF1. The first year of the Saturn wasn't too bad and has a lot of similar titles found on the PS1. But with hardware shortages at launch thanks to an early release, and some retailers boycotting Sega, they did struggle with distribution. By 1996 Sega was hurting pretty bad in the NA console market with the Saturn. Nintendo also released the N64 in NA.

>>8746598
>Virtua Fighter 1 was a good port too, if a little buggy.
People were so down on the Saturn version of VF1 that Sega rushed an updated version to market and sent it out to people for free (in the USA, at least). I'm not trying to talk shit about the Saturn, but VF1 is a pretty bad example of a good launch game by most people's standards.

Me and everyone else I knew bought one pretty early on, so there's that in terms of flocking. The writing was on the wall early on that this was going to be the next console. Nobody wanted a Saturn. I was pretty dismayed by how shitty the library was for the first year, but I didn't hear anyone else complaining. When we started getting RPGs like Wild Arms and Suikoden I was a lot happier. I don't know how much "hype" there was, but I've honestly never been hyped for a console, even as a kid, so I might have missed it.

>>8746629
>People were so down on the Saturn version of VF1 that Sega rushed an updated version to market and sent it out to people for free (in the USA, at least). I'm not trying to talk shit about the Saturn, but VF1 is a pretty bad example of a good launch game by most people's standards.

It was a good port in the sense that it played like VF1 and didn't feel off from the arcade game. But the game had visual flickering and polygonal areas that would draw in. Virtua Fighter Remix was made by AM3, who apparently made the game using the same tools that was used to develop VF2 for the Saturn.

Some people don't like the textured look of Remix. But at the time, it was a response to the release of Tekken 1 on the PS1. I think it's a good version. Though oddly, I still think one of the best home ports of VF1 was on the 32x.
https://youtu.be/3pwPDdf_2F8?t=35

>>8746567
Anon, that lineup is fucking weak. Ridge Racer was basically the only glimmer of hope Sony might do the unthinkable and compete with Sega and Nintendo. It wasn't really certain the Playstation would survive until Twisted Metal II, Tomb Raider, Crash, and Resident Evil launched it into orbit.

>>8746006
Psx launch wasn't bad. Let's consider ps2 launch was with bouncer and ssx and that's really it. At least psx had crash

>>8746629
Vf1 isn't a bad launch it ran at 60fps on saturn

>>8746598
Let's talk about saturn having the worst launch because they lied about Saturn's release date

Dutch perspective here, I remember people buying a PS1 without any prior interest in gaming. My dad got one, my neighbor got it because of my dad, even further down the street my friend's single mom got one.
Many games released on it were people's first, like the first Final Fantasy, and when people talk about the Wii drawing in unlikely crowds, I actually saw and felt that with the PS1 a hell of a lot more.

>>8747034
>Vf1 isn't a bad launch it ran at 60fps on saturn

The game only runs at 30fps. The original Model 1 arcade game only ran at 30fps. Every port is tied at 30fps. Mostly because changing the framerate to 60 would mess with the timing of the game. Virtua Fighter 2 Runs at 60fps on Model 2 and the Saturn port. Most of the Saturn 3D fighting games that came out after VF2 were 60.

>>8746006
I remember reading a newspaper saying the ps1 and saturn were the new super consoles. At the time there was still no expectation a new console would come out every 6 years. 2 years before the ps1 and saturn people were thinking that if there were new consoles it would have graphics like virtua racing and virtua fighter. Most people had seen stuff like doom or lots of fake 3d games and pc polygon games were around 10 - 20 fps with sometimes no textures. Then one day you see ps1 3d graphics full of textures running at 30 fps, everyone was caught by surprise including a lot developers I think.
I think a lot of people were even unsure if sony would make a ps2 until graphics cards started getting good.

>>8747082
>2 years before the ps1 and saturn people were thinking that if there were new consoles it would have graphics like virtua racing and virtua fighter.

The Panasonic 3DO was available in 1993, the Atari Jaguar was also 1993. The Sega 32X was released in 1994. The best looking arcade games in 1993-1994 was Daytona USA and every other Model 2 game. To be honest, most people were expecting more than just flat shaded polygons, given that the 3DO could also ready do textured polygons. The expectations for Sega's 32bit console was to have a machine that could outperform the 3DO and deliver something that might come close to a Model 2 arcade game. The Saturn, more or less was that. Namco also had their system 22 board with Ridge Racer. It's hard to gauge the PS1 hype before it launched. Because Sony was the new comer, it was downplayed a bit by some magazines. But I know others, like Die Hard Game Fan in OP was pretty big on PS1 coverage because they were all over the Japanese releases in late 1994-1995, and were impressed with the software and visual performance of the PS1.
https://archive.org/details/GamefanVolume3Issue09September1995/mode/2up?q=Namco+Air+Combat

>>8747287
>https://archive.org/details/GamefanVolume3Issue09September1995/mode/2up?q=Namco+Air+Combat

Had to post the top 10/ most wanted from this issue. Dave Perry guest top 10.

>>8747296
>https://archive.org/details/GamefanVolume3Issue09September1995/mode/2up?q=Namco+Air+Combat


Review scores from Gamefan, and they didn't actually review every launch game in this issue. I think they had some the next issue as well. GameFan is one of those magazines that goes by the 7-10 scoring system, basically. As soon as they rank games in the 60's, it's gets into 'sux shit' territory. Overall, they were not giving PS1 launch games the highest scores. Ridge Racer got good grades, and Rayman was ranked really high. They also graded the Jaguar Rayman too. Though Shibobi X for the Saturn got their game of the month.

>>8747334

This issue has this awesome Ace Combat review for the Sega Genesis.

>>8747347

Also, this issue has the Final Fantasy VII Nick Rox speculation for the Ultra 64. Which turned out to be some demo Square made for Siggraph '95. But who knows? Maybe it was some early U64 demo?

>>8746006
>Anyone who was old enough to be there, what was the hype for the PS1 like?
I started college in 1995. There were three common systems that people had in the dorms: NES, Genesis, and Playstation. The next year when the N64 came out, I knew one person who got it (because he had literally every console, including weird ones like the Intellivision and 5200, and he had a collection of old computers like the TRS-80, C64, Apple II, etc), but nobody was much interested in it. Besides that one guy with every console, nobody had a Saturn.
It was the same for my friends back home (none of my friends from high school went to college besides me). Everyone had a Playstation.
My point is basically that college-aged kids totally bought into the Playstation.
> How would you rate the launch lineup?
Of the launch games, the only ones I remember playing at the time were Toshinden and Ridge Racer. Both solid games.
I remember playing other games shortly after launch, though: Jumping Flash, Gex, Twisted Metal, Tekken, and Wipeout.
I'd say of the games that came out within a few months of launch, Ridge Racer, Tekken, and Wipeout were the games we were playing 90% of the time.
I really don't remember being blown away by the technical capabilities of the Playstation. My friends and I all had computers with CD drives and GUSes that we played Doom and Quake on, and we were into the demoscene. The Playstation was just the logical next step for consoles. I did think it was cool that the Playstation had a RISC processor. At the time, everyone though RISC was the future.

>>8746018
Based Dad

>>8746006
A little game that could called Kileak paved the way for console shooters and made its legacy into infinitum. Everything from Doom to BLOPS draws inspiration from Kileak. In fact the console would have failed financially without Kileak's help

Cool

>>8746006
I'm trying to remember anon, but I think that whole generation of consoles started taking off end of 1996, beginning of 1997. Up till then the games they had were more of tech demos, or arcades, everyone was still playing snes/genesis.

It was 1997 with RE, Tomb Raider, Tekken 3, Grant Turismo, Crash, MGS,FF7 that really everyone started buying PS1s

>>8746106
PS3 does have games, but like >>8746214 said, early on there really wasn't shit. Same thing happened with the PS4 (people would constantly talk about how it had Bloodborne and nothing else) and now I see the same thing happening with the PS5, and what very few games the PS5 does have are almost all also on PS4. The other thing with the PS3 is that it's from what I personally would consider the weakest console generation since before gen 3. The video game industry lost a lot of its overall creativity and charm around that time. There are way more unique and fun games on PS4, and probably triple that amount on PS2.

>>8747878
And mod chips, everyone bought a ps1 because they could mod it and play free games.

I remember that you could trade in older consoles for it. We got offered one if we swapped our SNES, Mega Drive and games for both. My brother really wanted to do this and I didn't. I wanted to keep what we had. I swapped because I could see how much he wanted it.

>>8746106
"PS3 has no games" lost its meaning over time.
It was originally about the fact that after the fateful E3 games were being delayed to become multi-plats. PS3 was "losing" games. But neo-/v/ can't make new memes, they can only co-opt old ones reddit style so it got changed to mean that /v/ doesn't like any of the games that the PS3 has because PC/360 is better or some shit.

>>8746006
People were excited and curious for the ps1 but there wasn't as much "hype" as you think. It was sony's first time ever making a console nobody knew what to expect

>>8746006
Fun for awhile until the PC beat it and everyone switched to PC during that era but 3d was just being developed and PC was the first to get it halfway decent and fun

>>8747878
Tekken 3, Gran Turismo, and MGS were '98.

>>8747891
>everyone bought a ps1 because they could mod it and play free games.
>everyone
Hell no. I'd estimate less than 1% of Playstations were ever modchipped. Pirating PS1 games wasn't very feasible until CD burners and broadband internet became commonplace and by then the PS2 was already out. If you were downloading and burning ISOs in 1997 you were amazingly fucking lucky.

>>8748224
You're talking to third worlders who only got a Playstation in like 1999.

>>8746006
The launch lineup was pretty mediocre but the hardware showed promise and the N64’s delay gave Sony a full year’s head start to build a decent library by fall 1996.

>>8748302
This. Any time you see a post saying something like “everyone had one and pirated all the games” you just know you’re talking to a Brazilian or some other unsavory third world type.

>>8748139
>and everyone switched to PC during that era

lol no

>>8746006
It was massive here in the UK. They hype was fucking huge. I've always found it weird that everyone on the internet talks about the N64 as their big jump to 3D and the game changer in terms of gaming. For most of us that was seeing Battle Arena Toshinden, Tekken, Wipeout, Ridge Racer etc.
Also helped that Sony went all in on marketing to a more mature audience. Wipeout appearing in nightclubs, Lara Croft appearing on lads mags and all that.
It really felt like a new era.

>>8746036
I thought the Net Yaroze came much later, like 1998 or something and was a purely commercial device. Was it the actual dev kit that Sony just decided to start selling to the public?

>>8748527
Net Yaroze was out by mid 1996 in Japan and 1997 everywhere else.

>>8746018
>Mowing Lawns
yeah, you grew up in the 20th century for sure.

>>8748520
I’m American but yeah, it seems like Sony really went all-in on marketing to Europe which is a territory that was notoriously given short shrift by Nintendo.

>>8748520
Don't forget that Wipeout's design was by The Designers Republic who were heavily involved with Warp Records.

>>8748540
Do zoomers not have lawns to mow?

>>8746018
The Playstation was $299 at launch.
You earned $160 mowing lawns.
Adjusting for inflation, you made about $306.31 mowing lawns.
Your father paid for the other $130, about $248.87 worth of it in todays money.

What does all this mean?
The dollar was fucking awesome back in 1994. What was your first game with it, or was it Ridge Racer?

>>8748527
Yes, the Net Yaroze was a widely available amateur devkit meant for hobbyists, launched in Japan in 96 and internationally in 97. I wonder if anyone who's got one still has looked into emulating its capabilities or just hooking the hardware into Win10 or Linux for modern homebrewing.
Its important to note that the Net Yaroze was not the same thing as the official industry-grade Playstation development kit, though.

>>8748534
Christ, remember it later than that for some reason. They should've called it the Sony Speccy to kick off another bedroom coder revolution.
>>8748556
>Its important to note that the Net Yaroze was not the same thing as the official industry-grade Playstation development kit, though.
Ahh, that's what I was asking.

>>8746006
late 1997 and late 1998 were peak psx, after that in 1999 it became a huge monster marketing but still good

>>8748556
I have a complete Yaroze set, never did anything with it really. It was widely available at the time as in, people could call Sony and order one. But correct me if I'm wrong, you'd need some sort of proof that you knew how to code or were seriously into programming to get one. In any case, I'm sure there's less then 5k units in the world as of today.

>>8748561
Apparently the UK Playstation magazine would send out demo disc compilations with Net Yaroze homebrew, so there was a small Speccy-esque community. But I don't know of many games legitimately developed on Yaroze and sent to full release.

>>8748767
yeah, I tried a few that way. They were always extremely basic from what I played. I remember one that was like Micro Machines that was really good, it had excellent physics.
Funnily enough I think Dreams is the modern (and much more newbie friendly) version of Yaroze. It's a legimitaely impressive creation kit It's music creation side alone is as in-depth as acutal paid programs. Not retro though.

>>8746006
That time period is a blur to me. I believe I got it during the N64's release because the N64 was sold out. I mostly played JRPGs on the PS1 but I don't remember the first couple of games I played on it. I'm pretty sure I played all 3 PS1 MMX games since I loved MMX1 so much too.

>>8748831
I was originally going to wait for the N64 but Resident Evil was what sold me on the PlayStation instead.

>>8746015
Thanks for your expert insight.

>>8747359
Please…I just want my PSN account back…I’m in so much pain…

>>8748753
>But correct me if I'm wrong, you'd need some sort of proof that you knew how to code or were seriously into programming to get one.
This was the official stance but I've heard in reality it was never enforced.
> I'm sure there's less then 5k units in the world as of today.
Source on that? Sounds kind of low.

>>8748980
I don't remember the source, I think it was an Eurogamer article about it mentioning it sold a bit over a thousand units in Europe. The actual amount of units sold to people was very low, the vast majority of Yarozes went to schools and universities, in Japan as well. And as far as I know, there were no unsold units lying around, Sony was pushing all the stock they had into education.

>>8748882
>>>8747359 (You)
>Please…I just want my PSN account back…I’m in so much pain…

Oh man. Suck for him. Didn't he generally say that Street Fighter Alpha was better on the PS1 than the Saturn, because of the blue shadows? he gave the PS1 game a higher score than the Saturn game, and griped that the Saturn game had these blue tinted shadows? (or vice versa?)

>>8748882
>>>8747359 (You)
>Please…I just want my PSN account back…I’m in so much pain…


Oh man. Sucks for him. Didn't he generally say that Street Fighter Alpha was better on the PS1 than the Saturn, because of the blue shadows? he gave the PS1 game a higher score than the Saturn game, and griped that the Saturn game had these blue tinted shadows? (or vice versa?)

>>8746006
I remember playing Demo one and being blown away by the Manta and T-Rex tech demos.

I mean it didn't have Mario or Sonic, but the lineup was pretty solid. Not much hype because it was neither Sega or Nintendo.

It took a while to really get off the ground but when it did it left everything else in the dust.
Also monthly demos by the official PS magazine here in Germany helped as well. I still have a tons of demo disks laying around.

>>8746006
Everybody wanted Toshinden at launch.

>>8748139
>Everybody switched to pc
>Pc was the first to get it halfway decent and fun
Lololololol

>>8748545
Illegal aliens do the lawn mowing in the US.

"(e)NOS Lives"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OjBIhFOtgY

>>8748224
I remember my cousin doing the switch disc trick back in 1998, and then telling me he modded it, while I was still playing Quake and Duke3D on PC. Had a cd-burner by late 1995, they weren't downloading ISOs, just took the originals and burned them. If they worked they worked.Made a decent amount of money out of it.

>>8749725
>having a CD burner in the year of our lord 1995
Holy fuck your cousin was loaded

>>8749756
His parents were college professors , teaching computer engineering, so the university had given them funds to burn on equipment, They always had the latest pentium that costed a bunch.

Both the PS and Saturn were mostly ignored here at launch due to severe console fatigue.
Several years of 3DO,CDI, Jaguar, and the 32x just made people not care very much. The Saturn had the more hype at launch because virtuafighter was actually a popular arcade game and it was the first home console to feel like an arcade experience since the late 90s.

PlayStation felt more like another 3DO, and people waited for a game library to grow before they committed to it. In 1994/1995 PC gaming had grown to be more of a contender to modem consoles so the PS at launch didn’t really wow anyone.

>>8746047
>but in essence both consoles had the same edgy allure to them that was the opposite of what Nintendo was offering, and perfectly in line with the cultural direction of the late 90s/early 00
God I hated the "muh kiddy" shit so much. Something that lasted and plagued Nintendo somehow until the Wii U and a bit into the Switch
>>8746106
IIRC there really was jackshit at launch and if I'm not mistaken, the launch of the thing was really not hot compared to the Wii and such
Sony has always hinged on superb 3rd party offering and they actually delivered despite the red flags somehow. I recall some interviews with some devs that said something along the line that they knew that the PS3 would eventually get out of that slump
As a Nintentoddler that kinda pissed me off because devs were caught with their pants down on the DS, Wii, 3DS, Switch, and didn't even lift a finger for the Wii U. However Sony's attitude really fucked them over for the Vita and it looks like tables are turning with the Switch

>>8748350
>>8748302
>1999
maybe 2009, you retarded niggers think they could afford a psx in 1999, fucking retards hahaha

>>8751112
>you retarded niggers think they could afford a psx in 1999, fucking retards hahaha

How much were PS1's in 1999? $150.00? The PSOne was released at a $99.99 price tag, was it not?

I wonder how things would have been different had Nintendo not fucked up the partnership with Sony on the original Playstation

>>8748224
>>8748350
>>8748302
>>8751112
Cry me a river, Europe won, Europe is PSX clay, Italy and Portugal are the best.

>>8747474
I had never even heard of this game until I found out the devs who made it were the same ones who made Phantom Crash and Steel Lancer Arena International.