I credit the PS1 for making me see the error of being a one console fanboy.   In 1998, my sister bought a  PS1, surely urged by her current boyfriend to do so.  After many months of making payments, via layaway, she finally had one, along with D, Resident Evil, Crash Bandicoot, Road Rash and Twisted Metal.  My friend and I just got home from college for the summer and spent many nights in my sister's room, playing Twisted Metal and Road Rash.  Forget RE, who needed those clunky tank controls? D was too short, but those two games were just our style.  We spent hours trying to kill each other in TM.   We spent hours listening to Soundgarden while killing other motorists with chains in RR.  It was gaming bliss.   I wasn't  completely won over by the PS1, the N64 was my one console of choice, but it paved the way for a whole new world of gaming for me.

The game that came closest to winning me over, nearly making me buy the console for myself, was Metal Gear Solid.  I loved the original MG on NES and enjoyed Snake's Revenge to an extent, but I was completely caught by surprise by this PS version.  I never experienced gameplay like this, such variety.  I couldn't just run through and shoot bad guys like in other games.  I had to completely outmart them, outwit them, sneak past them.  Sneaking in a game?  What the hell is that?  I had just finished OoT, it had variety, but not quite like this.  Who could ever forget the battle with Psycho Mantis, easily the craziest, most inventive boss battle in history.  Hands down.

I never bought my own PS1, just borrowed my sister's from time to time, but it started me on this new path.  I never fully embraced it and became a multiconsole owner until the next gen, but this system is where it started.

P.S.  I finally finished Resident Evil with the REmake.

Oh and Vader. Did GME get more comments here or on GS for this blog?

The PSX was actually what really pointed out to me what a fanboy I was, but not necessarily for a console maker. I bought it strictly because I learned that Square had their falling out with Nintendo and was going to become exclusive to Sony. That was the company that I was a fanboy for, and that generation I was pretty nuts for them. I bought all but three games they released for the PSX - Tobal #2, Einhander, and Threads of Fate. Looking back on it, I picked up quite a bit of crap from them that gen... and for the record I'm still bitter over buying SaGa Frontier 2 the game it launched.

The PS1 broke my Sega fanboy mentality. Now I enjoy all consoles.

What's with all the fanboys?

If anything the PSX made me into a Sony fanboy! But not really; I always loved and wanted other consoles too. I just preferred the PSX's library.

robio said:

Plus this was the era that I learned about console dungeon crawlers - Azure Dreams and Torneko: The Last Hope were very much like crack for me at the time.

You should check out Legasista on PSN!

You used to be about the video games!

Iga_Bobovic said:

I do not agree with the premise of this blog.

How can one complain that all games play the same, when one is resposible for buying games that do nothing new?

You want something new? Buy games outside of your comfort zone.

Back in the PS1 days you were more willing to try new stuff, now not so much. And yes sometimes buying a game outside your comfort zone means that sometimes you will not enjoy it. So what?! Deal with it.

Also stop reading previews and reviews of games. The less you know the more you will enjoy the game. I went into Xenoblade pretty blind and enjoyed it much more because of it.

In conclusion, the thing that changed is you, not the industry.

Not really. Back then companies had no templates, every new 3D game was new cause there was nothing like it before it. MGS, RE, Tomb Raider, Mario 64, Zelda OoT, the 3D fighters, all set standards games still follow today. All those games were a part of my favorite genres. Since then we have had some big improvements but not many major changes to those genres. It had nothing to do with me willing to try new stuff, every company was literally doing new stuff.

Hey guys, have I ever told you the story of the time when a transvestite slapped me in the face with a fish?