Episode 71 - The Sony PlayStation in 1995. The PlayStation launched in September of 1995 with a handful of games that for the most part weren't exactly head-turners, but over the course of what remained of that calendar year the system's library had already seen the addition of titles that would help propel the PlayStation to the top step of the podium among its generation of consoles. These included games like Air Combat, Tekken, Wipeout, Destruction Derby, Twisted Metal, and Road Rash, so that while at launch the PlayStation might only have been attractive to hardcore gamers willing to take a risk on a company not normally known for gaming, it quickly became a very viable alternative to the Sega Saturn.
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*Show Notes*
- This video is dedicated to my very good friend, Fabian. My memories of the PlayStation are closely tied to my memories of hanging out with him, and in fact it was hanging out with him in my basement playing old PlayStation games that got me back on track working on this video.
- I started working on this video in-earnest in March of 2020, but had actually begun writing it and collecting the materials needed all the way back in 2016. The video was originally intended to be the next "big" release after the Sega Genesis and Sega Master System launch videos. Obviously I got side-tracked doing other things.
- All PlayStation footage was recorded using actual hardware, upscaled through a RetroTink 5X Pro using HDRetrovision cables. Footage from 8 and 16-bit games, as well as home computers and arcade cores, was captured using a MiSTer FPGA console.
- At an hour and 25 minutes, this is the longest video on the main channel, including the unscripted magazine read-throughs, surpassing the Dreamcast launch video by 15 minutes. In the future, I may start breaking videos like this up into smaller parts.
- Even though it was already included in the PlayStation launch video, I once again featured the PlayStation's bootup sequence here, because it was one of the most popular things about the launch video, and also because I too love that sound.
- I had to upload this video three times. After the first upload, official CGQ QA/QC officer Mike McFly found a small error in the script, so I had to edit the video and upload it again. Then for some reason on the second upload I got a copyright claim from whoever owns the rights to the Mortal Kombat music, so I had to replace that music with some similar-sounding royalty-free music, and upload the video a third time. For that reason, it was actually released a day later than originally planned. I'm curious to see if anyone notices the music change, as I think I found something that sounds like it could have come straight out of a MK game.
- Speaking of royalty-free music, the soundtrack for the 3DO and PSX release of Road Rash is famous for its soundtrack, as I discuss in this video. Those songs play during the time spent in the menu system, as well as during all of the cutscenes. Obviously I can't have Soundgarden music playing in the background of the video or again I'll get a copyright claim, so all of that music was replaced with royalty-free music that I thought sounded close enough to 90s grunge. I'm curious to see how many people notice this one, too.
Also be sure to check out my other channel, where I do live streams, nostalgic musings about childhood in the 80's, and even the occasional collection video. https://www.youtube.com/cgqplus
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