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We all have beginnings. Somewhere, everyone here at PlayStation LifeStyle started down a path that would truly have them living the PlayStation lifestyle. Our question comes from ahchurro11 in the forums, and they ask:
It’s obvious that everyone has a beginning. What this is about is when you joined the PlayStation Bandwagon, as it were. Whether from a friend, family purchase, or just on a whim, I want to hear it.
Each of our writers gathers together to tell you of the moment when they first hopped aboard with PlayStation and began their journey towards the PlayStation lifestyle.
Alex Co (@excaliburps)
For me, it was the original PlayStation. I still remember the “U R Not Red E” ads from gaming mags back in the day.
I bought Toshinden andRidge Racer at launch, and never looked back. I think the one that hooked me in was Tekken and the original Resident Evil. Back then, RE was a graphical powerhouse — like I couldn’t believe I was playing a game that looked like a movie of sorts.
It continued on with NBA Live/NBA Shootout, Final Fantasy VII and its follow ups, and tons more. No doubt about it, the PS1 might be the turning point for a lot of people when it comes to gaming being accepted by the mainstream. It will always bring back a ton of awesome memories for me personally, and I couldn’t be happier.
Cameron Teague
Mine all started after a robbery at my house cost me my Sega Genesis. When we got the insurance money I decided to buy a PlayStation 1 instead of replacing the lost Genesis. From there I got lost in RPG after RPG, starting my obsession with the Suikoden series and to a lesser extent, the Final Fantasy series.
Chandler Wood (@FinchStrife)
I previously wrote a piece on here a little bit about my gaming origins. I grew up gaming on friends’ SNES consoles and buying whatever games that my PC would run. During the initial years of the original PlayStation, I was extremely into StarCraft and playing that online with some of my friends. About a year after the PS1 released, I had a friend showing off some of the awesome things on it, and I started saving money for it. Nine year old me didn’t realize it, but my mom only made me save about $50 towards it before paying the rest of the way. With that in hand, games like Final Fantasy VII, Crash Bandicoot Warped, 2Xtreme, and the demo disc intro level of Metal Gear Solid shaped my gaming future. I have since bought each PlayStation platform upon release and can truly say that the PlayStation lifestyle has become a way of life for me.
D’yani Wood (@Dyani)
For whatever reason, I grew up with PlayStation consoles in my house. It started with the PS1. I have many memories of Lara Croft and her creepy butler following her around with his clattering tea tray, and of Crash Bandicoot and the tiki guy who’s little chant still sticks in my head. And then, it was days of playing GTA III for hours and hours on end on the PlayStation 2, and renting Sims 2 and discovering my favorite game series ever (and that whole hours on end thing again). After that, my family couldn’t quite justify buying a PS3, but imagine my excitement when I moved in with Chandler to find that he had a PS3 that I could play whenever I wanted, and tons of games! Finally, I had a PlayStation again! It was honestly hard to be without it for so long. Thank god we live the PlayStation lifestyle, because our lives would be boring without it.
Dan Oravasaari (@FoolsJoker)
I grew up with gaming for as long as I can remember. My first system was the Atari 2600 and I knew that this was going to be a big part of my life in one way or another. By the time the PlayStation was releasing I was mesmerized by the disc based formats, but systems like the 3DO were way outside my price range as a kid. So when I eventually learned more about Sony’s upcoming entrance into the gaming scene, I pre-ordered the first PlayStation console. Since then I have picked up every console and handheld on day one. Battle Arena Toshinden and ESPN Extreme Games were awesome, but sadly I never did get to pick up Street Fighter: The Movie. The game looked so awesome to me when I was younger, even though I knew it was supposed to be really bad.
Louis Edwards (@ftwrthtx)
I was an arcade gamer back in the 70’s and 80’s and being able to play games at home sounded fun. Started with the Atari 2600 and I moved up the line as new consoles released. The SNES and N64 were actually my two favorite until I got a PS2. PS1 and Sega games didn’t interest me back then, and I didn’t have near as much free time. Once I got hurt in a car accident, we brought a PS2 for a DVD player for movies and we picked up a couple games at the same time. The N64 started collecting dust and the PS2 became the only gaming in the house, except for the PC. Once the PS3 launched, even the PC quit being used for games.
Paulmichael Contreras
I actually grew up on the Sega Genesis, playing Sonic whenever it rained or I finished playing outside. My older neighbor across the street got this new console called the PlayStation, and he showed it off to me with pride. When he told me that it read games stored on discs rather than cartridges and I learned that resulted in increased load times, the impatient 9-year-old me wrote the console off as a failure as a result. A year or so later, my parents were able to surprise me with the original PlayStation, and once I gave it a chance despite the increased load times, I was sold. Games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, Vigilante 8: Second Offense, GTA 2 and Resident Evil looked and played better on the PS1 compared to anything else. This taught me an important life lesson: some things are worth the wait! I would end up owning every PlayStation console that followed.
Zarmena Khan (@Zarmena)
I would have to say that my PlayStation lifestyle didn’t kick in until I purchased a PlayStation Portable although I was gaming on the PlayStation 2 way before then. I was a PC and Nintendo fan until someone in my family got a PS2. We huddled around the TV playing Tony Hawk and GTA: San Andreas for hours on end. However, my decision to relocate to Europe resulted in a hiatus from gaming so my long-term relationship with PlayStation consoles didn’t actually begin until I went out and got myself a beautiful Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Limited Edition PSP bundle. Since then, it’s PlayStation everything for me.
When did your love of the PlayStation platform begin? Let us know in the comments below. Remember to send us questions for Ask PSLS on Twitter, Facebook, the forums, and email. Be sure to check back next Wednesday to see what question the PSLS staff will be answering!
