Graham's PS1 Memories | Push Square

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PlayStation has been such a major component in my life for decades. When I was a kid, I learned pretty early that I was into video games. Back then, I mostly played on PC, and it was never anything too crazy, just Star Wars games here and there.

Then I had a sleepover with a few of my friends, and the friend who was hosting happened to have not only a PS1 but Medal Of Honor. And that was all it took. After that night, the following months consisted of me relentlessly pestering my Mom to get me a PlayStation. While my Mom’s response of “absolutely not” began with some semblance of conviction, my persistence eventually began to work its magic. After the first month, things had already changed to a “we’ll see”. Things were looking up.

Not much longer after that, my Mom would finally relent and take me to GameStop. I would get a used PS1 – one of the originals, including the original iteration of the controller minus the thumbsticks – as well as my very own copy of Medal of Honor, something I still have in my possession to this very day.

That would serve as my entry-point into console gaming – something that I do prefer to PC gaming, and thanks to this PS1, always have – but it was by no means the end. The acquisition of this console would lead to me paying attention to games in general on a much larger scale. Prior to that, almost all of the games I had played were Star Wars titles, so getting this console definitely broadened my horizons.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy would follow soon after, as would Medal of Honor: Underground. Since I was relatively late to the party – sure, it launched in 1995, but I got mine in 1999 – I had a massive backlog of games to choose from, not to mention newly releasing titles on top of that. Eventually, I would pick up the original Crash Bandicoot trilogy, Spyro, Gran Turismo, the list goes on. I would end up with a number of the classics, all the while discovering that there were so many different genres and that I liked – well, pretty much