I got my first PlayStation1 back in 2001. It was £20, preowned and I don’t think it came with any games (it’s been 23 years so my memory is hazy in the finer details). However, what I do remember is how cool it was to have one. My history with console ownership was threadbare up until this point. I didn’t get a Game Boy until 1998, and then a Game Boy Color in 2000 (only because I lost the Game Boy—long story for another time). That was it. So this PS1 was my first home console and I could only use it on a black and white TV that we’d inherit from my late great grandma. We’re talking cutting edge graphics on a small TV from the 70s; peak gaming if you ask me.
But that didn’t stop my enjoying the games I eventually got for it. We’re talking FIFA 2000, Syphon Filter, Rainbow Six, Music 2000, even Final Fantasy VIII (which I got soft locked into which, again, is a story for another time). I played them regularly and I loved every minute of it. But the PS1 love kinda fizzled out after that. Because I still wasn’t allowed to plug consoles into the living room TV and PS2’s were too expensive for me at the time, I was stuck with what I had until I got a N64 and eventually a cheap GameCube. But I sold them all in the end as I got bored of them.

And that brings me to the present day. Nintendo has dominated my gaming experience for the last couple of decades and I own too many of their devices in all honesty given how few games I play on them outside of Pokémon. That meant mentally burying my PlayStation era from the early 00s. It’s a bit like that crime subgenre where a character has their memory suppressed and they spend the rest of the film/series trying to recover it via misty flashbacks.
To regain my memory, so to speak, I’ve done a few things. The biggest catalyst for this childhood revival has been Sean Seanson, a video games content creator with a specialism in PS1 content. I’ve written about him a few times and his work is honestly sublime (disclosure: I’m a Patreon subscriber). His long form videos on developer catalogues opened my eyes and mind to so many games I’d never heard of fueled my FOMO. I’ve also bought way too many handheld emulators. I now own a Powkiddy RGB30 and an Anbernic RG35XX Plus and they both have a ton of PS1 games on them. Oh, and I got a mini PC for general emulation. All of this amounts to home AND portable gaming, leaving me no excuse not to enjoy these games and ideally finish them.
This is all to say that I wanted to balance out my gaming experience and expand on my PS1 love. Nintendo and Pokémon have dominated my life for decades and while they will continue to do so, there’s a big gaming world out there with lots of games I’ve yet to enjoy. The good thing about emulating all these PS1 games is the improved graphics, save states, and effectively having games on demand (if you know what I mean). I can craft new experiences how I want them and indulge my inner child who never got the chances I have now. It’s cheaper than therapy, that’s for sure.
1 – I actually played or otherwise owned every PlayStation up to the PS5 (my son has my old PS2, my son’s mum used to have a PS3, and I bought a PS4 a few months ago).