Critical Gamer's Matt M writes: Sony took the industry by storm with their maiden console. The PlayStation routed its more established competition – Nintendo’s N64 and the Sega Saturn – to become the unquestioned king of the home console. The fledgling machine would shift north of 100 million units worldwide and became a byword for home console gaming, featuring a number of high profile exclusives from Final Fantasy to Gran Turismo.
The PlayStation was so good that I, a devout SEGA gamer, decided to sell my Saturn and games just so I could join the swelling ranks of PlayStation owners. As much as I’d love to still have my original Saturn and games, I can’t say I regret selling it. I quickly came to appreciate the benefits of the PS, and my console of choice has remained PlayStation brand ever since.
With the astounding success of the PS1, expectations were sky-high for Sony’s encore. The PS2 was first announced in March 1999, at a time when the PS1 was still going strong; a year that saw the arrival of Silent Hill, Final Fantasy VIII and Medal of Honour in the west. Talk of the Emotion Engine, the powerful CPU which would power next generation graphics, would both impress and confuse. Tech demos, including a much discussed recreation of the famous FFVIII dance scene, looked suitably impressive but did little to shed light on how games would run on the new console.
For Southeast Asia, new price changes.
Prices effective starting May 1st, 2026.
Replies(1)Looks like PlayStation took a hit with Marathon and is now quietly adjusting prices worldwide to recover the losses
Lets be honest raising prices doesn't do that when no one's buying it. I imagine the profit it greater selling 10 times more at a lower price
LMFAO Your comment alone says a lot more about you than anything else. When has one game not selling 10 million copies made a company raise the prices of their console? Then Xbox would be costing $5000 by now lol. You remind of the crazy drug addicts on the street rambling on about conspiracies. xD You sure you don't need a hug, buddy?
One game that Sony payed $200 million for. lol
Also, you sure were quick to get triggered. Maybe your the one who needs a hug?
If nothing else, we should be united against the real issue here. AI and unnecessary tariffs that are effecting all gamers.
The price increases are due to the RAM demand associated with AI and the US-Iran war. You can look to any business news website and local news to see that. Heck, even the 2026 Asus Zenbook Duo I've been eyeing has faced delays and has had a price increase of $400; that laptop has two specs. Asus is doing a staggered release with per-orders for the lower spec now and shipping in May and pre-orders for the higher spec that I'm eyeing starting in June. Basically, all computer manufactures are affected. It'll most likely start affecting smart phones too if it hasn't already. I can't remember the last time any major console maker (Nintendo, Sony, Sega, etc) increased the price of their console mid cycle outside of Microsoft just to make more profit.
War is causing gas prices to rise. Transport of everything requires gas so the prices of those items go up as well. So it does have an impact
The blockage of the Straight of Hormuz due to the US-Iran war has affected raw components used in semi-conductor manufacturing such as bromine, aluminum, and helium. Iran had attacked the liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in Qatar which is a large producer (1/3 globally) of helium which is used in semiconductor etching. So it's the both the war and the RAM crises.
Former Xbox executive Ed Fries comments on the early days of Xbox, the opinion of Japanese game companies, and more.
Replies(2)I dont think that'll ever happen. But i must say back in the day, they were definitely trying because they were more cash rich than their competitors.
I think MS were and still are the richer company. They tried to acquire Sega back in the day (and considered doing so again more recently), they obviously bought exclusivity to Halo which was originally shown as a Mac title. I don’t think as a company MS can claim the moral high ground here. It’s a wilful lack of self awareness.
Of course Sony would try exactly the same if they had the resources, but when the PS2 dominated the industry was in a much healthier place with an abundance of great third parties.
This has been a depressing generation as far as first party decisions are concerned. The fact we are debating business plans rather than which game is better is a sad reflection of the state of things.
There was Nintendo as well, Sony wouldn't have had a monopoly. In fact, the world would be better today if Xbox never existed in the first place. They pretty much brought all bad practices we have today. We might have gotten all of it either way, but not this early. In term of franchises, I don't think there is anything Microsoft released that would actually be missed if it didn't exist. Even Halo the world wouldn't notice if Halo didn't exist.
I think almost everyone will agree that a monopoly is not good for the industry. But that being said, the competition needs to be smart and strategic with their business. Simply buying up publishers and traditional third-party studios just to keep them out of the other companies reach is not a sustainable practice. That goes for all parties so don't think I'm just referring to Xbox.
I'm no business guru by any stretch of the imagination but I firmly believe that the best way to drive consumers to your software and hardware is to invest smart in your first-party studios. Give them full support and guidance in making unique, fun games that are only available to play in your ecosystem and the gamers will come.
But first party studios aren't enough. They only make up a small portion of the industry. Without 3rd party there would be no industry for Microsoft or sony.Developing games take time and money and sometimes you gotta make moves to stay competitive.
Nah, I never said first-party was enough. I said it’s the ‘best way’ to drive gamers to your platform. 3rd-party is a free-for-all and there’s no guarantee that gamers will use your hardware to play the game. If you want to push your own software and/or hardware you need first-party, or at least exclusive deals with third-party studios.
Then why be so emotional and continue to talk about it. Xbox will never die be ause it stays in so many people's head.
How can you even see him being "emotional" in that comment?
If anything, you're the emotional one, constantly trying to go at anyone that says anything against Microsoft. So when you call him emotional, it comes off as deflection
Replies(2)Sony uploaded gameplay footage of Crimson Desert on a base PS5 running in what appears to be Quality Mode at a stable 30fps at 4K.
I was in school back then and I dreamt about the PS2 all day and night. Then one day my dad picked me up from school and was like, "put your bags in the boot".
I opened the boot and BAM! I saw a brand new PS2 box. It took me a good 5 seconds to register. At the time, the PS2 was extremely new and no one could get a hold of it for ages. Some random kid somehow noticed it in the back of my dad's crappy Mitsubishi (nosey sod) and in the space of a few seconds I hide a crowd gather round (mostly class mates but some randoms too!)
That was really a good moment- although I didn't have a game for ages and kept playing the demo for SSX over and over again.
I remember the day I got the PS2,it was launch day. When I got home I put on the PS2 but there was no disc drive.
Thankfully Sony replace it in 2 days :). So we got it replace and threw on Smugglers Run what a weekend we had everyone I knew came to play Smugglers Run.
Best console evaa
The PS2 was an incredible gaming machine.
So many great games from Metal Gear and Silent Hill to God of War and ICO.
The PS2 is second only to the Super NES as far as console gaming is concerned and even that can be argued by any long time gamer.
Ah I remember when I got my PS2...
I heard about it when it came out in Japan...and decided I couldn't wait for a UK release, so I imported it for £450 (Sold a shit ton of stuff and used some of my university loan!)
Got Ridge Racer and Tekken Tag Tournament. Funny that I had a ton of visitors everyday at my university halls of residence lol