Musi(c.)PSX: I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore (1999)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

 

Pet Shop Boys - I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Anymore (1999)

Y'know, call me crazy, but I would really like to play the game that has this music video as it's shiny FMV intro. I don't know what type of a game it would be, what the concerns of the plot and characters might be, but it would be a lot of fun. Actually, if you really wanted a low selling conceptual winner, how about some sort of fantasy musical adventure game that sends players through the various Pet Shop Boys periods? Starting with the urbana of the eighties, the high concept electronica of 'the Very era', and then everything else that came after. New York City boys and more gender-neutral love songs. Come on. Show some imagination, you boring/young American.

As much as I'd love to hash out a concept for a PSB game, this entry is a none-too-subtle response to the subject bleeding it's way into various recent posts on the blog -- the PS3.

Underwhelming feels like a harsh way to describe the burly black console, but when compared to the successes of it's predecessors, it really is.

One of the biggest issues [RE: AdVantage Point: Final Fantasy VII] has to be the floodgates of once exclusive titles opening to Microsoft and Nintendo. Few titles that bolstered the PSX and PS2 catalogues have remained exclusively in the hands of Sony.
Even iconic PlayStation series like Tekken and Silent Hill have prominent upcoming releases finding homes on the other consoles, making a strong "hardcore" argument for Xbox 360, and strengthening the viability of Wii for those interested in more than passing novelty.

For folks like me, this has effected even the perception of multi-platform games that were once so readily accessed on the Sony systems. It's especially jarring for games like Mirror's Edge, that I so instinctively want to associate through the familiar lens of PlayStation chic. It's a loss of identity that's made it difficult to make snap decisions based upon consistent assumptions, and have any faith in investing in the current generation of console(s). Largely because, no, I don't give a crap about burly grey and/or brown armoured men shooting grey and/or brown things.

Right now, I've mostly been playing around with Genesis and Master System games, so that's about the depth of thought I'm able to make on the subject. As near as I can tell, PlayStation no longer knows what I want and can't give it anymore. Once, it certainly could. The PSX, through intent or not, covered enough bases to make these decisions easy. It was a simple time. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8995052

Musi(c.)PSX: Run On (1998)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Moby - Run On (1998)

The second-single from Moby's stand-out 1998 album, Play, continues the unifying them of sampling folk and gospel, borrowing vocals from the Bill Landford and the Landfordaires recording of God's Gonna Cut You Down to reinvent it as Run On. The relatively simple track picks up the pace, giving the finger wagging religious warning an effective and infectious dance beat reprise in a string of exciting remixes.

This electronic edict of sampling sat well alongside the gaming console that, as described in previous posts, made everything old, new again. It's examples like the expansion of humble platformers into 3D explorational adventure games that's made romanticizing the era so easy, even if Sony can hardly claim exclusive ownership of the refreshing paradigm shift.

I felt compelled to deviate from the intended Saturday Night Slam Masters follow-up [RE: AdVantage Point: WWF Royal Rumble] in light of the crop of titles being promised by vendors at this year's E3.

It strikes me as slightly concerning that, while reconfirming their long history as the #1 choice for morons [No, no. An attachable finger-zapper clearly indicates of a demographic of geniuses...], Nintendo are simultaneously looking like the most interesting vendor at this year's expo.

Microsoft are giving it the ol' college try with Project Natal and a string of cross platform acquisitions (ie; Metal Gear), but then, the glut of familiarity, particularly much shorter sequels in series that seem to blend together, is a big part of my problem.

Several years into the cycle of this generation's consoles, I'm still not particularly disappointed with the fact that I don't yet own one. From the outside looking in, it's been difficult to feel any sense of attachment or interest in any of the available options! I've been around the block long enough to be savvy to the Wii's inevitable syndrome of short-lived novelty and limited catalogue; spent too much time imagining a future where games take full advantage of story and design to have any appreciation for the Xbox 360 and it's many Personal Console shooting games; and still like gaming enough to be dissatisfied with the PS3 and it's small handful of unique titles. E3 2009 has done little to change this.

I don't know what it is that I'm looking for.
While I desperately seek a balance between the simplistic conventions of gaming and a greater sense of creative story-driven direction, I look to titles like Pixeljunk Eden, WipeoutHD, and Little Big Planet as positives of this generation. While I bemoan the vast array of franchise sequels on show at E3; I'm holding out hope that there might yet be a Twisted Metal announcement soon and was excitied to see Force Mode return in Tekken 6. While I still seem to have an affinity for Sony, I could just as easily see myself buying Mirror's Edge and Street Fighter IV for 360, if I had any inclination to put that kind of money down.

As soon as I begin to entertain the horrifying thought that I might actually be in danger of growing up, I look at the variety of games from the past that I continue to play, and wish to play, and realise that it can't be something as simple, internal, and frankly implausible, as a variation of maturity. Could it be that I'm just thinking about it wrong, discounting the above mentioned titles in some misguided attempt to have an opinion?

No. Sorry, babe.
In this relationship breakdown, it's definitely you, not me.

I think what really bothers me is the perception of variety.
Where during the PlayStation cycle I was excited to learn about, and play, a multitude of unpredictable releases doing unpredictable things - this generation has none of that mystery.
With only a handful of exceptions, titles feel incredibly derivative and/or predictable as they extrapolate the present from the past in ways that are distinctly unremarkable and uninventive. Sure, there are diamonds in this rough, and plastic distractions in a variety of shapes and vibration settings, but they're hardly new.

I feel I'm a disconnected gamer, neither hardcore, nor casual.
Where E3 once brought packages of excitement and anticipation, there are only a few glimmers to interrupt the disappointment in what this generation has come to accept. Fortunately, far off in the distance, there might be a prospect for change. Project Natal suggests that much, at least, even if it's a little too vague to start celebrations just yet.

Woe for the days of the PSX, when irrelevance was nary a thought to ponder.
When games felt plentiful and ran free. A time I miss, to be sure.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8992938

Musi(c.)PSX: Open Your Mind '97 (1997)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

USURA - Open Your Mind '97 (1997)

When I renewed efforts to make use of 1up's super-cool free blogging tool, I wasn't sure how long I'd actually last.
As it turns out, almost as if to support the argument contained within some of them, something resembling an on-going discussion has formed over the past few weeks worth of posts, emerging inadvertently from common elements to a particular timeframe. I guess that's what stream of consciousness is all about.

Persistent rantings dedicated to romanticizing the PlayStation eventually led us from experimental dance music, to the Wipeout games, to overlapping influences, to the turn of the century, to the Matrix films and games. The latter subject became eerily topical with Sony's announcement to disconnect the Matrix MMO coming a day after our discussion [AdVantage Point: Matrix Online].

To round out the week I thought I'd take it easy, finishing up with the 1997 rerelease of the '92 dance classic, Open Your Mind. The title of the track comes from the line sampled in the song from the film, Total Recall, which features a handful of comparisons to the Matrix, including it's themes of uncertain realities, simulation, and pill-based escapes (from aforementioned uncertain realities).

In the various doe-eyed rants about the PSX a recurring theme has been the way the console (and generation) was able to reinvigorate imagination within the industry, effectively rendering everything established in gaming as a brand new playing field. The transition from side-scrolling 2D platformers, to 3D action-adventure games, is a prime example of this fundamental rethink.
This kind of referential adaptation by technology has been at the very heart of dance music, embodied quite purely by the practise of remixing. Open Your Mind '97 quite literally took something old, changing very little to modernize it for a re-release.

Next week's E3 will almost certainly attempt to roll out familiar elements repackaged for a rerelease in 2009 and 2010. Among them, the expected announcement of Sony's PSPgo. Also on the way will be more news from Steve Harris, who will also be dusting off the old to make it new with the timely resurrection Electronic Gaming Monthly. So there's the tenuous tie between music and game for the weekend. Super!

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8991759 

Musi(c.)PSX: Clubbed to Death (1996)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Rob Dougan - Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino Variation) (1996/2002)

Despite gaining cult status upon it's initial release in the mid-nineties; the elusive Australian DJ/solo artist, Rob D, first gained widespread recognition for his underground hit, Clubbed to Death, when it was featured in the 1999 breakout picture, The Matrix.

Drawing upon samples from a wide variety of sources, the DJ elevated himself to greater recognition as a solo artist with an eclectic sound that merged classical refrains with looping dance beats.
It wouldn't be until 2002 that an album would officially be released, but his many variations and remixes of his, and other artist's work, provided a wide catalogue of works throughout the nineties. His many self-referential mixes culminated with the fan favourite version of Clubbed to Death, the Kurayamino Variation.

After visiting the subject of the Matrix yesterday [AdVantage Point: Matrix Online], it seemed fitting to blog about a track that managed to gain significance at multiple points throughout the PlayStation lifespan.
The song itself might not have had any significant connection to the console, none that am I'm aware of, but it again captures a reflection of a moment of time. From it's close association with The Matrix, the song takes on even greater significance, providing a soundtrack to a vivid example of the lofty aspirations that took hold of music and cinema in the final years of the twentieth century.

Even without court-settled accusations of plagiarism, The Matrix was a hybrid of influences stemming from comics, animation, cinema, and science-fiction. While it combined the tone poem of these many interests into a single gestalt entity, one could arguably attribute a great deal of it's success in the mainstream to the coinciding relevance of technologies like the Sony PlayStation.

By 1999, the console was well ingrained in the social consciousness. As part of the same movement connecting homes globally via the world wide web (internet); gaming's growing significance as a household appliance helped induct families into logics vital to appreciating the metatext of the basic concept of the Matrix. An expanded library of 3D action-adventure games also surely contributed to preparing unsuspecting audiences to anticipate the types of action sequences that were at the core of celebration of the much loved film.

Like all of these articles, I'm conscious of the need to emphasise that this is no claim of sole responsibility. The PlayStation, for all it's achievements, did not invent the wheel. It's merely my hope to look back fondly upon the influences and features of the era, to observe how this timeline of change ushered in the conventions of the twenty-first century. It is my opinion we have lost much of the creativity that took us to new heights in the race toward the year 2000.

I wonder what lies ahead for this century and how an emerging generation will make up for lost time during this decade. As current consoles become indifferent facts of modern life regardless of any perceived mediocrity, I wonder how gaming will play a role in the future of entertainment. It would be easy to take current information as a forecast for grim times ahead, but I am hopeful that there is still plenty more to come from what is still a relatively young industry. I am hopeful that we can again break from convention. That everything old can be new again.

I am hopeful that someone will run ahead of the pack, and there will yet be more to miss.

Musi(c.)PSX: Superthruster (1999)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Sly & Robbie - Superthruster (1999)

If you've been reading the entire series of these music-derived articles, you could be forgiven for thinking me a deranged lunatic convinced the PlayStation was the centre of the universe. While I'm not sure I appreciate the inference of insanity, I have to wonder if, in this gaming world gone mad, the perspective of a madman isn't the most clear of all.

The focus of most of these blog entries has been on the significance and contribution the PSX made to electronic music, and vice versa. It's fair to say, however, that the PlayStation was a very different thing to very different people.

By 1999, the Sony PlayStation was firmly established as a household name.
This feat, particularly as a global phenomenon, could not have been achieved through the exclusive sensibility of Sony's trendy, Euro, youth driven marketing stratagems. As much as the vivid cool of electronic urbana was able to infuse the clunky grey box with a sexy beeping soul, it was a darwinist math that inevitably demanded broader interests to support the machine.

The PSX had to offer much more than the paninaro of it's time to expand it's reaches across the gaming market. Sega's bungling business meant rising to the role of a console for all Europe was simple, but regardless of it's clunky ineptitude, the tragically unremarkable Nintendo 64 put the Nostalgia in NTSC, and had the confidence of fists stained with the blood of a blue hedgehog.

A congregation of entertainment movements was needed to unite the efforts of the techno-fashionista and common man.

Experimentation created a conversation of common interest between the professional ranks of niche interests, like skateboarding and wrestling. Sony's early line-ups established a strong enough base upon which emerging trends could position themselves to further interact with hardcore and casual fanbases, alike. This commercial discussion re-established gaming a vital tool in cross promotional marketing, encouraging fans to feel increasingly involved with their interests.

CD-based technology meant many of these games could challenge alternative mediums through high quality sound and video. Even before the WWF Smackdown! games introduced exclusivity to wrestling on consoles, FMV challenge promos like those seen on broadcasts made playing Warzone on the PSX a valued unique experience.

Though significant for decades prior, the PSX era coincided with a mainstream boom for anime in Western culture. Now a staple of Saturday mornings, it's hard to imagine a world where the wide-eyed kinetic style of Japanese animation wasn't so prevalent.

1995 gave the world a name to rally behind with the release of Mamoru Oshii's cinematic adaptation of the Masamune Shirow manga, Ghost in the Shell.

This rallying point engendered a renewed sense of familiarity that boosted interest in other iconic titles (like 1991's Akira), and gave way to a phenomenon. While Nintendo were well primed to capitalize (and fund) the trend with titles like the Pokemon franchise; the PlayStation arguably connected Western audiences to Japanese development in ways that mirrored their perception of the "genre" as something exotic and adult, whilst pandering to familiarity. (Unlike the import-heavy favourites of the Dreamcast).

The 1997 PSX-exclusive, Ghost in the Shell, contributed a relevant example despite it's relative obscurity today, and in-game graphical removal from the anime style. Animated sequences closer to the manga in design were enough to pick up the slack, making it a smooth segue from the film deeper into the niche, and a rival to more direct correlation seen on the Sega.

This, of course, is the long way round to introducing today's musical feature.

The Sly & Robbie track quickly became a staple of my listening at the time, which, also coincided with casual interests in anime. Early experiences in gaming, ie; Street Fighter II, helped prepare me for the animation titles that would be popular at the time, and made connecting with softcore Japanese titles on the PSX a fun fad for all. I'd like to think I've never been nearly as ignorant to the culture as that implies, but it's a touchstone for the importance of these congregating interests.

It was a time of intertwining interests and expanding horizons.
A chance to share and communicate through different mediums.
It was a time for shiney skyscrapers and full frontal nudity. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8991086

Musi(c.)PSX: Donkey Rhubarb (1995)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Aphex Twin - Donkey Rhubarb (1995)

Looking back, I'm not sure there's an artist that captures the romance of the PlayStation era quite like Aphex Twin.
His work branches the period definitively with a catalogue of tracks running the gamut of electronic styles. From the mid-nineties happy hardcore bouncing of Donkey Rhubarb, to the characteristic grinding metal sequences and abstract dance showcased in Windowlicker (1999), it's as if Aphex Twin was laying sounds to match the diversity of the PlayStation line-up.

The association isn't entirely coincidental.
The slick techno chic of electronic music was working hand-in-hand with the aesthetic of the Sony PlayStation and the lifestyle ethic the brand was selling. The PSX represented an excitement and urban fashion that made the console a staple of youth culture and built on the goodwill established by early gaming experiences of Gen X and Y. Gaming was elevated as the PSX became a vital piece of social communication, even if only for a few rounds before heading out to opening clubs.

To establish this brand, Sony tapped plenty of the right sources to spread their concept.
The shouting and energy of nineties promotion was rechanneled and tweaked for a modernist approach. Print and television campaigns sold the PSX vibrancy through artistic and abstract imagery, tapping in to an unspoken chic that was attractive, fun, and a little smart.
One such example is the "Mental Wealth" commercial directed by Chris Cunningham, who was also responsible for the now iconic Aphex Twin videos; Come to Daddy, Rubber Johnny, and Window Licker.

The inevitable overlap of the association between two cultures was typified by the future-racer series, Wipeout, which actually did eventually include Aphex Twin on the soundtrack of their 2005 PSP exclusive, Wipeout Pure.
The song, Naks Acid, came from a limited edition 12" shared with LFO, whose track, Flu Shot, was also featured in the game.

Above of all else, Aphex Twin represents similar ideas (and ideals) to the PSX.
His music, within it's space, could appeal to a range of listeners. At times it was harmonious, rebellious, intellectual, mindless, commercial, alternative. It was a level of experimentation that seemed in sync with the shifting sands of the PlayStation catalogue. It was an intriguing time. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8990907

Musi(c.)PSX: Diva (1998)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Dana International - Diva (1998)

Nevermind that the 1998 Eurovision winning song, Diva, was performed in Hebrew, or that the artist, Dana International, was the first transgenderist to win the competition. Smack bang in the centre of the PlayStation's life cycle, one posits that the genre of music is far more significant [to us] than the social politics the song might otherwise represent.

It's now the week after the subject of the song contest was topical, but in the interest of maintaining some fleeting shred of musical credibility, I'm following up on the previous entry in this series to elaborate on the same simplistic point it contained.

Nocturne, (as I'm sure you already knew), won the competition for Norway, in 1995.
Anyone inquisitive enough to actually play the YouTube vid will have come across a reasonably conventional track quite unlike any of the songs featured in any of the previous articles. In it's own curious way, it is meant to represent the conventional pop of the time.

Music is significant to all walks of life. It represents the beat of the drum of life.
It provides background noise to a generation and era, or in those special instances, congeals to be the athem of a very specific moment. In an increasingly manufactured process, pop music provides sound direction and influence on culture around it, undermining the timeline of songs. That said, even the most atrociously uncreative source is the bastard of some other catalytic concept.

Four years into the PSX timeline, Diva marked the departure from Eurovision winning generic pop, boldly reflecting the swelling significance of electronic music. Dana International was hardly a pioneer of the genre, nor was the dance track a turning point for European music.

I suggest, ladies and gentlemen, that the 1998 song is simply a cultural touchstone for the growing awareness and appreciation for electronic statements. By that year, the PSX console was a well established phenomenon in homes across the globe. As we marched enthusiastically and inspired toward a new millennium, even the common man was coming face-to-face with the looping rhythm of an electronic age.
This pre-millennial movement in music and art might have come from eager anticipation for the future. It might have been bred in the pens of Cakewalk and other sampling programs of the time, fed by cultural inbreeding and imitation. It might have resulted from many sources, but it was undoubtedly sponsored by the Sony Playstation. It was a rare moment in time. I miss it.

Musi(c.)PSX: Nocturne (1995)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Secret Garden - Nocturne (1995)

Judging from other blogs I've been reading, you don't really expect me to say a lot, but I feel I'd be short sheeting you if I didn't at least elaborate a little...

Admittedly, this probably isn't what I would look back upon with fond nostalgia for the days of the PlayStation, but there's something to be said for the theory that all things are connected. Norway just won the Eurovision Song Contest, and guess what? They did the same in the first big year of the PSX - 1995! Connection obtained!

I personally associate the PlayStation with much of the Euro/UK outlets and design I came to enjoy. Watching this year's Eurovision, I was pleasantly rewarded by the Russian network's design sense for the show, which reconnected me with that modern, clean, light motif that only the Wii still seems to have some reference to. It was a good time. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8989529

Musi(c.)PSX: Windowlicker (1999)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Aphex Twin - Windowlicker (1999)

Make mine a 99!
(Video edited to just the music)

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8989015

Musi(c.)PSX: Eisbaer (1997)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994.
A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Groovezone - Eisbaer (1997)

1997 was a great time to own a PSX.
By this point, the console was well and truly entering a mainstream in flux. I'd like to think the Playstation could be described, not just out of romantic nostalgia, but historic fact, as the centre of the universe at that time.
I don't necessarily mean to suggest Sony were secretly pulling the world's strings like a dog in a UFO ending, but there was a definite energy about the period that seemed to congregate around the circular lid of the Playstation console.

Cheesy Eurodance music videos reflected a literal influence from the growing excitement of 3D gaming, but this "energy" wasn't restricted to the peroxide-frosted ravers looking at the world through orange tinted lenses. The proliferation of the PSX in it's mid-life meant connecting with a vast range of people, interests, and brands. It was becoming as much an icon of high fashion as it was family-friendly home entertainment. It was all things, to all people.

Sponsored in part by the growing accessibility of the internet, various topics of interest were able to expand well beyond their niche audiences.
The Playstation created an interactive discussion with licensed gaming properties that scattered growing trends around the globe, personally inducting fans through an exciting exchange of information. The early WWF releases and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remain bold examples of how the world consumed entertainment during this time.

A decade later, the experimentation and excitement of the PSX era can still be felt.
The legacy of this period might not be entirely positive, particularly as profitable properties attempt to hold on to their former glory through conservative business practises counter-intuitive to the era that defined them.

The PSX was a development of technology that invigorated gaming and connected with a world that was striving for something new. It was the mainstream induction of gaming in ways Generation X had always imagined, allowing the practise to enter homes across the globe. It was an important time in entertainment history. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8988149

Musi(c.)PSX: Breathe (1996)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994. A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

The Prodigy - Breathe (1996)

I'm not sure I could think of a song more anthemic to the era than this one.
A bit like Keith Flint's misappropriation as the lead-man behind Liam Howlett's The Prodigy, I could probably make a vague connection between this song's presence in the era, and my eventual purchase of a PSX in '97.

After doing the Master System and Genesis thing in the years prior, it was a logical progression to look forward to the Sega Saturn. It wasn't that I had anything against Nintendo, but with it's clunky handling and ugly red hues, it just stood to reason that the brand was the lesser option for spoon fed windowlickers. The 64 didn't show up until 1996, but like most Nintendo consoles that followed, it was fast a non-issue, worthy of note only for a small handful of familiar releases.

Familiarity was definitely a factor in this new age of console gaming, but what quickly became apparent was that this was unlike any generation before it. Genres that had previously been restricted to unfeasible dimensions exploded in ways only possible on machines that boasted 3D design across their line-up. Everything old was new again, and decisions now more than ever had to be made based on brand new available information.

Platformers and fighting games had been deal-makers in the 2D era, but as important as they still were, suddenly a good racing game had it's place. Never before on home consoles had the thrill of racing opponents in a match of speed and skill been so thrilling. The illusion of movement was transferred from scrolling backgrounds to realistically manoeuvring vehicles, and the results were electrifying. Wipeout -- a game I'll mention often -- played a major hand in veering a Virtua Eye for a Console Guy away from the Sega, over to the new challenger.

In those early days accessibility gave the PSX a slight edge, but as my world was changing in 1997, a new friend's enthusiasm for the Playstation made understanding it's range that much easier.

With the sounds of Breathe echoing throughout a period where all bets were off, the then upcoming sequel to Sony's combat racer, Twisted Metal, somehow emerged as one of several straws that broke the camel's back. It was as if the grungy BPM of Keith Flint and Prodigy were beating in time with the punk-clown symbol of Twisted Metal. The time for a decision had finally arrived and there was only one possible answer: Sony's "PSX" -- the Playstation.

Through the PSX came several years of enjoyment and exploration.
The Saturn faded into obscurity, and that PSX loving friend drifted into the post-Nirvana punk that permeated through the era, but our overlap was defined by the versatility and excitement of the Playstation. It was the race to the year 2000, when humanity was at it's most excited and ambitious. It was the culmination of video game theory and the troubleshooting execution of everything we had imagined. It was an exciting time. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8987663

Musi(c.)PSX: Born Slippy .NUXX (1995)

Sony's Playstation console was first released in Japan in December of 1994. A year later, it spread across the globe, leading to it's eventual assimilation into modern living. The console was officially discontinued by Sony in 2006, but began a process of phasing out with the 2000 release of the Playstation2. Known in it's early years colloquially as the PSX, the console was characterised by a slick attitude that met modern gamers on varying levels, boasting releases like Wipeout, which fused electronic music culture with the gaming experience. This post is a celebration of that time. Music circa (c.) the PSX.

Underworld - Born Slippy .NUXX (1995)

In the interest of trying to make use of this blog, without forcefully contributing to the glut with more of the same, I look back on a time I have great appreciation for. It was a time when gaming was part of the pop culture zeitgeist in an assimilative way. In many ways I believe the PSX was the console that gave gaming to the masses and finally confirmed to anyone uncertain that this was a pasttime to be enjoyed by all.

Bursting onto the scene with a bold step toward multimedia entertainment and modern 3D console gaming, the PSX was more than just a platform. It's wide range of titles were enfused with a chic lost on mainstream gamers who now clamber backward to the likes of the Wii. It was a console reaching for a future that culminated in the PS2, more thrilling in it's chase of what was to come, than the malaise of it's established successor.

Music was so much a part of my time with the PSX.
I listened to the Wipeout games as much as I played them. When I wasn't doing that, I was soaking in some of the similar music of the time, whilst playing other titles. The PSX was a Silver Age for video gaming. A time of hope, imagination, excitement, experimentation. I miss it.

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8987356

You stupid fanboy!

Admittedly, sometimes I have to surpress my utter contempt for the unwashed masses because, well, it's just bad business not to. Nobody has any backbone anymore in an environment where the consumer is carefully controlled by pandering corporates to believe they are "king."

Fortunately my latest peeve is one married to an interesting observation of culture.

"Fanboy" is irrevocably attached to the world of comic books, where, at least in the modern age, it is believed to have stemmed. In it's origins, the contemptuous tones gamers associate with the phrase, denoting obsessive qualities, might very well have been there, but the vernacular did not end where it began.

In an industry divided between the two major companies and everything else, it's hardly surprising that a culture of obsessive loyalty to one brand, over the other, has been deeply ingrained in the psyche.
It's this type of mindless appreciation for one brand's content, and the converse disapproval and beratment of all other options, that seems to define the gamers "fanboy."

We have other names in comics, however. Ones that don't interrupt or disturb a sense of friendly fire and/or affection about the term, "fanboy." Particularly for the well adjusted among us, comics fanboys are brothers in arms. Chums with a taste for four-colour culture and all the positives that come with it.
Those other people. The ones who've bought X-Men for thirty years uninterrupted? Those are typically referred to as zombies, or any alternate insults that might come to mind. Wii owners, perhaps? (Haw!)

Comics fans can be as volatile and downright stupid as any other fanbase.
(Anyone coping with the indulgent superheroics of Final Crisis knows all too well about the latter!)
I wonder, however, why it is that the use of the term has diverged so specifically amongst gamers.

I suppose it's (de)evolution into an outright insult could simply be a product of the inherent competitive streak that exists vitally within any gamer. Comics fans butt heads, but probably aren't as specifically trained to be in competition with each other, the afforementioned collector zombies, not withstanding.

Next time you're about to baselessly accuse someone of having a blind bias for one brand, perhaps you might pause to consider the bigger picture. Video games and comics are all part of a rich pop culture tapestry, which, presumably, made the migration of the word so simple. So! Consider the possibility that we're all - each and every one of us, and you yourself - part of the fanboy melting pot.

That, and you might be the raving lunatic with the blindspot.
Because it's our word! Stupid fanboys!!!

- Mike Haseloff
Fanboy of minimal celebrity

Original Post: http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8979875