PlayStation Adventures in Russia. Why the console from Sony became the legend of the domestic market

Company Sony The other day I released a mini-version PlayStation – PlayStation Classic. On this occasion, I decided to remember what the 32-bit console from the Japanese became for Russians.

PlayStation mini design repeats the design of the original PSX. Even controllers – and those without analog sticks. The thing, however, is that in the Russian Federation this version of the prefix was sold at those days when the 32-bit Sony system was expensive. Folk version – PS One.

It just so happened that in Russia the consoles have their own history, and sometimes it is contrary to global practice. We have not seen the original version of the 8-bit Nes. Pasted by domestic stalls swiftly galloped Sega Saturn , And 16-bit SNES could afford a unit-know-how from Nintendo It was too expensive, and there was no piracy on the prefix in the normal sense of the word. That is, of course, somewhere in the Moscow crossing and it was possible to find cartridges-drinks, but their cost was not very different from the cost of legal products.

Thus, there was little meaning in this whole story – what is expensive there, what is here here. And time all fled forward. The first 3D accelerators, CDs, good sound, three-dimensional picture. However, for a powerful computer, sellers asked for some inappropriate money, and play passion in modern hits as we wanted. It was then that PlayStation came to the rescue.

Advertising video on the release of the first PlayStation. Sony already in the 90s burned with napalm, but for the Russian gamer console, it was already a welcome gift. Without these advertising perversions ..

Power, graphics, sound

Formally, 32-bit from Sony won our market a few years after the global release, and it could not be called the first CD console in Russia. Back in the mid-90s, in the markets and stores you could find Panasonic 3DO (FZ-10 model), but, as in the case of Super Nintendo, units could afford it. The high price simply did not allow her to become a mass product. About Sega Saturn, Atari Jaguar And later Nintendo 64 They knew for the most part Muscovites – the audience of stores of one famous network.

Thus, the PlayStation occupied the empty niche of the CDs and after a short time became the most welcome gift for boys and girls all over the country. The secret of such a stir is simple: despite the rather high (in comparison with the price Dendy or Mega Drive ) the price, allowing yourself to buy a device from Sony could still be more families than a personal computer. In addition, in the second half of the nineties, finished assemblies within a thousand dollars, as a rule, did not include a powerful three-dimensional accelerator, CD drive and good sound card. And without this set of gaming satisfaction, it was not to be seen as their own ears.

In the nineties, the 3DFX phrase inspired sacred tremor to all fans of computer games. Top piece of iron at a horse price. PlayStation in this sense was expensive, but still a much more affordable alternative

PlayStation could boast of all the components that could be needed for happiness. Three -dimensional picture? Please! Cool sound! Cheap games on stampings! Only have time to run to the store. In 1998-1999, the Japanese prefix completely ceased to be exotic and settled under a TV in thousands of families in Russia and the CIS countries. Yes, expensive, but still raising an iron box with a monitor and a keyboard. Plus, the opportunity to listen to music on disks and watch Videocd films are jokes, but I personally know at least a few people for whom this factor has become decisive in choosing a device for games.

In its commercials, Sony tried to show Nintendo, who is now the main thing on the market. Rebellious Crash Bandicoot This role was suitable as well as possible

Here it is worth understanding what kind of thing. In Western countries, as in Russia, accelerators based on 3DFX chips were expensive. But if they wish, even ordinary office employees could buy them. In our country, such pieces of iron remained the prerogative of “thieves” and “new Russians” – and the farther in the hinterland, the more inaccessible the dream. PlayStation and in the West was a good alternative to the staff, but there it was a “cheap alternative”, but we have expensive, but still affordable families in which they received salaries with money, and not a set of canned foods or tires.

In the early years, among other things, legal games for PlayStation were published in the so -called "Longboxes". However, in the Russian Federation such versions were almost unrealistic to get. Our counterfeit was released in cheap jewel-case

Bridge to PC

However, you should not think that PlayStation owners suffered greatly from the lack of a personal computer at home. The fact is that in the second half of the 90s, the industry made an attempt to unite two worlds-computer and video games. As a result, many domestic gamers met the PC library through a 32-bit console from the Japanese. Surprised? Not worth it, the right word. Everything is simple to the nasty: 3D shutters, strategies and quests were ported at the PlayStation with a rampart.

And if at the beginning of the decade the appearance of any Zero Tolerance or Bloodshot was considered a whole event, then converted under the gamepad Duke Nukem 3D In the version for PSX The child could only be surprised. Doom/ Final Doom , Hexen, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Alien Trilogy (by the way, an example of when the game came forward PC) is far from a complete list of early shooters for Sony device. Later, the piggy bank of the first -person militants replenished the excellent port Quake 2, tolerant adaptation Rainbow Six and its less successful continuation.

In the nineties, Blizzard tried with all her might to capture new markets. The consequence was the way out Warcraft II: The Dark Saga on PlayStation and Saturn. Management, of course, processed consoles for the needs. It was impossible to call it convenient, but for many this version was the only way to touch the RTS world from the legendary company. And also prefix versions united Tides of Darkness And Beyond The Dark Portal.

Classic quests perfectly took root on PlayStation. In the screenshot – the first part Broken Sword. It was in the nineties she was a novelty, and now – the Golden Fund of the genre

Of course, it will be crafty that it was equally pleasant to play all the ports. The same Diablo I looked much better in PC format, and to drive orcs around the field in Warcraft II was still more convenient with the mouse. However, one cannot deny the fact that for thousands of Russian gamers the PlayStation library has become a bridge to the world of multifaceted PC gimming. And for some PS options the first Red Alert to this day remains the only and unique. Because a childhood memory.

Within the framework of the advertising campaign, Sony was actively pressing that the games were submissive to the Games. The funny thing is that this conclusion was reached in Russia. PlayStation, as in Dendy, played by people of all ages. Someone is hard, but many are on occasion. Together with children and even grandchildren.

A smooth transition

According to the logic of things in this block, it is worth telling about purely console-exclusive games (there were many of them) and multi-platform (the score is not amenable). However, there is a thing here. It is much more important that PlayStation has become a convenient console for gamers. It allowed to make a mild transition to the world of 3D entertainment for owners of Mega Drive, Snes and even Dendy (Nes/Famicom). Let's try to figure it out together.

What was a fan of 16- and -8-bit? No, not so! What did he expect from the new prefix under the Christmas tree? Continuing toys belowing him, but at a technically new level, of course! And PlayStation could give all this! And what was popular on Mega Drive? Games based on Disney cartoons, trilogy Mortal Kombat, Road Rash, shooters a la Contra: Hard Corps, Races by type Top Gear , All kinds of platformers and so on, so on, so on.

In addition to the remaster of the original Road Rash, two independent games from this series were published on the PlayStation. On Jailbreak , True, the history of the popular franchise has ended

In this sense, PlayStation was a real find. "Disney"? Without problems – platformers for Hercules and Aladdin to help you. Combat motorcycles from RR? As many as three issues. Races? As much as you like! The ruler is remembered offhand Test Drive And Need for Speed. Fans Castlevania: Bloodlines I have now received cult Symphony of the Night. Fatter lovers – cycle Tekken.

This is what, with what, and with steep exclusives PlayStation had no problems since birth. Take, for example, Apocalypse – Action already with Bruce Willis in the title role.

But that's not all. Having played in the usual and understandable, gamers began to storm completely new genres for themselves. On the Internet, you can easily find stories about how a crowd of schoolchildren gathered at one TV and was afraid of zombies in Resident Evil. Moreover, in the process, all. Just a couple of people took turns moving the characters in space, and the rest decided puzzles. The same thing concerned and the eras released at the fracture Silent Hill, Unjustly forgotten dilogy Dino crisis and even B-class projects, like Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.

It's funny, but many Dino Crisis has been almost more popular than the donor Resident Evil. Dinosaurs, blood, riddles and intriguing plot. What else is needed for happiness? Friends of friends perhaps – so that mysteries solve

Finally, PlayStation has become for many a portal to the world of Japanese role -playing games. In this regard, the console from Sony simply had no equal. Of course, at the pirate collapse for Mega Drive, you could find some Shining Force or Phantasy Star 2, But let's be honest: few people knew about the existence of the genre and its varieties at that time. In addition, 16-bit roles required remarkable imagination and ingenuity, since there were cases when the game recorded on the cartridge was in Japanese.

Gamers of the PlayStation era did not have such a problem. Want to be "pop Final Fantasy VII Play, want – in Xenogears. Entertainment for every taste and wallet. Plus exclusives. Buying a device from Sony was justified by the presence in her arsenal at least Metal Gear Solid. Ultimately for Russian gamers of the late 90s-the beginning of the zero PlayStation has become a transitional stage from 16-bit platformers to large projects of the new era. Convenient console, in a word.

Medievil 2 – One of the few games officially translated into Russian in the PlayStation library. By modern standards, of course, there is no good voice, but then it was perceived only as a masterpiece

Localization of Atakue

But not only the wealth of the library could boast of the prefix from Sony. The folk status and a huge amount of counterfeit on the shelves led to the fact that 32-bit hits spoke with gamers in their native-Russian-language. Of course, many of these crafts left much better. The victims of the supra -shift translation were remarkable in scenario and gameplay projects, like the previously mentioned Front Mission 3, Parasite Eve , Persona 2. There were frequent cases when, due to the collective farm localization, PromTom (interference in the file structure of the release), such welcome hits hung tightly at a certain moment. Or Japanese beta version fell into stores Resident Evil 2… in general, everything happened.

On the shelves of the nineties https://duelz-gb-casino.co.uk/ what was not to find. For example, beta version of Resident Evil 2. More precisely, Biohazard 2 – the game was taken from the Japanese. The normal release also happened. And the translation was even. Quite adequate by the standards of that time

However, the curved grinder of the local market, in essence, did not matter – the fact of translation was important. Gamers accustomed to the fact that 16-bit cartridges spoke with them at best in English, suddenly found that the plot of high-profile hits, like Syphon Filter 2 , You can, albeit with difficulty, but understand! What is there! Pirates attracted living people to voice acting! As a result, the operative Logan spoke Russian. Crookedly, obliquely, with an accent of a millennial programmer, but spoke. Today we are used to the fact that most of the releases are accompanied by subtitles everywhere, even in the screensavers. In the second half of the nineties – the beginning of the zero, the situation was the exact opposite. Often the videos were not equipped with subtitles at all. Apotheosis of everything was the release of the first professional localizations from the company "SoftKlab". C-12 And Medievil 2, Maybe they were not superkhits, PlayStation pearls, but in Russian sounded excellent-of course, with a discount on the era in which they appeared.

Visual comparison of pirate voice acting. The problem is that the original was not duplicated by subtitles. So Russian gamers chose from the worst

Books like this were sold at the beginning of the zero literally on every corner. There were quite a lot of benefits from them – during the Internet, Gaida did not lie on the cards on every corner, and there was no YouTube

Everyone plays

However, the main thing that a 32-bit prefix in Russia was able to achieve is to change the views on the console in general. In fact, at the sunset around the millennium around the PlayStation, a strong community was formed, fed from a variety of sources. Books with passage were sold in stores, colorful magazines (including licensed Official PlayStation Magazine) were on the shelves of the former Soyuz Patches, and branded notebooks with Spyro on the cover in the office of the office. All this in combination with a strong library of hits for every taste created the right mood around the hit. For the first time since the collapse of the "scholarship" in the prefixes, everyone has played – from university professors to schoolchildren.

And the gradual reduction in price and the appearance of Slim version in the person of Psone contributed to the increasing growth of the fanbaza. People did not scare the obsolete iron and so -so graphics in comparison with Dreamcast or PC. They just went to the store and spent three to four thousand on a gray box with understanding what logo. And then – quests, shooters, interactive cinema, Russian illiquid and illegal crafts from the series "Randev with a stranger" and even emulators of the old game iron (8-bit Master System, for example) in half with software for creating music.

Psone was not only smaller, but also cheaper than the original PlayStation. In many ways, therefore, this version of the console was dispersed in such quantities through the territory of the Russian Federation and the CIS

The latter is not a mistake. Famous fact: at the dawn of his career, Ivan Alekseev (Noize MC) wrote bats using a program launched on a console from Sony. It is clear that she did not even have a tenth share of the possibilities of professional products for PC, but on the bezes and cancer fish.

Finally, for many PlayStation became a console, which is connected with the most discoveries. For example, for a long time I just could not believe that the game did not need to go in one gulp – with the help of a memory card you can save all my progress. Or here is what a story. During the 16-bit MEGA Drive clones, the cost of the cartridge varied depending on the chimium of the game recorded on it. Thus, get cheap Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 There was no way, and every slag was sold for a penny. At the time of 32, Sony with this vicious practice was over and for all. Games began to cost depending on the number of disks in boxing. There was a choice: buy three stamping or take the Final Fantasy VII translated by some RGR Studio. And here everything depended on the personal preferences of the buyer, and not the loss of the huckster in the tent in the market.

PlayStation Classic includes many good games. The only problem is that each gamer has its own set of superchites. And it is simply impossible to accommodate them in a console, and no online store is provided for loading

So for domestic gamers, the appearance of the PlayStation mini-version is a much more significant event than the release of Nes and Snes Mini. The prefix from Sony was and remains a cultural phenomenon, and only then with a piece. A completely different question is how much miniature PS will be able to take root in our market with its limited set of games and the inability to buy content through online service.