Sony Playstation. Undoubtedly one of the most significant things to happen to the games industry. But was ushering in a new era of 'cool' to games a good or bad thing?

Sony Playstation. Was it a breath of life for the games industry or an injection of mainstream ignorance?

Kevin: Well the Playstation has been out for about 8 years right ?

When it came out it was a huge breath of life for the industry which had rarley seen such a high breed of gaming. So it continued Playstation out sold everything and still does. But my final opinion on if it was an injection of mainstream ignorance, is it definetly was, Sony failed and still does fail to react to piracy. This has cost the industry dearly.

The Playstation Group seem to be more die-hard than Nintendo fans just looking the other way at everything its not they want to its the brain washing of the PS2 2 years ago.

Link: I have to say that more than anything it was a breath of new life. Perhaps it wasn't the first console that used CDs, but it was the first successful CD-driven console. It also brought a lot of unique games and tons of RPGs. Sure, if the PSX never was Square still would have made the FF series, but, taking into account the limitations of silicon ROM cartridges, would they be the company they are today? What Sony did was force/allow developers to cram a lot of content in their games. Perhaps some of these games were poor in quality and Mario and Zelda games were still unrivalled, but the PSX had some great titles that pushed technology and innovation. And FMVs to boot.

As for whether or not the PSX injected mainstream ignorance I would say no. The PSX was home to more genres of games than the N64. So it was presented as the "cool" machine and there were a lot of more mainstream games. That doesn't take away from the fact that the PSX had its unique titles. Additionally it Sony's choice to be mainstream. Well, obviously they wanted to be becuase then they get more profits, but Sony didn't choose to be "cool", it was the consumers who chose which console was "cool" or not. Whether the PSX came out or not there would still be the same number of people calling Nintendo "kiddie". Granted they may not now be playing games because games aren't "cool", but there ignorance did not come from Sony.

Joby: Sony brought gaming to the mainstream market which I hear people cry is a good thing, it allowed geeks to feel safe at night and no longer were they alone in the world of Lara Croft's chest size. Sony damaged the battle between Sega and Nintendo. Sony killed off the rivalry between Mario and Sonic. Sony created this pathetic games industry we are all mashed into. The Sims sells well because of marketing AT the little kids, Championship Manager is merely an upgrade yet it sells more than a near-perfect game like Metroid. These games are being made because of a console like the Playstation.

The Playstation 2 is the most popular console on the market because of ignorance. Fair play to Sony, they have created this ignorant market.

Dan: That is certainly a hard question to tackle, because in hind sight it is still hard to see what it has done. Lets say for a second that the playstation was never conceived...would be still be in the age of cartridges? I think not, sony would have come out with the cd drive, but it would have been with nintendo, which was the innitial idea. However, sony broke off when Nintendo was a little reluctant, and created their very own video game console.

An injection of ignorance? Well, I think so. Now, with the three consoles battling it out, people don't even care to see what Nintendo or Microsoft are doing with their new consoles. Most of the mainstream populous is focuses on Playstation II because its predacessor was the Playstation. So yes, it has made many people ignorant. They now think that Playstation 2 is the greatest because Playstation did so well, and they don't care to look at the other possibilties.

I'm not saying the Sony Playstation and Playstation 2 are bad, they brought about competition which has forced Nintendo to change their methods. But Sony has also convinced people that the Playstation 2 is the best through Media. People are now ignorant and don't even look at the other possibilites, because Sony has so completely sucked them in.

Conor: In my opinion, the Playstation was both the best and worse thing to happen to the games industry.

There's no doubt that it brought games into the mainstream public. Where before, they had been seen as only really for 'geeks', they were not accepted by the public in general as being 'cool'. The PS was an inferior console, but what made the difference was Sony's marketing. They shone it, glossed it, and added a layer of glitz and glamour to games. Wipeout, Tekken and Tomb Raider were games with 'attitude'. They captured people's attention, and games became something to do after a night out at the pub. Games became a 'biz', and gave it a new lease of life.

But as the years went on, the negative effects on this became apparent. To put it bluntly, the morons out shouted the hardcore. Games developers began catering for the mainstream audience, and crap, but stylish and/or licensed, games outseold the original and refreshing games we were blessed with. While I'm not one for an elitist industry, I am annoyed when ignorant mainstream attitudes poison this industry we love.

So, in answer to the question, I think it did both. But the negative repercussions are eclipsing the positive ones.

Ben: Violence. Sex. Blood. Gore. Guns. There is no doubt that the aforementioned factors sell video games. Sony realised this, they saw a new market and went for it. Unfortunately, this halted the progress of video games.

Imagine that you are an 18-year-old male student, you have no clue about video games. You walk into your local GAME. You are looking to purchase a console. You see a "Playstation" bundled with a game with naked women on the front, guns emblazed across the packaging. Next to this you see a purple console called "GameCube". It is bundled with a game featuring a cute little character in a lovely fantasy world. There is no blood in this game just sweet pink hearts and cute dinosaurs. I rest my case. Nintendo have morals. Sony doesn't. They are clever.

That man is ignorant, of no fault of himself. But he is an opportunity. A business opportunity.

I have to put things into perspective. This injection of ignorance will affect us. Sony have won this battle of the consoles. Low sales = Less Money = Less Money = Less Games. Sony has hindered the Nintendo gamer. Sony has been clever. And they are reaping the rewards.