Francis ParcoToday, September 9, marks two… or perhaps three… occasions in the 30 years (hint hint, wink wink) of PlayStation history.
A Console Milestone
First off, while December 3 last year already marked the 30th anniversary of PlayStation (via the PlayStation website), that was for the Japanese release of the original PS console. Today on the other hand, marks the PlayStation 30th Anniversary here in North America. Yes, it is quite a regular practice for the same console to have separate release dates based on region, and sometimes the releases happen in separate years as opposed to the same year. And not to leave fans in the European market(s) behind, your 30th Anniversary will come arrive in 3 weeks on the 29th.
Though regardless of region, the first ever PlayStation console has come to sell over 102,000,000 units all through to its ultimate discontinuation in 2006. During the console’s 10+ year lifecycle, fans were greeted with many iconic franchises including Metal Gear Solid, Parappa The Rapper, Tekken 3, Crash Bandicoot, and Spyro The Dragon. Very impressive for a then newcomer platform competing against the industry juggernauts of Nintendo and Sega. Also impressive, that the PS1’s immediate successor holds the title of the best-selling game console to this day, nearly a quarter-century after its launch.
On a final note, the PlayStation not only inspired an ill-faded flashback console during Holiday 2018, but also received a redesign in mid/late 2000. It was named the PSOne and was often advertised with an attachable screen (via The Gamer).
Two-In-One Platformer Anniversaries
These two particular 90s platformers nowadays may be owned by Sony’s main gaming rival Xbox after Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023 (thanks, Xbox Nerds), but it is still an important anniversary to mark.
For the first platformer here, Crash Bandicoot has been considered the face of PlayStation since this day in 1996. Nineties gamers who grew up with the spinning mutant marsupial from Down Under may fondly remember, among many PS adverts, when Crash Bandicoot occasions heckled Mario’s overlords outside their headquarters on various occasions:
Crash Bandicoot has been so successful in the past 29 years, it has spawned an entire classic trilogy (which received a modern HD remake in 2017), respective kart racing and party spinoff games, and too many reboots, remakes, and further spinoffs to name since the franchise went multi-platform in 2001. Also before I forget, even Naughty Dog celebrated Crash’s 20th Anniversary in 2016 by having Uncharted 4‘s Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher play the ’96 platforming hit (via Game Rant).
Last but not least, Spyro the Dragon was also released on this day, but two years after Crash Bandicoot. Spyro’s history has been tied closely to Crash’s, and follows similar patterns during the classic and modern/multiplatform eras. Like Crash, Spyro’s trilogy saw a new game every year, though albeit, no spinoff games before going multiplatform in 2001. Did I fail to mention that Crash and Spyro shared the same publisher Universal, and their respective devs are presently owned by Sony, unlike back in the PS-exclusivity era?
Since the late 90s, Spyro had his own somewhat bizarre but still memorable commercials, including adverts featuring a live-action protesting sheep and when a human chose a bad time to play with Spyro’s tail.
Just like with Crash Bandicoot’s 2017 HD trilogy remake, Spyro had his own long-awaited trilogy remake in 2018. The hype was so real almost 10 years ago that not only did rapper Snoop Dogg welcomed Spyro’s fiery return, but also at least one of the purple dragon’s classic commercials were reused for the Spyro Reignited Trilogy commercials.
Unfortunately nowadays, Spyro hasn’t had a whole lot happening for him since 2018. That is, nothing particularly new until Toys For Bob officially spills the beans for the potential Spyro 4 in development. In the meantime, Spyro’s appearance with fellow friends (and arch nemesis) in 2023’s Crash Team Rumble and his cameo with Crash in 2024’s GOTY Astro Bot remain his latest appearances.
All the above in a nutshell, happy 30th Anniversary to PlayStation’s North America launch, and happy respective 29th and 27th anniversaries to Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon! The latter platformers still have their place in PS history, despite being officially owned by Microsoft/Xbox during the past two years.
What do you think? Where you there when the Sony PlayStation and two of its greatest mascots were released all those decades ago? Let us know below!