Highlights
- The original PlayStation console evokes nostalgia for those who experienced it in the '90s, and was part of a competitive market with other consoles like Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64.
- The limited onboard save file manager of the original PlayStation used small 16x16 pixel icons to represent game save files, with each game having a unique icon depicting the main character or logo.
- While the original PlayStation required a separate memory card to save games, modern consoles like the PlayStation 5 offer advanced features like cloud saves and large internal storage for managing save data.
An image shared by a fan of Sony's original PlayStation console is likely to be nostalgia fuel for those who experienced the console back in the '90s. The original PlayStation was part of the fifth generation of home consoles alongside the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, as well as several other less successful home consoles such as the Atari Jaguar and Amiga CD32. While modern consoles have become much more sophisticated and powerful over the years, many PlayStation fans fondly remember the original console and its many memorable games. Some examples are Croc, Ape Escape, and Gex: Enter the Gecko.
Back in the '90s the game console market was not as well-defined as it is today and there were many companies hoping to capitalize on this growing industry. Sony's PlayStation emerged as a dominant force in the fifth generation and is often a source of nostalgia. Now nearly 30 years after the original PlayStation launched, it is one of the 3 biggest manufacturers that dominate the home console space.
A Reddit user by the name of sworedmagic shared a nostalgic graphic that displays the save file icons for various popular games as they would have been seen from the original PlayStation's very limited onboard save file manager. The small 16x16 pixel icons were often depictions of the game main character or logo. For example, Tomb Raider had a stylized "TR" symbol, while Crash Bandicoot featured the titular character's face. Gamers who played on the original PlayStation will likely remember them since the average 8MB memory card that was sold separately could only hold a limited amount of saves, especially on the base 1MB card which could only hold 15; this was further limited by the fact that many games used up multiple save slots.
These diminutive pixel artworks are certainly nostalgic, but the age of having to buy an extra peripheral just to use the save feature in games is likely not. The PlayStation 2 also featured external memory for save games, but the icons were small 3D models in a similar style to the PS1 save icons.
While Sony has just unveiled its mid-generation refresh of the PlayStation 5 hardware, it is interesting to look back and see how far the brand has come in terms of features and technology. In modern times, players are blessed with things like cloud saves and large internal storage devices to manage their PlayStation save data.