Who remembers the first time that they paid full whack for a console? I had Mega Drives, Master Systems and the like over the years, but they were always when the cost had come down, or bought off a friend or neighbour. The first console that I ever bought at full price was the Sony Playstation, and after my recent blog about the most influential games, I started thinking of the console that I played most of them on. I bought my PlayStation in 1996. I was at college, working three part time jobs and was hugely excited about this bit of kit. One of my friends, Paul, had one, and we had been truly horrified playing Resident Evil on it. I convinced my mum that I should get one on credit from a well known toys based retailer and, as I trundled off to my Sunday afternoon shift in our local supermarket, my parents went to the shops to buy the PlayStation. 
I finished at 9pm, and instead of the usual stroll home, I ran. All the way. Now I was skinny back then, but I didn't run (outside of football) and I got home as fast as I could. I remember taking the PlayStation out of the box and just pure wonderment emenated from me. Sleek, smooth lines, a round lid, and when you turned it on, an awesome sight of swirling lights and an amazing sound. No more 2D pixels, no more 8 and 16bit digitised sound, this was the real deal. This was the future of gaming. 
So many games that you play today will have started out or appeared on the Sony PlayStation. Tekken, Metal Gear Solid, Soul Caliber (or Soul Blade for the old school out there) Resident Evil, even Call of Duty made an appearence. The games, the sound the graphics were something that hadn't really been seen before, and although it wasn't that practical, you really haven't lived until you have linked up two PlayStations, two tellies and had a head to head link up on Wipeout. Gaming was cool again, and out of the bedrooms and living rooms, and games like Wipeout, with their techno and trance soundtracks, started appearing in the unlikeliest of places, Nightclubs. Sony was taking on the old firms of Sega and Nintendo with a solid product and excellently placed marketing. 
And it is possibly thanks to Nintendo that we have the PlayStation. In June 1991, Nintendo were to announce a joint project with Sony for a cd add-on for the Super Nintendo. Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, wasn't happy that Sony would have control of the games released, and shelved the product, instead announcing alliegence with Philips to continue with this peripheral. Sony planned to scrap any ideas but fortunately decided to forge on with their plans, and in November 1995, Europe finally saw the PlayStation. Sony went on to produce several different versions of the PlayStation, and sold over 102,000,000 units worldwide. The PlayStation itself was the first console to sell over 100 million units worldwide, and left us with a lasting legacy. Now, some posts have accused me of being somewhat biased against the Sony PlayStation 3 in my blogs, and for them I say this. I'm not biased in that I would love a PS3, but I now have responsibilities outside of gaming, I have rent, a girlfriend and a little boy that come before me buying a PS3, but as soon as I can afford one, I will get one. Sony encouraged and nurtered my gaming with the PS1, and I am well aware of what the PS3 is capable of, but at the moment, my blogs will be XBox based, as this is what I have available. If all of you guys want to have a whipround, then feel free, and I promise that I will blog every week about all aspects of gaming 
What I would like to know about is the first console that opened your eyes. Did the Dreamcast do it for you? Was the Gamecube the one that enveloped you in a world of gaming?
Stars of Gaming Part 1 - The Sony Playstation