The biggest reason is the graphics. The Playstation has some of the best graphics on the market, capable of rending 360,000 polygons per second. This enabled it to render almost any image quickly and sharply, making it ideal for any game that you could play on it, whether it was taking jewels from a safe, sniping a villain, or slamming someone to the floor. The images were gorgeous, and are among the industry's best.



The controls are a dream; very responsive, and easy to learn, the controls are some of the best designed in the gaming industry. Although the games themselves may have had some ridiculous problems, the Playstation's controls themselves allowed any player to master the game to whatever level the player was capable of. Capable of handling up to four controllers with appropriate hardware, the Playstation could easily keep a group playing for days.

The Playstation was also the first console to integrate a DVD player into itself. This allowed the interesting situation of the owner being able to watch an anime, and then play a game based on that anime, all on the same piece of equipment; a great development on a console. Of course, it was a fully-functioning player, with all the features that you would expect from a DVD player; you could find an Easter egg on the player just as easily as you could on the games.

And the variety of the games is definitely not second-rate. With the Game Cube being for kids, and the XBox for showing off, the Playstation seemed to be a personal industry favorite. You could find games for any genre, any rating. You could find the standard fighting games, platform jumpers, and side-scrollers, as well as some truly weird games (such as Cubivore, a game of evolution modeled on actual theories). There were some dating games available, as well as games that were compilations of other games from years past. Not only did it have the best games of today, but best games of yesteryear. The Playstation literally had a game for anyone, with a strong line of educational games and more illicit games for other ages.

The system had few weaknesses. The DVD player wouldn't last, having to be repaired after a relatively short time. Also, there were only spaces for two controllers. At least the memory cards could hold more game records than other games.

In short, the Playstation is easily one of the best consoles ever designed. The console can keep a group of guys spellbound for hours, and then a little girl could take over the system with her own games. There's a lot to be said about a console that can allow even the youngest child a wide range of entertainment options, including education games and Disney DVDs. A good console for a good time.