ps2 slim
Console A: PlayStationMy first ever digital experience was on a PlayStation, and figuring out anything about this bastard has taken quite a long while. My original console was thrown in a skip when my Dad figured we didn't use it any more, and my replacement is a very different model. I'm still not sure on all the facts of the original, but I can lay them out here.I called up my Dad yesterday to try and get some info out of him. All he remembers was getting console after getting married. His best guess was 1995.NEW: After discussing with Mum, who has the better memory, she insisted the console came after my brother was born, in 1996.Dad's speculation is confirmed wrong, based on the BIOS. Our PAL console had the standard Blue Menu that you're all familiar with, but all PAL PS1 consoles produced before 1998 had this ugly grey bastard instead. I have no idea why the switch, but it does help clarify the date a bit.Another known fact is that my console did not have the FMV skipping issues present in earlier models, due to the position of the laser and the PSU causing overheating problems. I don't remember the exact position of the laser, but movies played smoothly on my console as far as I remember.My console def. had the parallel port, as I remember freaking out when I took off the cover, thinking I had broken it.The console absolutely came with 1x DualShock controller.The console had symbols on the open and on buttons on the console, as opposed to words.The two valid configurations matching all this information are the SCPH-7002 (May 1998) and the SCPH-7502 (April 1999) (which released months after their NTSC Japanese/American variants.Based on this list of PS1 models, the most likely candidate for console I owned is the SCPH-7002, purchased at some point through 1998 or 1999.If that wasn't bad enough, there's now another problem, which is regarding the games. I remember a number of PS1 games, but we want to focus on the games I first remember having, before I started renting or purchasing games (keep in mind, I was just a kid so there wasn't a lot of that). Quite a few of these are demos, and they're the major issue.Gran Turismo: We had a demo edition of this game, but the trouble is determining which one. Wikipedia states that in Christmas 1998, console sales all came with a demo version, but I've seen no other evidence of this supposed demo. As far as known demos, there are two specific menu designs I recall, and it could be either one; the unlikely candidate is the Official UK Playstation Magazine Disc 17: Vol 2 - 1998 disc, given that I seem to recall the 1998 version of the Demo 1 disc's fish menu a lot better. Every PS1 console came with Demo 1, but the contents of the disc were changed every so often for more relevant game demos at the time of printing.Destruction Derby: I def. remember playing a demo of the Destruction Derby pit level, as that Psygnosis owl image stuck with me, and I got a huge nostalgia flashback when I tried the demo on my PSP some years later. Super confusingly, the most likely candidate for the demo disc I played this one from is the 1995 Demo 1, which would fit in with my Dad's idea of the console in 1995. It's possible he did buy the console in 1995, and had it replaced for some reason, or this disc was given to him by somebody else (like my Aunt). Confusing.Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace: I still own this disc. SLED-02044's main method of distribution was the August 1999 Edition of Australian Playstation Magazine. I don't know my Dad to be big on buying video game magazines, so it's possible this was given to him or something.Formula 1 '98: Released on October 30th, 1998. I still have this disc. Funnily enough, another Psygnosis game.Ape Escape: This was released on the 31st of May, 1999. Somehow, I don't believe my Dad purchased this one himself (He is a racing fan, not so much a platforming fan, and I don't think he had any intention of buying games for Toddler McJob at that stage).Based on what we know so far, the most likely year of acquisition is 1998.
