IGN AU retrospective: PlayStation turns 30 in Australia
Blog Andrew Joseph 11 Nov , 2025 0
Unbelievable, almost unfathomablyThe humble original PlayStation, our little gray tablet of joy, is about to celebrate its 30th birthday. It has turned gray and is now old enough to have a few kids, a few different careers, and a car in the garage. You could say it does all of these things in different ways.
Australians: Win a PlayStation®5 Pro Console – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle!
In the past, many former and current IGN AU staff members have worked on PlayStation 2 Official Magazine (Narayan Pattison, Tristan Ogilvie, Luke Reilly, Patch Kolan, and Adam Mathew among them), so it’s an understatement to say that the brand, hardware, games, and experiences have impacted us and are very close to our hearts.
OK little gray box
When the original PlayStation launched in Australia, stock was extremely limited, and if you could get one, it cost AU$699 (the equivalent of $1,300 today). If you want, you can play a near-perfect version of Namco's excellent Ridge Racer, try out some 3D combat in Battle Arena Toshinden (novelty!), try out some 3D platforming in Jumping Flash! (wow!), and try out a 2D side-scrolling platformer in Rayman. These games may have been a bit “safe” at the time, but it was a hint of big things to come – within a year, PlayStation had cemented itself in the Australian gaming scene.
I got my PS1 from a cash converter in 1999 and bought it immediately metal gear and Final Fantasy VII. From there, I delivered a directory Japanese role-playing gameracing simulator (yes, that series), Rolling Shooting Game and indestructible dating game As my N64 watched silently, judge me from the shelf. I was pretty sure I hadn't seen the light of day in two years – and I knew I wanted to make this a career.
By then, it was clear that Sony had the entire industry under its control – pumping out a slew of the best games month after month in a volume that no Nintendo or Sega could match. It took gaming out of the niche basement of traditional gamers and onto the covers of cool magazines. It changes everything.
By the year 2000, the world had Getting caught up in the hype machine Around the upcoming PlayStation 2 – an all-black slab with a bold blue twist PS-2 Lettering. It looks smooth. Looks very powerful. In Kubrickian fashion it whispers: “I am a mysterious and untouchable creation that will change the world”. In a very real sense, it is.
PlayStation 2 launches
With games like Ridge Racer V and Tekken Tag Tournament, it took the PlayStation brand out of its infancy and into the big leagues. Sony's much-vaunted “Emotion Engine” promises state-of-the-art graphics fidelity, Presented in a live technology demo Exceeds the pre-rendered cutscenes on PS1.
This is a breakthrough. Everybody wants it – a DVD player! Game console! Become one! At the time, it was shockingly expensive for a device that could offer both capabilities. It boosts DVD sales and gives developers working on larger games (and files) more breathing room. The controller even has simulated face buttons! Baby, can you dig it? Japan launch a huge successpushing the PS2's international hype to its peak.
IGN AU was founded in 2006, exactly 10 years after the debut of the PS1 (known to everyone as PSX). At the time, the PS3 had just debuted in Japan to an enthusiastic response, thanks to its game-changing adoption of Blu-ray players (Going head-to-head with HD DVD, then chopping off HD DVD's head to become the dominant format in the 2010s) The popularity of 1080p monitors continues to increase. People want content to show off their cool tech. Sony launched the PS3: an all-in-one Blu-ray player, media device with a hard drive, and the most powerful gaming device of its time.
PS3: Run up that hill
It must be said that Sony got itself into a bit of a bind during this time. The birth of the meme era is revealed on PS3 media, turning “Riiiiiiiidge Racer!”, “Giant Enemy Crab” and “George Foreman BBQ” into internet phenomenon. This appears to be the beginning of a period of unsettled consumer sentiment, in part due to launch pricing of $499 and $599. An Australian release is still a long way off, but players are ready for their wallets to be stung.
we got our Check out PS3 for the first time As a fledgling Australian team consisting of three great people: Bennett Ring, Cam Shea and myself. Sony Australia launches Series of consumer and media events Among them to showcasing its polished oval tower We came away impressed with the potential of the system. IGN's US team is On Hand Covering This Year's Release Titles also. Resistance: The Fall of Man was a media darling of its time and is still remembered today. However, it has Some teething pain needs to grow out on its own.
After several years of price cuts and redesigns, the PS3 is finally finding steam and realizing its ambitions. We have the PS3 to thank for Naughty Dog's Uncharted series – for many, the game Step out of the fog and make the console a must-buy. By Uncharted 2, Nathan Drake was a permanent star and Naughty Dog was just getting started.
There is no doubt that the system The pinnacle achievement is “The Last of Us”. It's a technological showcase for aging hardware and a line of movies and games for developers. Sony runs the risk of turning this into a love letter to Naughty Dog, but it truly understands that the studio pushes the boundaries of its hardware — and gamers respond.
Around this time, Sony was also getting into Wii-based action games with the PlayStation Move controller and camera. It was successful enough to spawn a series of mobile-ready games.
game console Puvol!
Exactly 12 years ago, PlayStation 4 makes a beautiful appearance. Cam and Luke wax lyrical about it in the video above. Both then and now, the Sony PlayStation brand seems to be getting back on track. It starts out strong and focused on the player. this”for players” The event highlights a renewed focus on the core player experience. It’s a smart move, especially with the Nintendo Switch launching soon, and the industry has never been bigger or richer in great games and hardware.
Still, there are new experiences— and new controller design (the first major rethink of the iconic PlayStation controller in the system's history) is coming. Naughty Dog has released another breakthrough game, The Last of Us Part 2. The power of the PS4 also allows Sony to experiment with another emerging area: VR.
Oh, the PSVR headset. temporarily rather than andA lot of money, PSVR offers impressive VR fidelity and great games And IP that other competing hardware can only envy. When used with PS4 Pro, the new mid-generation hardware update, it further improves performance.
While virtual reality may have had its moment, it now feels like the technology is mostly dormant until the next big thing comes along, but it shows that more TV-free gaming experiences are becoming increasingly normalized.
PS5 and above
Input: PS5. PlayStation 5 – The latest generation of Sony’s gaming console, available in standard and professional versions. By 2020, the digital marketplace has become the standard, and the TV screen is just one way to interact with your PlayStation. PS5 welcomes PSVR 2, an enhanced version of the PSVR we know and love. Plus, it brings a Switch-like (but not quite) handheld solution: PlayStation Portal.
If you noticed, we haven't discussed it yet Sony PSP (gorgeous piano black, a deluxe widescreen handheld from 2004) or PS Vita – A pseudo-PS3 in your pocket. But all of these handheld experiences seem to mock the direction Sony (and Nintendo) are heading. Rumors about this have been spread Game console 6 God, do I feel old now.
Cheers to you, Sony PlayStation. You turn 30 in Australia.
Today's world and gaming industry are very different than what I and many others remember from the turn of the millennium. However, PlayStation has always been an island of stability, joy, and adventure.
Will we all be playing PS10 in 2055? Invading our neurocortex directly like the back-alley villain in Neuromancer? Will television still exist? What about game stores? One thing's true: PlayStation fans will always love the brand – so in a sense, the future depends on you.