its reassuring that my love of games hasnt waned in the slightest. turns out i just had to go back 3-4 console generations and 20 years. thats a good sign of things today.
still holding off on gamecube until i get a proper controller adaptor but this PS1 excursion has really reminded me that oh yeah, that console's third-party support was insane by today's standards. you couldn't take two steps without tripping over some legendary JRPG or a hidden platformer gem or an experimental title, so much variety.
i always wonder what made me stray, considering i was a pretty loyal playstation zealot through to its third iteration. PC's proverbial opening of pandora's box re: steam and emulation helped but i remember being very apathetic come the eighth generation, nothing consoleside interested me. the blurring of hardware lines had unique experiences lessen and it felt like a choice between, idk, Witcher 3 or Less Detailed Witcher 3. PC offered more, better and a burgeoning indie scene.
ive grown tired of the ubiquity though, that and valuing physicals again. emulation technically falls under that but its an escape.
