We need to go back to Christmas 1995 when I first got my PlayStation - but I’m going to write up about that soon. I had the console near launch on Christmas day 1995, and it is no overstatement that it changed my life…

But after a few years, the CD assembly broke and I could not repair it. In the early 2000s though, I started seeing cheap SNES and Mega Drive consoles and games, things that I was not allowed when I was a kid, so I started buying and thus began my collection. Over 20 odd years, I collected all sorts of things, but it wasn’t until 2018 that I turned my attention back to my beloved PlayStation.

Those Sounds

There are three sounds that make me a little giddy when it comes to the PlayStation.

1. The PlayStation logo sound with that arrow like shoosh and the dream catcher bells.
2. The Sony Computer Entertainment grand intro sound, with its resolving synthesized chords.
3. A sound that is only available in physical form - the sound of the PlayStation CD drive accessing and reading the data from the physical disc

It was this third sound I missed and craved. That noise of the drive really spinning up after the copyright message, the chirping bird-like sound of it accessing data across a disc, the gear change like sound of the drive pausing. You just don’t get this from emulation and it was something I desperately missed. The sound of nostalgia!

I endeavoured to complete a small collection of PS1 games in 2018 with one goal; I would reunite my original collection of games that I owned in the 90s!

My Original Collection

So in the 90s as a teenager, I had a small period where I bought PlayStation games - before I joined a band and had to spend all my money on music equipment! Limited funds were usually soaked up by buying the Official PlayStation magazine and my part time job only got me £2.20/hour so there was plenty of saving to do. My original collection was as follows.

1. Ridge Racer
2. FIFA 96
3. Die Hard Trilogy
4. Resident Evil
5. A.IV Evolution Global
6. Formula one
7. Theme Park
8. Micro Machines V3

Quite a mix! So I went about buying versions of these games to re-create my collection - but there was one problem. There are some amazing games that I never owned in the 90s, games that were truly unmissable! And now that I had an adult disposable income, why shouldn’t I buy games that I might want!

So welcome to the initial list of additional games!

9. Tekken 3
10. Tomb Raider 2
11. Driver
12. G-Police
13. Metal Gear Solid*
14. Final Fantasy 7
15. TOCA Touring Car
16. Fade to Black

_{*I actually already owned and played MGS but on the PC version…}

Obviously, this list was not exhaustive - but I had gathered a lovely selection of games!

Lockdown!

Then lockdown hit and I was stuck indoors like everyone else. Which was fine in the summer, but as the days got colder and nights grew longer in autumn, I started to explore an expansion of my PS1 collection…

I began spending far too much time on eBay, looking for games that were interesting to me to add to the collection. Familiarising myself with all the games and oddities available.

I started to collect consoles and controllers, and looked everywhere to get every memory card colour.

I looked into odd controllers and Japanese imports that piqued my interest in interesting ways. Some games I found that I needed to get every variant available.

Most games I decided to collect the original release, but with every piece of marketing material, registration cards and so on that they came with. I started to obsess over the cases. Which case variant was the most interesting? Which case is the right one for this game? Did the case have specific stickers on them?

I do need to take another picture as my collection is spanning 16 boxes now - though that does include one dedicated to rental versions…

What’s Next?

Over time I gathered a lot of information that is not readily available on the internet. Details about PAL region releases, case variants, different print runs, and all the subtle differences that collectors care about but struggle to find documented anywhere.

I’ve come to the point where I think I need to make somewhere that would give the collector a single source of truth for PS1 games in the PAL region. A place where collectors can find definitive information about UK and European releases - the variants, the rarities, the quirks that make each game unique.

This blog is the start of that journey. I’ll be documenting what I’ve learned, sharing discoveries about specific games and their releases, and hopefully creating a resource that helps other collectors navigate the wonderful world of PAL PlayStation collecting.

After all, if spending years obsessively researching every detail of PS1 games can help even one other collector, then it’s been worth it. Well, that and getting to hear that beautiful CD drive spin up one more time…