How quickly time has passed! Video game visuals have come a long way, from the chunky pixels of early gaming consoles to the almost photorealistic environments we explore in modern games. Amidst this development, an amusing relic from gaming history has come to light, bringing back memories of the time when the phrase “mind-boggling effects” was used a little more loosely. Let’s explore the well-known PlayStation meme that makes players laugh and remember the good old days.
The Birthday of PlayStation
An article on the then-upcoming PlayStation system was published in an August 1994 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. The tagline boldly said, ‘The PlayStation can generate mind-boggling visuals,’ accompanied by a picture of two simply animated skeletons from the video game King’s Field. When seen against the background of contemporary gaming technology, this statement—once a proud brag of the PS1’s capabilities—has become a popular meme in the 2020s. It is praised for its cute stupidity.
When someone shared the original photograph on X (previously Twitter) on March 5, 2020, it gave it a fresh lease of life online and sparked a surge of laughter and nostalgia. Since then, the skeletons—which one X user described as “gay skeletons from King’s Field”—as well as an abundance of fan art, Photoshops, and redraws have generated creativity and amusement on a variety of social networking sites. The skeletons have danced their way across the internet, accumulating likes, shares, and upvotes along the way on platforms like Instagram, /r/psx, and even Facebook pages.
In a 2023 post, even the creator of the original caption, Chris Johnston, reflected on his career and connected the meme to his podcast appearance in which he told the story of working on his first issue of EGM in 1994. The meme’s enduring popularity demonstrates how much the gaming community values its past, despite its peculiar details.
The meme’s spread wasn’t just confined to laughs and likes; it also sparked discussions about the game King’s Field itself. Some gamers, after encountering various versions of the meme, embarked on quests to uncover whether the skeletons were indeed from the game as suspected. After diligent research, including combing through the archives of every issue of EGM, it was strongly inferred that the skeletons were from an early version of King’s Field, pinpointing the screenshot to a moment before the NA release of the PlayStation.
PlayStation’s big hit
The PlayStation system, launched by Sony in 1994, was a key point in gaming history. Transitioning from cartridges to CDs, the PlayStation was a precursor of the current gaming period, having games that have become famous among fans, such as Final Fantasy 7, Crash Bandicoot, and Tekken. By 2005, it became the first console ever to ship 100 million units, a testimony to its effect on the industry and culture at large.
Fast forward to the present, and PlayStation continues to redefine gaming landscapes with the PS4 and the advent of PS VR, entering into the expanding virtual reality industry. Even as technology evolves, the delight and amazement we feel in gaming remain consistent, with each new breakthrough standing on the shoulders of the systems and games that came before.
In the broad tapestry of gaming history, the ‘mind-boggling’ skeletons from King’s Field occupy a tiny, yet iconic, area. They remind us of the leaps and bounds by which gaming technology has developed and of the lighthearted spirit that characterizes the gaming world. As we smile at the meme’s lovely anachronism, let’s also give honor to the PlayStation history that made such mind-boggling growth possible.
So, next time you’re marveling at the realistic visuals on your screen or getting lost in a vast, wonderfully drawn game world, spare a thought for the modest origins of gaming graphics. Remember the skeletons that previously characterized ‘mind-boggling effects’ and appreciate exactly how far we’ve gone. Here’s to the next chapter in the ever-evolving narrative of video game visuals!
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