PlayStation Online gets a new look and look back to when it all started

PlayStation Online has been going for over 10 years now. I have personally been gaming for some mere 40 years. Quite frightening.
I remember sitting in my mates house with a ZX Spectrum loading tape cassettes with that sound filling your head, yeah the one you'd still hear when trying to get to sleep. I remember my Mum typing for two days on an Acorn Electron to witness a very blocky looking tank move forward and fire one shot..........two days.
I remember the cutting edge Atari 2600 at Christmas. Space Invaders and Asteroids. Wow! The Sega Master System 2 was next for me and Sonic. How fast? I remember no saves and getting near the end just to fail and start all over again.

Then...............PlayStation. I got it from Toys R Us in Chester and raced home. I bought Crash Bandicoot and Star Wars Rebel Assault 2. It was mind blowing at the time and the first Tomb Raider.....say no more. Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Ressi, Gran Turismo......the list is endless. PlayStation was here.

PlayStation 2 was a very exciting time. I went to London to ECTS and it was brilliant. Sony had set up a dark PlayStation 2 cave with low lighting and it just oozed cool, black and neon blue. Funny enough one of the biggest head turners at the time was Madden with it's almost life like players.(at the time) But the game everyone wanted to see was Timesplitters, oh man that was fast. The buzz around PlayStation 2 was incredible. I went to Chester for the midnight launch at Game Chester and my wife had to get the car and pick me up outside as I was so nervous that someone would try and steal my new toy, yes they would have met hell and fury had they tried to take it. Timesplitters and PES were my games of choice. I player Splitters to death. MGS2 has to be the PS2 highlight for me. Oh that trailer, played it over and over. The demo was next and seeing how you could abuse the guards with tranqs and pile them up. Shoot the bottles in the bar. My first go of console online shooting was on PS2. Bought a network addaptor, headset and Socom 2. Many a great night with over 300 hours online. That feeling hot moment when you're the last man standing to the laugh out loud moments when one of your team blows up the hostages and themselves.............again. (hello AK and Gaz)

PlayStation 3 just couldn't live up to PS2. Xbox 360 got the jump on Sony as they messed about with mixed messages about blu ray. As it now happens it was the best move ever with later 360 games needing more than one DVD but more so the move paved the way for what is arguably the best console made to date, the PlayStation 4. I imported the PS3 after delay after delay, it wasn't great. PS3 did give birth to Sony's crowning jewel, Uncharted.

Boy did the PS4 hit the ground running. Everyone will remember that E3 for years. The first time I've heard crowds cheering like that at a press conference. Sell outs everywhere, genuine sell outs not consoles being held back. Riots in stores to get it. The momentum of PS4 sales haven't slowed down since it launched with software lineups getting stronger every year. Sony have a firm upper hand and it can only get stronger with only Nintendo showing any sort of idea of how to launch a console with exclusive games. Microsoft have launched the new xbox with just old games and re-resed games with no system selling games to warrant a £450 price tag.

Sony have the playing field firmly in it's grasp with a raft of AAA games over the next few years. PlayStation 5 has never looked so far off as Sony simply don't need it at the moment. It's exciting being a PlayStation gamer at the moment, may it long continue.

Thanks once again to all the developers who have supported us over the years.