Part 3: The Champion's Legacy
Part 7: The Three Faces of the "Future"
The PlayStation, having become champion, showed us many faces of the "future." One was the future of "realistic stories shown in 3D," led by Final Fantasy VII. With expressive power incomparable to previous games, we became more deeply immersed in the narrative. Another was the future of "playing with music," represented by PaRappa the Rapper. This simple, supremely happy invention of pressing buttons to a rhythm gave birth to an entirely new culture of "rhythm games." And one more was the future of "getting hyped in the living room," perfected by Tekken.
Part 8: 100 Million Kinds of Treasure
As a result of continuing to present such diverse "futures," the PlayStation became the first home console in history to achieve the monumental feat of "shipping over 100 million units worldwide." But the true greatness of this number lies in its "content." The variety of game genres born was a glorious bloom. Super-individualistic games were created one after another. (And as you noted, Katamari Damacy was a masterpiece on the PS2 that saw this individuality blossom fully.) In other words, there were 100 million completely different "treasured" memories. Every single player held their own "best game" in their heart.
Part 9: What Was Engraved in Our Hearts
So, if we had to choose just one "legacy" left behind by this gray revolutionary, what would it be? It isn't the name of a specific game. It is "that time we spent, gathered with friends, completely absorbed in play."
"Tekken 3" was especially symbolic of this. After school, we'd gather at someone's house and battle day after day. Looking back, I'm amazed we never got tired of it. We each had our own "exclusive character" that we'd never give up, and we laughed at silly things and got genuinely frustrated. That time.
Not hardware specs, not software sales figures. The fact that it created that irreplaceable time in living rooms all over the world. Perhaps that is the greatest "soul" of the PlayStation that should be passed down to future generations.