From TikTok to Trinitron: A Gen Z’s Unforgettable Date with the PlayStation Era

Think back to a time when there was no instant downloads, or hyper-realistic graphics, or countless thousands of other players with whom to share experiences in virtual lobbies. For almost all of Generation Z, it is vaguely reminiscent but overwhelmingly foreign. For them, the gaming experience is almost never outside of the cutting edge, and finding a gaming experience that delivers what you crave is only a click away, complete with brilliant kaons of light and crispness, and meticulously-rendered pixels. So, what might happen when a Gen Z comes across something relatively preposterous — a PlayStation from the 2000’s?

Let’s picture the scene: Maya, a 17-year old girl who has never existed outside of a completely digital landscape, is helping her Uncle clean out his old dusty attic. The attic is filled with boxes of albums crammed with forgotten family photos, piles of old band t-shirts, and other treasures. And then she sees it — an unusual gray console. It’s in the shape of a box, has a tray that actually opens to insert a game disk, and the controller feels surprisingly light. The surface of the console read “Playstation 2.”