So my story with the PlayStation... when it was announced, it was during that whole mid-90's period where it seems a new competitor entered into the console market only to disappoint. I was thrilled with my Genesis and SNES and anticipating both the Saturn and the N64... nothing really interested me too much on Sony's system. Even more disappointing was Bernie Stolar and SCEA's anti-2D policy of the time... since it was keeping some of the more appealing games (such as Arc the Lad) from reaching the US shores. I never was that impressed by early PS1/Saturn/N64 level polygons, even back in the mid-90's, vastly preferring sprite/tile-based 2D.
A friend of a friend bought a PS1 at its American launch, along with both Ridge Racer and Mortal Kombat 3. I went over there to play it and still wasn't sold. Not having much experience with CD-based consoles (like the Turbo CD or SEGA-CD), I wasn't happy with those load times, MK3 I always felt was an underwhelming title in the franchise, and Ridge Racer was cool but still not enough to sell me. Magazine previews talked about a game called "Wipeout" with its stylish graphics and EDM soundtrack, and that piqued my interest. But I was still set on getting a Saturn, for games like Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (having missed the SEGA-CD era), Magic Knight Rayearth, Shining Wisdom, Blue Seed, not to mention SEGA's arcade hits and a host of 2D games considering magazines raved about how adept the Saturn is at handling 2D... during 1995, it really looked like the Saturn was to be the system to get RPGs. And of course seeing the SIGGRAPH Final Fantasy presentation I knew I needed an "Ultra 64" for that and the Nintendo franchises. Nintendo was promising something radical...
Then one day, my best friend received a PS1 as a gift. He was also a subscriber of EGM and called me when he saw their first published article about Final Fantasy 7. He said "FF7 is coming to the PlayStation!", and I responded "What? You're only saying that because you just got one! It's coming to the Ultra 64 and I saw the screenshots in Nintendo Power."... then he's like "Yeah, it takes place in a futuristic city!" and I'm like "no way dude!"... finally he's like "Oh yeah and one of your party members is black!", at that point I am like "OK I may have even slightly believed you, but now I know you're totally full of shit!"
So yeah, needless to say when I found out the truth, the PS1 went on my Christmas list that year (1996).