http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/09/09/20-years-ago-today-2/ 9/9/95, the PS1 was released in the US. I had just started my freshman year of college, and had no job or money, and there was no way that my parents would buy me a gift that expensive, especially since they wanted me to focus 150% on classes, so it was a dream for me at the time. I kept rocking the SNES for a few more years. I eventually bought one used from a coworker about two years later, and got my copy of FF7. I've been a Sony guy ever since, and the dual shock controller is like an extension of my arm. While I paid for my PS2 in full (and in cash) six months before it was released, I didn't actually get it until six months after it was first in stores, due to supply issues and potential shenanigans at Gamestop. The PS3 is actually the only console I've ever gotten the month it was released, in over 30 years of gaming.
When I was a kid Atari was a thing. Then game Nintendo and Sega. I got the first generation Nintendo with the stupid *** robot. Then I didn't have any games for a loooooooong time. Then I was bored in my 20's and decided to rent a playstation from Blockbuster. Blew my mind. Bought one, got it modded. Ended up with a N64, Dreamcast & PS2. Then went to Xbox. Got RRoD. Switched to computer games and haven't really played much other than WoW & ESO.
It certainly was. For me, it was a shift from about 12-13 years of cartrige based Atari and Nintendo systems to disc based ones from Sony, and never looking back. And from 2D games, often side scrollers, to games that generally involved the 3D perspective. The PS 2, 3 & 4 have upped the game since then, but they didn't alter it the way th PS1 did.