It’s funny how time changes our view of things, isn’t it? Take those blocky, often distorted 3D graphics from the original PlayStation era. Today, many gamers and even developers look back at them with fondness. They call it charming, a unique style. But ask someone who actually built those games back then, and you might get a puzzled look.
That’s certainly the case for Koji Sugimoto, a senior programmer at Square Enix. He worked on big names like Final Fantasy X, Xenogears, and Dewprism, also known as Threads of Fate. He recently weighed in on a Twitter post from Unity Japan. Unity had just added a new tool, a “No Perspective” option in their Shader Graph. This feature makes it super easy to recreate that classic texture warping, the kind we saw all the time on the PS1. Sugimoto’s reaction? He basically said, “Back then, we tried so hard to avoid this distorted surface problem. We couldn’t escape it. Now, people call it a ‘charm’ of the game.”
You can feel the irony in his words. Another tweet from Sugimoto echoed this sentiment. He called PS1 texture distortion “an object of abhorrence.” He explained how developers “spent many futile man-hours and computation time to avoid it.” He added that he couldn’t grasp why anyone would find it interesting to bring it back.
Today, it’s true that low-poly graphics are quite popular. Many players enjoy the retro look. But from a developer’s point of view, it’s easy to see why this trend causes some head-scratching. The original issues weren’t a design choice; they were born from a major technological limitation of the time.
Shader Graph に追加された “No Perspective” オプションの意外な使い方を解説してみました ✨ ローポリ表現やレトロ3D表現に興味のある方はぜひ試してみてください 🎮🕹️#UnityJapan #UnityShortTips pic.twitter.com/u9U4zzMQF7
— ユニティ・テクノロジーズ・ジャパン (@unity_japan) August 5, 2025
PS1のテクスチャ歪みは忌むべき対象。回避するために多くの虚しい工数と計算時間を割いた。再現したら面白いという発想は自分には無いなぁ。 https://t.co/3xCxvLa5Wx
— Koji Sugimoto (@k_sugimoto) October 24, 2019
The Z-Buffer Conundrum
The core issue, as reported by Automaton, was the PS1’s lack of a Z-buffer. Think of a Z-buffer as a built-in depth sensor for the console. Without it, the PS1 couldn’t properly tell how far away objects were from the camera. This meant that when the camera moved in a game, textures would often stretch and warp in strange ways. Some game makers even used pre-rendered backgrounds to hide this visual glitch. Modern graphics cards, on the other hand, have Z-buffers integrated. They can instantly calculate depth and width, making this old problem a thing of the past.
Sugimoto himself said he spent countless hours trying to fix these texture problems. It felt like a battle he couldn’t win. So, it’s understandable why he finds it odd that developers now actively try to bring this “problem” back.
Despite the past frustrations, the quirky, distorted look has found new life. What was once a technical headache is now seen as a unique style, a nostalgic echo of a bygone gaming era. Developers today intentionally recreate these visual quirks. They do it to capture that specific PlayStation 1 game atmosphere. It’s a way to let players relive a time many people fondly remember.