Ape Escape was a landmark title in the history of the PlayStation, being the first game that was only playable with a DualShock controller (which launched in 1997, around three years after the PlayStation's debut). Before Ape Escape's release in June 1999, several PlayStation games had added support for the DualShock's analogue controls in addition to the standard d-pad, but Ape Escape was the first title to be entirely built around the DualShock, packed with weapons, gadgets and vehicles that required full use of the two sticks, along with the newfangled L3 and R3 buttons.
Yet interestingly, right back at the start of development, there was no plan to use analog controls. Shuhei Yoshida, who worked as an executive producer on Ape Escape, recalls that the team, "Wanted to create a 3D, open-field, sandbox game like Mario 64, and they came up with the idea of capturing monkeys. So that came first. But during development, we learned from the hardware team that they were working on a new controller with two analog sticks." That discovery inspired them to create gameplay that was only possible with the DualShock.
