Author Topic: PlayStation "Classic"  (Read 1837 times)

Offline Niloc

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PlayStation "Classic"
« on: October 07, 2018, 11:48:18 PM »
So Sony announced the PS1 "Classic" a couple weeks ago, to get in on Nintendo's action with NES/SNES mini.

It's a lot less interesting to me for multiple reasons;

1) Every PS2 & PS3 can play PS1 games (and there are a still plenty of working PS1 consoles around too)
2) It's 10 years more recent than the NES
3) It comes with the original digital-only PS1 controllers - I'm sure this is because they're cheaper to make, and also so they can put out a second one later with the DualShock analog controllers
4) For me personally, I've still got a ton of PS1 games and still play them on my PS3

The NES Classic also had the "advantage" that every NES other than the top-loading models wore out and won't read carts properly (a major design flaw I don't think Nintendo ever even acknowledged and certainly never offered to fix).

Still, I'd consider the PS1 classic depending on the game library it comes with - I think they've still only announced 5 out of 20 titles that are supposed to be included?


So on to "Classic" systems I'd like to see;

An N64 classic is a no-brainer - there are so few "essential" N64 titles that all or most of them could be included. The problem here is going to be cost - beefier emulation hardware + analog controllers required, and probably 4 controller ports.

They can save money by only packing in 1 controller - but then, does anyone really want that damn awkward, uncomfortable N64 controller again?

Something like the Hori N64 controller would be preferable - maybe a more modernized version;



But that ain't gonna happen.

Other than that, a good-quality Genesis mini would do well - the existing ones are all hot garbage. Problem there is, how many of the best Genesis games were 1st party Sega titles? Not a problem Nintendo has.

What I'd like to see personally, and what would make a Genesis classic a more appealing prospect would be if they had built-in "Power Base Converter" then throw 30-40 Genesis games on it and ANOTHER 20-40 Sega Master System games on it. The Power Base Converter could even be included as a plastic part that fits in the fake cart slot. I don't expect that they'll actually do this mind you, just what I'd like to see (and I'd buy one if they did). It should also come with the 6-button version of controllers.

There's already a Neo-Geo mini, but it seems pretty dire;

! No longer available

Other than that... I don't really give a crap about the Atari 2600, 5200 or 7800, nor the Intellivision or Colecovision. Don't think anyone wants a Jaguar "classic" either.

A Sega Saturn mini with a good selection of games - I'd be up for getting one of those, but it did so poorly in North America though that it seems unlikely.

Dreamcast is probably a bridge too far in regards to small/cheap emulation, and by the PS2 the game file sizes were getting large enough that putting them on flash memory (at least in 2018) may not yet be cost effective, plus again, beefier, more expensive hardware.

Any others that need the classic/mini treatment?

« Last Edit: October 08, 2018, 12:47:42 AM by Niloc »

Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2018, 12:48:42 AM »
This probably belongs more in the "Classic Video Games" sub, if anyone wants to move it (I can't).

Offline number six

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2018, 04:02:32 PM »
I'm sure Nintendo will get to the N64 classic at some point. It's more complicated to replicate/emulate but not Impossible especially if they can work around the specific games and make modifications where needed.

Not sure on the PSX classic either. What games will it have? Most of the PSX games aren't that expensive to acquire and as you said.. the PS2 and PS3 are all backwards compatible. I was just playing a PSX game on my PS3 the other night.

It's like this new Castlevania set that is coming out for the PS4.. I believe it has Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood in the collection. I still have my Symphony of the Night PSX disc and another PSX Castlevania collection with Rondo of Blood so it's like.. what's the point? Better have good extras.

But we'll see what games are on it.. if it costs $70 the games better be worth significantly more than $70.. ie lots of JRPGs, etc. But even those show up for sale on the PSN

Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2018, 04:21:43 AM »
A 32X "classic" would be a perfect fit too, since the game library was so small - just about everything could be included. Would use the same cheap digital pads as a Genesis/Genesis mini too. Same thing for the Saturn, except for "Nights" - but they could easily leave that one out, even if it was one of the few stand-out Saturn titles.

Not gonna happen, but a 32X mini could really work well. No obnoxious nest of cables connecting it to the Genesis either.

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2018, 09:17:23 AM »
I think the problem with the 32x is the small library plus a lot of the games were licensed products which would be impossible to re-release.

Saturn would be cool but once again it's complicated hardware. Sega is at least kicking Atgames to the curb so maybe the new Genesis mini will be better for it.

Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2018, 07:12:51 PM »
Full list of PS1 "classic" games is out;

Battle Arena Toshinden - was an impressive launch game, hasn't aged well though, fighting games have moved on. Old-style Street Fighter 2 holds up better. I've got Toshinden on disc.
Cool Boarders 2 - meh.
Destruction Derby - impressive for an early PS1 game. I've got this one on disc.
Final Fantasy VII - I personally can't stand this game, but I know it's beloved by many. Logical choice.
Grand Theft Auto - Logical choice but a lot of casual gamers will think this is GTA3. Got the "Director's Cut" version on disc.
Intelligent Qube - Nice to see an oddball one. How about Irritating Stick? How the hell did either of those ever get a North American release?
Jumping Flash - Good early title. Didn't really compete with Mario 64 when that came out later but it's in the same ballpark. Jumping feels good in this, good sense of movement & momentum in fairly large, open levels with lots of vertical space. I've got the 2nd one on disc but not the original. 1 & 2 are pretty similar though.
Metal Gear Solid - Another sensible choice. One of the best regarded and most impressive games on the PS1. Again, I've got it on disc.
Mr Driller - I've only ever played it on Dreamcast. Under-rated puzzle/platformer game. A descendant of Boulder Dash.
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee - Never cared for this series personally.
Rayman - This game pissed me off when the PS1 launched. 3D was the whole point at the time, this looked like something that could have been done on the SNES. I've mellowed on this since, but still not into this game - it was just way to early for "retro" at the time and I sure didn't want more-of-the-same from the last-gen either.
Resident Evil Director’s Cut - Another sensible choice. Cool, innovative game for its time. Shame about the terrible voice acting.
Revelations: Persona - No idea, no opinion.
Ridge Racer Type 4 - Good choice, but I think this one supports analog controls? Digital-only racing games, like Ridge Racer 1 at the PS1 launch, are pretty damn rough. Once again I've got this on disc.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo - Okay... Seems like some variant of a "real" SFII game might have been a better choice? But they do include a couple other fighters.
Syphon Filter - Heard good things, never got into it. No idea if it holds up.
Tekken 3 - Should be better than Toshinden? Never played much of this series.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six - No idea which one this is, there have been so many Tom Clancy Games.
Twisted Metal - Good choice, a classic for the PS1. I've got this one on disc too.
Wild Arms - I'm not familiar with this one. I think it's an RPG? Feels like they should have included a couple more relatively main-stream/popular RPGs. They generally work fine with digital-only controls.

I still fully expect they'll try releasing a PS1 classic v2 with analog controllers later on too, as long as this one sells (and I expect it will).
Would allow for a whole different roster of games - Tony Hawk 1 & 2 (even if they were better on the Dreamcast & original XBOX the PS1 versions are the ones most people remember), and Gran Turismo 1 or 2, among many others.

Doubt I'll buy this version since I've got so many of them on disc already, and the PS3 still plays them fine.

Rumor (totally unconfirmed at this point) is that both the PS5 and XBox Two may include much more backwards compatibility. I hope so, we'll see. It'd be damn nice to have a single box that plays PS1 through PS5 games.

« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 02:53:56 AM by Niloc »

Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2018, 11:10:35 PM »
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night totally should have been included too. Licensing may be an issue.

That one is stupid-expensive used (and more to the point, I don't own it).


Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2018, 06:19:24 PM »
>Other than that... I don't really give a crap about the Atari 2600, 5200 or 7800

I take this back. I actually would be interested if they put out a single system with a ton of games from the 2600, 5200 and 7800, and a decent controller that could play all of them.

That's never gonna happen for any number of reasons, but I would probably buy one if it did.

It'd have to be $80 max (and at that price it would have to come with a LOT of games and 2 controllers).

It would have to be well-made and have and HDMI connection.

I'd really want a focus on the 5200 & 7800 games - especially the ones that best show off those systems, and the weird/obscure titles, since I've never played much of the 5200 or 7800. I knew one person with a 5200 back in the day, but that was it.

I don't think whoever owns the Atari I.P. would ever even consider this though, not when they could crank out at least 3 separate versions, one for each system.

Offline Niloc

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2018, 11:14:59 PM »
Well the PlayStation Classic is out now, and either they made plenty or demand is pretty low. Maybe both.

Lots of places had pre-orders - turned out to be totally unnecessary. I just bought one on Amazon when they came out, and they're still in-stock at the MSRP now.

From the reviews it's not just a "meh" mix of games that is a problem - apparently they also included PAL versions of some games, so they only run at 50hz rather than 60. Definitely a problem for games like Tekken 3.

The reasons I still bought one are;

1) It has Intelligent Qube - that goes for around $50 for a (North American) disc-only copy. Though the Japanese disc goes for far less.

2) It'll probably be hackable - load whatever games on it easily. I just torrented a ton of PS1 ROMs - one collection was well over 300GB - that took a while.
The PS Classic has 16GB of storage built-in, and that may be expandable. People have already found that if you connect a USB keyboard to it and hit ESC you can get to the emulator settings.

It'll also be nice to have Jumping Flash (I've got JF2 but not 1), Mr. Driller and I've never tried Syphon Filter (though I'm guessing it'll be pretty dire with digital controls).

« Last Edit: December 05, 2018, 12:56:20 AM by Niloc »

Offline number six

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2018, 09:25:21 AM »
Yeah the reviews have been pretty horrible.

it seems like it would make more sense to just buy a Raspberry Pi and run the same PSX emulator on it.


Offline number six

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2018, 09:26:40 AM »
I'd really want a focus on the 5200 & 7800 games - especially the ones that best show off those systems, and the weird/obscure titles, since I've never played much of the 5200 or 7800. I knew one person with a 5200 back in the day, but that was it.

I don't think whoever owns the Atari I.P. would ever even consider this though, not when they could crank out at least 3 separate versions, one for each system.

Yeah there doesn't seem to ever have been an attempt to put out 5200 or 7800 games on any of these flashbacks. Can't imagine it would require significantly better hardware.

A good chunk of both the 5200 and 7800 libraries are arcade ports.. most of which are available on arcade compilations already.. so that may explain some of it.

Offline number six

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2018, 09:27:54 AM »
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night totally should have been included too. Licensing may be an issue.

That one is stupid-expensive used (and more to the point, I don't own it).

SoTN is getting re-released in a compilation which is undoubtedly why it's absent.




Offline fissionch1ps

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2018, 11:44:20 AM »
Sometimes 8Bitdo controllers work with these classic console with the use of a receiver/adapter.

So far, a raspberry pi can emulate pretty much anything from the beginning through PS1 without an issue, including 32X. SDcards are pretty cheap. So its hard to justify some collection of tiny consoles if you're looking to save space.

An N64 classic would be where it is at, since a pi can't emulate them very well. You could use an Odroid for this, but at that point you might as well look at some small form factor PCs like a NUC and make yourself an N64/Gamecube/Whatever classic.

You can emulate some dreamcast games on a raspberry pi, so a dedicated emulator wouldn't be that big of a stretch. An odroid could definitely handle it.

Atari jaguar would be a good candidate too, but its game selection is really lacking. Really just for Aliens Vs. Predator.
Flight 2000, Deadpool Premium, Barrel Arcade, Hyperspin Console

Offline number six

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2018, 12:55:56 PM »
Atari jaguar would be a good candidate too, but its game selection is really lacking. Really just for Aliens Vs. Predator.

Tempest 2000 son, Tempest 2000.

That system is a nightmare though so I can't imagine it will ever get any sort of 'classic' release even if it had more than 2 good games.

A few years ago I got one of those Alienware Alpha computers for cheap.. thats been my emu-box on my TV for awhile.. but for under $100 the Pis are hard to beat. They even work well in arcade cabinets.

Offline fissionch1ps

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Re: PlayStation "Classic"
« Reply #14 on: December 05, 2018, 01:31:34 PM »
Yeah, Tempest would make the cut too. Alienware Alphas are great. I use one as a hyperspin/steam machine. It still plays all the AAA titles and emulates up to Wii U smoothly. Nice profile too. The hive mind interface is cool too, shame they don’t support that anymore.

Pi’s are great. They play the Don Bluth classics too. They make decent Christmas presents too.
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