13 Things You Need To Know Know About PlayStation Classic

Classic mini consoles have really caught on in terms of popularity, thanks to the success Nintendo has achieved with the NES Mini and the SNES Mini. It’s not too surprising, then, that Sony is also attempting to tap into that market. The PlayStation Classic, riding on the PlayStation nostalgia wave, is a similar mini console that will come pre-loaded with a selection of the legendary console’s games, and is not too far away from launch. In this feature, we’re going to be talking about fifteen of the most crucial pieces of information that you should know about the PS Classic. Without further ado, let’s get started.

20 GAMES

Similar to what Nintendo did with the NES Classic and the SNES Classic, the PlayStation Classic will come pre-loaded with a selection of games from the original PlayStation’s library. The number of games it comes with, however, will be a bit lower than what its competitors have already done- while the NES Classic came pre-loaded 30 games, and the SNES Classic with 21, the PlayStation Classic will have a total of 20 games.

THE BIG HITTERS

That collection of 20 games that the PS Classic comes with is a mixture of big and relatively smaller games- the ones that are big, though, are pretty damn biog. The likes of Final Fantasy 7, Tekken 3, Resident Evil Director’s Cut, Metal Gear Solid, Twisted Metal, and Syphon Filter are all part of the lineup. Other notable titles include the original Grand Theft Auto, Rayman, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, and Ridge Racer Type 4.

THE NOT-SO-BIG HITTERS

Of the remaining games, there are a few that may not be as huge as the ones we’ve already talked about, but were still great games back when they first launched, and will surely have a number of people excited about their return. These include the likes of Destruction Derby, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysey, Wild Arms, and Revelations: Persona. The remaining six titles in the lineup are Battle Arena Toshinden, Intelligent Qube, Jumping Flash!, Mr. Driller, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, and Cool Boarders 2.

GAMES VARY DEPENDING ON REGION

Just as it was with Nintendo’s two classic consoles, the lineup of games pre-loaded in the PlayStation Classic will vary depending on where it’s being sold. More specifically, Japan’s classic lineup will have eight variations as compared to the rest of the world. The games that won’t be included in Japanese PS Classics are Cool Boarders 2, Grand Theft Auto, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Oddword: Abe’s Oddyssey, Destruction Derby, Rayman, Syphon Filter, and Twisted Metal. These will be replaced by Arc the Lad, Arc the Lad II, Armored Core, Gradius Gaiden, Parasite Eve, G-Darius, SaGa Frontier, and Devil Dice.

SIZE

So, we know the PlayStation Classic is going to be pretty small, owing to its “mini” stature. It can held in the palm of your hand. In terms of exact numbers, that means it will be about 45 per cent smaller in width and length than the original PlayStation, and 80 per cent smaller in terms of volume, weighing at just 170 grams. So- yeah. Pretty small. Don’t worry though- it’ll still come with two controller ports.

WHAT THE PACKAGE INCLUDES

What exactly is the entire PlayStation Classic going to include, though? Well, other than the mini console itself, the package will also include two controllers, a USB Micro-A to standard USB-A cable, and an HDMI cable. The console will be powered by micro USB, while the controllers will now also be plugged in with USB cables.

ORIGINAL PS1 CONTROLLERS

Speaking of controllers- it’s great that the console will come with two controllers included. These, however, will not be DualShock controllers, and will instead be the original controllers that the PS1 launched with. That means they won’t have analog sticks, nor will they have rumble support. The controllers will both be wired, of course, and these cords will be approximately 1.5 metres long.

OPEN SOURCE EMULATOR

While one would expect that Sony would have built a custom emulator to maximize optimization for the PS Classic’s games, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Pre-release reports that have emerged on sites like Kotaku and Eurogamer have mentioned that the PlayStation Classic makes use an open source emulator – namely PCSX emulator – which means that emulation might not be as crisp and solid as you might want it to be. Which brings us to our next point…

PRE-RELEASE CRITICISMS 

Those who’s had hands-on time with the PlayStation Classic ahead of its release have had mixed feelings about the mini console, to say the least. Criticisms have been levelled at the system’s shoddy emulation, most of all, which seems to be 50Hz versions of games, at least in Europe, while input lag is also something that’s been brought up.

LACKING IN FEATURES

Another reason that pre-release reception for the PlayStation Classic hasn’t been the best is the fact that, according to testers, it seems to be lacking in features. From early impressions, it looks like PlayStation Classic emulates PS1’s games- and that’s pretty much all it does, with no filters or any other added features to speak of. That would be acceptable, but coupled with reports of shoddy emulation, that does seem a bit concerning, especially when compared to Nintendo’s mini consoles, which were both quite accomplished in both these areas.

RESOLUTION OUTPUT

Resolution obviously isn’t something that will make or break any of these games- they’re all two decades old at this point, ant crisp, cutting edge graphics isn’t what we’re looking for from them. It is, nonetheless, an important factor. All games are outputted at a 720p resolution, upscaled from their original 244p roots on the original PS1, and are displayed with small black borders on the edges.

SAVING

The PlayStation Classic, in case you’ve been wondering, doesn’t come with any memory card slots, and doesn’t support them at all. So how does it save games? Well, essentially, it creates a single slot each for every game in its own memory. What this means is that the save anywhere functionality is also a bit limited- when you hit the Reset button, your game will automatically save in its allotted slot, but doing so again at a later time will only give you the option to overwrite your older save, rather than letting you create a new one. For comparison’s sake, Nintendo’s classic consoles offer multiple save slots.

PRICE

So how much will this entire package cost? The PlayStation Classic will set you back by $99 if you’re in the US, which isn’t too bad a deal if you’re looking for a way to get to revisit the games it comes with (though the criticisms are something that should be considered as well). In Europe, it’ll cost €99.99, while in Japan, it’ll be priced at ¥9,980.

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