DF Retro: PlayStation Classic Review - Great Games, Poor Emulation

This could - and should - have been a lot better. DF Retro Hardware returns with a deep dive analysis into the PlayStation Classic, its games and the quality of its emulation stacked up against every way that matters when it comes to revisiting one of gaming history's most important consoles.
Apologies for the mic echo! A little tricky to get right in this environment.
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[@Silikone]

What's so hard about just allowing emulation on a PS4?

[@madphantom92]

They dont want to spend money

[@__G___]

Sony = Draconian dictatorship ......thats whats wrong

[@PipeGuy64Bit]

Sony: "Nobody wants to play those old games on a new video game console."

[@sathiadev6447]

Money

[@olliperrin1013]

Because then genuine consoles will lose their value and its expensive to implement it

[@BlackOpsApesta]

I can't understand why Sony chose Rainbow Six instead of Medal of Honor. That's just dumb.

[@sabmu757]

They might have not gotten the license for that game.

[@Slavenmierech]

Licensing which is why GoldenEye will highly likely never be on an n64 mini

[@MilanStarks]

Steve pretty good chance for golden eye actually, Microsoft owns rare and Microsoft and Nintendo have a great business relationship overall. They’ve collaborated several times this year alone

[@oscarzxn4067]

@@MilanStarks But Microsoft doesn't really own Golden Eye either, there are a lot of license issues there.

[@Slavenmierech]

Lyfe rare doesn’t own the GoldenEye licence it has nothing to do with them unfortunately, it’s a mess basically :(

[@cabbusses]

It is baffling to think Sony would charge $100 for something AtGames-quality.

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

its not quite as low quality as At-Games, but its close. i'm just gonna hack it & put the entire libraries of Arcade, NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, PS1 & Saturn games on it

[@dhgmrz17]

@@user-kj4od7ig3t Why, the emulation seems bad on in it, unless you plan on swapping the software and trying to put a different emulator on it.

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

@ DHGMRZ17: i'll probably end up doing exactly that.

[@karel3112]

I don't get the old console trend, you can buy any of these Controllers for pc and get an emulator, even wireless and a way to output pc to TV is cheaper than 100 bucks

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

@ karel van der Wal: collectors want the official branded merch

[@johnhansen04]

I really like that, in the endscreen, you show us what music you used. When the selection of music is so great, I often search for hours to find them in the internet just because people don't include the names anywhere.

[@nephirion4868]

£90 for an emulator with downgraded visuals/audio wtf.

[@alex.starostin]

For a free emulator..

[@biglevian]

Bought a psp for 20 bucks a few months ago. Great value, since it can emulate anything less powerful than n64 and has a great library of games.

[@Stahntaru]

Didn't people find that this PSone classic is actually using ePSXe emulator? Feels like a rushed product that has 0 value.

[@shimizukebin]

That's what we call a rip off my friend!

[@noeuro]

They should have gone with Qualcomm and a better emulator implementation.

[@theharvardyard2356]

John, thank you for this. Your main point about how this damages the legacy of the ps1 really hits home. I'm sure many people will get this as a Christmas gift, try out a few games and think "damn, old video games sucked, I'm going back to PS4" which is a sad thought to me.

[@unnoticedhero1]

Yeah, although for the average kid getting it for Christmas, even if the games ran flawlessly and were upscaled better they'd probably say it sucked anyway. I'm just glad I discovered emulators and got to go back and play the old classics since I didn't get a console until the gamecube, there are so many great PS1 and SNES/Genesis games and older it's a shame to see most younger people ignore it since it's either not available or "the graphix suck".

[@jaimeTF]

I think Sony just wanted an excuse to not support backwards compatibility in their future consoles. It is sad indeed.

[@DEADPOOL9AND]

@@unnoticedhero1 It depends tho, if the kid doesn't have modern systems or hasn't been introduced to games yet, they'll probably enjoy the games anyway.

[@EsperFhtagn]

That's the reason why games such as Rainbow Six are on the list, I think. They wanted to show us a gaming stone age or something

[@dookie_12]

“The PS1 and the PS2 games, they looked ancient, like why would anybody play this?" Jim Ryan, Sony Head of Global Sales & Marketing

[@billygunn142]

Hardly anyone wants to play them, this is a collectors item. If you really want to play ps1 games then just use a ps1, ps2 or ps3

[@thisisJim85]

I would agree with his statement, but only because of the games they put on the system.

[@BarHonigfeld]

@@billygunn142 This is not a product for gamers.This is a product for people who had a Playstation when they were 13, stopped gaming at 15 and are now 33 and in for some nostalgia. Also collectors.

[@psychosious]

@@billygunn142 Like the 25 year old lasers aren't burning out left and right? FFS dummies like this..

[@wiceorc5105]

@@BarHonigfeld nah this isnt for people who had original playstation, they know what is better.. but its for those who are "masses" who had no playstation on their childhood, who doesnt know which games were good or how they looked. so they will be fooled with bad quality.

[@Beaut_Beau]

This is basically 25 minutes of John ROASTING the shit out of the lazy PlayStation devs who created this turd of a product - i enjoyed every precious minute of it!

[@Pat86]

It's ridiculous how even the Emulation on PSP surpasses the PS1 Classic by far

[@Lauren_C]

The PSP runs a proper MIPS processor that is likely ISA compatible with what the original Playstation used, so the most difficult bit needed no emulation as the code ran natively anyway.

[@EvilApple567]

He stated in the video that the PSP uses similar hardware and only requires partial emulation. Not that I'm defending this POS in any way, but it's simply a matter of a shoddy software choice instead of limitations of the Classic itself.

[@Noobsaibot21]

Bleemcast for Dreamcast does a better job than this I think. The Playstation classic is basically Sony's equivalent of Sonic Genesis on GBA (Check that out for some free childhood memories ruined)

[@jc_dogen]

@@Noobsaibot21 Maybe, but it only supported a couple of games on dreamcast iirc, likely with corner cutting hacks specific for those games. The desktop version is definitely not comparable to any modern ps1 emulator in terms of compatibility.

[@CaveyMoth]

PSP emulated PS1 better than the PS3 did, dang it.

[@CCharmanderK]

So on top of using PAL versions of games, a weak game selection and limited settings, we can throw poor emulation onto the pile of problems stacked against the PlayStation Classic. What a disaster.

[@Lamadredetuamigo]

Kevin Faultner actually with some speed adjustion and twerks, the Pal version aren’t bad per se, since they have better resolution than the NTCS.

[@symphony137]

@@Lamadredetuamigo I've compared many PS1 and PS2 games in their PAL and NTSC versions and tbh, I've NEVER noticed the "better PAL resolution". Sure, it may be there but good luck spotting the difference. What I do notice though, is the worse framerate and bad PAL optimization which results in squished picture and/or slower gameplay. Of course it depends on the game, but as a gamer from Europe I try to avoid PAL games as much as I can, except when they have a 60Hz mode which some PS2 games do.

[@alexojideagu]

@@symphony137 Pal needs to run via RGB scart to see the better resolution. Although 60hz pal games look great on PS2 like dead or alive 2

[@funkybuddha5604]

I think there is also input lag.

[@charlescampuz5812]

Serge Kent Not exactly. All PS1 games run natively at 240p, the PAL version accommodates this by leaving unused space around a 288p frame. Also, most devs never bothered correcting the game speed, so don’t bet on the PAL version of a game to run just as fast as the NTSC version.

[@faves2064]

Makes me glad that Sega decided to restart their mini megadrive from scratch in house. That move shows they're taking the mini console format more seriously than Sony seem to have with this 😬

[@stoopidhaters]

Now we need a Mini Dreamcast

[@duelingfattiesgaming2130]

@KunoMochi - Same way people do now with dreampi. Q3A doesn't need online to get the full experience though. I'd be more worried about them creating and emulator that works with all the games. Instead of a few emulators that work with some of the games.

[@subzero8679]

@@stoopidhaters a mini Dreamcast would be a huge financial loss for SEGA. The original Dreamcast didn't even do well. There is only a handful of people that even care about it anymore.

[@walterchapman2094]

I may be in the minority, but I'll like a mini Saturn. Whether it could be emulated on a chip properly is another story.

[@faves2064]

@@walterchapman2094 a mini Saturn would be great, it's a massively under appreciated machine with some excellent games.

[@stoopidhaters]

We need a Mini Dreamcast

[@gamicho8754]

I'm hugely agree. And support is needed too.

[@theowlsofouterheaven]

Yes!

[@Youngchezzey]

Sega won't do that they have Nintendo and Sony to blame for that.

[@SirPuggsly]

Sure, but after the Sega Saturn mini.

[@MaliciousCat]

Yes!!

[@saltwagon2676]

For the players............

[@backupplan6058]

For the shareholders.............,

[@nitrax8629]

payers*

[@SketchTurnerZero]

It's a Sony ©

[@SkeleCrafteronYT]

For the money

[@anrakrs]

For the payers....

[@soratheultima]

Perhaps the system can get hacked so that the emulator can be replaced with a more functional one.

[@thetruetekno9925]

I can almost guarantee somebody will swap out PCSX ReARMed for ePSXe, which I think would've been a MUCH better choice for this system.

[@eiszapfenderwutendenwinde3233]

Why even bother? You can get a Raspi for less than 35 bucks. And then you buy a PS1 "mini" case, or let someone print it. Not only will you be cheaper. The system will be better as a whole. There was a guy who 3D printed a NES Mini. And he made tiny cartridges that featured NFC wireless technology. He could also use his phone with NFC support, to load games on his self made NES classic. Search for "Raspberry Pi Mini NES Classic Console " by daftmike Now imagine, $ony doing this. Or even install mini disc drives like the gamecube had. People would spend $120 on that system. + buy those CDs or NFC "memory" cards, what ever. The possibilities are endless. But as usual, the corporation said fck the customers and fck our fans even more. Lets scam them with this piss poor emulation station, that is worse than sh!t.

[@nintendo1889x]

@@thetruetekno9925 Beetle PSX all the way, ePSXe is closed-source.

[@NeothaAndMiano]

Pcsx rearmed is a very optimised and accurate emulator. The problem is that Sony chose an underpowered budget processor for this thing.

[@keeperxiii]

@@nintendo1889x But epsxe works really well with low end systems.

[@leonardwei3914]

You had one job Sony. One. Job.

[@yournightmare9999]

You also have one job and poor lifestyle

[@jahildebrandt]

This is really high quality analysis. Thanks for all the analysis and editing work that went into it.

[@ItsBradazHD]

After hearing about these issues I just wonder why Sony didn't re-use any PlayStation TV stock or hardware and use that as a base for the classic. The PSTV was cheap enough, and would do each of these games much more justice to the original games

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

@ ItsBradazHD: underrated comment.

[@warnacokelat]

i expect that this classic ps was a rebranding of PSTV, but it seems that i was wrong.

[@alexatkin]

The obvious, they have none and it costs a lot to go back and make more custom chips vs a cheapo ARM SoC.

[@PurushNahiMahaPurush]

Because PSTV has a bad brand reputation.

[@cocobos]

@@PurushNahiMahaPurush blame their lazy marketing department. I have one at home and I love it.

[@AHYL88]

Sony had SO much (if not everything!) to make a perfectly appealing PlayStation Classic, knowing the backlog of legendary games that defined the original PS1. And yet they managed to screw it up so badly on almost every level!

[@madfinntech]

Indeed. It's so perplexing it isn't even funny.

[@Jaggybabs]

Its all about money. Spend as little as possible milk as much as possible. Its sad to see what theyv become.

[@thisisJim85]

@@Jaggybabs Spend as little as possible is right. Sony didn't have many "in house" titles to work with, and who knows how much they'd have to shell out to get some real gems onto it.

[@LightTheUnicorn]

Love how in depth you've gone with this, lots of good info here. I'm intrigued to get my hands on one, to this day I play a PAL PS1 on a 50Hz CRT, definitely want to see how it looks against that in-person!

[@josephleichtnam836]

That wild arms music at the end.... So good.... SO GOOD

[@BAYDROID]

My phone can run ps1 game more smoothly and 16x anti-aliasing than ps1 classic

[@danuzz_]

and your phone costs over 50% more

[@lightingthief4482]

@@danuzz_ but also can hold more than 20 games. What is your point?

[@automata.]

Most high end smartphones cost over $700. I get what you're saying but it's not a fair comparison

[@danuzz_]

@@lightingthief4482 The hardware is better and more expensive.

[@dango2917]

@@automata. My Note 4 still runs PS1 games better than this.

[@lpnp9477]

So nuts-sounding to me that they're using a 3rd party community emulator to run games in their official product after the whining they did over Bleem and its ilk back in the day. On top of that they can't even configure it correctly. I never wanted to buy this because the selection of games didn't grab me but there's now no chance I'll be buying this even as a gift.

[@yoshi314]

i'd get it when it gets modded. at a lower price. then again, i already have a vastly superior PSTV which does the same things psone classic can do and more (when modded).

[@yoshi314]

@CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG bleem was a direct competition to their new - at the time - console. they also repackaged some psx games for dreamcast, which probably was completely illegal. they might actually have won in court, but sony put them into a war of attrition. nowadays things seem to be more lax, at least when you make commercial emu solutions for retro consoles. but who knows what nintendo might do about it.

[@MasterControl90original]

@@yoshi314 I know right? I mean the pstv used to cost as much or even less the ps classic and it was a great microsystems! I wouldn't be bothered if they reused that architecture and software for the ps classic. What they released is pure garbage just because they didn't even bother to configure properly a very popular and well done community made emulator.

[@Iliek]

Bleem! was controversial because it was being sold in retail stores next to other retail games. Sony or any other company has never gone after someone making or using emulation so long as it wasn't being sold.

[@lpnp9477]

@@Iliek because they can't. Emulation is legal in the US. But you can bet any amount that if they could, they would. Selling an emulator is also not illegal as long as it uses proprietary code and does not include anything protected under copyright like Roms or the system bios. There was no legal precedence at the time for emulators to rely on, so Sony went after them. They would have done the same for free emulators.

[@nuberiffic]

7:07 what 'blurry mess' are you referring to. I don't even know which picture is meant to be the lower quality one - they look exactly the same

[@emoldandriel]

Cool analysis. Didn't imagine it was this bad :(

[@dookie_12]

This $100 turd doesn’t even come with a DualShock controller. PS1 Classic is a total con job.

[@Robert-nl3fd]

If it had dual shocks, it probably would've been $150

[@evilzinabyssranger5695]

i like the original (non dual shock) controllers, in fact in ps1 era ive only had those. BUT the main thing wich is "run the games well/better than the original" it lacks so...its sad.

[@AmpliFreQuency]

The original non-DS controllers may have been better for most games, but not including them meant no Ape Escape, and that's one of the few games that should have made it to this thing.

[@Robert-nl3fd]

@@evilzinabyssranger5695OG DS gamepads were awesome !! They shouldn't have EVER changed them.

[@redhunter1535]

Bunch of junk

[@serialkiller77]

PS1 classic is a joke and a rushed out cash grab. Even Nintendo put more work in their NES Classic and SNES Classic. I almost kept me pre order until I realized I'd have to be a complete idiot to continue with my order.

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

uh just hack it & put whatever emulator & games you want on it

[@Alastor424]

TFxGod it’s not his job to make a quality product

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

@ Alastor424: i'm just telling him what the people buying this are doing with it... if someone is stupid enough to be disappointed by this because they think they can't get these games anywhere else, then i can't help them. i own ALL these games digitally on several other systems, but i'm a collector & i'm not buying it for the games (obviously) 90% of the people buying this are getting it to hack it & do other stuff with it & i'm simply informing him that he can do that.

[@_your_mother_]

@@user-kj4od7ig3t "90% of the people buying this are getting it to hack it & do other stuff" … Not remotely close. There's tons of idiots that are blindly buying this PoS. One look at social media will show you countless examples of these idiots and "gamer" girls throwing money at it. You always have to remember that at least 75% of the human race are mentally r3t@rded (thanks DF censorship). That's why Apple does so well.

[@MississippiMike]

@Branden Weinert Yeah, but as in the case with the SNES/SFC Classic mini, you can get an external hard drive up to 2TB (you only need like 4GB though) and put all the SNES library there, which otherwise wouldn't fit, like it does on the NES Classic mini, with Hackchi. You just use a USB OTG angled adapter, costs like 2 dollars, then a memory stick. Done it with mine and it looks great.

[@thomashoang6789]

Thanks for the heads up that the Playstation Classic is locked to HDMI full range. I changed the setting on my TV and it looks way better! Didn't do anything about the smoothing, but the blacks are no longer crushed and I can see detail in the shadows.

[@ProbeGT2]

Awesome video as usual John! Top notch quality.

[@kanavkapoor3055]

I get the feeling that Sony are getting pretty arrogant with their decisions off of the huge success with the PS4.

[@longregrets6184]

And Xbox is probably more humble then they've ever been. Making alot of pro consumer choices lately with gamepass and backwards backwards compatibility and cross play etc. I honestly think xbox are geard to have a comeback with the next xbox.

[@slippinjimmy5683]

It's a cycle. PS2 becomes the best selling console of all time, Sony gets arrogant, releases PS3 for $599. Sony realizes their mistakes, tries to fix the PS3, releases the PS4, it's a success, they get arrogant, Playstation Classic happens. Same thing with Microsoft, they did great with the 360, they get arrogant, they release the Xbox One with anti-consumer practises like forcing Kinect on everyone and 24/7 online connectivity, they realize their mistakes, they try to fix the Xbox One with backwards compatibility etc. This could mean the PS5 is going to flop due to Sony's arrogance and the next Xbox will do great.

[@longregrets6184]

Yeah they seem to flip flop every other console generation they switch places. Nintendo always is doing there own thing to.Saying they aren't competing with them when they obviously are.

[@peppersteakpie4986]

@@slippinjimmy5683 Xbox One was shit a launch coz of the guy who was in charge at the time, can't even remember his name but I'm glad he's gone. Anyone else would have known that kinect was better off left with the 360

[@DerpDerp27]

@@mutalix oh, they will

[@EvilApple567]

I'd just like to ask anyone thinking of picking this up and modding it, please don't. At least wait until it has embarrassingly failed commercially if you really want that (admittedly beautiful) plastic shell exterior and those neat (analogless) controllers instead of a Raspberry Pi setup or just good ol' regular PC emulation. Even if you want to bring this POS up to speed yourself, don't give Sony your hard earned money for this. Put your foot down and make a statement as an informed consumer, they don't deserve a dime for this.

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

dont want to pay inflated ebay & scalper prices later when they're harder to find. i'll just get one now & hack it. will have an emulator box with games from all classic consoles on it & a cool nostalgic playstation shell that has that sweet playstation intro when i turn it on.... worth it.

[@trentnunyabiz6204]

But it has to be done in the name of SCIENCE!

[@shiningwizard327]

EvilApple567 well said.

[@BmoreAkuma]

@@user-kj4od7ig3t the problem is no one is buying and the most you can get on eBay is $130.

[@snidecommentman]

Preach!

[@holamoco]

23:34 L'estasi dell'oro - music by Ennio Morricone. How did you get that remix?

[@yang5811]

I'd be interested as well. I love this version!

[@zimmerman1031]

First video of yours I've seen, and I really enjoyed it. Subbed and probably going to binge watch some more. Thanks.

[@nickmotsarsky4382]

You're in for a wild ride.

[@jenslyn87]

Unacceptable. Glad I cancelled my preorder. What a shame!

[@olddog4090]

SAD!

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

uh just hack the thing & put a different emulator & the entire library of PS1 games on it... thats what 90% of people are going to do with this thing.

[@matuzaato]

@@user-kj4od7ig3t good look having the whole library on 16gb, but if you want to waste $100 you can do it obviously

[@RobotMasterSplash]

@@user-kj4od7ig3t It only has 16 gb internal memory so you wont be putting more than maybe 25 games on it total. And those old non-analog controllers cramp your hands to hell. It's worthless.

[@user-kj4od7ig3t]

@ matuzaato: i like the PS1 shell, the replica USB controllers (which im sure will be hacked to work on PC soon) the UI interface & the intro sound when you turn it on... that'd be pretty cool to have on a cute little emulator box that i can throw in my bag & take to the hotel with me when i travel (yes i know u can do it on a phone)

[@ZerodragYT]

PS3 and PS Vita will do the job better.

[@haysen123]

yeah, I can play my favorite games, such as Digimon World 3, with Adrenaline flawlessly

[@FenderUsa]

yup, though PC is best

[@alinepiroutek8932]

@@haysen123 I miss an official Digimon World 3 on the platfform. It is one of the games with most issues

[@weaverquest]

You forgot PSP. Any ps one game you buy on psn works on PS3, Vita and the PSP.

[@weaverquest]

@albert fish It is really baffling how much of a missed opportunity this PS1 classic is. Hundreds of PS1 games are sitting on the ps store, only thing Sony had to do was to put at least an ethernet port to the system to download and not fuck up the emulation that they perfectly achieved more than a decade ago but nope. I guess Sony just likes being called incompetent and hates money at the same time.

[@syrusse8660]

You're some kind of genius, at 17:30 I was thinking about, how well would the PSP emulating PS1 would run ridge racer, and BAM, you delivered, I really start to love this channel :o

[@clockworkman8210]

i understand that some games might have been hard to get again due to licensing issues, like wipeout/GranTurismo etc but i still feel it lacks a few heavy hitters that aren't available in other places, like resi 1/MGS1 can be played elsewhere. id have loved loaded, doom, GT, wipeout, soul reaver, castlevania SOTN, silent hill, dino crisis, crash 1, pandamonium and a few more. maybe im being unreasonable but the nes/snes minis feel more complete

[@JohnDonovan1968]

"For The Playe... Money" - $ony

[@cashnelson2306]

welcome to capitalism, it's... great..

[@youtubed3951]

it's like they took cues from AT Games

[@Noname15514]

@Deon Denis It was raped by AT Games.

[@unluckyfriedkitten4808]

Can relate, bought my son the megadrive classic and its terrible, returning it asap.

[@ars7374]

I heard Sega might no longer be working with them

[@Anex952]

@Deon Denis no it wasn't lol. stop making shit up.

[@dudinacas]

@@ars7374 They're not, SEGA are making a new Genesis Classic in-house.

[@GrimReaper4383]

I canceled mine when SONY released the full list.

[@tschwenk0322]

Same

[@cutiefriendsadventures7129]

GrimReaper4383 Why?

[@Ganbakodon]

I just put all ps1 games onto my USB and now I have the whole ps1 catalogue, n64 etc... all playing through this nice tiny console!

[@retrogaming7581]

Well i hacked mine just to enjoy it

[@retrogaming7581]

@@Ganbakodon did you use autobleem?

[@dthompson5150]

PSA: Meryl's codec frequency is on the back of the PS Classic box. There's a picture for each game that is included, and the pic for MGS is a codec call between Meryl and Snake. It's 140.15, btw.

[@massivepileup]

The relevant screenshot for Metal Gear Solid is apparently on the back of the Classic's box.

[@ChanningKing]

massivepileup I’m going to guess it’s also included with that QR/online manual scan that John says isn’t available yet. Having it on JUST the back of the Classic box is kind of risky since most people quickly throw those boxes away.

[@rozasupreme]

Looks like the screenshot was below the box art next to teh memory card icon

[@Veotax]

@@rozasupreme That's a save-state slot. Looks like it was saved on the Codec screen when the footage was recorded.

[@RaiZdbyDINGOES]

you're right there are other videos that show this

[@arsnakehert]

Hahah, nice

[@WarlordRising]

This is a huge fail for Playstation. Modders working in their own time could've done better.

[@DARKSHREK000]

Could've? They have! 😂

[@BlockABoots]

Great video!!. Are you using a different Mic, sounds very echoey!?

[@Nailsinmytummy]

Hope you guys review the new Total War (3 Kingdoms) when it comes out, Creative Assembly botched the shadows, lighting, colors and ambient occlusion on Warhammer 2, it's been a year since release and they've not made much progress in fixing them. They really need a good scolding.

[@RedVGFox]

19:35 Actually, Mery's number is in the back of the PS Classic's box.

[@saturn6458]

*It doesn't even have Knack 2*

[@vinhnhu9381]

saturn 64 it doesn’t deserve to have Knack 2

[@CoratMcRed]

Here doesn’t come the moneyyyy

[@odinsplaygrounds]

How the first game ever got a sequel is beyond a mystery.

[@pegasusdrive12]

@@odinsplaygrounds it was bundled with the launch PS4 and sold over 300 thousand copies. For a game of that scale, that more than enough to warrant a sequel.

[@andymrb]

What do you use to power up your unit? what I learned from using stuff like Raspberry Pi 3, I have to supply it with enough power( 5v, 3 amps), so PS1 games can run at a stable FPS. Otherwise the frame drops occur very very often.

[@madfinntech]

5:57 Earlier models in North America? Because I remember having the simple grey screen in Europe on earlier models and this colorful in later ones.

[@Dr.Strangelewd]

Modern Sony just doesn't care.

[@Noname15514]

Been saying that after their success with the PS4. Just goes to show how dangerous Sony is when their in the market lead. I hope Nintendo over takes the market. And on a side note, I hope Nintendo never gets bought by Disney.

[@Charles-hy6gp]

@@Noname15514 things changed since the PS3 days, because people back them were so cheap, Sony made the PS4 powerful as a low end PCs and behind of PC gaming

[@aseddon130]

With the point about the back of the case of MGS, I believe they have put the codec number on the back of the PlayStation Classic box.

[@ZinhoMegaman]

Modded PSP 2000+original Sony component cable+Samsung DNIe Jr 29" CRT. My 1st PS1 setup. My 2nd is the good old ePSXe with glide plugin and nglide, It increase rendering resolution without any distortion side effect like other plugins.

[@TheSerpentsEye]

Do ROMS loaded with Autobleem use a different emulator that might fix these issues? Using the US versions of the 9 PAL ROMS would be a good place to start?

[@atomicbrain9401]

The Playstation Classic is more disappointing than my performance in the bedroom.

[@zeemonkeyman1]

atomicbrain9401 It’s all about the hands, you should be using them just as much as ya wing wang

[@bloodondope]

you can improve though, my friend, work on your technique and stamina and over time evolve into a competent lover, while everytime you get cozy with the PS classic you will be disappointed once more.

[@atomicbrain9401]

@@zeemonkeyman1 i will try this method, if i ever get another chance. probably not. thank you, brother.

[@atomicbrain9401]

@@bloodondope thank for these words of encouragement, my brother. i will remember them for i do not wish to disappoint like the PS classic does.

[@stryker9816]

My condolences.........

[@undifini]

Why couldn't they just port the PSP emulator? That was ARM too..

[@lpnp9477]

It had special hardware too, it wasn't just software emulation. Only partial.

[@jc_dogen]

PSP wasn't ARM actually.

[@Cyrribrae]

@@lpnp9477 Even if this were the main barrier.. These things cost more than psps do now, probably. And it's not like Sony doesn't 100% control the hardware in the classic anyway.

[@lpnp9477]

@@Cyrribrae Do you think I'm defending Sony or something? Don't @ me.

[@faves2064]

I think they meant the Vitas Psp emulator as the Psvita was arm based. From what I've read the Vitas cpu is much more powerful that that in the classic which probably means that the emulator wouldn't work so well on the weaker hardware 😬

[@pixelatedicon6579]

I see you have Tobal No. 2 in your collection. I used to have that and loved it (was working in SE Asia at the time so got a copy) - a proper 3d fighting game where you could move in 3D, plus a ridicullous amount of fighters and an attempt at a quest mode which was a bit lame as I remember, but unusual.

[@fireface8377]

John fantastic job on this one yet again. You should be very proud of this series, it's top tier content no question. Love DF Retro.

[@browniesg161]

This is an insult to gamers

[@BalsticMaker12]

Brownie Sg1 This is an insult to the developers of the games that worked hard to push the system to its limits.

[@Deliveredmean42]

An insult to mini consoles and overall Sony's legacy. Even a sony knock off mini console is better XP

[@whiteknight5100]

What's an insult to gamers are the legions of PS4 fanboys always trashing the Xbox One. Not this..

[@olddog4090]

Further proof that gamers are the most oppressed group in our society.

[@olddog4090]

@@whiteknight5100 I've seen Playstation fans trashing this or just saying that they're not gonna buy it. Not really sure where you've been looking.

[@AgsmaJustAgsma]

I find a bit ironic how Sony relied on open source emulation for the PSClassic considering the Bleem! debacle, nearly twenty years ago. Granted, Bleem! was a commercially released emulator, but the funny thing is the fact that Sony had lost the lawsuit against them, and considering that Bleem! provided emulation that greatly enhanced PSX games back then, it only makes the PSClassic look more pathetic than it should. You had one job, Sony.

[@vistea1]

I actually got the Gran Turismo 2 Bleem disc a few months ago, and I was blown away at how better the graphics and sound were. Probably the only thing I disliked was the fact you had to format one if the Dreamcast VMUs to save data, but I'm probably going to play GT2 on my Dreamcast for now on.

[@KewBunnBii]

Intelligent Qube! That was one of few games I was extremely good at as a kid, and I only now just found out that it was released the same day as FFVII lol I'm also surprised that Soul Edge/Blade wasn't included in the game list, it started the entire Soul Calibur series which is still quite popular.

[@virgobro2025]

I love the Playstation sound fidelity for the time. Put in a CD and even get a cool visualization. And the midi soundtracks were incredible, even talked me into getting an analog synthesizer. None of these things I like are back. Just an emulator. Sad. Also, dithering is not a bad thing, it's great.

[@trentnunyabiz6204]

Dithering is definitely an interesting effect, making games/shows have a dream like glow surrounding the image that you just don't get on modern displays.

[@teacherfromthejungles6671]

PS1 is one of the best CD music players the humanity ever created

[@PS2GAMER100]

@@teacherfromthejungles6671 yes and my fav games console ever

[@averagegilo]

Damn! Who developed this 'classic' console? At-games???

[@NotaPizzaGRL]

At-games mays as well made this POS it has all of their signatures

[@averagegilo]

@@NotaPizzaGRL except the sega logo. Its disgraceful that they left this out😂

[@gamestar8180]

Paystation Cashic

[@redhunter1535]

Ah good one!

[@flameshana9]

Nice one

[@rodmunch69]

I wonder why the performance on the Nvidia Shield TV is so low? I really haven't ever noticed that on mine, and that's running with all sorts of graphical upgrade options enabled.

[@hobomasterxxx]

The back of the PS Classic box has the MGS codec channel you need. They did think of that, at least.

[@stevenchorlton6217]

Couldn't have timed this video better; just sat down on the bog!

[@Poever]

Bog?

[@RockRedGenesis]

@@Poever British slang for Toilet, Water Closet, Loo etc...

[@Mezman999]

Bog hole....

[@BuzzaB77]

I was just about to type you might have to translate bog for the none english.

[@PierreVonStaines]

Same here, DF Boggo. 💩

[@BaleshNTP]

If any of this truly bothers you, you're probably smart enough to get your own emulator for free

[@rowanunderwood]

PSX emulation was very tricky to tweak for my Arcade cabinet. Many games use multiple resolutions within the same game! I generally just figured out which resolution was the gameplay resolution, and set Retroarch to that one, and just let the menus and FMV's look like crap. This might have something to do with the blurriness on PS classic.

[@troyisfilming]

Ahhhh, that classic PS1 startup sound, my favorite. Good work as always!

[@martianmanhunter8219]

The infamous texture wrapping on PS1 titles is fixable with PGXP option on some emulators most notably PCSXR and mednafen.

[@echelon2k8]

Don't you mean texture warping, not wrapping?

[@marcino457]

9:32 so this is what screams of the damned sound like...

[@ViewDoo]

The best hit about this video is the 80's time share advert soundtrack in the background.

[@DrewTheGamer]

Wonder why they chose to open the video, with the powering up theme to the Sega Saturn?? I love that sound! ;)

[@chinkc96kc]

We don't need no mini-console we need to take those same games and put them on the system that's currently available

[@erikperez4829]

Not everybody plays the newer consoles the mini console are meant for people that might of played games in the past but not now and my wanna relive some of the games they played on the console they played them on stop being a selfish prick

[@theobserver4214]

Erik Perez But the console is shit! Can’t run any of the games in its collection properly and they use the EU version in *America*

[@marty5144]

They wont. They want $100 more out of you

[@Ashamedofmypast]

@@theobserver4214 you mean pal. Not EU. Pal region laws are not evenly enforced in europe. Publishers vary

[@erikperez4829]

@@theobserver4214 im not talking only about the ps1 classic there are good mini consoles

[@pegasusdrive12]

The PlayStation portable was my first console ever. Please make more videos on it.

[@Shozuki]

I live in the UK and imported games back then because I didn't want 50Hz - so there's no way I'd want 50Hz now!!!!!

[@armorgeddon]

Unless a game was made for 50 Hz.

[@Radinne]

Please draw against Man United. Thanks.

[@C.I...]

Play Wipeout 3 Special Edition and get back to me.

[@xuimod]

What display did they test it on? I hope not on a 4k tv because of course a 240p game upscaled to 720p on a 4k screen would look muddy.

[@EmmaTheShark]

So it runs the games worse than the original console. Wow, okay. That's pretty bad.

[@EvilApple567]

How would it possibly run games "better" than the original? The console scales them to 720p (even though poorly) and includes a save state at the very least. Like John said, the hardware is more than capable, they just chose a shoddy emulator and their choice of using half PAL games and not even properly converting them was ludicrously lazy and stupid.

[@mattwolf7698]

@@EvilApple567 It is possible to run games better than original hardware can. There's a Wii U emulator that can run Breath of the Wild at 4K, 60FPS. Granted, that's a new game so maybe they made it so that it could take advantage of newest hardware incase of a re-release in the future.

[@Cyrribrae]

I think emulation usually gives you worse results than original, actually. That said.. Xbox back compat throws this right out the window. Almost every game plays better (sometimes significantly so) for free. Granted, Xbox doesn't go this far back, but still..

[@RobotMasterSplash]

@@Cyrribrae That's definitely not true, modern emulators can harness the power of modern hardware to increase the rendered resolution, apply modifications like widescreen hacks, and even removing old hardware flaws like the video showed with texture warping. PS1 emulators are great because you can run your original discs on them with a cd drive.

[@DJNightcoreHD]

I'll just keep using the disc swap method on my PS2 Slim whenever I feel like playing games I don't have. These emulations are trash.

[@zanychelly]

The games list alone shows that it was handle by someone that barely understand the PlayStation history. Totally Disappointed

[@nhkk2893]

It not about understanding. Its about licensing. They would have never got Crash or Spyro with the remakes here.

[@Kasper702]

Don't worry the system will be modded and new games can be added

[@4jp]

Playstation had over 2000 releases. Most were not by Sony. This is not like with Nintendo where the majority of "classic" games were in house. Besides, the best games never had much of a following anyway. While classy people like you and I would buy a machine that only the best of the best , including Jumping Flash, JF2, Tobal No. 1, Tobal 2 (translate or original), Air Management 96 (hopefully translate), Ridge Racer 60fps, and Top Shop, the majority of moron game players would not.

[@MiguelRPD]

Sony has always shown that they will push out proprietary formats if they have a lack of completion.

[@tommoons4257]

@jesus barrera problem is licensing, mostley music is a huge problem. And even with Gran Turismo licensing for cars would be a problem

[@siloPIRATE]

11:43 This is how it's always run for me. I grew up in a PAL region and knew no better. I don't remember seeing any of the juddering and things you mentioned earlier. I only know 50 fps Tekken 3 and it felt fine. When I came back to it on my emulator it feels kind of slow

[@DefMettle]

the issue with the music i think is related to the PAL version of FF7. i played the PAL version growing up and it definitely had this issue with the music also.

[@jozsefalfaro2350]

No thanks Sony. I rather play my original PlayStation 1 games on my PS2 or PS3.

[@marquisegates8]

I still have my original ps1 and it works perfectly

[@cristianrodriguez8429]

Thats what I'm talking about. I still collect games for ps1 and ps2, even more now that I have a Japanese ps2,i can play hidden gems from Japan or get the games at cheaper prices (aka silent hill saga, shooters ,etc you name it) I'm a big playstation fan, but this mini console just doesn't attract me, I rather spend the $100 on more ps1 or ps2 japanese games or American hidden gems

[@zyker2156]

Shame, my dad bought it me for my birthday. I think I'll enjoy it, especially since most of these games I didn't play on PS1.

[@MrZerosami2]

Dude that's one cool dad

[@yellow98gt]

Don't listen to this crap. Enjoy your gift for what it is. I sure will be

[@disporting]

What PS3 were you using? The original fat 60 GB? The emulation based 80 GB? Or the slim model? I haven't noticed issues in the fat one, but I play mostly 2D games

[@ericmorton4142]

Just in case it hasn't been stated I believe the codec needed in Metal Gear Solid is available on the back of the Playstation Classic box in the area displaying what games are included.

[@Kysen10]

Wow that GTA theme brings back memories

[@bigdb4755]

My god thank you. I was trying so hard to figure out what that was from.

[@mickael486]

I love Playstation but Sony dropped the ball harder than they ever have here. Even the LOADING screens feel longer on this way overpriced PS Classic system. How can they be so lazy to screw this up so bad to make it far WORSE than it played and looked over 20 years ago? I hope someone comes up with an easy hack to improve and add to this crappy device. If it's easily hackable, Sony might actually sell some of these to people that know better than to waste their money.

[@mickael486]

Also, I wouldn't go so far as to call these 20 games great. There's about four of them that fit that description.

[@shiftfire4511]

@@mickael486 Oh no, i would call at least ten of the games listed as great. I wouldn't call some of those great games "Classics", however.

[@Darwin-zd3uh]

Fortunately playstation has many of their games in the psx store. PSP, Vita, PS3, PS4. To me it's just a nice looking paperweight.

[@gamingchannels6889]

The average size of a PSOne game is about... what... 500mb? Mr driller & Intelligent cube are both below 200mb. However FFVIII & MGS are 1 gig/700mb+ respectively. So.. (without doing the math 😋) you MAY BE able to fit a dozen (or two) games on there without deleting the current lineup. Depending on their size. With my “wish list” of games that wouldn’t even cover 1/4 of the titles. I suppose if I could narrow it down to 30 MUST OWN PSOne games.. I could get enjoyment out of that system, but why when I can download A BETTER emulator with what I already have? 🤔. And get 3x the games I actually want. 🤔. I guess the consumers will make the final call.

[@kamakazed3747]

Hell they never even picked the ball up to drop it just kind of kicked it around

[@joshuanorris5860]

23:40 MAN where did i head that?! My nostalgia is tingaling but i cant remember...

[@olizelda]

Can you explain exactly what's wrong with the pstv? I have one and would like to use it for ps1 games, but if there's a better option than I might do otherwise.

[@tomoyaokazakiremiejordan756]

20:16 it's Ridge Racer.... RIIIIIDGEE RACEEER

[@meanmole3212]

Remember that one?

[@shoulinmunkm2]

One meeyun twoops

[@BckDrBOYES]

Attack it's weak point for MASSIVE DAMAGE

[@rkeith7766]

GIANT ENEMY CRAB! 599 US DOLLARS!

[@jamesm876]

@@rkeith7766... Air conditioning in a car.

[@vanceg4901]

Sony you should arrange to have Microsoft handle your emulation.

[@imJGott]

Vance G What’s make it more funny is that it isn’t hard to have the ps1/2 games play natively on the ps4. The ps4 can do it.

[@heisenbergwhite00]

@@imJGott just like it its hard to get the switch running SNES and gamecube emulation....except Nintendo chooses not too....its about money not about what it can do.

[@maskills241]

@@heisenbergwhite00 well in Nintendos defense, they have released Mario galaxy and zelda twilight princes (gamecube and wii games) for the nvidia shield platform in China. Many belive that this is a beta test for a wider rollout of gamecube/wii emulation on the switch, since they share the same specs.

[@urbanmidnight1]

@@imJGott I highly doubt Ps4 could emulate Ps3. Microsoft's emulation is off the scale.

[@imJGott]

@@heisenbergwhite00 money as in? they want to make more money selling mini consoles? because the coding part isnt hard at all

[@RacerX-]

First time viewing your channel and that was a great explanation and review. I appreciated how you used the data from the various systems to show why it is so terrible, not just a bunch of opinions. Thanks! I am glad I canceled my pre-order. I already have friends that bought it now returning it because it works so terrible. So glad I kept most of my games, PS1 and PS2. Those are the true classics.

[@Tomohiko_JPN_1868]

Noob Question about "Graphic output": Toshinden (闘神伝) and Tekken (鉄拳) とか… What if i play a 50 hz game on a Display with AMD Freesync 2 (30-120 Hz) ? (Freesync 2 is a kind of Adaptive Sync and has "Low framerate compensation".)

[@hyungwoo0312]

The device needs to support Freesync as well in order for it to work. So far, the only console known to support it is the Xbox One X. I doubt that the PlayStation Classic supports Freesync.

[@hcervigni]

For the -suckers- players. 😆😆

[@XDLugia]

*for the payers

[@neirubo]

I dont give a damn about PS1 Classic, but a guy that has a Mii picture that says that, when Nintendo makes you to pay 20 a year and give you NES GAMES, not even Gamecube, pls... hahaha :) And yeah Sony...

[@nitrax8629]

The PAL version of Ocarina of Time runs at the same 16.7fps as GTA - it's so bad Nintendo opted to modify the NTSC version when releasing it on the GameCube.

[@MobiusFun64]

The codec number you need for MGS is on the back on the PS Classic box.

[@Zepoku]

The MGS frequence is on the back of the console box, at least on the JP version.

[@argoniantuncboyacyan1780]

Aside from technical things, games on it are really weak. And I think this is one of the reasons why it's so disappointing.

[@youtubed3951]

and the supposed reason they didn't include some of the more iconic games is such bullshit

[@arreca09]

no medievil 2? :(

[@Alpenmilch]

Those games are known hidden gems, so for collectors those are great. The casual gamer won't appreciate it.

[@Adrian-yp7nb]

Lol, rubbish!! Hidden gems? No f-ing way...

[@Metalpug79]

It’s a perfect storm of numerous and completely bizarre choices. A lacking selection with some very odd omissions. Then coupled with a bare-bones presentation, and then capped off with the mind-boggling choice to include a 3rd party emulator, and 9 of the 20 games being the Pal versions which totally mess up the feel and speed of those games. It all screams of a rush job, to try and get their own classic mini console out in time for this holiday season. This device is supposed to be a celebration of this console and generation, and they decided to give it no love and attention. It’s like they didn’t care, and that’s super disappointing.

[@sonicblast19]

So much for Sony giving a crap about their consumers lol.

[@dookie_12]

Complacent Sony is worst Sony

[@DenkyManner]

They only care when they are behind in sales. The second they get ahead they say 'screw the consumer'.

[@speedforce131]

I think it was outsourced to a company that doesn't care.

[@bickle8931]

Sony never cared about consumers my guy. They buy exclusivity for multi platform game content to make you feel like you need the ps4 version, there game subscription service is a joke for example

[@speedforce131]

@@bickle8931 Objectively untrue statement.

[@ottley32]

Was that Wild Arms music at the end. I cant remember?

[@ActualSilverfox]

Anyone know the name of the 90’s song track played during the opening of this DF Retro?