The PlayStation Classic Is Apparently Doing So Well That It’s Already Being Heavily Discounted! – Should you get one now or is it still a waste of money?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Sony recently released their PlayStation Classic mini-console. Unfortunately, Sony didn’t seem to care an awful lot about it, released an unpolished product and now, the mini-console is already seeing massive price cuts!
What’s the deal with the PlayStation Classic? What about recent discounts?
At first glance, the PlayStation Classic looks like a nice small PlayStation 1 that’s there to be an easy way to play some old classics. However, it’s plagued by quite a few problems which kind of make it lose its value and these include:
- A lackluster selection of games that doesn’t include classics like Crash Bandicoot, Chrono Trigger and Spyro
The PlayStation Classic’s game line-up is pretty disappointing as it doesn’t include masterpieces like Chrono Trigger but at least you can easily sideload other games!
- The fact it is using an open source emulator (PCSX ReARMed) rather than an in-house emulator. As a result, the PlayStation Classic has some performance issues which is pretty mind blowing considering the age of the hardware it’s emulating
- A UI that’s quite unattractive which doesn’t have many features. One notable gripe when it comes to features is that the PlayStation Classic only allows you to utilise one save state slot per game which is pretty disastrous.
Thankfully, Sony not only neglected the software side but it also neglected security hence making it very easy for end-users to add their own games and paving the way for future homebrew developments to take place! As a result, the PlayStation Classic might get emulators for other platforms, the ability to run full Linux distributions and much more since it’s really just a cheap ARM mini PC.
Recently, the PlayStation Classic has been available on places such as Amazon, B&H Photo and Walmart for under $60 which is a pretty significant price reduction from the original retail price of $99.99. According to Business Insider, Sony said that these promotions are to run until January 26, 2019 so they apparently won’t be forever but by then, some retailers may be selling them at even cheaper prices if sales figures aren’t great.
Should I get a PlayStation now? Are there better options?
In my opinion, buying a PlayStation Classic at $60 isn’t the worst of ideas considering how easy it is to sideload your own PlayStation 1 games on it.
Older Core 2 Duo PCs can be had for very cheap and they can make excellent emulation machines if you invest a bit of time in them! However, they don’t look as nice as a PlayStation Classic 😉
Furthermore, it looks pretty nice and you get two PS1-style controllers with it which means that you’re getting a decent amount of hardware for your $60. That being said, I’d personally look at going with alternatives which include:
- Grabbing an older computer that you no longer use and turning that into a retro-gaming machine. PlayStation 1 emulation isn’t demanding at all and can run comfortably even on a higher-end Pentium 4 machine so you might as well embark on a DIY project, slap Linux or Windows 7 on an old computer and be able to play a much wider range of games!
- Purchasing a PlayStation TV on firmware 3.68 or lower (the latest FW is 3.69) so that you could hack it. This solution offers you the ability to play PSVita, PSP and PS1 games natively along with a whole barrage of native homebrew and emulators for many consoles like the SNES and NES all while using a DualShock 3/4 for input.
- Getting a used PlayStation 3 on FW 4.82 or below (so that you could hack it) for a little extra as the PS3 lets you play PS1 games natively! Furthermore, you can install RetroArch and emulate many older consoles if you don’t mind tinkering with the console.
Conclusion
Before going ahead with buying a PlayStation Classic, I’d personally think about the alternatives mentioned above especially if you don’t care for the looks too much.
However, if you still want to get a PlayStation Classic, it may be wise to wait just a bit longer as the mini-console might receive further sales since demand doesn’t seem too great as of now!
Note: If you decide to buy a PlayStation Classic through the link Amazon link provided above, Wololo gets an advertising fee.
Maybe if I had some bucks to spare, but money is scarce nowdays
Pentium 4!!?!??! I was using Bleem on a Pentium 3 and other AMD piece of *** back in the day.
Or you could just get a raspberry 3 and install Retropie on it to play all your PSX games AND emulate much more platforms. It’s cheaper and you have a device that you can easily mount behind your tv for example. Also works with Bluetooth controllers with minimal lag.
Having seen a raspberry pi 3 in action I say it’s really the way to go. Also don’t be alarmed by the bluetooth minimal lag, only a true speed runner will complain. There are far to much of advantage to emulate PSone on Rpi. Except from those already mentioned, other advantages are option to have greater library of games with video previews, emulate shaders and overlays, more save slots, plus other options I forgot. If you really want a good looking case, you could like in my case, get one 3d printed. Or if you have money to spare, why not buy discounted PS1 classic and replace the innards with a Rpi.
I did that awhile back and have my rpi3 in the nespi case, this thing can do many things since its basically a mini linux computer and depends on what os is installed on the sd, I have on sd with kodi and that has retroarch in it, and I have a 32gb image of a custom themed emulator that looks like a pandora 4s. but I still am keeping both my vita oled 3.60 and pstv
You forgot the fact that many of the games were PAL versions, complete with 50 FPS, making everyone suffer poor performance for being able to sell it in Quebec.
Frankly I’m not sure how Sony America got the idea to include the horrible Persona translation either.
FF7 is arguably the worst translated PS1 game. I liked the game but I don’t see why people are blinded to the fact 8, and even 9 where better games.
But yeah, horrible line-up.
It will never be worth it IMO, anyone who prefers this over a PSTV is insane.
39 at Target with cart wheel app
Nice sneaky amazon ref links, no real information in the article either. So glad I block ads on this “website”
I’ve had my ps3 modded for 7 years and still haven’t figured out how to run ps1 games and haven’t come across a tutorial that worked for me yet. Does anyone have any advice on this?
How to Easily Play PS1 ISOs on a Jailbroken PS3 Easy modding: https://youtu.be/icA1B81tU3o
This thing doesn’t even include an AC adapter? That’s hilarious. I can’t believe how cynical Sony has become after a little bit of success with PS4.
Strange because every other site is actually saying that the PS Classic is doing awful and Sony was force to lower prices.
Bleemsync 0.7 is out soon (has integration of retroarch + many important fixes), makes PSC worth more than ever.