Sony - PlayStation Classic Console

I was so looking forward to the release of the PlayStation Classic that, against my better judgement (I hardly do pre-orders) I ordered as soon as it was available. Then, the leaked and released information came out and I started to worry. However, I continued to have faith that Sony would deliver a gaming experience I was hoping for. Well, the day came and I sadly have to admit that the rumors and reports were true. This is one of the poorest conceptions that Sony has ever implemented. Upon opening the box, the "look" of the console is cute and gives it a "collector's items" sort of feel, which is nice. However, the feeling soon wears out as I noticed that it did not come with a power pack. Just a micro-USB cable and the HDMI cable. So I ended up using a spare phone charger (make sure it is the right voltage). I fired up the console hoping to see a great UI. Unfortunately, it is bare and lackluster. There are no bells or whistles. There are few options (no catscan lines or resolutions, or disk speed, etc.) OK... At least I have the games. I was then even more disappointed by the lineup. Everyone's got favorites they'd like to see, but mostly everyone agrees that it was less than expected. I personally wished they'd included titles such as Parappa the Rapper, Crash Bandicoot (the original mascot!), and Spyro… Well, I immediately went to start my favorite games of the bunch -Metal Gear Solid. Oh boy, to my horror it looked terrible on my 50" 4k TV. Much blockier than I remember. Also, this game works best with vibration so using the "original controller took something away from the experience I remember... Yes, I know that the original res and polygon count was much, much lower, but there was absolutely no effort in making it any better. Even the PSP and VITA did a much better job! I even tried it on a smaller 32" 1080p screen. I then played other favorites such as Tekken 3 and Ridge Racer Type 4. Even more horrifying was that they move oh-so-slow! This is because they decided to use Europe's PAL instead of NTSC, lowering the frequency and therefore affecting the "speed" of the game. There's also no chance of updating the firmware or line up (maybe by way of USB, but that's wishful thinking) I really cannot recommend this console at $99.99 at all. If it ever goes below $30USD, maybe I would recommend it, but only as a nostalgia item. Sorry to be so tough on it, but Sony did deserve it this time...

Almost half the line up is the PAL version instead of the NTSC version for North America. This means that there will be a NOTICEABLE input lag on almost half the games. The colors on the games are all muted and don't pop at all. The interface is going for a retro PS1 memory card menu look, but the design is lazy and the developers could have done much better. Two controllers are included (which is nice) but they are not dual shock and a few games I feel would benefit from having the two motion sticks. The line up of games isn't a good representation of the true gems that are on the console. Not convinced of this? Just look at the NES and SNES classic; these two consoles had games on it that were the top sellers on the system. There is no AC adapter included, and in today's age of technology and electronics is unacceptable. Save your hard earned money and buy a used PS3/PS2 console to play PS1 games of your choosing, use an emulator or just buy a PS1 console. Lazy effort by Sony on this one. Pass on this

This thing is giving me flash backs to the Neo Geo X that came out a few years ago. People keep complaining about the games list when really that is not the worst of its problems. The emulation of these games is so bad its pretty shocking. Sony should have hired M2 to lead this project to get some decent results. The games have slow down and the sound is out of sync, they also put a blur filter over everything so it looks terrible.(NO OPTIONS IN THE MENU TO FIX THIS!) If you still have a PS2 just use that as it looks and sounds 100% better than this package. Do not buy this unless you are a collector and don't plan to use it. With Sony censoring games and putting out sloppy cash ins on our nostalgia, they sure are having a incredible end of the year for Playstation fans.

Just as everybody else has said, the PlayStation Classic is a joke. I played it for about 30 minutes and promptly did a factory reset and return to the store after seeing how terrible the emulation on some of the games were. For $100, Sony should have included Dual Analog controllers at the minimum and put actual NTSC/U games on the console. They must have gone with the PAL versions to keep the frame rates from skipping too much because of hardware limitations. The game selection is also pretty lame and does not capture the true entertainment potential of the system. Sony would be much better off if they introduced a budget console next year to allow for PS1, PS2, PSP, and Vita emulation with a store where you could buy the games you want and include some greatest hits in the box to get you started.

I originally pre-ordered this system, never opened it, watched the initial reviews and honestly returned it (unopened) seeing the price was going to drop eventually. Its a 3 star product at $99. The recent price drop to $59 is why I gave it a 4 star. now onto the device, super happy with the platform, its OPEN system OS allows for expansion and already people have hacked the system to play games off a USB. Out of the box, this is great for kids and a flash back on when the PS was a big hit. I already have the NES and SNES that I play with my kids, this one will be re-purchased at the lower price point to enjoy with the kids and my child hood games. reason for no 5 stars is lack of AC plug (not that we need it, plenty of us all have them, or plug the USB into side of TV like I do with NES and SNES, but still include the $5 item), and there are numerous games not included in the release of the system. (Crash bandicoot, Gran Turismo, Parappa the Rapper, etc) I wanted more games on it. overall I think its a solid 3.5/5 stars. Recommend for anyone who wants a flashback game night, something for the kids to play with/family game night, or a game collector.

Bought this mostly to add to my gaming collection and because of the nostalgia of the original system. The quality of the system feels perfectly fine, and the controllers feel like the usual Sony quality. I knew the game selection wasnt great going in, but half of these Ill never even start once, they should have added better quality games. While the hardware seems solid, the software emulation feels very slow and lazily implemented. Hopefully some aftermarket tweaks will make this niche system what it should have been. For the $100 price tag, I can't recommend anyone buy this for anything other than a collectable item.

As a PlayStation owner of all their devices, the Classic was going to be an awesome addition, maybe even replace my original PS1 - sadly it was rushed out the door in a very poor state. While the SNES Classic and NES Classic were not completely perfect, they worked well enough for all to enjoy with features a plenty and a library that defined the platform - the PS1 Classic was the complete opposite. With a selection of games that were only half good on the PS1 Classic, too many factors brought even those in question. Some PS1 titles were European versions that run badly and the emulation used for all titles made everything run even worse. The features available are lackluster and the only thing that saves this device is the hacking community but the initial purchase price is too much right now. $100, no. $60, no. $20 - $40 - it's the only time you should even contemplate picking this up. I returned mine after watching Digital Foundry's video review and other PS1 Classic reviews - this device is just not up to snuff and rushed to market to meet Christmas buyers not aware.

I knew what I was getting into when buying it. We all knew the game line up, we all knew it wasn't going to have rumble or analog sticks so no-one can complain about that if they bought it (you can easily see that from the box art). Overall they did a great job on making it look like a mini (though I do find myself wanting to open the cd lid at times). I was happy with the game line up about 60% of the games I like are there (you are just not going please everyone 100% of the time). I knew of the DS controller not having joysticks, but I never knew how "hard" it is to play these older games without it. Yet like I said I knew it didn't have it going into it. Only 2 issues I have with it was I felt Twisted Metal had some latency issues with the controls (or it could have just been not what I remembered) Also it didn't come with a power adapter. You spend $100 and they couldn't include a $1 adapter (though it stated that on the box)? I gave it 4 stars because it was what I expected and the games ran perfectly except for TM (I think). Nothing really surprised me out of the box or upset me that I didn't already know before buying it.