The Official Playstation Thread

[electricmastro]

Didn't realize until now how great Namco was really getting by the time they were putting out games for PS1: Tekken, Klonoa, Tales, Ridge Racer, Ace Combat, etc. Definitely up there with Konami and Capcom.

[Samuel]

Where's the best place to find a cheap PS1? I haven't seen one in years in a thrift shop. The second hand shops that sell physical media are asking around a hundred bucks.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Samuel

[M-S]

A hundred is too much, the first option you have is a PS2, just avoid later Slim models, but if you want an actual PS1 you should look on used games websites and garage sales or import one from Asia and mod it to play western games.

[CapitanClassic]

3 hours ago, Samuel said:

Where's the best place to find a cheap PS1? I haven't seen one in years in a thrift shop. The second hand shops that sell physical media are asking around a hundred bucks.

That price is unreasonable. I would just use shopgoodwill (not really an auction house), and expect to pay $30-$45 after the $10 or so in shipping. These days you don’t even need a working laser assembly, since there are flashcarts that load through the Parallel Port, or other solutions, not including emulation which is getting very accurate and has other advantages. There were 100 million of these things produced, so I cannot see paying that much.

[SlidellMan]

One game from Enix, Quintet, and Zeque that almost never gets any coverage:

Fun fact: Quintet lasted until 2004.

[SlidellMan]

Screen Slayer on my all-time favorite PS1 game:

Enjoy!

[Wayler]

I acquired the PS1 solely because of this game in 1998: Alundra (ok, maybe Gran Turismo also).

 

 

I remember at the time it was rather unfairly touted as just another Zelda-clone and Sony's pale imitator in the genre. Beautiful pixel art and a surprisingly dark and sombre plot, involving death, religion, depression etc. The washed out color palette also gives the game a very distinct feel. But the gameplay is where the game truly shines. The dungeons are filled with really clever puzzles, which there are aplenty. And unlike Zelda, the main character has a jump, which really adds a lot to the experience and level design. I think it's my all time number-two in 2D action adventures, just behind a Link to the Past.

 

 

The only negative I can say about the game is, as cool as the rocking anime intro is, it's so out of place for what the game has to offer.

 

Oh, and forget about the sequal, Alundra 2, it's a clunky 3D polygon mess with boring gameplay.

 

 

[SlidellMan]

Alundra, along with CastleVania: Symphony of the Night, were the best Role-Playing games for the system.

[Cynicaster]

Similar to what someone else mentioned earlier in the thread, the PS1 is the system that got me "back into" gaming in 1997, after 3-4 years of being completely away from it.  I went out and bought a PS1 in the summer of 1997 on a whim, because I made a lot of money (to me) on my summer job that year and I was itching to buy something cool for myself.  

 

It got heavy use over the next 2-3 years while I was in university, especially when I moved in with 3 roommates in 2nd year.  I didn't play a large number of different games over that time, but I did spend lots of hours playing the games I had.  Twisted Metal 2, Tekken 2, Rally Cross, Gran Turismo 1&2, Rage Racer, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider, and Triple Play '98 all come to mind.  Twisted Metal 2 especially - probably an all-time top 10 game for me.  I thought TM3 was garbage though; my roommate bought it and I really wanted to like it but couldn't get into it at all.

 

For most of the last 10 or so years that I've been into retro gaming as an adult, I have kind of ignored the PS1.  I feel like the wonderful stuff that came before PS1 (i.e., 8- and 16-bit pixel art) and after (i.e., smoother, more refined 3D) made the jaggy,  proto-3D PS1 stuff kind of a transitional no-man's land.  However, I've been playing a ton of PS1 lately, discovering lots of 2D arcade-style action games that are really not too different from the earlier console and arcade games that I love. 

 

On that note, if anyone has any recommendations for obscure "hidden gem" type games that have a pick-up-and-play vibe and work with the d-pad, I'd love to hear them.    

 

  

 

 

 

      

[CapitanClassic]

1 hour ago, Cynicaster said:

if anyone has any recommendations for obscure "hidden gem" type games that have a pick-up-and-play vibe and work with the d-pad, I'd love to hear them.    

That request is too broad. For one, there isn’t anything as a “hidden gem type,” of genre of game. Hidden gem mostly denotes a game that either didn’t sell well (So, no greatest hits games) or wasn’t of note in the gaming press.

 

Secondly, everything works with the d-pad (USA) with exception of Ape Escape. Even the list of games that benefit from Analog Controllers is fairly limited.

 

There are lots of hidden gem lists by RacketBoy, Metal Jesus, Den of Geek, etc., but other than pick-up-and-play, you didn’t give any criteria to limit the list.

 

[Cynicaster]

2 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

.

 

There are lots of hidden gem lists by RacketBoy, Metal Jesus, Den of Geek, etc., but other than pick-up-and-play, you didn’t give any criteria to limit the list.

 

Fair enough.  What I mean by “pick up and play” is games that are suitable for shorter, standalone sessions as opposed to “save your progress” and spend dozens of hours across multiple sessions to “beat the game.”

 

I guess “hidden gems” is a bit nebulous but I’m referring to the more under-the-radar games that maybe people randomly discovered in a ROM collection or picked up at bargain bins and ended up enjoying.  Pitball, Devil Dice, Silent Bomber, Shooter: Space Shot are all games I have found one way or another that fit the bill.  

[SlidellMan]

Would Philosoma, Critical Depth, and Rogue Trip suffice? @Cynicaster Kudos for mentioning Silent Bomber.

[M-S]

  I think nobody mentioned it here, but people discovered that in Square Enix's website they were still selling games for old Playstation consoles. As soon as everyone started to post about it online all PS1 games were sold out, but you can still buy games for PS2 and newer consoles. The only PS1 game still in stock was Final Fantasy Origins, the port of the first two games in the series, and all that for just 15U$, of course it isn't perfect, the disc isn't black and it's a "Greatest Hits" copy with a very low quality box, but the PS1 was known for being a console with very cheap games compared to others at the time.

  I think this just shows how people are more interested in having a physical copy of a game they like for a fair price instead of a limited-run collector's edition 100$ game that it's much cheaper elsewhere. Does anyone know if it would be legal if a company decided to reprint their own game for PS1 and release it nowadays without Sony's approvals or logos?

[CapitanClassic]

1 hour ago, M-S said:

Does anyone know if it would be legal if a company decided to reprint their own game for PS1 and release it nowadays without Sony's approvals or logos?

Most likely yes it would be legal (not legal advice, ;)), but there wouldn’t be much of a market for them. Many of the PSOne games are available on PlayStation Network for download to PSP,  PSPVita, PS 3/4/5.

 

One logo that would be tough to remove is the PSX trademark on launch. I believe this logo is displayed by having the appropriate Sony region lock string in the wobble, and also having the PSX logo code on the disc to load.

Quote

CDROM Protection - SCEx Strings

SCEx String

The heart of the PSX copy-protection is the four-letter "SCEx" string, encoded in the wobble signal of original PSX disks, which cannot reproduced by normal CD writers. The last letter varies depending on the region, "SCEI" for Japan, "SCEA" for America (and all other NTSC countries except Japan), "SCEE" for Europe (and all other PAL countries like Australia). If the string is missing (or if it doesn't match up for the local region) then the PSX refuses to boot. The verification is done by the Firmware inside of the CDROM Controller (not by the PSX BIOS, so there's no way to bypass it by patching the BIOS ROM chip).

Other Protections

Aside from the SCEx string, PSX disks are required to contain region and licence strings (in the ISO System Area, and in the .EXE file headers), and the "PS" logo (in the System Area, too). This data can be reproduced with normal CD writers, although it may be illegal to distribute unlicensed disks with license strings.

 

Sony could sue you for infringement of their trademark, but would likely lose if taken to court due to the Sega vs Accolade case.

 

Quote

Nagashima showed the court a game cartridge that ran on the Genesis that did not display the trademark logo. However, the court was not moved by this, deciding that Nagashima's cartridges showed what one could do with knowledge of the TMSS, which Accolade did not possess.[3]: 387 According to the court, because knowledge of how to avoid displaying the trademark on the Genesis III was not information that was public to the industry, Sega's attempt to prove that the display of their trademark was not required for games to be played on the console was insufficient.

 

[dudeguy]

I recently went through Spyro 1 and got 120% man what a fantastic game (and series.) Have memories of playing this game while the Vikings were in the playoffs, I think almost going to the super bowl and hearing my dad swearing in the background while I was playing this game in the other room (may have been the 1999 or 2000 season? cant remember exactly) The game is easy as hell obviously and sometimes thats what you want, just a relaxing collect-a-thon with great BGM and colorful graphics. it's a shame to see the series being milked for all its worth with lesser sequels subbed out to other developers on the newer platforms. It couldve ended with #3 and I wouldve been fine with that

[SlidellMan]

Working Man Games on Kileak: The DNA Imperative:

And his review of a certain X-Files game:

 

[SlidellMan]

For those who remember Critical Depth and Rogue Trip.

[Warmsignal]

It's amazing to me how I've owned a PlayStation since 1999, and collected seriously for it since about 2009, and I still occasionally find out about games I've never heard of. I think it almost creates a problem when there's too many games on a console, a lot of good stuff without the money for a big marketing push behind it, goes unnoticed by the public. It was the only system of that generation that had a massive library, yet you only hear about the same 20 or so games in every list.

[KidGameR186496]

It seems nobody have checked this out before but the prolific homebrew author Orion is doing a Kickstarter for a platform game intended for Playstation and Game Boy Advance. Looks pretty dope!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/orionsoftgames/alice-sisters-a-new-gameboy-advance-and-playstation-1-game

[SlidellMan]

Speaking of Forgotten PS1 games:

Blue Tag's reviews TM1 & 2:

 

[roots.genoa]

Just posting to follow that topic. Don't mind me. 😉

[CapitanClassic]

My Google-fu is weak. I am looking for which demo disk contained a demo of the Japanese import game, Ore No Ryomi. It was a restaurant simulation, where people placed orders at your counter, and you performed cooking tasks with the dual-analog sticks to make the food to perfection (Onions chopped small, beer poured with the perfect amount of head, meat perfectly grilled, etc). The customers would get up and leave if you took to long, or failed other tasks like killing cockroaches, or calling the police to toss out drunks.

 

Several threads on sites say that it was in the Official PlayStation Magazine, but I get the feeling it was one the PlayStation Underground (PU) 1.0, which also had an import section. (Interesting note, the initial release of PU also included a save game with a bunch of Carnage Heart OKE designs by the original developers. I think I found a copy of the backup long ago, but likely lost it on a hard-drive somewhere)

Later PU discs contained another interesting game, Remote Control Dandy, where you controlled a large remote controlled robot through a city as you walked along the ground (the Japanese love their huge robot games).

 

 

[SlidellMan]

My personal favorite PS1 game that didn't involve SingleTrac, Capcom, or OddWorld:

 

[CapitanClassic]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:51 PM, CapitanClassic said:

 

I did find the Remote Control Dandy demo. It is on PlayStation Underground, v3.4, ReleaseDate: 1999-12-01

 

[electricmastro]

Would this have to be the biggest let down on the system?

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by electricmastro