PlayStation Classic: Disappointment Awaits

Retro plug and play consoles are nothing new. AT Games has been plugging away at these things for around a decade. But in the last year or so, things have changed. Where as AT Games has been content to release abysmal plug and play systems featuring shoddy emulation, Nintendo raised the bar with the NES and SNES Classic mini consoles. These systems not only have a great selection of games as well as screen options but also sport outstanding emulation. Suffice to say that sub par efforts for the plug and play retro machines are no longer going to cut it. Sony has thrown their hat into the mini retro console ring with the PlayStaiton Classic, which releases today. With the success of the aforementioned Nintendo mini consoles, and Sony being behind the PS Classic,

When the trailer for the PS Classic was first revealed, things looked very promising. The system comes with two controllers, its much smaller than the original PlayStation and among the first games divulged were Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Final Fantasy VII and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, some of the best of the best games  that Sony's first system had to offer. Then, the remaining list of games came to light an it raised a lot of eyebrows. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six? Freaking Battle Arena Toshinden? No Resident Evil 2, no Twisted Metal 2, not a single Crash Bandicoot or Spyro game, nothing from the Ace Combat series. Not a single space shoot 'em up to be found (at least in the North American and PAL versions) and of all the fighting games, Sony went with Battle Arena Toshinden, one of the worst games in the genre on the system. Soul Blade and Street Fighter Alpha 3 are off weeping in a corner. After the full game list reveal, things only went further downhill.

Early hands on play reported lousy emulation. There are no screen filter adjustment options. The user interface, while paying homage to the original PS blue screens looks bland and very uninspired. However, what prompted people to stat throwing dirt onto the coffin was when they learned that nine of the games would be the PAL versions and among those nine titles was Tekken 3. Are you freaking kidding me? You're asking us to play Tekken 3, one of the fastest, smoothest running games on the PS at a measly 50hz? People had already begun canceling preorders for the PS Classic and with this news, even more followed.

The user interface of the PS Classic. Sure, it is
nostalgic, but also yawn inducing. 

You know when your child does something that doesn't please you or something that you don't approve of and they ask if you're angry? You're undoubtedly not happy with what they've done and that is clearly shown by your facial expression as well as your body language. Yet you aren't angry. Instead you respond to them with the tried and true "I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed." That is precisely how I feel about the PS Classic.

The PS was born out of some very bad blood between Sony and Nintendo. I'm sure many of you already know that Sony was to partner with Nintendo to created a CD based system but Nintendo didn't like the idea of Sony having so much control in this deal so they went behind their back and partnered with Philips, publicly humiliating Sony when the Big N announced their new deal during the 1991 Consumer Electronics Show. Sony then tried to partner with SEGA to make a console but when that fell threw, they decided to go solo and create the sleek gray box we all fell in love with.

Even the best games on the PS Classic aren't immune from performance
issues due to less than stellar emulation.

With the original PS, Sony found great success in the gaming market. 3D games were helped realized thanks to the PS and Sony showed that they were a serious force to be reckoned with. As an added bonus, Sony got sweet, sweet, revenge on Nintendo for stabbing them in the back. Because Nintendo did them dirty, the Big N actually created one of their biggest rivals. Not only did PS outsell the N64 (by a huge margin) but the SEGA Saturn as well, being the market leader for the fifth as well as the sixth console generation.

The original PS is where it all began for Sony. So to see the PS Classic turn out to be such a mess is truly appalling. I can't help but think the pitiful state the PS Classic released in is due to Sony's current position, which is once again the market leader with the PS4. When Sony is on top, they tend to be very arrogant and make mistakes. The PS3 struggled during the first few years of it's life due to Sony's massive ego with it's high price point. Multiplatform games ran better on the 360 and the Wii ended up kicking the PS3's teeth in. The PS Classic is the very definition of a cash grab, showing how little Sony care's about their legacy. Digital Foundry has an excellent video that I've posted below that goes into the major technical aspects of why the PS Classic is such a disappointment, so I  highly recommend you check it out. If you want to get a loved one a retro gaming compilation steer clear of the PS Classic. There are far better options out there.