$100 PlayStation Classic Console

[tthurman]

Sony Just Announced The $100 PlayStation Classic Console

 

Everyone is doing it!

[hansolo77]

Yeah, I saw it.  Unless they plan on having REMASTERED or high res versions of the games, I'm not interested.  The PS1 wasn't too long ago, not like the NES.  This is just a cash grab to get in on the retro craze.  You can still play these games.  It's not like you have to resort to spending TONS of money buying consoles and games on eBay that aren't made any more, or have to play through emulation of some sort.  There is absolutely no benefit to this, other than HDMI.  It doesn't even come with an AC adapter.

[tthurman]

The console was released on 3 December 1994.

Not sure about where you're from, but here 24 years in quite a long time.     In all fairness to Sony, it is the oldest console they have.  That said, I don't give a flip about it either, nor do I about the Mega drive that's coming next year.

 

I'm to the point where I wish the whole "retro is cool" phase would just go away. 

Sure it is cool to see the arcades returning and the NES classic would have been cool except Nintendo is a bunch of asswipes that doesn't deserve anyone's business due to the way the shit all over their customers.

Now though, it's too the point where everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and taking all the memories we had;  the ones that have motivated us to build arcade cabinets and gut old NES boxes, and bastardizing them! 

It is ruining the hobby I love by taking that boutique sort of shine off of something you can no longer buy and instead, making it into something that will litter the landfills for years to come once the "renew" has worn off.

 

 

[Draco1962]

I am looking forward to the Atari console for the retro feel of it and the fact will be able to do more.

[tthurman]

Don't even get me started on that Atari thing!

 

Seems to me it's just a Kickstarter thing, without the Kickstarter part!

[hansolo77]

I'm still waiting on the Atari bit too.  I'm starting to be concerned since they took my money and haven't posted ANYTHING about it in months.

[stigzler]

Screw 'em and their corporate ways. Get off our hobby, pigs!

[Draco1962]

2 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

I'm still waiting on the Atari bit too.  I'm starting to be concerned since they took my money and haven't posted ANYTHING about it in months.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/atari-vcs-game-stream-connect-like-never-before?gclid=CjwKCAjwio3dBRAqEiwAHWsNVQ2t4of1oYeWafLw1GK5fK_0t1Akj6S2zVxH4xkZLGb9YGADATX7KxoCYz4QAvD_BwE#/updates/all

 https://medium.com/@atarivcs/https-medium-com-atarivcs-behind-the-scenes-atari-vcs-mid-summer-hardware-summit-44cddc7e474c

 

[tthurman]

I"m going out on a limb here (not really) by saying no way this thing launches July 2019. 
 

As of June 22nd, they didn't even know what it was, and fiddling with mainboard designs to not overheat in a pre-determined shell seems asinine to me. 

This will undoubtedly result in a lower powered machine since nobody in their marketing department apparently had the foresight to consider that what's under the hood is the quintessential key to the overall performance of the unit.  Instead, they seem to have thrown caution to the wind and focused solely on aesthetics.  It's like they designed a car and then someone said: "oh shit, we forgot the engine".

 

I suspect the scale of the device to increase and that they will probably regret publishing an estimated release date before it's all said and done.

[hansolo77]

4 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/atari-vcs-game-stream-connect-like-never-before?gclid=CjwKCAjwio3dBRAqEiwAHWsNVQ2t4of1oYeWafLw1GK5fK_0t1Akj6S2zVxH4xkZLGb9YGADATX7KxoCYz4QAvD_BwE#/updates/all

 https://medium.com/@atarivcs/https-medium-com-atarivcs-behind-the-scenes-atari-vcs-mid-summer-hardware-summit-44cddc7e474c

 

Thanks.

[stigzler]

8 hours ago, tthurman said:

As of June 22nd, they didn't even know what it was, and fiddling with mainboard designs to not overheat in a pre-determined shell seems asinine to me. 

Awesomeness. Haven't seen the word 'asinine' for donks.

[Draco1962]

I don't expect it to hold up against the latest gen consoles. Yeah, I backed it, and I have spent more on worthless crap and still lived to tell about it. Let's see if they pull it off.

[RIP-Felix]

I'll buy it, if for no other reason than it's cool. But I do have other reasons:

1. 20 games ($5 per is okay, but some can be had for less used. Depends on the titles and last I looked they only announced 4 or 5)
2. The form factor of these little consoles fits perfectly under my TCL Roku TV's feet. I can line them up side by side.
3. There's a chance it can be cracked to add games.
4. I like to support 1st party develpoers when they make retro minded decisions. Of course they do it to make money, they exist to make money, not for our joy. That's why there is a retro gaming community, because we wanted more for our beloved childhood games than to see them decay and disappear. However, when a 1st party dev makes a move that shows me they're thinking about preserving the past, I like to reward them. Even if they only release the 20 best selling titles, to the exclusion of hidden gems and cult classics.

I have reservations:

1. My CECHA01 PS3 is probably still the best way to play PS1, 2, and 3 games. It does about the best job of upscaling and is 1st party hardware based backwards compatibility, not emulation. So I don't really need this. I never thought backwards compatibility would shoot Sony in the foot twice. Not only did it stall PS3 sales, but now it's going to reduce their retro console sales. There's only one way the greedy corporate types will see backwards compatibility forevermore, as a mistake not to be repeated. Further they have their ports on the PSN, so why would they care. I don't see the trend of only saving best selling titles for resale stopping anytime soon. They'll continue to neglect the cult classics and hidden gems until they are lost to history. Thus piracy and emulation will thrive where they (Sony, Nintendo, game devs and so on) fail their otherwise loyal fans.
2. The controller is the original, non Dualshock, type. While I like the iconic look, it's not good for playing long sessions. It will also limit the selection of games. If the system is cracked, the controller port will need an adapter for a dualshock 3 or 4. 8Bitdo perhaps, but I suspect their departure from the NES & SNES controller designs was nintendont's doing. So they may have to stick to the DIY modkits from now on.

 

[stigzler]

Most important question: will it make me 20 again?

(bloody hell - where did 24 years go?)

[RIP-Felix]

So I picked up my PS Classic on the way in to work today. It didn't seem like there was any big run on them, it was in the case and the gal said they had more in the back. Just got home and hooked it up.

The controllers are indeed standard USB, so you just need a USB extension cable to make the controller cord long enough to reach the couch. Actually, one of the first things I did was to plug in my 8BitDo USB adapter. Sure, it fits just fine, but the PS classic doesn't recognize it. Not that I expected it to, but you don't know unless you try. Too bad, it would have allowed me to pair my PS3 controller. Oh well, I guess that will come with the hack...assuming it can be. This will start to look like a much better purchase at $100 once I can load my favorites and use a PS3 controller from the couch.

I don't like that the power LED cannot be turned off. When the console is off it's red and turns green when powered on. No settings to have it turn off.

Overall I like it. I'll say that while it is overpriced, it is nostalgic and cool non the less.

[hansolo77]

It'll be interesting to see if you can get a PS3 or 8BitDo with analog to work with it, and find out the games that would use them (like MGS) would still use it lol.

[RIP-Felix]

On 12/4/2018 at 12:14 AM, hansolo77 said:

It'll be interesting to see if you can get a PS3 or 8BitDo with analog to work with it, and find out the games that would use them (like MGS) would still use it lol.

Shouldn't be too far off. It's already been hacked and at least 1 custom game added. Compared to the same emulator running on a SNESC or NESC, SONY's implementation of PCSX rearmed sucks, even with the PS Classic's superior hardware specs. All will be corrected shortly once retroarch is tucked under the hood and the emulators are optimized by the community. Then you can load the 20 games you think should have been there and use any controller you want.

What I like best about the PSC over all the other classic consoles is it has 2 front facing standard, non proprietary, USB ports! Any controller or adapter you may have previously bought for PC or RasberryPi should, in theory, be usable. I have a suite of adapters for all my OG controlers. So I'm really hoping the PSC can handle all the emulators up to and including the N64. I'm curious to see how well the PSC handles N64 emulation with thoes superior specs. Perhaps on par with an Odroid? Better? I can't wait!!!

[RedDog]

$100.00 down to $39.99? Wow.

[hansolo77]

I dunno...  still not thinking it's worth it.  Did anybody buy one?

[tthurman]

The controllers are probably worth it.  It's my understanding that they work on the PC.

Now $52

[ClassicGMR]

On 2/13/2019 at 7:51 PM, hansolo77 said:

I dunno...  still not thinking it's worth it.  Did anybody buy one?

I've had one for a month or so now. I love it. Not for what it is out of the box but what it does with RetroArch and BleemSync. :)

I personally would have paid $50 for it (but I got one as a present).

[RIP-Felix]

I got one on launch, for $99 (ouch). Honestly, I haven't had much time to hack it. I tried a few USB sticks I have lying around, but they are hit or miss. I'm waiting for the USB OTG version which should be soon. I did update the firmware on my 8Bitdo USB adapter so that it will work on the PS classic. So now I can use my SN30Pro or a PS4 controller on it! BleemSync is sweet and the PSC has more horsepower under the hood than a Pi or NES/SNES classic. So I'm happy with the purchase, not for what Sony gave us, but the potential unleashed by enthusiasts.

[hansolo77]

@RIP-Felix - Sorry to go off topic here... you mentioned you have an SN30Pro.  I have one of those.  Have you had any luck getting the rumble to work with your RetroPie builds?  Mine was in storage since the launch and I pulled it out for my new Retroid build.  After updating the firmware, I only get the vibration when I turn it on.  Not sure what's wrong.

[RIP-Felix]

18 hours ago, hansolo77 said:

@RIP-Felix - Sorry to go off topic here... you mentioned you have an SN30Pro.  I have one of those.  Have you had any luck getting the rumble to work with your RetroPie builds?  Mine was in storage since the launch and I pulled it out for my new Retroid build.  After updating the firmware, I only get the vibration when I turn it on.  Not sure what's wrong.

Unfortunately, no . I think it has to be in X-input or switch mode to work, and Pi's / classics don't seem to like that mode. It surely is possible, but I'm not aware of anyone who has devoted the time to code a driver specifically for it. I'm not sure about DS4 controllers, I imagine there is a larger cohort of users that would like to get vibration working for it.

[hansolo77]

5 hours ago, RIP-Felix said:

Unfortunately, no . I think it has to be in X-input or switch mode to work, and Pi's / classics don't seem to like that mode. It surely is possible, but I'm not aware of anyone who has devoted the time to code a driver specifically for it. I'm not sure about DS4 controllers, I imagine there is a larger cohort of users that would like to get vibration working for it.

I got rumble working on my RetroPie/NES build using the wireless XBOX360 controller.  So I agree, it is possible.  I need to tinker more.