Should You Buy a Sony Playstation Classic Edition? Can Sony Take Advantage of No N64 Classic?

In this video, we test out and review the Sony PlayStation Classic Edition.

You can watch our unboxing video at the link below:
https://youtu.be/6Cz9ZXd8gu0

The Sony PlayStation classic edition is finally here, and not without its controversy. From the choice of games included, the selection of PAL vs. NTSC games, the price, and a whole lot more people have not embraced the Sony PlayStation Classic Edition in quite the same way that they did with Nintendo's NES Classic and Super NES Classic Edition.

Upon opening the box and setting the system up you are greeted with a rather lackluster but utilitarian menu system. Each game offers one save State in addition to the memory card settings. 20 total games are here, a lot of the most popular games on the system such as Final Fantasy 7. There's also a lot of games that I think shocked everybody regarding their inclusion. The 20-games included with the PlayStation Classic are, well, meh. If it wasn't for this YouTube channel I would not have purchased one. The games list includes:

Final Fantasy VII
Grand Theft Auto
Metal Gear Solid
R4 Ridge Racer Type 4
Tekken 3
Twisted Metal
Battle Arena Toshinden
Cool Boarders 2
Destruction Derby
Intelligent Qube
Jumping Flash!
Mr. Driller
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Rayman
Resident Evil Director's Cut
Revelations: Persona
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Syphon Filter
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Wild Arms

I started at the very first game and went from there with each of the games on the system. I never owned any of the 20 games that are included on the PlayStation Classic, so for me, I was excited to try out some of the games that I missed out on originally. Man, I didn't miss much.

One of the issues with the PlayStation classic games is simply that they have not aged well. Very similar to the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo 64 the blocky graphics do not look good. However, Via HDMI, the pixels look sharp, the lines look good, and audio seems spot on. Some of the text in the games seemed a little bit blurry which I did not expect.

The included controller is ok, it has the right shape, the buttons seem ok, but man, they just do not feel good in the hand. They are really lightweight and feel like a cheap knockoff. I never felt like the controllers cost me any lives or anything, but man, I expected so much better from a Sony controller.

Why it RoX:
- Great aesthetics
- HDMI Playstation
- Easy to Hack
- Controllers use USB port

What Could Be Improved?
- Games list is quite poor
- Many games are PAL
- Controllers feel like knockoffs
- No official way to add games
- Only one save state per game
- The menu feels lazy and uninspired
- Ridiculously short controller cord
- Other USB Controllers do not work with the system

Should You Buy One?
The list of games is what really hurts the PS Classic, at least for me. There's less than 5 games that I really want to play, and that's pathetic. Sure, the NES and SNES Classics had games I wasn't interested in, but it wasn't 75% of the games on the system! As of the time of this review, some retailers have already started taking $25 off the price of the system, never a good sign.

The one saving grace is the fact that the system is just so blasted easy to hack. If not for that and the ability to add your own games, which we will show you in a future video, this system is an Edsel. Sony should be embarassed over what a hot mess the PlayStation Classic is, especially when you consider there's no competition from an N64 Classic Edition currently.

My recommendation - Get a Pound Technologies HDMI Cable, a PS2, and start buying discs, you'll be MUCH Happier!!

The footage used in this review are used under the Fair Use laws, referenced below:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
(Pub. L. 94–553, title I, § 101, Oct. 19, 1976, 90 Stat. 2546; Pub. L. 101–650, title VI, § 607, Dec. 1, 1990, 104 Stat. 5132; Pub. L. 102–492, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3145.)