One month after the NES Classic launched, it was impossible to find. One month after the SNES Classic launched, it was the hottest console on the market. And one month after the PlayStation Classic launched, it’s been marked down from $150 to $89 at every store on the internet.
This 40% price drop, which went widespread across stores like Amazon and EB Gamea , signals that Sony made more PlayStation Classics than it sold. There are a lot of possible explanations for this. Maybe people don’t have the same nostalgia for PlayStation as they do for Nintendo, or maybe they got sick of buying classic consoles the last two Christmases.
Or maybe, just like with the maligned PlayStation Vita, it’s a string of poor decisions on Sony’s part that has led to the PlayStation Classic’s apparent failure.
Consider this:
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Before this price cut, the PlayStation Classic retailed for $149.99. In comparison, the SNES Classic went for $119.95 while the NES Classic cost $99.95. Sony has a long history of price gouging—the Vita’s pricey proprietary memory cards helped ensure that the system would never take off—and this is no exception.
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The list of PlayStation Classic games is baffling. While there’d be no way to pick 20 games from the PS1’s massive library that satisfied everybody, this particular list seemed to satisfy nobody. It’s full of strange choices and missing some games that should have been musts, like Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot.
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Speaking of which, why is the PlayStation Classic limited to 20 games? Perhaps Sony felt like it had to copy the SNES Classic’s strategy, but almost all of the games in the SNES Classic’s library were must-plays. It’s hard to say the same about Mr. Driller. For $150, you get a strange mix of 20 games with no way to change them or add new ones. It’s hard to imagine many people seeing that as a good deal.
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The PlayStation Classic is full of emulation issues. After launch, people quickly realised that the system was running the European PAL versions of some games, leading to lower frame rates and glitches. Yet another black mark on what was already a spartan console.
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The system only supports original PS1 controllers—no enhanced DualShock versions—which means no joysticks, which means far less comfortable and enjoyable playing.
With this many bad decisions, how could the system not fail? The good news is that the PlayStation Classic is very easy to hack, in case you’re tech savvy. And hey, it’s now ninety bucks.
Comments
9 responses to “PlayStation Classic Gets Huge Price Cut, Which Says A Lot”
I’ve been collecting all the mini consoles (I’m a sucker, I know) and I caved to the playstation classic at $90
and while the SNES classic is probably still the best, I’ve got so much nostalgic love for my c64 mini.
Also, they’re all extremely easy to hack, even atgames Megadrive flashback Hd, with it’s hidden mini usb port.
Consider this:
– They made more consoles because they saw the backlash from when Nintendo didn’t.
– Many of the games available can still be downloaded on consoles like the PlayStation 3.
– You can still get original PlayStations and PlayStation 2s fairly easily to play the games.
– Retro isn’t as popular as it was a couple of years ago and I’m being generous when I lump PlayStation in as retro.
I think the PS1 seriously still scrafches people’s nostalgia needs, but the list was a bust. There were many better titles that should have been in there and it kind of felt like they were lazily chasing easy titpes after they got a few good core ones.
Yep. You could buy a preowned PS3 (or a Vita or PSP if you want to take it on the road) – assuming you don’t already have one laying around – for much less than $150, and then pick and choose the exact PS1 games you want from the PS Store. If you bought 20 of them it would cost you more than the PS Classic, but at least you’d have 20 good games that you actually want with no filler.
See I told you Jason I wasn’t going to get the Playstation Classic for Christmas.
That’s because the Playstation Classic is a total failure a complete slap in the face for Sony fans and not worth buying for $90.
Because Sony didn’t even include an AC Adaptor and that their 20 pre-loaded games are garbage.
Sony may think they’re going to compete against Nintendo well sadly as I said several weeks ago it’s not going to happen.
Sony really need to lift their game and hopefully that will teach Sony a lesson.
Do not buy the Playstation Classic for $90 it’s not worth it it’s got no AC Adaptor Sony’s 20 pre-loaded games are garbage and the Playstation Classic is a total failure.
Sony if you’re listening you guys need to wake up to yourselves and realise that we’re not going to buy the Playstation Classic even though it’s a total failure it’s just not worth it Sony.
Wake up to yourself Sony wake up.
Lotta repetition there mate.
Oh hey the bot is still alive!
this is a new strategy for the bot. Usually, this account only ever posts on articles relating to Nintendo.
Who is downvoting these incredibly amusing posts? They’re fascinating! A troll? An uncanny stream of consciousness writer? Text rotated through several languages in a bad translation tool? Machine-learning ai regurgitating comments from other website? Man, I really want to know, but even more, I don’t want them to stop.
Yeah I was not super impressed with the games list but when I saw the price drop on Boxing Day I got it straight away. I never had a PlayStation until the 3 was released so never palyed most (all?) Of these games so was happy to give it a go for different games and as a collector’s piece. So far I have found it not too bad of an experience but would have liked to have had some of the PlayStation staple games even if it meant it cost a bit more. It is a shame the emulator could not somehow improve the graphics too as some games don’t look great especially when compared to PC games of the same time. I might have to try and make a pi emulator and see if that can do a better job.
Mr Driller is a must play, and probably one of the better games on it. i’ve been playing it on and off for well over 15 years at this point.
Ps1 classics would have been preferred imo. But Sony will just take it that people don’t want to play ps1 games, not that they failed to give people what they wanted.
Kinda wish they sold “memory cards” which contained a further 10 classics when inserted, haha
I wouldn’t really call the PS1 retro though. Just dated. That’s not totally a bad thing, some people are very into that – and that’s cool.
Personally I played the original Resident Evil a little bit back, and it doesn’t hold up today.
Retro games though, are sort of frozen in time and that’s what makes them great.
I think people took off the nostalgia goggles for this one and saw it how it actually is.
Yeah, it says a lot – they effed up. If they just put a decent lineup of games on and used they’re own emulator, not an open source free one. Then maybe, just maybe we all wouldn’t be so pipped with them.
Yeah they could have done a lot of other things too, but in the end all they needed to do was this.
Oh no, my spelling mistake immortalised forever!