Yes, you can now play a couple of PS1 games on your Xbox console. No, they’re probably not the PS1 games that leapt immediately to mind. Yes, it comes at a bit of a cost (especially if you’re in Australia).
As noted by GameRant over the weekend, Xbox has entered into a partnership with cloud-based retro gaming platform Antstream Arcade. The platform is home to over 1,300 vintage games from arcades and retro consoles, including the PS1 and Super Nintendo. That service is now available on the Xbox store for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Windows PC.
Right now, the two PS1 titles available are puzzle platformer 40 Winks and the top-down shooter Loaded. Antstream announced during a Direct-style stream earlier this year that many more games would be coming to the platform, including a few games thought lost to time. Among these were games like Glover and MDK, signalling an intention to expand its PS1 selection and its fledgling library of classic Nintendo platforms.
Obviously, you’re not going to find any of Nintendo or PlayStation’s biggest hits here. Those will obviously be kept under lock and key by their respective rights holders. What you can expect to find on Antstream Arcade are oddities and curiosities, titles that have fallen through the legal cracks or into the public domain. For preservationists, that may be worth the price of admission alone. As reported only a few weeks ago, 87% of all games ever made are no longer commercially available. This is but one project attempting to make them legally available again.
For the elder gamers in the crowd, Antstream Arcade also features Atari platforms in almost every imaginable flavour, along with the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad, C64 and trusty old Amiga. That’s before you get into the actual arcade emulation, which covers a wide range of boards and cabinets.
The next obvious question is: Do we have access to this service in Australia? Yes, we do, though it’s a little on the pricey side. In the US, Antstream Arcade can be purchased in one of two ways — a 12-month subscription or a single lifetime license. Unfortunately, that 12-month sub does not appear to be available in Australia. What we do have access to is the lifetime subscription, which clocks in at an oof-enducing $AU143.95.
To 100% clear: Antstream Arcade is not included in your Game Pass sub. It’d be cool if it was, but it isn’t. This is a stand alone purchase.
You do get to keep access to the Antstream Arcade platform for as long as it’s around, so if you spend most of your time playing retro games, then maybe it’s worth the investment. The Antstream library will continue to fill out over time.
So there you have it. You can now play PS1 games on your Xbox, legally and for true, but with a few terms and conditions.
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