PlayStation Classic is Sony’s answer to playing PlayStation 1 classic games, and while it has some really iconic titles, the general reception hasn’t exactly been what Sony was probably aiming for, with people complaining about the lineup as well as the general performance in some titles. Now, it seems that the console has been cracked and in 3 days of its release. Yeah.
PlayStation Classic Hacked
In the day and age of piracy, it shouldn’t come with a surprise that the PlayStation classic has been hacked this quickly, but the problem arises from the fact that Sony did next to nothing to prevent this sort of security breach. It’s downright embarrassing how easily hackers have managed to get access to basically every part of this console’s features
So, it all starts with Vita’s famous hacker, known as Yifan, who on his Twitch stream, hacked the classic console in front of a live audience, and managed to play Crash Bandicoot on it.
Here’s a stream of his highlights during that live hacking session
In case you missed the PS Classic bootrom hacking stream, here's some highlights: https://t.co/8ghwUXBsDv
— Yifan (@yifanlu) December 8, 2018
This was followed by another Japanese hacker, with the twitter handle bakueikozo has managed to hack the console as well and has been playing PS1 games through a USB flash drive and loading them up in the console, here’s a demonstration by him
実際にゲームのイメージファイルを作ってロードさせてみました。
刺してるところが映ってないけど、USBメモリから読み込んでます。
今は完全手動だけど、まあやればちゃんと組み込めるよね。プレイステーションクラシック ハック完了。
遊びはこれまで。
おちんぎんをもらう仕事に戻るんだ… pic.twitter.com/qQxi6voX0p— ひろみつ(honeylab) (@bakueikozo) December 5, 2018
Here’s a full video of him, playing various games on the hacked console
Here’s the thing, the reason why this console is able to play all these PS1 games, is because it uses an open source emulator, the same one people use on PC to run these games, but since the console has only 16 GB memory, it’s limited to the games it comes with, even though this could’ve been something even better.
PlayStation Classic Firmware
Moving on, it seems that various games were tested on the console, games that many people were actually hoping for the console to have, like Silent Hill and Tony Hawks Pro Skater, here’s a complete list of games, that are revealed to be tested in the firmware of the console
- > CHOCOBOS_JP,
- > COLIN_MCRAE_RALLY_EU,,
- > CRASH_BANDICOOT_EU,
- > CRASH_BANDICOOT_US,
- > CRASH_BANDICOOT_2_EU,
- > CRASH_BANDICOOT_2_JP,
- > CRASH_BANDICOOT_2_US,
- > DISNEY_TOY_STORY_2_EU,
- > DRIVER_EU,
- > DRIVER_US,
- > EHRGEIZ_JP,
- > FIGHTING_FORCE_US,
- > GRAN_TURISMO_EU,
- > GRAN_TURISMO_JP,
- > GRAN_TURISMO_US,
- > GRAND_THEFT_AUTO_2_EU,
- > GRAND_THEFT_AUTO_2_US,
- > HARRY_POTTER_AND_THE_PHILOSOPHERS_STONE_EU,
- > KAGERO_JP,
- > KLONOA_DOOR_TO_PHANTAMILE_JP,
- > KLONOA_DOOR_TO_PHANTAMILE_US,
- > KULA_WORLD_EU,
- > LEGACY_OF_KAIN_SOUL_REAVER_EU,
- > LEGACY_OF_KAIN_SOUL_REAVER_US,
- > MEDAL_OF_HONOR_EU,
- > MEDAL_OF_HONOR_US,
- > MEDIEVIL_EU,
- > MEDIEVIL_US,
- > MEGA_MAM_LEGENDS_EU,
- > MEGA_MAM_LEGENDS_JP,
- > MEGA_MAM_LEGENDS_US,
- > MR_DRILLER_G_JP,
- > PACAPACA_PASSION_JP,
- > PARAPPA_THE_RAPPER_US,
- > PARASITE_EVE_DISC_1_US,
- > PARASITE_EVE_DISC_2_US,
- > RAY_STORM_JP,
- > RIDGE_RACER_EU,
- > RIDGE_RACER_JP,
- > RIDGE_RACER_US,
- > SILENT_HILL_EU,
- > SILENT_HILL_JP,
- > SILENT_HILL_US,
- > SPEC_OPS_STEALTH_PATROL_US,
- > STREET_FIGHTER_ALPHA_3_US,
- > STREET_FIGHTER_EX_PLUS_EU,
- > STREET_FIGHTER_EX_PLUS_JP,
- > STREET_FIGHTER_EX_PLUS_US,
- > SUIKODEN_EU,
- > SUIKODEN_JP,
- > SUIKODEN_US,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_2_EU,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_2_JP,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_2_US,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_EU,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_JP,
- > TOMB_RAIDER_US,
- > TOMBA_JP,
- > TOMBA_US,
- > TONY_HAWK_SKATE_BOARDING_EU,
- > TONY_HAWKS_PRO_SKATER_2_EU,
- > TONY_HAWKS_PRO_SKATER_2_US,
- > VAGRANT_STORY_EU,
- > VAGRANT_STORY_US,
- > WILD_ARMS_2_DISC_1_JP,
- > WILD_ARMS_2_DISC_2_JP,
- > XEVIOUS_3D_G_JP,
It’s sad really, to not be able to play all these games, even though the console is fully capable of playing them.
PlayStation Classic Secret Menu
Here’s something really hilarious, if you want to access the console’s emulator settings, all you need is to plug your keyboard, most USB-wired keyboards will do fine, hit the escape key and boom, you’re in the emulator settings, that include the following
You can set your region to NTSC to get those sweet 60 FPS in Tekken 3.
There are tons of more settings that you can configure, and you can see all those in this video below
PlayStation Classic Keyboard and Mouse Support
Currently, there is no support for Keyboard and Mouse support other than being able to use the keyboard to escape out of the game and adjust the emulator settings.
But we’re sure that something like this will be added to the console soon.
How to use Analog controller
You can also use an analog controller on the PS Classic as well, the controller that comes with it doesn’t have the analog sticks if you have an adapter for the controller.
Here’s the controller in action
Analogue controller working if you have converter and working keyboard. from PlaystationClassic
PlayStation Mods
There are no mods at the moment for PlayStation classic, but given how easily hackers have been able to bypass the console’s pathetic security measures with a public key, we’re expecting the console to have some mods in the coming future, maybe it’ll get homebrew support and be able to run other console titles as well.
Is it worth it?
If you’re only interested in the emulation part of the PlayStation classic, we’d actually suggest you to stay away from this, you could get more value out of emulating on PC, Vita or even a raspberry pi. The performance isn’t that spectacular on the Classic as well, users have reported glitches, frame drops and other bugs in the games as well.
However, if you have already bought this, well, at least you can get access to all the features we’ve mentioned above.
While you’re here, make sure you read about the leak regarding the next Assassin’s Creed.
What do you think about the reception this console is getting? Have you tried any of the emulation methods? Let us know in the comments below.