Data miners who dived into the PlayStation Classic found references to dozens of other games in its code, reigniting criticism against Sony’s choice of titles for the retro console.
The announcement of the PlayStation Classic generated a lot of hype among gamers. Following the success of Nintendo’s NES Classic and SNES Classic, a plug-and-play console featuring the best games of the original PlayStation seemed to be a surefire hit.
However, PlayStation fans have been disappointed. In our PlayStation Classic review, the $100 retro console failed to meet expectations, partly due to its mediocre library of 20 games. While there are a few gems in the lineup, such as Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, and Jumping Flash, gamers were hoping for more from the original PlayStation’s long list of hits.
Following the idea of what could have been for the PlayStation Classic, a code dump on GitHub revealed that Sony apparently tested dozens of other, more popular games for the retro console. The games mentioned in the “title.h” file that are not playable on the PlayStation Classic are:
- Armored Core: Master of Arena
- Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon
- Colin McRae Rally
- Crash Bandicoot
- Crash Bandicoot 2
- Devil Dice
- Driver
- Ehrgeiz
- Fighting Force
- Gran Turismo
- Grand Theft Auto 2
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
- Kagero
- Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
- Kula World
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- Medal of Honor
- MediEvil
- Mega Man Legends
- Mr. Driller G
- Paca Paca Passion
- Parappa the Rapper
- Parasite Eve
- RayStorm
- Ridge Racer
- Silent Hill
- Spec Ops: Stealth Patrol
- Street Fighter Alpha 3
- Street Fighter Ex Plus Alpha
- Suikoden
- Tomb Raider
- Tomb Raider 2
- Tomba
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
- Toy Story 2
- Vagrant Story
- Wild Arms 2
- Xevious 3D/G+
The appearance of these titles in the PlayStation Classic source code suggests that Sony tested the games on the retro console at some point during its development, perhaps to check the quality of the open-source emulator that was chosen to power the device. Devil Dice and Parasite Eve, however, are included in the Japanese version of the PlayStation Classic.
The absence of these games on the PlayStation Classic remains unexplained, though one likely reason would be licensing issues such as for Harry Potter and Tony Hawk. It is also unclear if the games remain embedded in the retro console’s system and are just waiting to be unlocked, which is something that hackers are likely already trying to find out.
The PlayStation Classic would have been a much more interesting device with an expanded library of games that includes Armored Core, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Mega Man Legends, Parappa the Rapper, and Silent Hill. However, as it stands, the retro console pales in comparison to other similar devices.
