PlayStation Retro Discussion (inc. PS3, digital PS1 & PS2 Classics & PS Plus Premium)

[NormanicGrav]

Perhaps a dumb question: Are any of the PSP games affected by PAL vs. NTSC issues? I know it shouldn't be a thing on a portable with its own screen, but due to the TV output of the system I am not sure if there were PAL versions of games.

Specifically I was interested in Ridge Racer 2 and Jeanne D'Arc for PS4.

I don't believe so as the PAL & NTSC format is tied to TV outputs. The main difference I saw with EU & US versions of the PSP games has been language support, everything else has been identical. I played through a few PSP games last December and they ran pretty well.

Jeanne D'Arc was never released in Europe back in the day so the version on PSN will be the US one.

 

[NormanicGrav]

First post has been updated.

New additions:



Alone in the Dark 2 (PlayStation)
Available now for £7.99

Developed by Infogrames and is the second game in the classic survival horror franchise Alone in the Dark. The original version was released in 1993 but eventually received a PlayStation port in 1996. This release does include trophy support.



Battle Engine Aquila (PlayStation 2)
Available now for £7.99

Developed by Lost Toys and published by Infogrames Europe (now known as Atari SA), this PlayStation 2 action first-person shooter was only released in Europe & North America and is considered a niche but good received game. Ziggurat Interactive, Inc. published the game for PSN and their recent published titles include BloodRayne ReVamped and Terminal Velocity Boosted Edition. This release does include trophy support.



War of the Monsters (PlayStation 2)
Available now for £7.99

Developed by Incog Inc. Entertainment and published by Sony, this kaiju-inspired fighting game was among the launch titles for the PS2-on-PS4 program and is now back with the latest emulator so that it features save states, rewinds and better performance. Owners of the original PS4 version will be able to download the PS4/PS5 release for free. This release does include trophy support.

Trophy updates:

Disney/Pixar's UP (PlayStation Portable)
The 2009 film that received a video game adaptation recently got a new patch to include trophy support for its PSP release.

LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (PlayStation Portable)
The surprise addition that was added many months ago was also patched with trophies a few months back. This trophy list is different to the achievement list used for the Xbox 360 version.

Coming Soon:

Disney/Pixar's WALL-E (Format TBC)
Another Disney game has been rated for the service but because we can now receive PS2 games we currently don't know which version of this title will be released on the platform.

 

[NormanicGrav]

First post has been updated.

New additions:



Myst (PlayStation)
Available 5th June

Developed by Cyan and ported by Alfa System, Myst is the classic adventure game from 1993 brought over to PlayStation in 1996. While there is a remake, we have the original experience here on the classics programme. It's available as part of the Days of Play line-up.



Riven: The Sequel to Myst (PlayStation)
Available 5th June

Developed by Cyan and ported by Sunsoft, Riven is another classic adventure game from 1997 brought over to PlayStation in the same year. While there is also a remake, we have the original experience here on the classics programme. It's available as part of the Days of Play line-up.

Coming Soon:



Deus Ex: The Conspiracy (PlayStation 2)
Developed by Ion Storm, the classic cyberpunk action RPG first-person shooter is back on modern platforms. Developed for PC in 2000, the PlayStation 2 version was released two years later with a lot of adjustments to make it work for consoles. It will be available later this month as part of the June slate.



Resident Evil 2 & 3 (PlayStation)
Capcom's iconic survival horror games from the original PlayStation in 1998 & 1999 are now back on modern platforms. The folks on PC managed to receive the classic versions a while ago but PlayStation fans can now experience the original which was last made available on PS3. As the first game was eventually made available for purchase, though with no trophies, these games should be the same case. These two will be available later this Summer.



Twisted Metal III & 4 (PlayStation)
To celebrate the launch of the TV show's second season, 989 Studios' take on Twisted Metal from 1998 & 1999 are now going to be available on modern platforms for the first time. These two PlayStation games did not make an appearance on PS3 which many suspect was due to music licensing issues. Both games will be available as part of the July slate.

 

[Dai]

Depending on how well it's emulated, this may become the best way to play Deus Ex. The PS2 version was a significant visual upgrade over PC with improved character models. The only thing holding it back was the awful loading times. Hopefully running it on an SSD will fix that.

 

[HWR]

Some solid titles announced there - tempted to play the OG RE trilogy this October.

 

[Dai]

The original versions of Resident Evil 2 and 3 will be shuffling onto PSN on 19th August. It's unbelievable how long it's taking for some of the PS1's best games to reach modern consoles.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Bump! Sony have finally made the decision to sunset the PlayStation 3 & Vita stores in July 2027.

After nearly two decades of supporting the PS3 console generation, we wanted to let you know we will be closing the PlayStation Store on PS3, as well as on PS Vita. PlayStation Store on PS3 will close in select markets starting this year, followed by global closures for PS3 and PS Vita next year. That means new content purchases will no longer be possible once the PlayStation Store closes on these devices. To ease the transition, players will still be able to download previously purchased content after the closing date for the foreseeable future.

As the PlayStation Store continues to evolve to support modern commerce systems, including updated payment processing standards, PS3 and PS Vita are no longer able to support these updates at the level required. As a result, we will need to close PlayStation Store on these devices in the timeframes as follows:

Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua – PlayStation Store on PS3 will close starting August 2026.
Additional Latin American and Middle Eastern countries – PlayStation Store on PS3 will close starting late 2026.
In all other countries, PlayStation Store on PS3 and PS Vita will close in July 2027.
We know this news may be disappointing to PS3 and PS Vita players who hold a special place in their hearts for this generation of gaming. PS3 and PS Vita represent an important era in our PlayStation history, so this was not an easy decision for us to make.

As we continue to expand the PlayStation experience on newer devices that most of our users are playing on today, we need to focus more resources on delivering the best gaming experiences on these platforms as we look ahead towards the future.

To our amazing players, we want to give our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing passion and support, which has helped inspire us to shape PlayStation into what it is today. We are excited for the future ahead as we continue to push the boundaries of play. We look forward to having you on this journey with us as we explore new game worlds and new adventures that have yet to come.

Did you like this?

While I'm upset about the physical disc news, I'm not too particularly upset over the closure of these stores. They've been around since 2006 (2007 in Europe) so 21 years is a very solid run, beating the Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PSP, and Xbox 360 stores.

I'll be updating the first post as we go along (including recent PS Plus Classics updates). As far as I know the JP imports are still active whilst you may have a few titles on EU & US that are not around.

If you want to top-up funds, you'll need to redeem them on PlayStation 4/5 consoles or on your browser first in order to use them here.

 

[cfx]

I need to look and see if two games I wanted are still available. One is Pixeljunk Sidescroller, and I can't remember the name of the other one but I have a demo of it so I can find it again via that. It's a puzzle game with a rhythm element, and it has at least one Hatsune Miku song in it. It's only on the Japanese store probably, and I think it's by Arc System Works.

I haven't been on PS3 in probably a year and last time I looked at the UK and Japan stores, they were pretty bare for anything still available.

 

[NormanicGrav]

I need to look and see if two games I wanted are still available. One is Pixeljunk Sidescroller, and I can't remember the name of the other one but I have a demo of it so I can find it again via that. It's a puzzle game with a rhythm element, and it has at least one Hatsune Miku song in it. It's only on the Japanese store probably, and I think it's by Arc System Works.

I haven't been on PS3 in probably a year and last time I looked at the UK and Japan stores, they were pretty bare for anything still available.

The problem with the stores is that the games are available but you could only find them by searching which is rather annoying.

 

[Dai]

The power supply on my PS3 is failing anyway.

 

[cfx]

The problem with the stores is that the games are available but you could only find them by searching which is rather annoying.

I remembered enough to find the puzzle game again with a search, just online in general as I haven't had a chance to hook up the PS3 and see if I can still buy it.

It's called Magical Beat and it has an English language release on PSVita, but the PS3 version is Japan only as I remembered. Here is a video of it being played:

 

[NormanicGrav]

Speaking of the Japanese store. I recently browsed it and there's still plenty of games available

Below is a brief guide:

Spoiler

Obviously you'll need a JP PSN account. Once sorted and you go onto the Store, you want to select ゲーム (Game), the second option.



Then you want to scroll down until you see ゲームアーカイブス (Game Archives). It fooled me at first due to the GAME DIGGIN' content but you can just spot the classic games and PC Engine Archive content in their sub-sections.



初代PSゲームアーカイブス (The Original PS Game Archives) option covers the original PlayStation catalogue. There's 729 available. And yes, once you buy and download them onto your console, you can swap to your UK account and play them at ease which is what I did for Bushido Blade and Dead or Alive.



PS2ゲームアーカイブス (PS2 Game Archives) option covers the PlayStation 2 catalogue. There's 108 available. Many of these are fighting games that are accessible elsewhere but if you want to experience these versions you can.



And PCエンジンアーカイブス (PC Engine Archives) option covers the PC Engine (aka Turbografx 16). There's 45 available.

The PlayStation catalogue is huge, so below are some examples:

Spoiler: Lots of images

There's a lot so below are a few shoutouts that I found to be noteworthy:

Asuka 120% Excellent BURNING Fest
Athena: Awakening from the Ordinary Life
Advanced V.G.
Culdcept Expansion
Gaia Seed
The King of Fighters
THE SIMPLE games (like a lot of them)
Space Invaders
Shin Megami Tensei
Smash Court
Slap Happy Rhythm Busters
Tantei Jingūji Saburō (Jake Hunter)
Battle Athletess: Daiundōkai GTO
Dead or Alive
Touge MAX 1 & 2
Battle Arena Toshiden 1, 2 & 3
DoDonPachi
Dragon Beat: Legend of Pinball
DonPachi
Namco Museum Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & Encore
Baroque
Paca Paca Passion 1, Special & 2
Bushido Blade 1 & 2
SUNSOFT Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
Landmaker
Linda Cube
Reverthion
Lucifer Ring

And here's PlayStation 2:

Spoiler: Lots of images

A few shoutouts that I found to be noteworthy:

Ka 2: Let's Go Hawaii (Mister Mosquito 2)
Gunstar Heroes Treasure Box
Shin Sangoku Musou 1-4 (Dynasty Warriors 2-5)
Space Harrier II
Haunting Ground
Dual Hearts
Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore (also on US PSN)
Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Marz
Dragon Force
Phantasy Star Collection
Fantasy Zone Collection
Fu-un Shinsengumi
Mad Maestro!
Warriors Orochi
Metal Slug

And here's PC Engine:

Spoiler: Lots of images

A few shoutouts that I found to be noteworthy:

Ys Books I & II
Ys III
Alien Crush
Gate Thunder
Splatterhouse
Soldier Blade
Dungeon Explorer
Bomberman '94
Moto Roader II

 

[cfx]

Thanks for that!

When I last looked at the PS3 stores, over a year ago I'm sure, I don't think I found that section as I know I browsed through the actual PS3 games, and while there are more on the Japan store than the UK one, it still was kind of sad to see and I don't recall seeing all these classics.

I'll point out something on the PC-Engine section: for anyone that likes the Bonk games, the Japanese versions (PC Genjin) are different; the Turbografx versions were censored because someone decided that his appearance once you get the powerups would offend someone. The Japanese versions are much funnier than the US versions, in my opinion. I don't think the third game is very good, but the first two I think are worthwhile. I don't see it there in the images so I guess it's not on PS3, but Air Zonk (PC Denjin) has the same thing; some of the transformations are different in the Japanese game, and funnier.