KK wrote:I doubt most people will notice the technical differences (apart from GTA, which obviously judders and stutters constantly based on that video) because they never played the originals, played the originals a long time ago, or simply aren’t playing them one after the other to notice but that’s not really the point. Games from up to 23 years ago shouldn’t be running worse in any aspect in 2018, especially at £90. One of the main selling points of these classic machines to me is to enable old games to look better on a modern HDTV (otherwise you’d just plug in the original machine, surely). Basically the PS3 does everything the Classic should have (and more).
The user interface is lost on me as well, as I never even saw it during that period. I don’t know when Sony used it because it’s not on my 1996 machine or the PSone from 2001, and none of my friends had it either (they bought it 95-97). What changed was the Power/Reset buttons on the console (from written words to symbols). It’s a strange choice because the other UI was far more sophisticated. It was lightly smartened up for the PSone model too.
I find it hard to believe the tech people at Sony had much to do with this Classic release because none of these issues exist via any other method.
I do think the video makes a good point in that this could end up negatively colouring people's perceptions of the PS1 and its library, it's easily the most mainstream representation of the system in a long time. Granted I can't imagine a casual audience is versed in lingo like poor frame pacing
But the games seeming more jittery than normal coupled with being immensely blurry really make a poor showing of the PS1. Though to be fair without an internal resolution bump I think there was always going to be a struggle in these looking broadly acceptable on HDTVs
re: GTA, I think I'd struggle at any frame rate, I get the idea behind the zooming in + out camera but god I find it nauseating D: Though of course it's definitely made worse at sub 20fps
And yeah that memory card UI is pretty hideous ahah, though no doubt nostalgic for those whose PS1s fall into that era. I do like that the Classic still uses the original memory card save icons, always get a kick out of those.