The PlayStation Classic is the new Virtual Boy
Fans of old school PlayStation made it a big deal when Sony first announced the PlayStation Classic in September 2018. But when the twenty game system was released in December, it was to about as little fanfare as possible a system can have. Game stores sat on their orders and even went so far as discounting the $79.99 suggested retail well before Christmas. Just weeks after the holiday, Walmart slashed their price in half for the console. It’s now available from most major retailers at $39.99 or less.
The Classic’s failure was one mostly of hubris. One look at the device shows the system was programmed on the fly with a poor interface over an open-source emulator. But the biggest problem was in the choice of games for the system. When Nintendo released their two Classic consoles, they smartly mixed a bevy of mega-hits with a handful of acclaimed cult classics many have never played.
For the North American and European releases, Sony instead went with the first games in multiple series that still have name cache. Games like Rainbow Six, Rayman and Twisted Metal draw fans, but with many of the console titles available from Steam and GOG as well as the PlayStation store, they don’t feel particularly impressive.
Of the twenty games available, arguably the only one with a lot of critical appeal and limited ability to…
