PlayStation Classic Announced, a Mini Throwback Packing 20 Games

The PSX is back, baby. 

In a surprise announcement earlier today, Sony unveiled it’s jumping into the mini-console foray with the PlayStation Classic. 

Set to release December 3 for $99, the PlayStation Classic is a smaller version of the PS1, coming in at about half the size of the original — 45% smaller, to be exact. You can currently pre-order the small-scale unit over at Best Buy and GameStop. 

While we don’t yet know what the entire lineup of games will be for the mini, we do know that the initial catalog will include 20 games, with such classics as Final Fantasy 7 (of course), Tekken 3, Wild Arms, Jumping Flash, and Ridge Racer Type 4. Sony said it will release the titles of the remaining 15 games in the near future. 

Dino Crisis and Syphon Filter, anyone? 🤞

As for the hardware itself, the PlayStation Classic will come with an HDMI cable and two PS1 controllers. Mind, these controllers aren’t the DualShocks that released for the system in the late 90s, so you won’t find any analog sticks here. However, that’s OK because the original PlayStation had a wickedly good D-pad. 

The controllers will hook into two USB ports on the front of the system, both in the same spots as the original controller ports. 

Buttons on the top of the mini will function similarly to their forebears, as well. The power button will turn the console on and the open button will switch digital discs. Reset will pause games. 

There also appears to be some kind of port on the back of the Classic, but Sony hasn’t revealed if that’s actually the case and if so, what its function could be. Some outlets have speculated it might be an Ethernet port, allowing Classic owners to download additional PS1 games on to the system’s storage. However, that remains to be seen.

Unfortunately, Sony’s mini throwback won’t come with an AC power adapter, although you will be able to buy one separately at a currently undisclosed price. So out of the box, you’ll be forced to us a USB cable supplied with the console, just as you would with a SNES and NES mini. 

You can see the entire announcement in the video above or visit the PlayStation Blog. 

The PlayStation 1 released on December 3, 1994 and went on to sell 100 million units. While it wasn’t the first 32-bit “computer entertainment system”, it was bar the most popular. 

Stay tuned to GameSkinny for more news and info on the PlayStation Classic as it develops.