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[VGEsoterica]

Everyone here knows what a PS1 is, so in that case it's not like I need to preface the hardware lol. For the one person who doesnt know what a PSX is...how did you end up on Gaf?

But...there is a gigantic subset of PS1 hardware that was developed by Sony in conjunction with Capcom, Namco, Konami and Taito that took the base PlayStation, modified it to the companies requests and then popped it into arcades as a PS1 platform that was either 1:1 identical to the home console...or far beyond anything anyone was seeing at home at the time when they powered up their PS1.

Faster clock speeds? Yep! More RAM? You got it! Hard Drive loading? Sure! Compact Flash card hard drive style storage? Why not! The amount of variants and changes that Sony engineers made out of the base PS1 hardware was staggering and in some instances created more of a PS1.5 than a real PSX.

Here is a smattering of the fun; the Taito G-Net, which is a combination of original Taito in house engineered boards married to a more powerful PS1 base board, the Konami GX which runs off a hard drive and supports just ONE game...and the Konami GV, basically just a PS1 in a giant metal box using a SCSI PC cd-rom drive for loading. That's not even to mention the Capcom ZN1 and ZN2 boards, or the Namco System 10,11 or 12! Just some real fun and odd additions to the PlayStation family.

And Sony would go on to help make arcade boards out of the PS2 and PS3 as well...only stopping once they got to the PS4 era.

But everyone was in on it; Nintendo GameCube becoming the Triforce, Xbox becoming the Chihiro...and the list goes on.

Curious though Gaf? Who knew all these boards existed? and what's your fav PSX arcade exclusive game?

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Listening to CDs via my gaming console.

What a time it was.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Listening to CDs via my gaming console.

What a time it was.

It was a wild time

 

[VGEsoterica]

Probably the best known PSX arcade board

 

[Lysandros]

I still consider PS1 as the best designed Sony console in context of its time. Such an ingenious system.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

The PS1 is not a PSX.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

SCSI...another super blast from the past.

What are you using as the video BGM? Its stuck in my head now

 

[Drew1440]

Namco System 12/ZN2 are interesting as the CPU is clocked at 48MHz rather than 33MHz and have 2MB of VRAM, its like a PS1Pro.
A lot of these arcade boards use their own sound hardware instead of the playstation's own SPU, is there any reason for that?

 

[diffusionx]

This was a great move for Sony because it gave devs an excuse to put their games on the home console, bolstering their library at a time when arcades were still really popular. Obviously, the games graphically couldn't compete with stuff like Model 2/3 but they were way cheaper and had a bigger audience. Probably played a hand in killing arcades long-term too.

The PS1 is not a PSX.

PSX was the codename for the system and how it was referred to as shorthand throughout the 90s in coverage. The fact that Sony later co-opted the name for their weird DVR device doesn't change that. The first Sony console is and always will be the PSX to me.

 

[Drew1440]

This was a great move for Sony because it gave devs an excuse to put their games on the home console, bolstering their library at a time when arcades were still really popular. Obviously, the games graphically couldn't compete with stuff like Model 2/3 but they were way cheaper and had a bigger audience. Probably played a hand in killing arcades long-term too.


PSX was the codename for the system and how it was referred to as shorthand throughout the 90s in coverage. The fact that Sony later co-opted the name for their weird DVR device doesn't change that. The first Sony console is and always will be the PSX to me.

It gets more confusing as the Bios refers it as a PS-X

PS-X Realtime Kernel Ver.2.5
Copyright 1993,1994 (C) Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

From TCRF

 

[VGEsoterica]

SCSI...another super blast from the past.

What are you using as the video BGM? Its stuck in my head now

I can’t remember. Been a minute. I think the Strider 2 soundtrack but I’ll check when I’m back in my office

 

[Krathoon]

So, they actually upgraded the PS1. Neato.

 

[Krathoon]

There were actually some PS1 games that ran cutscenes in real time. Alundra 2, for instance.

 

[Gaiff]

I love this kind of stuff. This is one aspect of retro gaming that I treasure; the custom hardware and crazy stuff that was done with it. Since the days of the PS4 it kinda stopped. Everything became standardized in a way. Makes it much easier for cross-platform development and compatibility but we don't have this awesome stuff we used to have back then.

 

[Lysandros]

There were actually some PS1 games that ran cutscenes in real time. Alundra 2, for instance.

I thought they were plenty, MGS, Vagrant Story, Soul Reaver etc etc?

 

[Krathoon]

I thought they were plenty, MGS, Vagrant Story, Soul Reaver etc etc?

Yes. They were already using the 3D camera as a motion picture camera that far back. I always found that to be pretty neat.

 

[VGEsoterica]

So, they actually upgraded the PS1. Neato.

Yep. Generally with higher clocks on the CPU / GPU and extra ram. Sometimes one or the other. Sometimes both

Like that Crypt Killer board; extra ram, standard clocks

 

[JC 1080P CRT]

and what's your fav PSX arcade exclusive game?

If this question is limited to ports of arcade games that used PSX-based hardware, then my immediate answer is Tekken 2.

I'm not great at fighting games, let alone the Tekken games, but nonetheless 2 specifically appealed to me from a very young age. The characters and stages are all memorable, the storylines are basic in concept but crazy in execution, the graphics are much less weird than 1, and most importantly: THE MUSIC is godlike.

I always thought Namco was great at making their ports on-par with, if not superior, to the arcade originals. The FMVs, extra modes, and the big fixes are good inclusions, but again what does it for me is the music. Along with the original arcade tracks, there are arranged versions of every song, and often times the arrangements end up being superior to the originals.

With Tekken 2's arranges soundtrack in particular, I feel like it succeeded at representing the variety of geographic locations, and also nailing the feel of mid-90s electronic music.

Tekken 3 might be the objectively superior game as far as graphics and gameplay, but 2 is my favorite. Also, the intro is one of the greatest ever:

 

[Neff]

The PS1 is not a PSX.

Old farts like me called it the PSX because that's what it was known as before it was called 'PlayStation', and it stuck. Plus it sounds cool.

If this question is limited to ports of arcade games that used PSX-based hardware, then my immediate answer is Tekken 2.

Either that or Soul Edge for me. Namco are the greatest.

 

[baphomet]

I've got a Taito G-net multiboard, some other Capcom and Namco boards.

Love the G-net though. Great system for shmups.

 

[CGNoire]

If this question is limited to ports of arcade games that used PSX-based hardware, then my immediate answer is Tekken 2.

I'm not great at fighting games, let alone the Tekken games, but nonetheless 2 specifically appealed to me from a very young age. The characters and stages are all memorable, the storylines are basic in concept but crazy in execution, the graphics are much less weird than 1, and most importantly: THE MUSIC is godlike.

I always thought Namco was great at making their ports on-par with, if not superior, to the arcade originals. The FMVs, extra modes, and the big fixes are good inclusions, but again what does it for me is the music. Along with the original arcade tracks, there are arranged versions of every song, and often times the arrangements end up being superior to the originals.

With Tekken 2's arranges soundtrack in particular, I feel like it succeeded at representing the variety of geographic locations, and also nailing the feel of mid-90s electronic music.

Tekken 3 might be the objectively superior game as far as graphics and gameplay, but 2 is my favorite. Also, the intro is one of the greatest ever:

The Tekken 3 Intro is my fav but the fmvs from 2 and FF7 made me get into 3dsmax in the mid 90s and start pursuing 3D in general.

 

[SpiceRacz]

The PS1 is not a PSX.

Careful, your age is showing.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Most people who were kids during PS1 probably have no idea what a PSX is, they're probably more likely to know what a PSone is than PSX. Or if they do they think it's that PSX player that came out later.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Very nice.

I you haven't already covered it, another great topic would be the "Ultra 64" arcade machines (Rare games, not really running on n64 of course) which were advertised as a preview of the upcoming Ultra 64.. which of course didn't exactly arrive in the way or timeline advertised.

i

 

[Doczu]

System 11/12 was a great concept. When i learned it was essentialy a beefed up PS1 it made me think we would get almost arcade perfect ports.

Spoiler

Then i saw Soul Calibur (arcade) in a gaming mag back in the day i was almost certain it would get ported to the PS1 but then they made us dirty and made a damn upgraded port on a next gen system. How could they outperform every expectation a gamer could have and create on of the best fighting games (and launch titles) in gaming history?

At least they gave us great Tekkens.

I loved Sega's arcade machines. And the bang they went out with the Dreamcast and Naomi board based games. Arcade perfect games at home (bar loading times) at an affordable price point. Take that Neo Geo

 

[Krathoon]

I actually got one of those PSOnes with the screen attachment. I had to collect it.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Was there anything similar to the Yaroze until Xbox One dev mode?

 

[CamHostage]

Wow, those Compact Flash units for arcade delivery are rad! I never thought of that being a thing; I knew about HDD arcade systems, but I remember those drives either being swapped or wired in for upgrades. That seems like a fun collectible.

But...there is a gigantic subset of PS1 hardware that was developed by Sony in conjunction with Capcom, Namco, Konami and Taito that took the base PlayStation, modified it to the companies requests and then popped it into arcades as a PS1 platform that was either 1:1 identical to the home console...or far beyond anything anyone was seeing at home at the time when they powered up their PS1.

Faster clock speeds? Yep! More RAM? You got it! Hard Drive loading? Sure! Compact Flash card hard drive style storage? Why not! The amount of variants and changes that Sony engineers made out of the base PS1 hardware was staggering and in some instances created more of a PS1.5 than a real PSX.

I'm curious, is there a breakdown of if any of these arcade versions of PS1 have the absent technical features of the time (primarily I'm thinking of mipmapping and FPO) or did they just run higher resolution and avoid the visibility of these skipped features? Of all of these games, I think I only ever played Soul Blade in an actual arcade, and I remember it having some curious flickering issues but looking on YT, it's pretty smooth on the textures (though it does have some of those PS1-style polygon sorting issues.)

(*I haven't had time to watch the video, so maybe you cover this already in the clip.)

 

[VGEsoterica]

Was there anything similar to the Yaroze until Xbox One dev mode?

PC-FXGA but that’s a deeeeeep cut product for home developers of the PC-FX. Otherwise I can’t think of anything else

 

[93xfan]

Very nice.

I you haven't already covered it, another great topic would be the "Ultra 64" arcade machines (Rare games, not really running on n64 of course) which were advertised as a preview of the upcoming Ultra 64.. which of course didn't exactly arrive in the way or timeline advertised.

i

Yep. I remember being blown away by Killer Instinct and Cruisn USA in the arcades while dreaming of having arcade perfect ports at home.

Ended up getting a PS1 after the second delay of the n64 and being nervous about the recently revealed n64 controller. Had a deep regret after playing Mario 64 at a kiosk, but eventually came back around and was happy with my choice.

 

[cartman414]

Here's some more stuff, though not everything is listed (i. e. the SG-1000 based board).

https://www.system16.com/base.php#1

 

[coffinbirth]

Listening to CDs via my gaming console.

What a time it was.

Did you have a SoundScope unit?
I didn't even know this was a thing for a year or two until I went to a friends house and we got high and played with it for HOURS, as I had a launch PS1 that didn't include it. I promptly went out and bought one after that. The visualizers Jeff Minter did for Xbox 360 remain amazing as well.

For those curious, these are the units that included the SoundScope music visualizer:
SCPH 700X -SCPH 750X -SC0H 900X -SCPH 10X

 

[Melchiah]

From arcades to space.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/15/7551365/playstation-cpu-powers-new-horizons-pluto-probe

You probably already know that your smartphone is more powerful than the computers used to land astronauts on the Moon. But did you know thar the processor used in the original Sony PlayStation is currently guiding a space probe the size of a grand piano towards Pluto? Yep, the same MIPS R3000 CPU that once ran Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid was repurposed by NASA in 2006 to fire thrusters, monitor sensors, and transmit data from the New Horizons space probe. You may have thought defeating Ruby Weapon was an achievement but try orchestrating a gravity-assisted flyby past Jupiter on a four-hour time delay.

This isn’t unusual behavior for NASA though, as the space agency always prefers the tried-and-tested to the cutting-edge. The next-generation Orion spacecraft, for example — the one that will hopefully take humans to Mars one day — is controlled by an IBM processor made back in 2002. The CPU in New Horizons may have been tweaked a little to better survive the radiation bombardment of space, but other than that it's the same old chip: NASA’s engineers don’t need power; they need reliability.

This is why there’s nothing better than a reputation staked on years of commercial use. Is your old PlayStation still working? Good. Because New Horizon has been in space for nine years already. The probe was launched back in January 2006 but is now on its final approach to Pluto, moving at a speed of approximately 36,373 mph with a projected arrival date of July 14th. Once there it will explore the dwarf planet and its moons before moving on to travel through the Kuiper belt — the massive asteroid belt that fringes our Solar System. This chip is going to parts of space where man-made objects have never been before,

 

[VGEsoterica]

From arcades to space.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/15/7551365/playstation-cpu-powers-new-horizons-pluto-probe

Weirdly common. The CPU that powers the 3DO M2 (PowerPC 602) is the same CPU that is on a bunch of satellites in space for telecom stuff

 

[PsyEd]

Nice article/vid. Love arcade hardwares based on a console. Good thing atomiswave was just a DC...so arcade ports were possible recently.

Psx was my fav console...liked it soo much bought a net yaroze as a 2nd one/reguon free option and later on a vcd adapter to watch movies on'em. Gaming life was good back then.

 

[VGEsoterica]

Nice article/vid. Love arcade hardwares based on a console. Good thing atomiswave was just a DC...so arcade ports were possible recently.

Psx was my fav console...liked it soo much bought a net yaroze as a 2nd one/reguon free option and later on a vcd adapter to watch movies on'em. Gaming life was good back then.

The fun and odd era of VCD. Seemed like magic until dvd appeared

 

[VGEsoterica]

Yep. I remember being blown away by Killer Instinct and Cruisn USA in the arcades while dreaming of having arcade perfect ports at home.

Ended up getting a PS1 after the second delay of the n64 and being nervous about the recently revealed n64 controller. Had a deep regret after playing Mario 64 at a kiosk, but eventually came back around and was happy with my choice.

Still can’t dispute just how good of a game SM64 was though. Still holds up

 

[Melchiah]

Weirdly common. The CPU that powers the 3DO M2 (PowerPC 602) is the same CPU that is on a bunch of satellites in space for telecom stuff

Huh. Interesting.

 

[Redneckerz]

VGEsoterica i asked on your YT video but ill also ask here:
Namco System 10/Sony ZN-2 had upgraded CPU at 48/50 Mhz and 2 Mb VRAM. But was it ever confirmed if one of these ran the CPU at 100 Mhz and had as much as 8 MB vram? Was it not the ZN-2?

I know it uses a different PS1 CPU (the 661R) for it.

 

[tygertrip]

This was a great move for Sony because it gave devs an excuse to put their games on the home console, bolstering their library at a time when arcades were still really popular. Obviously, the games graphically couldn't compete with stuff like Model 2/3 but they were way cheaper and had a bigger audience. Probably played a hand in killing arcades long-term too.


PSX was the codename for the system and how it was referred to as shorthand throughout the 90s in coverage. The fact that Sony later co-opted the name for their weird DVR device doesn't change that. The first Sony console is and always will be the PSX to me.

Yep. Everyone called it either “PlayStation” or “PSX”. I get a kick out of youngsters that post like they know oh so much, when they clearly were either not born yet or were in diapers at the time they are referring to.

 

[tygertrip]

The PS1 is not a PSX.

LOL. Hush, child.

 

[Azelover]

Listening to CDs via my gaming console.

What a time it was.

I enjoyed that. Although on the PS1 it was a little basic. On the Saturn you could do a bunch of things to the audio CDs.

You could change the pitch, the speed. And there was a whole presentational thing. You could listen from within a spaceship. Or you could watch the ship fly while you listened to music. And it looked pretty damn good at the time. It was like a tech demo with a rhythm.

 

[CamHostage]

Listening to CDs via my gaming console.

What a time it was.

I used to have 2 PSPs in its day on me at all times; a newer 2000 to play games on the train/bus, and my old original 1k in my big jacket pocket for podcasts (and music) because it had an internal RSS podcatcher and was good at remembering place left off in long episodes.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Yep. I remember being blown away by Killer Instinct and Cruisn USA in the arcades while dreaming of having arcade perfect ports at home.

killer instinct was absolutely mind-melting at the time.

the sprites, the 3d stages, the music, the FMVs, the combo system... and that nintendo - kiddy ass nintendo! - publishes a "mature" fighting game full of blood + sexy orchid... it was just crazy. absolutely loved it.

 

[Krathoon]

Dig around in the PlayStation games library and you will find all kinds of weird stuff. Psygnosis made a bunch of weird games. You also have the fancy Working Designs releases.

There is also a Voodoo game, Akuji, The Heartless.

 

[Redneckerz]

VGEsoterica i asked on your YT video but ill also ask here:
Namco System 10/Sony ZN-2 had upgraded CPU at 48/50 Mhz and 2 Mb VRAM. But was it ever confirmed if one of these ran the CPU at 100 Mhz and had as much as 8 MB vram? Was it not the ZN-2?

I know it uses a different PS1 CPU (the 661R) for it.

VGEsoterica Don't want to be that guy but i'd love your analysis on this.

 

[ManaByte]

VGEsoterica Don't want to be that guy but i'd love your analysis on this.

 

[Redneckerz]

Anything worthwhile to say? Because with replies like these it was better when you were out.

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