So in Iran people take old PlayStation consoles, refurbish them and sell them as new stock. My favorite part of this is that they do so with this incredible custom box.

I kinda love this, and if I was there? I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

To be honest, retro gaming on the PS1 is a bit 50/50 for me. Early 3D gaming before my time can be rough. But I have such a soft spot for how beautiful the console is from a design and hardware standpoint. That boxy gray box is such beauty.

I'd probably play it more than the PS5 I ended up selling!

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[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I know it is likely just the nostalgia, but the PS1 startup sounds really were the best.

[–] knightmare1147@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

I had a ps, but the GameCube jingle was always my favorite

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago

Oh I agree! I loved that startup sound! Compared to the SNES I was used to it sounded sooo next gen!

[–] lay@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Similar to how the market works here in Iraq. They package refurbished consoles with new boxes and often 3rd party controllers. A ps1 with two controllers and a usb flash drive full of random roms goes for around 50,000 IQD which is about 35$.

[–] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

They don’t have NES or SNES like that do they?

[–] lay@lemmy.zip 1 points 5 hours ago

They don't, I've only seen Sony consoles repackaged, basically because they are well known to most consumers. When it comes to Nintendo, they sell cheap knockoffs that come with 1000 games or something pre-installed.

[–] hungrythirstyhorny@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago

thats cool, really bring nostalgia, the 'ps1' font tho is hilarious

[–] iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 78 points 1 day ago (1 children)

As long as they are indeed being competently refurbished, this is awesome news. Less e-waste!

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

Less e waste, more useless plastic and cardboard that won’t get recycled lol

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 30 points 1 day ago (3 children)

For older consoles I usually stick to RPGs. Resident evil is okay once you get used to the shit controls. But final fantasys, xenogears, metal gear is good, jet moto, Gran Turismo 2......

Great now I want a PS2

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Xenogears was tight, but I never played the sequels

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lengthy cut scenes

[–] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

I generally provide the lengthy uncut scenes

[–] prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Xenogears was fun but I preferred the non-mech side of the game much more than the mechs, tbh.

[–] TheKingBee@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Xenogears man, I hate that game. It put a deep hatred for random battles into my heart which killed most JRPGs for me.

You could literally hear the CD stop and the random battles load.

[–] PanArab@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Xenogears is the best game, or at least JRPG, I ever played and I played over 40 JRPGs from the 8bit era to the modern era. There might be a better JRPG out there but I haven’t played it yet.

[–] TheKingBee@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago

Story yes, game no.

The only reason I completed it was because I wanted to see the end, but by the end I hated the game so much I can't play the entire genre anymore without almost physical pain... The mechanics of random battle and grind cause my spirit to flag and my will to drain, now no matter how good the story of the game is I just can't.

[–] lemmyseikai@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

You said Xenogears. Take an internet.

[–] Frostbeard@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I have an attention span of a 2 year old, so I never really finish games. But that one of the few to hold my attention all the way through. Even if I initially hates the movement and controls at first since I had expected a FFVII style game

[–] ookiiBoy@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

Such a dope game.

[–] Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg 38 points 1 day ago (2 children)

But I have such a soft spot for how beautiful the console is from a design and hardware standpoint. That boxy gray box is such beauty.

Agree to disagree lol

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 37 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I guess I have the fact that I wasnt alive for that 'era' of gaming, so its maybe a bit more fascinating to me to see a more utilitarian design over what we get now.

I dislike the move in PCs and consoles where everything has RGB (you'll see it everywhere on SBC retro handhelds), or just looks garish. To me this boxy-box just looks BEAUTIFUL. Gray/beige hardware wins me over every time

[–] MurrayL@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Similar to how the NES was made to look like a VCR, the PlayStation was made to look right at home as part of a fancy 90s home hi-fi setup. Functional/industrial grey was the aesthetic du jour, and gave it a look that said this isn’t just a toy; it’s the future of home entertainment.

[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

And dude us kids LOVED the hatch-opening design. That felt so freaking FUTURE at the time

We were easily amused

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

gray, whatever.

beige, no. never again.

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yeah, to me, the PlayStation might seriously be one of the ugliest major home consoles of all time (beaten out by the PSOne which looks like a cheap toy). And this isn't even a generational thing: a grey N64 and Sega Saturn stand head-and-shoulders above the PlayStation in terms of looks. Cool how compact it was, at least.

[–] FryHyde@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

I dunno. I think you just prefer rounded aesthetics. IMO the Saturn just looks like an oversized CD player. Boring and no personality. The little ridges and whatnot on the PlayStation were just plain neat to me , and I greatly prefer boxy to rounded. It's why the PS One was such a disappointment by comparison.

[–] MurrayL@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

I think the Atari XEGS probably wins the battle for ‘ugliest grey box’

[–] PerfectDark@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

Pastel pretty colors?

Okay judging by all these anti-gray/beige comments I'm an outlier in what I find lovely, but even this looks nice to me!!!!!

[–] ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 day ago

I kinda like it. Brutalist console

[–] ZeroCool@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 day ago

Yeah, that's pretty damn ugly.

[–] bizzle@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

PS1 was my first console, I wish I still had it. Spent my days with Crash Bandicoot and Hogs of War

[–] AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I've been playing Crash Bandicoot on an R36s recently, it' such a nostalgic game. Amazing that you can play it on a ~£35 handheld! You can't beat the gameplay in some of the old classics.

[–] bizzle@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Hell yeah you have, nice. I looked up that thing, do you like yours? One of my kids really likes the retro games and that price is right

[–] AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Yeah it's great, my daughter has been enjoying all the old games as well so i bought her one too for her birthday. It's much easier as a parent to give her the R36s and the retro games because they are all self contained offline things unlike a lot of modern games.

Some things I'd say to consider before buying:

Factor in the cost of a good quality SD card (or two, one for the system and one for ROMs) to replace the one that comes with it. There are loads of warnings in forums etc about the cards that are supplied, but even so I was shocked when the card that came with mine broke after 2 days. Get a decent card like Samsung Evo Plus 128GB.
It's easier to start fresh when you get a new card than it would be to clone the one that comes with the device. Get the OS from here: https://github.com/AeolusUX/ArkOS-R3XS/releases
For ROMs, search archive.org for "tiny best set go"

[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not everything being sold as the R36s is able to use ArkOS (although I think there's been progress on getting the other ones to use that OS), more deets here. Also, not every micro SD card works in that second slot, but yeah, just get a Samsung Evo Plus (I'm running dual Microcenter cards, don't do this lol). There is a huge enthusiast community doing cool things with these devices, there's a bit of tinkering to get them set up but it's easy enough.

Alpaca, got anything set up through PortMaster yet? I've been meaning to get Stardew Valley and Half-Life on there.

[–] AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I've never heard of PortMaster, I still haven't got bored of all the tiny best set games yet!

I think I played half life (maybe 2?) when I was a kid and it scared the crap out of me!

[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

I got one around Christmas on sale and I'm a big fan of mine, I'm replaying Crash Team Racing and Final Fantasy Tactics at the moment. They've got some quirks, there's a lower powered variant floating around, definitely read through the subreddit and do a bit of research on the device. I will say that it's awesome for what it is, but there's places where it feels like a ~$30 gadget.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Where are you finding it for so cheap? It's $60 in American dollarydoos.

[–] AlpacaChariot@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Aliexpress. I bought from a UK website first time and it was double the price but still shipped from China, making it a bit pointless. This is the aliexpress link I used, I have no connection to the seller and only bought from them once, but it arrived in good condition and I've tested it works as expected. The unit I received was a "v5", or "screen panel v4", I paid £25:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007448762232.html

Edit: maybe it's the tariffs? Haha

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I wonder if these can be imported. If its about the aesthetic of it in a retail ready box.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

You'd probably be breaking a lot of sanctions. And if you're not part of the oligarchy that will have consequences.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They ought to be doing it with Dreamcasts since pirating games for DC was way easier.

[–] f4f4f4f4f4f4f4f4@sopuli.xyz 2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

It sounds like these are modchipped if they come with a USB stick of games (that the owner then burns as they wish?)

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago

PS1 3d is my favourite early 3d. I think it's so charming. Some absolute bangers on the ps1 too

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Are they labeled as refurb? As long as they're not being passed off as new, 100% can get behind this.

[–] PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago

It’s almost 30 years old lol