Retro-gaming consoles have spread in recent years, leveraging both the nostalgia of old gamers and the chance to try great classics optimized for modern TVs. The mini-consoles are ready-made solutions that allow you to enjoy a certain number of games without too much difficulty and with intuitive and simple interfaces. In this guide, we will see how to mod playstation classic to play any PS1 game and use it as an emulator for other consoles.
How to mod playstation classic?
The procedure for modifying the PS Classic described in the guide is based on AutoBleem and is not the only way to perform the modification. We chose AutoBleem because it is very simple to install and the original console will remain exactly the same, without any internal file or payload changes.
What is needed?
- A USB stick of at least 2 GB or larger
- AutoBleem – available on the official website (see point 1 below)
- A computer with any operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux)
The same USB stick will be used to load games in the form of ROMs, images, or “backup copies” of the original games. It is also possible to use a USB Hard Disk, but support is currently limited.
1. Download AutoBleem
Download AutoBleem Ultimate from the official repository: AutoBleem repo. The version we are going to use is autobleem-0.7.1_Ultimate-RetroBoot.zip that which already has all the covers of the PS1 and RetroBoot games integrated (to emulate the other consoles).
2. Format USB stick
Use your operating system to format the USB stick in FAT32 (not ExFat or NTFS, which are not supported by AutoBleem). Name the USB drive “SONY.” The correct name is critical to starting AutoBleem.
3. Copy files to the USB stick
Extract the archive downloaded in step 1 and copy all the files directly to the root of the USB stick, the drive you just created called “SONY.”
4. Start the Modified Playstation Classic
At this point, take the stylus and insert it into port number 2 of the PS Classic. When you start, you will be faced with a menu different from the standard Playstation mini one.
To start the standard games included in the console or those we are going to add, simply use the start button on the joypad.
Load new Playstation 1 games
Adding new PS1 games to the PlayStation Classic is very simple: get the ROMs or make a dump of your old original games.
Each new game goes into a sub-folder on the USB device \Games\NOMEand usually consists of a file .cueand a file .bin.
Considering that the version we used of AutoBleem is the one with all the covers of the games already available, you will have the possibility to start new games directly from the PS Classic game menu (always start it with the start button on the joypad).
Load retro-console games on Playstation Classic
To start games from any other retro console, such as N64, SNES, NES, Megadrive, Neogeo, etc., we will use the RetroArch emulator (in its Retroboot version) that you have already entered by following this guide.
The ROMs of the games of the other consoles must be inserted in the ROMs folder on a USB stick, having the foresight to first create a main folder for each emulator (core) you are using.
For example: \roms\N64\and\roms\SNES\
Add the ROMs (also compressed in .zip) into their respective folders. To start these titles, you’ll need to use RetroArch directly:
Start PS Classic and press the square button
To add the ROMs in the list, only the first time you have inserted them, scan the contents by going to the menu with the “+” and choosing “Scan Directory”> “Scan This Directory.”
You will have a new symbol related to the retro console and the list of games inserted and ready to be started on Playstation Classic.
Where to find the ROMs?
It is a very sensitive topic and we invite you to do a simple search on Google because there are so many sources. If you want our advice write: “the-eye roms” (without quotes) on Google and click on the first result.