View Full Version : A Sony Playstation Flash Cart in the works
Greg2600
01-30-2013, 07:49 PM
http://psio.com.au/
PSIO is a cartridge that plug's into the back of your PlayStation 1 console, which will let you play your backed up PlayStation 1 games from an SD card.
It will also allow you to boot and run code you have programmed from an SD card on the actual PlayStation 1 console itself, making it a must have tool for homebrewers, developers and most importantly, gamers.
Sounds very cool. Old PS1's are plug and play, but the PS One units would need soldering. They have no Parallel port.
Jack_Burton_BYOAC
01-30-2013, 07:55 PM
It's not addressed in the site FAQ, but this should also significantly reduce loading times. I'm hoping this device will be compatible with the early blue debug units.
c0ldb33r
01-30-2013, 08:48 PM
Is it supposed to be a bare PCB? Will it have a plastic enclosure?
Greg2600
01-31-2013, 12:29 AM
http://i.imgur.com/zNdsAqi.jpg
InsaneDavid
01-31-2013, 01:20 AM
That's... pretty freaking awesome. A solid-state solution for the PS1.
Gameguy
01-31-2013, 02:19 AM
But then all those burned CD-Rs will become worthless. What will all of those craigslist listers do with them? Think of the value of bootlegs! <cough>
Jack_Burton_BYOAC
01-31-2013, 02:27 AM
If this device is fairly affordable it could be a very good thing for the ps1 homebrew community. Even though modded ps1's are fairly easy to come across, it's still something most casual gamers don't want to bother with. This is just plug-and-play. With a bigger userbase, we might see some more cool stuff, like good ps1 hacks.
c0ldb33r
01-31-2013, 05:24 AM
I'm interested to see how it connects with a PS one.
importaku
01-31-2013, 05:50 AM
How would something like that cope with games that come on multiple disks?
Daltone
01-31-2013, 07:20 AM
It looks pretty cool. I dread to think what it will cost though.
Greg2600
01-31-2013, 11:31 AM
It looks pretty cool. I dread to think what it will cost though.Not clue, guessing 100-150 USD like most of these things.
How would something like that cope with games that come on multiple disks?Button combination opens an onscreen menu, from which you can do multiple things including switch discs.
I'm interested to see how it connects with a PS one.Both the PS One and the 3rd iteration grey system (SCPH9000) have no Parallel IO port, so you'd have to solder some kind of wire/cable and likely cut out an opening in the back.
PS: Should work on import images, has yet to be tested.
Sundowner
01-31-2013, 11:41 AM
This is really cool! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on this. I don't have a ps1 anymore because my ps2 replaced it, but if something like this does come out it may give me an excuse to buy a ps1 again. :)
InsaneDavid
01-31-2013, 01:13 PM
I'd easily pay $100 or so for one of these. The moving parts and optics on PS1's aren't going to last forever, even with sourcing replacement components. While I'm not opposed to emulation, I'm all for using devices that work on actual hardware. A device like this, in addition to preserving the operating longevity of the platform, would essentially blow open the entire library of games as a plug and play solution for end users.
lordvectrex
01-31-2013, 01:18 PM
Great. Now I really want a Dreamcast cartridge too.
dendawg
01-31-2013, 01:47 PM
Great. Now I really want a Dreamcast cartridge too.
http://www.goatstore.com/Products/Sega/Dreamcast/372082/SD_Card_Reader_Adapter
Kitsune Sniper
01-31-2013, 02:03 PM
I thought that thing wasn't very good at streaming games?
lordvectrex
01-31-2013, 02:07 PM
http://www.goatstore.com/Products/Sega/Dreamcast/372082/SD_Card_Reader_Adapter
That's not a cartridge!
Frankie_Says_Relax
01-31-2013, 02:38 PM
That's not a cartridge!
It's the equivalent device. Boots Dreamcast game images from an SD card.
Parodius Duh!
01-31-2013, 04:35 PM
As a collector of PS1 games, Im totally against this, unless it drives the cost down on some existing expen$ive titles then Im all about it.
Greg2600
01-31-2013, 05:45 PM
Firstly, I'm simply not convinced that Dreamcast SD Adapter is a good choice. I bought one, and it's not working properly.
More importantly, the guy who is creating the PSIO (cynbdyn on AssemblerGames forum) is concurrently working on a GD-ROM replacement solution for the Dreamcast. He's using I think the same PCB, perhaps FPGA as well, for that project.
Gameguy
01-31-2013, 05:59 PM
As a collector of PS1 games, Im totally against this, unless it drives the cost down on some existing expen$ive titles then Im all about it.
I don't see how it can drive down the cost of anything as pretty much any game could be downloaded and burned to disc as it is. I'm also not sure if it can really reduce loading times as much as people are hoping it would. Flash carts for console systems still take seconds for the games to load and those ROMs are pretty small in size, these are larger CD-ROM games.
Even though modded ps1's are fairly easy to come across, it's still something most casual gamers don't want to bother with. This is just plug-and-play.
So casual gamers would rather spend money on one of these that they'd have to special order online, and buy another SD card rather than just burn a game to easily available cheap CD-Rs? People were bootlegging games on this system since it was current, plenty of casual people have already been doing this. You don't even need a modded system, a Gameshark or Action Replay would be good enough.
InsaneDavid
01-31-2013, 06:22 PM
I'm just looking forward to the possibility of all my early Pop'n Music, DDR and Densha de Go! games in one place. No swapping discs, no worrying about the degrading laser, no juggling cases. No more stack of translated CD-R patched duplicates. This is a "flash cart" solution that will make me rip every PS1 game I have and look at purchasing and playing a lot more fan translations.
Frankie_Says_Relax
01-31-2013, 07:20 PM
I'm just looking forward to the possibility of all my early Pop'n Music, DDR and Densha de Go! games in one place. No swapping discs, no worrying about the degrading laser, no juggling cases. No more stack of translated CD-R patched duplicates. This is a "flash cart" solution that will make me rip every PS1 game I have and look at purchasing and playing a lot more fan translations.
Tru dat. I'll get one of these if they're priced reasonably.
Jack_Burton_BYOAC
01-31-2013, 09:08 PM
I'm also not sure if it can really reduce loading times as much as people are hoping it would. Flash carts for console systems still take seconds for the games to load and those ROMs are pretty small in size, these are larger CD-ROM games.
Theoretically, the entire ISO could be copied into temporary memory from an SD card, and then streamed at a very high speed. Of course, you'd have an initial waiting time of probably 30 seconds to a minute. I have no clue if this is part of the design.
Voliko
01-31-2013, 09:13 PM
This is really interesting, not only for its functions but also its novelty. I'll be eagerly awaiting the announcement of the price.
The moving parts and optics on PS1's aren't going to last forever, even with sourcing replacement components.
Finally, a use for the half dozen original model PS1 units crammed in my closet with a worn out optical drive. Cool!
wingzrow
01-31-2013, 10:51 PM
Which does RGB better?
The original playstation or PS2?
If the Playstation does it better, I may need to get a Playstation with a serial port just on the basis of better load times alone.
Gameguy
01-31-2013, 11:06 PM
The original launch Playstation supposedly has the best quality sound, though the worst CD drive. The best quality CD drive of at least the original systems was with the latest one without the serial port on the back.
This might be useful to some people, I just don't see it as necessary compared to cartridge based flash systems. It would be nice not to need CD-Rs anymore as those become worthless as soon as they're burned. I just don't burn many games, I play legit copies. If this is really cheap when it comes out I can see more of a use for it.
TonyTheTiger
01-31-2013, 11:28 PM
Finally, a use for the half dozen original model PS1 units crammed in my closet with a worn out optical drive. Cool!
This is the biggest draw, personally. Pretty much every PlayStation that "doesn't work" will suddenly spring back to life with this.
Jack_Burton_BYOAC
02-01-2013, 12:02 AM
This is the biggest draw, personally. Pretty much every PlayStation that "doesn't work" will suddenly spring back to life with this.
Including the ancient blue DTL-H1000 units that are nearly impossible to find with a good working drive. Why would I want to play on one of those? I don't know...it's cool.
Blitzwing256
02-01-2013, 03:06 AM
You had me at faster load time...you had me!
Kitsune Sniper
02-01-2013, 08:00 AM
Which does RGB better?
The original playstation or PS2?
If the Playstation does it better, I may need to get a Playstation with a serial port just on the basis of better load times alone.
Both use the same connectors, so uh, about the same. :P
Greg2600
02-01-2013, 01:44 PM
PS2 does some texturing on PS1 games but this unit won't work on a PS2.
xelement5x
02-01-2013, 02:16 PM
PS2 does some texturing on PS1 games but this unit won't work on a PS2.
If you want to play ISOs on the PS2 just get a HDD adapter with Free McBoot and you're pretty much set. I don't know if you can run PS1 games through that though, I've never tried.
Greg2600
02-01-2013, 04:19 PM
If you want to play ISOs on the PS2 just get a HDD adapter with Free McBoot and you're pretty much set. I don't know if you can run PS1 games through that though, I've never tried.
Correct.
That's cool that they made something like this, but want I really want is a Neo-Geo AES flash card. Seems like priorities are misplaced, lol..
Just kidding, this is really cool for PS1 guys that don't want to be messing around with a ton of discs.
Kitsune Sniper
02-04-2013, 02:15 PM
That's cool that they made something like this, but want I really want is a Neo-Geo AES flash card. Seems like priorities are misplaced, lol..
Just kidding, this is really cool for PS1 guys that don't want to be messing around with a ton of discs.
Buy a Neo Geo X system, problem solved. :P
Buy a Neo Geo X system, problem solved. :P
I would want to play it on the "real" hardware in natural RGB output.