Trying to buy a PS1 memory card on eBay. Help.

[Xizer]

Wading through the PS1 memory cards available on eBay, I can't figure out which ones are official or not. I don't want some shitty memory card. Is there a way to find a first party Sony memory card on eBay easier?

[s1lence]

Not really other then searching well. Alot of "unofficial" ones are being sold as original, typically the cheap buy it now ones. I've also had to ask sellers to be sure.

Good Luck.

[heyricochet]

Well, personally I'd just go to any local video game store cause they're just as cheap used there.

[Xizer]

I'd do that, but none of the stores here have PS1 memory cards.

[gamemaster5378]

Dont PS2 cards work with PS1? I think they do, but Im not shure.

[-hellvin-]

Dont PS2 cards work with PS1? I think they do, but Im not shure.

Nope. You can transfer ps1 games to a ps2 card to back em up or whatever, but they won't load off those cards.

[kentuckyfried]

Give me your address and I'll mail you one of those cheap, crappy, 3rd party memory cards.

[PapaStu]

There are a good number of pirate cards out there that look and smell like a PS card but arnt.

If your gonna buy an official party card, go for a translucent one (ie the semi clear) and ask the seller to get you a pic of the bottom of the card, or to tell you if the big chip thats visible from the bottom (the ram chip) says Sony on it. The Official Sony cards have Sony chips in them. Also, if the circuit board does not fill the card (ie if there any space showing on the inside) then thats a sure sign of pirate card as well.

[PapaStu]

An Official PS memory card (http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-PlayStation-1-PSX-Memory-Card-RED_W0QQitemZ8236885368QQcategoryZ38615QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem)

Sorry that this one is from the UK, but it was the first real one that came up as I started to search 53 pages of 'Playstation Memory Cards' Note that the circuit board fills the card.

A Fake PS memory card (http://cgi.ebay.com/PLAYSTATION-PSX-PS2-MEMORY-CARDS-15-BLOCKS-CARD-1-MB_W0QQitemZ8239021582QQcategoryZ21190QQrdZ1QQcmdZ ViewItem)

Yes this isnt a branded card, but this pic is being shown to show you that the circuit board comes up short in the card. Thats a sign of unnofficialness. Trust me, ive had a good number of fake PS cards run thru my hands that were 'branded' including actual packaging but you'd not notice the slight font differences on the cards unless you held them and looked at them, not to mention the little differences on the packaging (ie a trademark symbol instead of a copywrite one ect, not to mention spelling errors on the packaging)

[googlefest1]

ive used a bunch of those fake ones you have a pic of -- i have had no problems - the only problems ive had with 3rd party memory cards on the PSX are the compressed ones - like the 8 in 1 kind

[Vectorman0]

I've got two brand new official Sony crimson red memory cards. $8 each+actual shipping cost if you are interested (That's what I paid for them)

[Daria]

You could always dish out $50 and pick up a PocketStation memory card. They're just like the Dreamcast VMUs and I don't think there's any chance of running into piracy.

Course they're also fucking expensive. But it's kinda fun to see which US titles still unlock the minigames.

[AntiPasta]

You could always dish out $50 and pick up a PocketStation memory card. They're just like the Dreamcast VMUs and I don't think there's any chance of running into piracy.


Well, I doubt that - it reminds me of a friend of mine who had ordered an (overpriced) PocketStation online... when it got there the box had NO Sony markings whatever, it said "PocketPDA" or something instead of "PocketStation" and the actual unit had "SCDA" written on it instead of "SONY". I know the chances are damn slim of somebody seeing fit to *pirate* the damn thing, but this sure looked like the outcome of such an endeavour.

[Ed Oscuro]

It doesn't matter. I bought 4 new third party cards, and they haven't messed up yet.

I wouldn't buy a used card because the use has already shortened its life span. Might as well go with a new product (that might have been manufactured under better tolerances), I say.

[Spartacus]

Wading through the PS1 memory cards available on eBay, I can't figure out which ones are official or not. I don't want some shitty memory card. Is there a way to find a first party Sony memory card on eBay easier?

Xizer, I don't know how many Playstation games you play or if you prefer to hang on to your old game saves or not, but if you're planning on getting by with just one memory card, then take a word of advise from Laura here. Get yourself a Dex Drive!
It's pretty easy to pick up a cheap one and it let's you transfer your saved games to your PC for safe keeping while freeing up memory space on your card.
http://tinypic.com/ibxwza.jpg



There are a good number of pirate cards out there that look and smell like a PS card but arnt..

Really? I've never heard that before so I never really paid any attention when buying them. Now I'm wondering if I have any pirate cards. I think I'll have a look these.
http://tinypic.com/ibxx61.jpg



If your gonna buy an official party card, go for a translucent one (ie the semi clear) and ask the seller to get you a pic of the bottom of the card, or to tell you if the big chip thats visible from the bottom (the ram chip) says Sony on it. The Official Sony cards have Sony chips in them. Also, if the circuit board does not fill the card (ie if there any space showing on the inside) then thats a sure sign of pirate card as well.
Trust me, ive had a good number of fake PS cards run thru my hands that were 'branded' including actual packaging but you'd not notice the slight font differences on the cards unless you held them and looked at them, not to mention the little differences on the packaging (ie a trademark symbol instead of a copywrite one ect, not to mention spelling errors on the packaging).

Well, let's open them up some of mine and see what we find then.
http://tinypic.com/ibyhs1.jpg


The majority have Sony branded chips, which is reassuring, though none of those are on circuit boards that fill the card. I was immediately suspicious of the three cards that did have long circuit boards in them because none had any Sony branded chips on them. I copied down the name on the chip and Googled ATMEL AT29LV010A. I found plenty of information linking ATMEL as a major supplier of flash memory chips for Sony. Seems Sony uses ATMEL for a lot of it's products. Also found this Working Designs page with a pic of the insides of an official Sony Playstation memory card and I recognized the chip as being ATMEL's.

http://www.workingdesigns.com/news/1998/06-10-1998-01.htm

After examining my cards carefully I noticed that the cards with a small raised letter molded on the backside just to the right of where it says "Sony Computer Entertainment Inc." all had the Sony branded chip. The cards without the letter had the AMTEL chip. If anyone has a preference of the two, I think you could pick up a card and tell which is which fairly easily. Here's a bad pic of it, but I've tried to highlight the letter the best I could. The letter varies amoung my cards, but the placement doesn't.
http://tinypic.com/ibyi5k.jpg


I haven't seen anything yet that would lead me to believe I have any pirated memory cards, but since I'm not exactly sure what I should be looking for, I decided to take a look at some unofficial Playstation memory cards and see what a pirated card might look like on the inside.
Here's some from Pelican, Nuby, Doc's, Hip Gear, Joy Tech, Mad Catz, Datel, InterAct, High Frequency, Nyko and our inconspicious No Name brand!
http://tinypic.com/ibyihz.jpg


Now let's see what THEY have on the inside.
http://tinypic.com/ibyis3.jpg


WOW! I'm really shocked by the difference! These don't look anything like what I've seen inside the Sony Playstation cards. But the Nyko card, second from the right on the bottom row, does have a full lenght circuit board and uses the same ATMEL chip I saw on the Sony cards. That's interesting.



It doesn't matter. I bought 4 new third party cards, and they haven't messed up yet.
I wouldn't buy a used card because the use has already shortened its life span. Might as well go with a new product (that might have been manufactured under better tolerances), I say.

I've had the same experiences with 3rd party cards myself. I've used them often and never had a problem. I actually kinda like buying used cards though. Nobody ever seems to make any effort to erase them before trading them in, so I can get a glimpse of what other people were playing. Sometimes I find a card that has me leveled up pretty high, which is kinda nice. I just find it interesting, in a nosey kind of way.
Oh sure, I've heard the stories about how 3rd party cards can differ from official cards by a few micro volts. And how they can explode in your system like a magnesium flare which could possibly tear a hole in the time space continium allowing aliens to enter our dimension and subject us to violent gang probings, but I never really believed any of it.
But you know, now that I've gotten a good look at them and seen those flammable looking gobs of black goop inside, I could see how those stories might be true! LOL

[PapaStu]

Excelent work on the pictures and everything. Do you think that they could possibly be used to write up an article?

At one point I was hunting down as many different US PS memory cards as possible (colors that is) and finally found a neon yellow one (which was in what appeared to be an official wrapper) and once I opened it I noticed the 'issues' I brought up. The circuit board was much shorter than an official card, had a wrong chip and those lovely black blob solders on it. I've also seen the same issues with what looked like an official orange one, which was totally a fake.

[l_lamb]

If the memory card is sealed, make sure the UPC starts with 7 11719 _____ _. If you're near a Toys R Us, check around carefully. They're sometimes in clearance bins or behind newer stuff on pegs with the PS2 accessories. They should have the silver/gray backing cardboard.

Circuit City has this card (http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-Memory-Card-94032-/sem/rpsm/oid/41474/catOid/-13861/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do) listed new for $9.99 but only available for pickup. It was only available at one of the 10 stores located in this area. EB Games has this card (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/224496.asp) listed as used first-party for $2.99 used and available.

[Ed Oscuro]

What are the prices on the first party cards? Third party cards (such as what I have) nearly cost as much as it does to ship them, so I'm thinking you can simply get away with using those. I know I would...no reason to sacrifice a first-party card (and my money) when I can just use a third party-one and copy my data over if I really want to.