5 reasons why PlayStation Classic lacks classic PS1 games

Recently, Sony has announced the full list of 20 games included in the game PlayStation Classic. While Nintendo’s retro systems include best-selling, highly-regarded products, Sony’s lacks the names that make the PS1.

Let’s find out a few reasons why PlayStation Classic but lacks its outstanding games:

MUSIC COPYRIGHT

Many developers PlayStation Take advantage of the CD’s storage to add popular copyrighted tracks. Tracks from sports series like Tony Hawk Pro Skater and JetMoto are chock full of tracks and require complicated music licensing agreements.

Music rights are often limited to a limited time, affecting the number of games sold many years after their release. For example, the 10th anniversary update for Grand Theft Auto 4 dropped the out-of-copyright tracks. Recently, Alan Wake was only sold on the digital store after Microsoft successfully negotiated the music copyright. Negotiating the music rights (or taking them down and being denounced by fans) can prevent many games that use the music from appearing.

OTHER COPYRIGHT ISSUES

Madden ’98 is considered the best 2D rugby game ever. It is produced by a third-party publisher with copyright belonging to the NFL and the players. Gran Turismo is one of the best-selling and highest-rated games on PS1, kickstarting this popular franchise. It also includes 140 vehicles and lots of copyrighted music, including songs by The Chemical Brothers and Garbage.

What’s more difficult to negotiate for both the music sides is probably the international car manufacturers and the NFL, both of which have more power than they did two years ago.

REMAKE, RE-RELEASE AND REMASTER

Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Resident Evil 2 are the games that should have appeared in PlayStation Classic, but no name appears. All four of these titles are owned by third-party publishers, and all four have remasters, re-releases, and remakes that are either on sale or in development. The publisher wants to avoid the classic games above PlayStation Classic to avoid losing revenue for their existing products.

With the exception of Syphon Filter, there are rumors that this game is about to be remade, after the extension of the brand exclusivity. It could also be a brand extension so that the game can be added in PlayStation Classic.

MOST BEST SELLING GAMES OF PLAYSTATION ALL OF THIRD PARTY

Nintendo is involved in developing the vast majority of the company’s best games on its own consoles. With retro games, owning most of the console’s best games is to Nintendo’s advantage. The company doesn’t need to strike multiple agreements (and revenue sharing) with outside publishers for their retro systems.

Square Enix released Final Fantasy Tactics, Bushido Blade, and Vargrant Story. Accalim releases Mortal Kombat 2. Capcom releases Mega Man Legacy and Dino Crisis. Eidos released Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Some publishers PlayStation ceased to exist, so the rights to their games were given to the new owners, making licensing more complicated.

Third-party publishers like Square Enix also have a few other games on their list PlayStation Classic, but each game requires its own license contract. Sony definitely struggled to get Final Fantasy 7 included PlayStation Classic instead of Square Enix’s less famous Parasite Eve.

LOSS OF DUALSHOCK

The vast majority of games are unavailable mainly due to business challenges. But speaking of Ape Escape, a game owned by Sony is not on this list. Although Ape Escape hasn’t appeared in the last decade, despite its popularity in the late 90s to early 2000. Not to mention, this game doesn’t have many copyrighted songs or professional athletes. However, in 1992, Ape Escape was the first game to require a DualShock (or Dual Analogue) controller – a PlayStation controller with two analog sticks. PlayStation Classic released with the original controller (without two joysticks), making it impossible to play Ape Escape or any game that requires a more advanced controller.

Source: Polygon