Review of the new PS One I shall call him; mini me

Most of us like small things (when it comes to electronics; of course). Whether it is having the thin Plasma TV, or the smaller Palm V- we like small compact things. Sony is no newbie in the consumer electronics field, and they also know about our obsession with the smaller gadgets, because of this, they have recently released a new Playstation, not the Playstation 2, the PS One. It is exactly the same as the original gray box, but with one exception- it is ½ the size! It plays all the original Playstation games just as well, if not better and smoother than most “big” Playstations.

If you’re thinking to yourself that purchasing threw new PS One is useless with the release of Sony’s new system; Playstation 2, you’re wrong. Although Playstation 2 is a much more powerful system, with more capabilities, it is still new, and only few games are out, with only few being released weekly due to the time it takes to make a great game for the PS2. But with the PS One, you have 3 years of titles to choose from, and much after-market support. And not to mention; there are still a strong amount of companies making games for the PS One, due to it’s overall popularity as well as PS2’s backwards compatibility.

The PS One itself is revolutionary, at 5.5 x 7.5 inches, it is literally tiny, everyone who sees it in my house comment’s on it’s size. And the reduced size does not mean reduced performance, all games load just as fast (or slow), as they would on the original Playstation. I used to own the older Playstation (the first generation) and the only way to get it to work properly was to flip it up-side-down (or to it’s side), and keep it cool so it wouldn’t freeze- the PS One has no problems when it comes to playing any of my games, even the really scratched ones! And all equipment designed for the original Playstation can be used for the PS One as well, except ones which require a serial port (which the older original Playstation had).

Something I noticed along with the change of size is the basic design of the PS One, it has no “reset” button. And something else that crosses my mind is how does this thing stay cool, it has hardly any ventilation! Along with other “cheaper” features: such as, when you press the “open” button, instead of a slow and smooth opening cover, the cover flies open- it doesn’t feel as elegant and professional as when the “big” Playstation’s cover opened. But it doesn’t hurt it’s overall “cool factor”.

With the many titles available for the original Playstation, it is not worth spending over $500 at an online auction for Playstation 2. Might as well get the original Playstation, or better yet, the PS One.