CHEAP: At $25, the PlayStation Classic is at its lowest price yet

Welcome to CHEAP, our series about things that are good, but most of all, cheap. CHEAP!

Confession time, dear reader: I actually liked the Sony PlayStation Classic.

Was it a totally cynical attempt by Sony to cash in on the retro console craze amidst the 2018 Christmas shopping season? Absolutely. Was it wildly overpriced when it came out? Yeah. Was the games selection a bit questionable? Yes, unless you consider Cool Boarders 2 an iconic piece of gaming history.

But it wasn’t too bad. The hardware worked well. The emulator is stable, and offers a consistent and jerk-free gameplay experience. And there were some genuinely good gems in the PlayStation Classic’s lineup.

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My personal favorite is Tom Clancy’s scarily prescient Rainbow Six, the first level of which is set in the Belgian Embassy in London, which has been commandeered by far-right terrorists who wish to see the UK withdraw from the European Union.

The original Grand Theft Auto is a great laugh too. I’m not sure I’ll ever get bored of mowing down a conga line of Hare Krishnas, only to see GOURANGA light up the screen. Similarly, Tekken remains a right laugh – even if it is, in retrospect, a teensy bit racist.

As an added bonus, with a bit of technical know-how, you can quite easily sideload your own games onto the console.

Sony originally sold the PlayStation Classic for $100, in the belief that it’d be a yuletide success. It wasn’t, and when January came, thousands remained piled up in warehouses, much like a fucking Zoella advent calendar.

Over 2019, retailers have gradually lowered the cost of the PlayStation Classic in a desperate effort to shift stock. Now, you can get one for $25, which is the lowest price yet. Honestly, I can’t argue with this.

If you’re feeling nostalgic for the early days of gaming, before analog sticks and scratchy-voiced preteens yelling into your ear about their sordid sexual escapades with your mum, you should totally buy this. It’s worth every penny.

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