A saviours HD experience - a short review of the MemCard Pro and PS1Digital for the PlayStation 1
Lately, I got myself an SD-card based memory unit for my original PlayStation 1. With this unit, up to 1 TB of space is avalaible just for your save game files. It also has a Wi-Fi port, which is kind of a novelty in the 21th century. The fact that you can store up to 100+ games on one single cartridge is just mind blowing! I’ve got it very early this week, so I don’t have much experience with it. Unfortunately, currently, it’s not compatible with the PSIO I have, but I hope that this will change as soon as a new firmware will come out for the PSIO. Hopefully, this will happen very soon!
This is how this baby looks like
And this is the MemCard Pro next to my PlayStation 1
Though the real deal must be the PS1Digital I’ve also got this week. Basically, it’s a way to get your PlayStation 1 console ready for smart or HD TV’s. It gives your PlayStation 1 an HDMI port, meaning that it’s totally compatible with modern TV’s. But not only that - it also has a Wi-Fi antenna built into it. That’s really rad! In the menu, you can adjust many things inside your PS1Digital - from 240p to a whooping 1200p. I’m currently at 480p, because the screen just gets big enough to see at the far end of the living room (I have glasses, btw). And also one of the cooleste things by this mod is the fact that you can force 240p into it, meaning that there is no flickering in sudden changes of the resolution (i. e. from 240p to 480p, when going into the menu in Dino Crisis).
An HDMI port for SERIAL I/O
Inside the clean PU-18 motherboard
Everything is set up. With a Brooks wireless DualShock 4 receiver, a MemCard Pro adapter and a PSIO.
There is really nothing else bad to say abouth this product. Maybe the fact that it’s not easy to install it yourself - I had to send my PlayStation 1 unit to an Italian company to install it for me. Oh, and the fact that’s it only limited to PU-18 and PU-20 boards (mine is a SCPH-5502 model, with a PU-18 motherboard). Other than those nitpicks, it’s really a great device. And it’s far, far better than an emulation device like the PlayStation 1 Classic and other emulators like that. Oh, and I’m using firmware 1.5.3 at the moment. Maybe they will make some more threats out of it in the future.
Some gameplay of Tekken 3 in HD!
Let the games begin! :)
Anyway, I’m totally ready for this years holiday summer! :D
MemCard Pro
8/10
The Good:
- One memory card to rule them all!
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Easy to connect to your PC
- Nice looking OLES display
The Bad:
- No connectivity with the PSIO at the moment
- Quite expensive, not suitable for everybody
PS1Digital
9/10
The Good:
- An HDMI port for your PlayStation 1
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Beatiful HD graphics
- No emulation, all is very keen to the original
The Bad:
- No connectivity with the PSIO as of firmware version 1. 5. 3
- Quite expensive
