The PlayStation 5 is Failing Classic Videogames, Even Steam Deck is a Better Alternative

As an avid collector and player of what you’d consider retro gaming media, it fills me with sadness that so many of these classic games aren’t readily available on modern day platforms.

Sure you get your remasters and remakes but I’m talking about the originals, tuned up ever so slightly to perform on modern hardware yet still sporting the same soul it would have had back in the day.

PlayStation Plus Premium was a way for PlayStation fans to experience the classics in this way, and while the PS1 library is pretty decent and even includes some hidden gems, I think everything from the PlayStation 2 onwards is an absolute mess.

The PlayStation 2 is a console many grew up on, including myself, so it pains me to see some of its best games only playable via subscription to PlayStation Plus’ most expensive tier. I don't think it's particularly good value for money either as they’re only playable through cloud-streaming, not ideal if your internet isn’t top-notch or if you’re dealing with an outage.

What’s even more frustrating is the PlayStation 5 is more than capable of running PlayStation 2 games natively, yet we’re forced to cloud-stream them instead.

It’s led to many gamers seeking out alternatives, like GOG which has been a champion of classic game preservation over the last few years, and even Valve’s Steam Deck via emulation.

In fact, the whole reason I’m buying a Steam Machine is for emulation, and I hope I can convinced you why in that last piece I wrote.

Steam Deck owners have tested the console, and the handheld is just as capable of running PlayStation 2 games as the PlayStation 5 is, so what's going on?

Valve

As many PlayStation Plus subscribers have pointed out, the classic catalogue of Sony’s subscription service is so rarely updated it’s painful.

Nintendo is just as bad for this as the most expensive tier of Nintendo Switch Online supports six classic console libraries, the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Game Boy, Nintendo 64 and Nintendo GameCube if you have a Nintendo Switch 2.

Despite that quantity, the most new games you’re getting a month is around three or four if you’re lucky, and it feels like a lottery as to which console they’ll be for.

PlayStation Plus Premium has significantly slowed down when it comes to classic games though, and I’m hoping that’s because the company is quietly planning to release its retro catalogue outright like it did with some of the PS1 games.

For many, those classics are the sole reasons they’re subscribed to PlayStation Plus Premium in the first place.

With so little advancement or change that increasingly premium price point is looking less and less worth it.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect better. There’s a demand for the classics to return so it’s about time PlayStation and other companies like Nintendo start supplying.