PS3 PlayStation Store Gets First NA PS1 Titles

Online reports have confirmed that the first selection of downloadable PlayStation One titles have now hit Sony's PlayStation Store, giving PSP players a chance to play portable versions of classic PS1 franchise hits like Crash Bandicoot and Syphon Filter. The full list of PlayStation titles currently available is Crash Bandicoot, Cool Boarders, Hot Shots Golf 2, Syphon Filter, and Tekken 2. All of the games are being sold at a price of $5.99, and range in size from 157 to 535 megabytes. As earlier reported, the downloadable PlayStation titles also require the latest version of PSP firmware, 3.01, to play, and PSP owners currently must own a PS3 in order to download and transmit the titles, though Sony promises to have a dedicated PSP version of the PlayStation Store online in the coming months for direct download of the PS1 titles to a memory stick. Clearly chosen as representative of the classic North American franchises that defined the PlayStation, the initial list is somewhat shorter and notably lacking a few key franchises already available to Japanese users. Japan's initial lineup, for instance, included Capcom's genre-defining Resident Evil: Director's Cut, Sony's 3D platformer Jumping Flash!, Namco puzzler Mr. Driller, and Bandai's cult action title Silent Bomber. As yet there is no word on how often the PlayStation Store will be supplied with new PS1 titles, or whether Sony will introduce price point variations or continue to stick with $5.99 for all future titles.