¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: Sony Computer Entertainment
- Year of release: 1994
- Units sold: 102.49 millions
- Best-selling game: Gran Turismo
- CPU: MIPS R3000A 32-bit @ 33.87 MHz
- RAM: 2 MB
- VRAM: 1 MB
- Video: dedicated GPU, up to 360,000 polygons/s
- Resolution: 256x224 to 640x480
- Sound chip: SPU, 24 ADPCM channels
- Media: CD-ROM
¶ Presentation
The PlayStation, often shortened to PS1 or PSX, is a fifth generation video game console marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released on December 3, 1994 in Japan, on September 9, 1995 in North America and on September 29, 1995 in Europe. It is Sony's first console, born out of the failure of a CD-ROM add-on project for the Super Nintendo carried out with Nintendo.
The machine established textured 3D and the CD-ROM as industry standards. Its architecture, built around a MIPS R3000A processor backed by a dedicated GPU and a geometry transformation engine, was far simpler to program than that of its direct competitor, the Saturn. The CD medium, much cheaper to produce than a cartridge, drew third-party publishers in droves and allowed CD-quality music and full motion video cutscenes.
The PlayStation was an unprecedented commercial success: over 102 million units sold, and the 100 million mark reached faster than any console before it. Its library of more than 7,000 titles holds a large share of the classics of the era: Final Fantasy VII, Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Gran Turismo, Tekken 3, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Crash Bandicoot and Silent Hill. A compact revision, the PSone, was released in 2000 and extended the console's career until 2006.
¶ Emulators
New in Recalbox 10.1: the Libretro PCSX-ReARMed core moves to version r26l, Libretro Swanstation is updated, and the GunCon 2 shooting accuracy is fixed (99%) with support for 31 kHz displays.
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro PCSX-ReARMed | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro Mednafen_PSX | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Libretro Mednafen_PSX_HW | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Libretro Swanstation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| DuckStation | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Mednafen_PSX_HW, which adds hardware rendering and high resolution, is only available on PC. On RPi3 and RPi Zero 2, only PCSX-ReARMed, Swanstation and DuckStation are provided.
By default Recalbox launches Libretro PCSX-ReARMed, the best speed/compatibility compromise on ARM; on PC, Libretro Mednafen_PSX_HW takes priority for its accuracy and its high resolution rendering. Netplay and softpatching are not available on this system. PCSX-ReARMed and Swanstation handle CRT output. RetroAchievements are supported.
A controller is mandatory; a light gun is optionally supported, for titles such as Time Crisis, Point Blank or Die Hard Trilogy. In Recalbox 10.1 the GunCon 2 gets fixed shooting accuracy (99%) and support for 31 kHz displays.
¶ BIOS
PlayStation BIOS files go at the root of /recalbox/share/bios/, not in a subfolder.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Mandatory | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|---|
scph5500.bin |
Japanese BIOS (SCPH-5500) — JP region games | 8dd7d5296a650fac7319bce665a6a53c | ✅ | Mednafen_PSX, Mednafen_PSX_HW, Swanstation, DuckStation |
scph5501.bin |
American BIOS (SCPH-5501) — US region games | 490f666e1afb15b7362b406ed1cea246 | ✅ | PCSX-ReARMed, Mednafen_PSX, Mednafen_PSX_HW, Swanstation, DuckStation |
scph5502.bin |
European BIOS (SCPH-5502) — EU region games | 32736f17079d0b2b7024407c39bd3050 | ✅ | Mednafen_PSX, Mednafen_PSX_HW, Swanstation, DuckStation |
scph101.bin |
PSone BIOS (SCPH-101) — recommended for better compatibility | 6e3735ff4c7dc899ee98981385f6f3d0 | ✅ | PCSX-ReARMed |
scph7001.bin |
SCPH-7001 BIOS — recommended for better compatibility | 1e68c231d0896b7eadcad1d7d8e76129 | ✅ | PCSX-ReARMed |
scph1001.bin |
SCPH-1001 BIOS — recommended for better compatibility | dc2b9bf8da62ec93e868cfd29f0d067d | ✅ | PCSX-ReARMed |
ps1_rom.bin |
BIOS extracted from a PS3 firmware update — compatible with all regions, can replace all the others | 81bbe60ba7a3d1cea1d48c14cbcc647b | ❌ | Swanstation, DuckStation |
Place your BIOS files like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/
├── scph5500.bin
├── scph5501.bin
├── scph5502.bin
├── scph101.bin
├── scph7001.bin
├── scph1001.bin
└── ps1_rom.bin
The BIOS used must match the region of the game: a Japanese game launched with the European BIOS will refuse to start or will run at the wrong frequency. Install the three regional BIOS files (
scph5500,scph5501,scph5502) and the emulator will pick the right one automatically.
A second revision of the scph1001.bin file is also recognised, with MD5 924e392ed05558ffdb115408c263dccf.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/psx/
Supported extensions per emulator:
| Emulator | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Libretro PCSX-ReARMed | .bin .cbn .ccd .chd .cue .exe .img .iso .m3u .mdf .pbp .toc |
| Libretro Mednafen_PSX | .ccd .chd .cue .exe .m3u .pbp .toc |
| Libretro Mednafen_PSX_HW | .ccd .chd .cue .exe .m3u .pbp .toc |
| Libretro Swanstation | .bin .chd .cue .ecm .exe .img .iso .m3u .mds .pbp .psf .psexe |
| DuckStation | .bin .chd .cue .ecm .img .iso .m3u .mds .pbp |
Redump dumps converted to CHD are strongly recommended: a single file per disc, audio tracks included, with no quality loss, and accepted by every emulator in the list.
A lone .bin file is not enough: it must come with its .cue file, which describes the tracks of the disc. That .cue is the file you should launch. If your games are silent because the audio tracks are missing, it is almost always a missing or incorrect .cue.
For multi-disc games, such as Final Fantasy VII or Metal Gear Solid, create a .m3u file listing the discs in order, one path per line, and launch that .m3u: the virtual memory card stays shared between discs and disc swapping is done from the emulator menu. The .pbp format, which packs several discs into a single file, is also supported.
Also have a look at the PlayStation guide for game preparation, configuration and system-specific tips.