Playstation 1/2/3 Intercompatibility?

[Squirrel61]

Last week, I added a PS1 to my console collection, which only contained handhelds before. Since it's the first time I have something with the Sony logo that's not designed as a portable device, it's time for some n00b questions. If you want to shoot me, go ahead, but remember where you started yourself Btw. I'm asking because I want to expand the system a bit and wonder if I upgrade to PS2, how much of it will still be usable.

1. I noticed the PS1 and PS2 share the same controller ports. I also noticed some PS2 controllers that mention to be PS1 compatible. But how far does compatibility go? Do wireless PS2 controllers work on the PS1? Dual-shock (yes I know the PS1 doesn't support ds but will the standard functions work)? Or is compatibility limited only to certain wired controllers?
2. Are memorycards compatible between the systems? Do you need any adapters for it?
3. I've got a component video cable that I think has been designed for the PS2. It fits the PS1 but has no picture. Is the PS1 supposed to support component video?
4. What about other addons? I guess the eyetoy doesn't work simply because there are no PS1 games supporting it. What about racing wheels? I know some dance mats work. Any other addons that could be of interest?

How much of the PS1/PS2 addons will be usable on the PS3 with/without adapter?

Another question, mainly concerning the PS2: I heard about a "special" memorycard that enables the PS2 to boot backups and imports without modchip. Anyone tried it yet?

Any tips for when I want to upgrade to a PS2? What should I look for? What should I definitely avoid? Any bad models?

Thanks for your patience.

 

[Mutilator]

1) the official ps2 controllers wont go into a ps1 (i had the original version) never tried wireless so couldnt say but prob. only work on the ps2.
2)ps1 memory cards will fit in a ps2 but not the other away around.
3)sorry never tried component, but the ps1 i had i used the basic cable that came with it which plugged into the aerial socket on the back of my tv
4)never had the dance mat but had a lightgun which supported a few games such as Time Crisis. eye toy was first released for the ps2. the only other addons' other than the ones you mentioned i think were just cheat cartriges like action replay, gameshark etc.

5)pretty much none as sony wants you to buy the current addons
6)never tried it
7)just make sure it works fully (games, dvds etc. The first ps2 i had was new on release and everything worked fine but when the first dvd games came out i couldnt actually play them or dvd movies as there was a problem with my ps2.

hope this is of some help

 

[alterdimension]

1) the official ps2 controllers wont go into a ps1 (i had the original version) never tried wireless so couldnt say but prob. only work on the ps2.
2)ps1 memory cards will fit in a ps2 but not the other away around.
3)sorry never tried component, but the ps1 i had i used the basic cable that came with it which plugged into the aerial socket on the back of my tv
4)never had the dance mat but had a lightgun which supported a few games such as Time Crisis. eye toy was first released for the ps2. the only other addons' other than the ones you mentioned i think were just cheat cartriges like action replay, gameshark etc.

5)pretty much none as sony wants you to buy the current addons
6)never tried it
7)just make sure it works fully (games, dvds etc. The first ps2 i had was new on release and everything worked fine but when the first dvd games came out i couldnt actually play them or dvd movies as there was a problem with my ps2.

hope this is of some help

I know they made area 51 for ps1, did they make a gun for it? Because as it is you have to use a controller and that makes it way complicated to use a controller

 

[waffles]

I know there was a guncom for the ps1, but i have no idea if area 51 supported it.

 

[sehs33]

1. PS1 controllers work on PS2 (with limitations) but not vice versa (as far as I know)
2. PS1 memory cards work on PS2 to store PS1 game saves only, PS2 memory cards do not fit in PS1.
3. I've never seen a component cable for the PS1 +
QUOTE
Although you can plug the PS2 component cable on a PS1, it will not work. I tried it myself, and it even says on the component cable box that it will not work with PS1. Like the other post says, PS1 can't handle component signal.
Source: http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforum/index....ost&p=36339
4. EyeToy doesn't work for sure, PS1 mouse does work on PS2, not sure about the rest.
Q. How much of the PS1/PS2 addons will be usable on the PS3 with/without adapter?
No idea, I doubt that anyone can compute a percentage.
Q. ...a "special" memorycard that enables the PS2 to boot backups and imports without modchip. Anyone tried it yet?
It is not a special memory card, as far as I know you can dump a special software to a PS2 memory card to hack around with the system (play SMS player for example) but am not sure if it requires/replaces a mod chip.
Q. Any tips for when I want to upgrade to a PS2? What should I look for? What should I definitely avoid? Any bad models?
Now, new unit, avoid buying any accessories to your PSX (unless it is a memory card and a Dex drive, anything else will be a waste of money),no dangerous models as far as I know

I advise you to buy a PS2 to get a much better experience with PS1 games (most of the titles work well with faster load times + smoother textures + you can use the PS2 component), you can keep your PS1 in your collection (unless you are only interested in gaming).

I guess you will find this very interesting:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/915821/9781

 

[Squirrel61]

Thanks for the reactions all! They're very informative to me. I think later this week I'll pickup a chipped PS2 and probably completely drop the PS1, because I've got no particular feelings of nostalgia and just want to play certain games.

Sehs33, the PS2 backwards compatibility faq you linked to is a good source of information too, I will surely read it!

About the component video, I already discovered by trial-and-error that my cable didn't work but since I never tried it on a PS2 either, I still wondered if it was just malfunctioning or it just didn't work on any PS1. Thanks to the answers, I now know to look no further since the PS1 just doesn't seem to output the needed signal.

I've done some research on the controllers too and found that PS1 and PS2 controller ports are completely identical. However, where the PS1 port has a clock of 250kHz, the PS2 has a clock of 500kHz (probably allowing greater precision). So although the original PS2 controllers only work on a PS2, it is certainly possible to design an auto-adapting dual-mode controller. And some manufacturers have done so. I've come across a few wired dual-mode controllers and even a wireless one!

I've also done some more research on the memor32 "magic memory card". It seems to use a feature roughly comparable to the PSP's "magic memory stick" or "Pandora stick", a backdoor that Sony has deliberately built into the system for maintenance and repair purposes. I don't know in how far the features offered by the memor32 card can be reproduced on any other 32Mb memory card but it's roughly equal to what a modchip can do. However, you have to rip the ISO from a game, patch it using a special patcher software and then reburn it to be able to use it with the memor32 and that's something I definitely don't want to (although the patched games still run on chipped systems without the memor32). Btw. you won't find much information on this "special feature" on the memor32 site, they just mention the other special features like the ability to transfer savegames to the PC over the built-in USB port. Speaking of which, I guess there's a microcontroller built inside the memor32 to drive the USB port, which can also be the reason this card is "special" in other ways.

[edit] Found out that if there is a model to avoid, it's the V12 PS2 since it seems to have a laser that's considerably worse than that of any other model. But I think I'm going for the slimline anyway because the DVD drive has a lid instead of a tray, which makes it easier to perform some tricks. On the other hand, with a good modchip (I've been told Matrix Infinity is the best) you don't need tricks at all...

 

[nubie]

I did the memory card mod, it is very simple, you just need an action replay a USB memory stick, and some free tools.

It only works on the old (Thick) PS2, and it will let you chuck a whopping great IDE drive in to play all (or nearly all) of your PS2 games off of a Hard disk, no game disk needed (of course keep them in a box next to the PS2 for legal reasons.)

It modifies a list of "ps1 compatibility modes" to cause a buffer overflow and start a boot loader, the boot loader can load off of USB or the hard drive, the hard drive can contain emulators (like Pgen, the genesis emulator).

All you need is a PS1 game in the console, and the memory card with the modified boot loader, the mod will only work with the game it recognizes in the console, to play that game simply unplug the memory card.

It took me an afternoon with google and the afore-mentioned Action Replay (with ability to load a mem-save off of a USB stick) to get it going, there are plenty of tutorials.

Just to clear up the PS1 component, it outputs 15khz RGB (Red Green Blue), whereas the PS2 can output Y/Pr/Pb, which is a differential scheme that most HDTVs support. If you have a TV/Projector with RGB support (a VGA port will sometimes support RGB, check the manual) or SCART (a european standard) then you can enjoy the RGB video the PS1 has to offer.

 

[Squirrel61]

I did the memory card mod, it is very simple, you just need an action replay a USB memory stick, and some free tools.

No, what I've been pointed at is something different. You need the memor32 memorycard, since it currently is the only one that supports it (why?) and it has to be loaded with a special firmware. To me it seems the people behind the firmware are the same as the people behind the memorycard, but they just branched away to keep the company behind it out of legal trouble. The use of the word "Devolution" for the devmodes reminds me of a PSP modchip that never really got a life because the Pandora stick got released before they really got production problems sorted out. Could be the same people.

QUOTE
It only works on the old (Thick) PS2, and it will let you chuck a whopping great IDE drive in to play all (or nearly all) of your PS2 games off of a Hard disk, no game disk needed (of course keep them in a box next to the PS2 for legal reasons.)

The idea of connecting a hdd to a PS2 is really challenging. And I've already found diagrams on how to connect the drive to the slimline too. All the signals are still there, but all that fails is a pre-made connector.

QUOTE
Just to clear up the PS1 component, it outputs 15khz RGB (Red Green Blue), whereas the PS2 can output Y/Pr/Pb, which is a differential scheme that most HDTVs support. If you have a TV/Projector with RGB support (a VGA port will sometimes support RGB, check the manual) or SCART (a european standard) then you can enjoy the RGB video the PS1 has to offer.

Looks like a scan-doubler like the ones used in good old Amiga times could do the trick of connecting a PS1 over RGB to a modern screen. The VGA screens that still supported 15kHz where the early fish-tank (CRT) Nec Multisync or Eizo Flexscan models, Btw. the only reason I'm interested in component is because I have a component-to-VGA box that allows me to connect my consoles straight to a TFT. But if there's another way, like the Dreamcasts's native VGA output (which I just received the cable for), I'll skip the box since it doesn't improve picture quality actually Btw. I bought the box since it used to be the only way to hook up a PSP slim to my TFT for games, the composite PSP cable only supports photo's and video's. But that was before fusa was released.

 

[Titcher]

The memor32 boot method can be applied to other memory cards too, including the 8MB official sony memory cards, you just need a way to boot up homebrew once and a flash dongle to install from. This free version is called FreeMcBoot, used to be called FreeVast. You wind up with a memory card that will automatically start up a variety of applications that you pick, the one you'd want is probably ESR, which lets you play backups as long as they're patched with the special program. You can get more info about this stuff if you're interested as psx-scene.com.

 

[Squirrel61]

I've also discovered the FreeMcBoot software, but haven't read much about it. Thanks for the link, I'll look at it. But I don't really need it because I've just traded one of my DS Lites for a chipped PS2 system with lots of goodies. Well, one of the things included is an 8Mb Sony memory card and with the chip it should be able to boot homebrew, so I might try it just out of curiousity And maybe for the HDD loader that seems to be included, because the PS2 also has the network adapter and a harddisk included. The previous owner even didn't know that lol.