Hey Sony, Please Add A Fast Forward Button To PS1 Classics

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing. Everyone loves getting wistful about old games, old experiences, old characters that they worshiped and cherished. It’s fun. What’s less fun is revisiting those old games and finding the flaws you’ve forgotten.

I recently re-bought the PS1 classic Final Fantasy IX to play on my Vita, and while it’s a great game, and I love being able to play it anywhere, it’s got one major crack that can’t be smoothed over: loading times.

https://lastchance.cc/let-s-rank-the-final-fantasy-games-best-to-worst-453100182%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

We’re looking at three to four seconds per new area. Almost ten seconds to enter a battle. It’s excruciating.

You can go into your Vita’s settings (by holding down the touchscreen in PS1 mode) and set “Disc Load Speed” to “Fast,” which helps a bit, but doesn’t entirely solve the problem.

What would solve the problem is a fast forward function: an optional command that you can assign to any button and tap at any time in order to make things go faster. This is a default option in most homebrew emulators, which you can download online for free. Why isn’t it available on Sony’s official machine?

As Gabe Newell is fond of pointing out, piracy is a service issue. People pirate when it’s more convenient than not pirating. The way for big companies to fight this—as Steam has successfully proven—is to create an environment where people want to buy their products.

https://lastchance.cc/why-portals-publishers-dont-fear-piracy-competition-5835328%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

I bought Final Fantasy IX when it was on PS1, and I had no problem dishing out another $5 to play it again on the go. But why do pirates get a better experience than I do? Why do they get functions that I don’t? Why do I feel like I’m getting short shrift because I did the right thing and paid again to play this game?

With the PS4, Sony seems to be targeting an audience of hardcore gamers. Beefing up PS1 Classics mode and adding functions like fast forward would be a good way for them to show that they care.

https://lastchance.cc/every-single-thing-weve-written-about-the-ps4-all-in-o-5986120%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

Image: Dusit/Shutterstock

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