The PlayStation Classic launched on December 3, 2018, and within a within a few hours a YouTube channel "Retro Gaming Arts" uploaded a video showing them getting into the Emulator Settings. The video can be found below, but before you think about doing it, there are some things to know.

Firstly, in the video, the two presenters explain how they got into the system by plugging in a keyboard, going into a game, and then hitting the ESC key. This brought up the emulator settings, allowing the two to go through hidden settings and fiddle about with the performance and even add scan lines. When first entered they see the following options: Change CD Image, PCSX Menu, and Exit.

The menu that appears after entering the PCSX option allows you to choose from the following:

  • Resume game
  • Save state
  • Load state
  • Reset game
  • Load CD image
  • Options
  • Controls
  • Cheats,
  • Extra stuff
  • Credits
  • Exit

The two jump into Options and we see that there's an option to change "Frameskip" settings which is noted to possibly cause glitches. Other options include viewing the FPS, choosing the region, BIOS/Plugins, and also Advanced alongside more. The advanced settings allow you to change CPU load, SPU channels, disable the frame limiter, XA decoding, and CD audio. There's also a section that says "Speed hacks" which has a note saying it breaks games but can improve performance.

Now for the important part, which I'm highlighting in bold so you know, you see that this bit is important. The two presenters in the video state that this is to be done only at your own risk. They don't know if this method has potential to brick the console or corrupt it, and if you don't know what you're playing around with, there's a good chance you probably will do so. The description also states that Logitec and Corsair keyboards seem to work, but multiple viewers during a live stream confirmed that other brands don't seem to bring up the emulator settings.

The PlayStation Classic was announced in September, with more details being made public in November and then an unboxing video showed us what was inside. The console launched on December 3 and is available now.

Source: Retro Gaming Arts YouTube via Nibel Twitter