Category Archives: HIDDEN GEMS

PlayStation PSIO – SD Flash Drive for your PS1

PSIO is a Flash Cartridge that plugs into your PlayStation’s Parallel I/O Port. It allows you to instantly see your games running from an SD Card on real hardware making it the only way to genuinely play backups on your console. More Info: https://ps-io.com

English Video Transcription:
– [Metal Jesus] Hey guys, Metal Jesus here. I’m back again with a review of a cool device that was recently sent to me for the PlayStation 1. The name of this device is called PSIO by Cybdyn Systems in Australia. Now the way to think of this is like an EverDrive SD card for your PlayStation 1. Now if you’re not familiar with EverDrives, those are SD flash cartridges that plug into retro gaming consoles like, oh, the original NES, a Super NES, Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, even the Game Boy. And what they do is allow you to put your backup ROMS on an SD card and then play it on original hardware. So let’s go ahead and unbox this thing, and let’s get into what it comes with, and also talk about the installation because that’s where it’s gonna make or break some people. In the box it comes with a quick start guide as well as, you’ll notice here, a little printed circuit board, that is the switcher that needs to be added to the motherboard. And like I said, we’re gonna get into that a little bit more here in a second. Here are some wires that you’re gonna need, as well as a sticker that you can put on the back of your console if you want, and then the unit itself.

Now the PSIO plugs into your PlayStation’s parallel port. What’s interesting about that is that the PlayStation parallel port can actually transmit way more data quickly than that original CD ROM drive. So you immediately benefit from faster load times just using this, but I do want to mention that not every original PlayStation console had a parallel port; after a while, Sony did phase them out. So, I actually think that they’re fairly easy to find, but you just need to be aware you’re gonna have to have a model that has that port in the back. But let’s go ahead and stop right there for a second because why would you want this. Well, there’s several reasons for me, the biggest one being that you can just play a ton of games off of an SD card. So, this device supports anywhere from eight gigabytes up to about 512 gigabyte SD cards. Now, in this video here I bought a 64 gig card which holds about 100 games. Another interesting thing about this device is that it’s not actually emulating the PlayStation software. The PSIO is actually an emulator of the CD ROM coprocessor, meaning that all your original video hookups work exactly as you would expect, and for me that means that I can still benefit from having an SD card but still play those awesome light gun games. Another benefit of this is that it runs all regions. I’m not a hundred percent sure how it does this, but it does mean that North American PlayStation 1, like I have right here, will actually run Japanese and PAL games and vice versa. So, if you have a PAL PlayStation 1, well, you could run NTSC games. Another issue for me, really, is just playing backups of games I already own. For instance, I have Final Fantasy 8 and it’s starting to skip; it really sucks. So, playing a backup like this, it’s pretty nice.

Well, let’s go ahead and talk about the modification of the PlayStation motherboard ’cause that’s gonna be the part that’s gonna be tricky for a lot of people, myself included, actually. I haven’t soldered since high school. I don’t have a workbench for it. So, I actually reached out to Chris who you may remember from the RE-PC video I did a couple weeks ago. And he offered to solder and make these changes to my particular PlayStation 1, so, thank you so much Chris. What you need to do is install that tiny switchboard that came in the box. Now what that does is detects if the PSIO is plugged in or not; this allows you to use an SD card, or run your original CD ROMS if you want. So, yes, the CD ROM drive will continue to work, which is great. It’s also important to know that there are several different revisions of the original PlayStation console, meaning that they have instructions on their site to help you out depending on what particular model you own. Now I know that not every gamer is gonna have the knowledge or ability to modify their console, so that makes this particular product a little bit more for the intermediate or advanced user. However, Cybdyn is aware of this and so they’re actually considering offering a all-in-one solution to customers in the future if this unit sells enough, or you just do what I do and get a friend like Chris to help you out. Alright, let’s go ahead and plug it in and turn it on and check it out in action. Now if it’s detected correctly, the first thing you’ll notice on the PlayStation screen is the PSIO words down there. Here’s the main menu and pretty basic stuff, easy to read. It’ll auto-detect whatever games you have already put on the SD card. There are a bunch of options you can tweak if you want to. The two that I want to highlight here is video mode. You can instantly switch between NTSC and PAL, and then if you want, you can enable Fastboot which allows you to skip past the PlayStation logos. It just speeds things up a little bit. But as you guys know, it is all about the game.

So let’s go ahead and check out some games running on the PSIO. I always want to let you know that for this video I’m using the Pound Technology HD Link cables. They look great over HDMI and work well for game capture like this. I also tried to pick a mix of maybe lesser known games, dare I say hidden gems that not everyone has heard about. PSL shows some of the more obvious titles here, but like for instance Ray Tracers here. I mean, Ray Tracers is such a cool arcade racing/car combat game and it was just another excuse to play it, such a fun game and it looks and runs great here, and again, almost no load times. Any chance I get to play a Klonoa game, I will jump at, I love these games. I know I’ve talked about them in the past, but they’re just such cool 2.5D platforming games that are unlike anything else that you play, and like I mentioned, I love this. I actually played it for a long time, capturing the footage here.

Here’s a PlayStation 1 game I only recently discovered called NanoTek Warrior, such a weird name for such an awesome game. As you can see here, it’s unlike anything I’ve played on the PlayStation 1. You’re this ship flying down this tube, you move back and forth, you can jump, you can shoot. It’s a crazy, fun game, and again, not a lot of people talk about it. Here’s another kind of curiosity that I recently discovered. It’s called, it’s kind of a weird name, it’s called Philosoma, Philosoma, I mean, who named that, that’s so bizarre. There’s got to be some sort of history behind that, but as you can see here, it is a vertical shooter, not the best one, but it is kind of a hidden gem; I mean, it’s not that bad. Speed Punks is another game that I definitely notice faster loading on. This is a cool cart racing game. Don’t know really much about it but it’s really fun, really solid, definitely check it out.

Oh yeah, here’s a really cool game called Skullmonkeys and as you can see, it has a very distinctive visual style here. That’s because it’s all Claymation, made by the people who made Neverhood, really rare and unusual game and super fun. Here’s a game that not a lot of people talk about called Silent Bomber. This is a total surprise here because it’s a really high quality third person shooting game, but it’s all about laying bombs. It’s actually really cool, got great graphics, too. Now let’s go ahead and check out some Japanese imports. This is Gunners Heaven. This is a game that Reggie turned me on to a while ago and as you can see here, this is an awesome metal slug, run and gun style game that has lots of explosions. It’s so cool. And a couple more things about this device. So, obviously you’re probably curious if it supports multi-disc titles and yes it does, which is very handy if you’re gonna be playing any of those RPG games and it’s compatible with almost the entire PlayStation 1 library. They claim it’s 99.8% and that means there’s about five or 10 titles that won’t work with it, although, I do have to say they are constantly working on upgrading the firmware. So, usually if you run into something and you let them know, it seems like they try to work on it.

And speaking of the firmware, while I was doing this review, I ran into a small issue that was specific to my particular console, but I reached out to the support department. They built a new version of that firmware, gave me the files and then all I had to do was dump them onto that SD card. So, the nice thing is, if you do need to upgrade your firmware or the menu or anything like that, you do it on the SD card. You don’t have to do this connected to a computer, which is really nice. The other question I had is does it work with CD audio and yes it does, so, that’s very cool. If a game happens to use CD audio in the background, plays flawlessly.

So, do I recommend it, how much does it cost, and where can you get it, well, the question is do I recommend it. I think it depends on who you are as a gamer, as a collector. If you like the idea of these EverDrive style SD cards, then yes, this is a no-brainer here. It works great with the PlayStation 1. It does exactly what you would expect, and probably a little bit more since you can play other regions which is really cool, but having to modify the inside of your console is not going to be for everybody. So, if you don’t have a buddy like Chris that can help you with this, you might want to hold off to see if they release a version that you can just buy all-in-one. Now I mentioned that the developer of this is down in Australia, so, it sell for $150 Australian, which works out to be about $110 US, which is right around the range of other devices like this, but if you would like to know more, or check it out yourself, well, I’ll put a link to their website on the screen here and also down in the video description below and I have to say, now that I have this for the PlayStation 1, I’d kinda like to get it for all my other CD-based consoles. I mean come on, the Dreamcast, that would be awesome, the SEGA Saturn, that would be killer. So, let’s see if that comes in the future. I’m sure it will. Alright guys, I’d love to know what you think down in the comments below. As always, I want to thank you for watching my channel. Thank you for subscribing and take care.

The NINTENDO DS Rocks! – Highlights from 125+ Games

Here are 40+ games from my Nintendo DS collection including gameplay footage.

GAMES SHOWN:
Ghost Trick
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Impossible Mission
Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ
Ōkamiden
Contra 4
Point Blank DS
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Chrono Trigger
Legacy of Ys Book I & II

Suikoden Tierkreis
Orcs & Elves
Front Mission
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble!
The Dark Spire
Time Hollow
Boing! Docomodake DS
Trackmania Turbo: Build to Race
Retro Game Challenge
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Aliens Infestation
The Legendary Starfy
Mario vs Donkey Kong 1 & 2
Metroid Prime Pinball
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Batman the Brave and the Bold
Bangai-O: Spirits
Nostalgia
The World Ends with You
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
Izuna: The Legend of the Unemployed Ninja 1 & 2
Scurge: Hive
Snowboard Kids
Moon
Soul Bubbles
Dementium 1 & 2
Solatorobo: The Red Hunter

My Video Gear & Equipment (affiliate links):
Sony FDR-AX53 4K camcorder : https://amzn.to/2JEWEPv
Rode Shotgun microphone : https://amzn.to/2SOuTbb
Audio Technica AT4033/CL (voice overs) : https://amzn.to/2QmrBdK
STUDIO LIGHTS: Aputure Light Storm LS 1C https://amzn.to/2OshPVB
Headphones: Meze 99 Classics: https://amzn.to/2Qmkyl9

Computer: Apple iMac 27″ w/ Final Cut Pro X : https://amzn.to/2yTq0FL
Elgato HD Game capture devices : https://amzn.to/2QluLi3

*NEW* PlayStation 4 / PS4 Games – 8 HIDDEN GEMS

GAMES SHOWN:
Remothered Tormented Fathers
Rabi-Ribi
Ziggurat
Shu
Everything
Redout
The Long Dark
Full Throttle Remastered

PREVIOUS PS4 HIDDEN GEMS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1N1Gb3Rfyc
This War of Mine: the Little Ones
Caladrius Blaze
Deadlight: Director’s Cut
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams The Director’s Cut
Kholat
Republique
Assault Suit Leynos
Shadow Complex: Remastered
Anima: Gate of Memories
Dex

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

– – Hey guys, Metal Jesus here. Today I have eight more hidden gems for the PlayStation 4. Now these are relatively unknown games but definitely worth playing, let’s take a look. We’re gonna start with a game that has a bit of an odd title, that is Remothered: Tormented Fathers. You play as Rosemary, a character that looks an awful lot like Jodie Foster don’t you think? But she’s investigating the disappearance of a young girl. Now that leads you to a spooky house where, everything is not quite what it seems. Now I mentioned this game plays a lot like Clock Tower. If you’re not familiar with that series, basically you don’t have any guns or really deadly weapons to use. Instead in this game you just have single use items that you can use to distract your enemy. In this game you need to be stealthy, you have to listen for clues in the environment to know when to move and when to hide. And sound really plays a big part of this game and it’s the key to surviving. This game is a little on the short side. It lasts about six to seven hours but I feel like it doesn’t really overstay its welcome and it’s part of a planned trilogy of games. And look at those graphics. This house is super creepy to explore. This is a really fun survival horror game so definitely check it out. – [Ghostly Voice] To reach my land for me and then a whole new world is calling us. –

[Metal Jesus] Speaking of games with weird titles here is Rabi-Ribi. Rabi-Ribi. I hope I’m saying that right. But basically it’s a 2D platforming/metroidvania style game. You play as Erina a rabbit that was turned into a human girl with bunny ears. Sure, why not? And along the way you meet a fairy who helps you as well. I mention this game is very super Metroid or Castlevania like and that’s because you’ll find areas that you can’t access until you upgrade your weapons or your abilities. I really like the boss battles in this because it feels unlike anything I’ve played in a 2D platformer. It switches almost to like a bullet hell shooter and that they have patterns that will fill the screen that you need to dodge. But really this game is all about fun and it has just enough challenge to keep you going. Don’t get me wrong, this is a surprisingly deep and fun 2D platforming game despite its silly premise.

Next up is Ziggurat, this is a first person dungeon crawling game. Although it’s considered to be inspired by two classic first person shooters, like Heretic and Hexen. Back in the 90’s, those two games really stood apart from the rest of the first person shooters released because, instead of primarily using guns you use magic to destroy your foes. In Ziggurat, the levels are procedurally generated meaning no two play throughs, are the same. And the game is somewhat rouge like in that you are meant to die a lot. But even in death you make progress upgrading your characters, unlocking new abilities, and growing stronger with each play through. This reminds me of another game I reviewed recently called Immortal Redneck, but honestly I like this one a bit more because of the focus on magic. Now I want to mention that this trend towards randomly generated levels is fine but, wouldn’t it be great to get a proper single player campaign with designed levels? I kinda miss that, but this is a game that you can basically play forever.

Next up is, Shu. This is a 2D platformer in a gorgeous 3D world so, I guess that technically is a 2.5D platformer? Sure. And like in so many other platforming games you run and jump across the landscape, but in this game you start off with the glide ability. For instance, in the beginning you can glide across large gaps or you can even ride the wind and then very quickly you’re able to use special abilities gained by saving villagers who follow you. An example early on is that you get a brute who can help you smash through things then you meet a villager who can get flowers to open and close their petals providing pads for you to land on and continue your journey. Later on you’ll get an animal to ride as well as villagers that allow you to walk on water and much more. There are a bunch of villagers to unlock and they all help you with ever changing levels and challenges. To me this game feels like a mix of the Rayman games as well as Owlboy. It has a great art style and fantastic gameplay, it should not be missed.

Oh boy, here we go. So this game is called Everything. Yeah, Everything and I gotta be honest with you this is a really weird game but stick with me here because it turns out that Everything is something very special. Alright so what exactly is this thing, you’re probably looking at this going, what the heck is this? Well, that’s because this game is not really a game it’s more of a simulation that attempts to do something that very few games do and that is explore everything in the universe and understand how all the pieces relate within it. And I’ll be hones with you, in the beginning when you first fire this up it kinda feels like a tech demo and kinda looks like it. But slowly the game reveals it’s purpose. See, you shift perspective from a very small animal like, in this instance here a pig, down to a single blade of grass or maybe you’ll shift that perspective up to a frog, or even a rock, or you can even go subatomic. But that’s not it, you can even shift your perspective to a tree, even a land mass, a planet, or a whole star system. But why would you do this? Well, the goal of the game is to unlock and document all the things within the galactic encyclopedia and then have conversations with them and understand their relationship between each other. As if that wasn’t enough then while you’re playing, the game also plays audio quotes from a philosopher named Alan Watts. He wrote some of the most respected books on Buddhism and the Zen lifestyle. – [Alan Watts] “If you think that you are only inside your skin, you define yourself as one very complicated little curly cue way out on the edge of that explosion. Way out in space, and way out in time. And when then we cut ourselves off and don’t feel that we’re still the Big Bang.” – [Metal Jesus] Listen, this is all very heady stuff and certainly unlike anything I’ve ever played before. You know at first this seems kinda dumb. I mean it really does you’re just kinda like, what the heck is this game but, after a couple of minutes you get into discovering all that you can find, both big and small throughout the universe. There is nothing quite like this game so if you’re looking for something a little unique, definitely check it out.

Next up is, Redout. Some of you might have seen this on store shelves but I get the feeling it hasn’t sold very well. Redout is a futuristic arcade racing game that is similar to classics like F-Zero or perhaps Wipeout. Basically you are a pilot in the far future taking control of an anti-gravity ship that hauls some serious butt. And yes this game is all about speed. It’s important to know that the console version is called The Lightspeed Edition. That’s because it includes all three DLC packs from the PC release, bringing the total number of tracks to 35 plus, you get 25 ships. The game also supports six players online and split screen multi-player. And like I mentioned there is a great sense of speed here and the frame rate never really slowed down on my PlayStation 4 Pro. I mean the graphics look pretty great. And like so many of these games you level up your pilot as you race, unlocking new weapons and enhancements to your ship. There is a lot of content here for arcade racing fans like me so definitely check out, Redout. – [Narrator] I think I’m gonna make it. –

[Metal Jesus] Moving on we’re gonna take a look at The Long Dark. This is a first person survival game that chooses to focus on realism, as opposed to just horror. You play as a pilot who crash lands in the frozen Canadian forest with your ex-wife after a somewhat mysterious global disaster. Now the developer actually advertises this game as the most realistic survival game ever made. And the way they do that is by having the player focus on things like body temperature, how many calories you burn while doing a particular task, your hunger, your thirst, your energy level, the outside temperature, the clothing you wear, all of that. Now I’ll be honest with you, it’s this attention to detail that makes every single decision you make that much more impactful. To make sure that your character just lives one more day. But how is the game? Well, you learn to gather supplies, heal wounds, make fires, sterilize water to make it drinkable, cook food, and much more. And other games have done that before but not to this level of detail. This really is unlike any other survival game I’ve played. It’s realistic, it’s tense, and it’s immensely satisfying when you’re smart enough to live just one more day. – [Narrator] Whatever’s in this case, Astrid was ready to die for it. I hope she hasn’t already died for it. –

[Metal Jesus] Yay, next up is Full Throttle Remastered, yes! Some of you are gonna be a little bit surprised to see this on this list because, well the original Full Throttle is considered a PC masterpiece back in the day. But I wanted to remind people that this excellent remastered version of the classic PC game actually exists on consoles. You play as Ben, the gruff leader of a biker gang called The Pole Cats, who gets wrapped up in a corporate conspiracy with Corley Motors. See, Corley Motors is the worlds last motorcycle manufacturer in this somewhat futuristic world and they’re switching production from bikes to well, okay I won’t spoil it for ya. – You know what might look better on your nose? – What? – The bar. – Now don’t mess around with me. – Alright, alright! – [Metal Jesus] The original game is known for great graphics, memorable characters, and excellent voice acting. Plus a really fun plot in classic game play to match. And I have to say this game in perfect on consoles because the interface by this time was refined to be more accessible to a wider audience. I mean no longer did you have to click on verbs or nouns to perform actions, like you did on the original Maniac Mansion. And this remastered version is basically the same game but with crisper HD graphics and cleaned up audio. – Who are you? – Maureen remember? If that’s too hard maybe you should just stick with Mo. – This an authorized Corely service center? – [Metal Jesus] Full throttle is one of my favorite adventure games of all time. It’s a classic for a reason, and if you like adventure games or you just miss the old LucasArts Days, definitely give this a try. You will not regret it. So that’s a quick look at some hidden gems for the PlayStation 4 and as you guys know there are literally hundreds and hundreds of games released for this system. I would love to know down in the comments what other games you consider to be hidden gems on this awesome system. Also if you missed the previous video that Reggie and I did of hidden gems for the PS4, I will link to it down in the video description below as well as in the corner. Alright guys, thanks so much for watching and have a great day.

TOP 10 Scary & DISTURBING Game Cover Art!

Let’s judge a game by its scary cover!

Dark Seed footage from: John Wolfe
Puzzle of Flesh footage from: Noah Antwiler
Silent Hill 4 footage from: John Wolfe
Dracula Resurrection footage from: SHN Survival Horror Network
Deadly Premonition footage from: supergreatfriend
Gabriel 2 footage from: Dilandau3000
Elvira II footage from: Crowley9
Flesh Feast footage from: Hoshikori

Stupidly RARE & EXPENSIVE $$$ – SEGA SATURN Games

The Immortal John Hancock shows us the most rare & expensive Sega Saturn games for North America!

GAMES SHOWN:
Saturn Bomberman
Mega Man X4
Winning Post
Guardian Heroes
Lunacy
Albert Odyssey
Magic Knight Rayearth
Dragon Force
House of the Dead
Daytona USA Championship Net Link Edition
Burning Rangers
Shining Force III
Panzer Dragoon Saga

John Hancock: https://www.youtube.com/swlovinist

Stupidly Expensive $$$ & RARE DREAMCAST Games

GAMES SHOWN:
Power Stone 2
Cannon Spike
Mars Matrix
GigaWing2
Project Justice
Tech Romancer
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
Shenmue
Illbleed
Speed Devils (Clean Cover)
Sonic Adventure Limited Edition

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Nintendo Wii Hidden Gems! **NEW for 2018**

Nintendo Wii Hidden Gems:
Pandora’s Tower
Generator Rex: Agent of Providence
Kamen Rider Dragon Knight
Gormiti: The Lords of Nature!
Shiren the Wanderer
Roogoo: Twisted Towers
Calling
Heavy Fire: Afghanistan

PREVIOUS Wii HIDDEN GEMS VIDEOS:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4cLi3iGy5w
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl968nZTcYM
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30OMijpT8rg