The first PlayStationthat mythical console that marked several generations more than 25 years ago, had a secret function that could have spared multiple angers to millions of players. Perhaps more than once you have been involved in a situation where your saved games pass to a better life; either through your own carelessness or because a bug in the game corrupted the file. However, the first case caused more anger because we provoked it ourselves in a moment of distraction.
However, the PlayStation offered a feature to recover those games that you accidentally deleted from your Memory Card. Basically, after the disaster had happened, you had to enter the menu of the storage unit and press three times the combination of buttons L1 + L2 + R1 + R2. This would allow the previously deleted file to be recovered. The youtuber Glasscock shows it in detail in the following video:
As he did? Surely the PlayStation had a kind of trash where it stored files temporarily, so it was possible to recover them. The strangest thing of all is that Sony did not promote this feature at the timenor knowing that some players made the serious mistake of accidentally deleting their games.
Of course, we could not say that it is a recent discovery. In 2003, a forum user GameSpot shared an extensive FAQ where all kinds of information about the operation of the PlayStation was collected. Among it a method to recover recently deleted games. Nevertheless, the method differs which we explained above.
“If you just deleted a very important save game (something you didn’t want to delete at all), hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 before the block icon containing the save data completely disappears. It will then ask you if you really you want to delete that file. Just keep in mind that the buttons need to be held down before the icon disappears, otherwise it won’t work anymore.”
Although the goal is the same, the way to do it is different. This user indicates that the procedure remains in force as long as the block icon does not disappear. If it vanishes, the file is gone forever. On the other hand, it does not indicate that the buttons must be pressed up to three times.
Several users comment that the function, in any of the two methods described, not available on some European PlayStations. That is, the PAL variants. It is a matter of verifying it on our own to see if it works.
Of course, to date it is not known who discovered this feature for the first time. It is speculated that it is a function intended only for developers, and it was precisely in this sector that it began to be disclosed. This is also strange because developer kits are often not the same units that are marketed to the public.
The PlayStation returns to prominence
Beyond this interesting trick, the PlayStation was back in the spotlight recently thanks to the new PS Plus. The renewed service, which is now available both in Europe and Latin America, is committed to offering hundreds of titles for a monthly fee; very Xbox Game Pass style. Precisely, among its main attractions is a selection of classic ps1 gamesPS2 and PS3 – in addition to current PS4 and PS5 titles, of course.
Although at the moment the list of old games is somewhat short, Sony promise to add more proposals are the passage of time. The titles available from the first PlayStation are Ape Escape, Hot Shots Golf, IQ Intelligent Qube, Jumping Flash!, Mr. Driller, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, Resident Evil, Director’s Cut, Siphon Filter, Tekken 2, Toy Story 2: Buzz, Lightyear to the Rescue!, Wild Arms , Worms Armageddon Y Worms World Party.
Evidently, you no longer require a Memory Card to save your games. In fact, in all the mentioned titles you can do the save process at any time, thus eliminating the need to reach a certain checkpoint. And regarding its backup you should not worry either, because these files will be saved in the PlayStation cloud automatically. Without a doubt, technology can also save us from the trouble caused by our oversights. Remember, though, that classic PlayStation games are only available at the highest level of the new PS Plus.