The first PlayStation (the PS1) was a game-changer in the entire console wars, not only because of it’s improved graphics, but because it was able to sport larger games with more features and content due to the higher capacities that compact discs (CDs) have in relation to cartridges. This is why PS1 games are so much bigger in terms of graphics and content compared to their competitors, the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn. But how big are PS1 games exactly?
Most PS1 games ranged from 100 MB to 2 GB. While most games only needed one disc, the larger games that were close to 2 GB needed multiple discs. Good examples would be Final Fantasy VIII and IX, which both needed four discs due to their large size.
One of the most prominent parts about the PS1 was that its games were so large and were capable of getting split into multiple. As such, people were capable of playing new-age RPGs and other large games that needed larger storage capacities. Also, along with many other things, this contributed to how the PS1 became the first-ever console to crack the 100-million mark in units sold.
How many GB is a PS1 game?
Back during the 80s and the earlier portion of the 90s, video gaming was so simple that most retro gaming consoles relied on 16-bit graphics and a simple system of using cartridges to play the games on the consoles. However, gaming was never going to be that simple for a long time as it was up to Sony to change the entire console gaming landscape.
When Sony introduced the first PlayStation; the PS1, it changed the entire gaming market because of how revolutionary it was in terms of its graphics capabilities and in how amazing the games were as far as their visuals, audio, and memory capacities were concerned. That’s why the games that you can enjoy on the PS1 are so much different than the ones that the Nintendo 64 or the Sega Saturn had even though they were released at almost the same time as the PS1.
Not a lot of people know but much of the credit for the PS1’s success can be attributed to Sony’s decision of using optical media through the compact disc or CD for its games instead of relying on flash storage such as the cartridge, which is the old and traditional medium for storing games and playing them on a console.
While the CD may have lagged behind the cartridge in terms of its loading speed and when it comes to how secure it is while it is playing games, the biggest advantage that it had over the cartridge is the very fact that it has a much larger storage capacity. Think about the fact that CDs can have a storage capacity of 700 MB while the classic cartridge only had 64 MB.
As such, because of how large the storage capabilities of optical media are and how the PlayStation can actually have games that can be stored in more than one single CD, developers had a free hand in making games that were as large as they could be at that time. Better video and audio capabilities and more features also contribute to the size of the medium that the game was stored on.
Given that developers could work with a larger storage capacity, they didn’t have to simplify their games as far as their video and audio capabilities were concerned. This allowed them to have games with amazing graphics and more features than ever. That’s why PS1 games have sizes that are much larger than that of the traditional and classic games that people could play on Nintendo’s and Sega’s consoles.
As such, compared to the 64 MB games that the PS1’s competitors had, its games sported capacities that were well beyond the imaginations of the gamers at that time. Developers maxed out the 700 MB capacity of a CD while also taking advantage of how the PS1 can have multiple CDs for one game. That’s why PS1 games can have sizes that range from 100 MB to 2 GB depending on their graphics and on how long the games are.
All that said, the PS1 games were the largest games at that time, and that is why you are most likely to see them having better graphics and longer gameplays than the ones that the other consoles had. This led to the eventual massive success of the PlayStation, which ultimately became the first-ever console to break the 100-million mark in terms of units sold.
What are the biggest PS1 games?
So, when it comes to the PS1, it can be difficult to actually tell how large they are considering that there is no official list for the size of PS1 games. In most cases, people judged the size of a PS1 game based on how many discs they needed to run properly, and that is why it is best for us to list down some of the biggest PS1 games in terms of how many discs they need.
| Game title | Discs |
| Riven: The Sequel to Myst | 5 |
| Tokimeki Memorial | 5 |
| Fear Effect | 4 |
| Fear Effect 2 | 4 |
| Final Fantasy VII Platinum | 4 |
| Final Fantasy VIII | 4 |
| Final Fantasy IX | 4 |
| The Legend of Dragoon | 4 |
| Koudelka | 4 |
| Wing Commander III | 4 |
| Wing Commander IV | 4 |
| The X-Files Game | 4 |
While we do not know exactly how big those games are, the fact that they span four or more discs is definite proof that they are some of the biggest PS1 games of all time. And some of those games have compressed file sizes in their CDs as, for example, the PC version of Final Fantasy IX comes with a file size of 20 GB, which should be well over the capacity of four PS1 discs.
How much storage does a PS1 have?
So, the thing that you need to know about the PS1 is that, as advanced as it was, it didn’t come with internal storage that would allow you to store save files of your games on the console itself. That’s why you needed a memory card for you to save your PS1 save files. The standard PS1 memory card came with a 128 KB file size, which was divided into 15 slots for each game’s save file data.
