Why won't my PS2 play PS1 games?

Question

My PS2 won't play PS1 games. I have Driver 2: Back on the Streets, Psy Deck, Courier Crisis, and a bunch of other games that won't play on my PS2.

Also, where did you buy the PS2 and where did you buy the games? Driver 2 is only called "Back on the Streets" in the UK, so if you have a UK PS1 game in a US PS2 (or some other cross-region combination), that might be the reason. — SevenSidedDie, Apr 02 '13 at 03:35
Aren't both able to play PS1 games? What's the condition of your games? — Gmoneyrocks, Apr 02 '13 at 03:35
@Gmoneyrocks I believe so, but it's a persistent rumour that they don't, so someone was going to ask. I'm really just fishing for more info, because as is, the question doesn't give us enough to do more than guess wildly why it's not working. Yeah, game condition is a good question! PS2s are rumoured less forgiving of scratched PS1 games than PS2 games. — SevenSidedDie, Apr 02 '13 at 03:38
Word. Also good call on the region lock. Also I believe that PS3s are fully able to play PS1 games. But still not sure if it's region free. Not all PS3s can PS2 games though. — Gmoneyrocks, Apr 02 '13 at 03:44
Many PS2's are simply old and decrepit these days. Mine died a death recently :( (not to say yours is...simply lamenting) — shanodin, Apr 02 '13 at 03:59
@Gmoneyrocks PS3s are region locked when it comes to playing PS1 games. I own a European PS3 and it will not play my NA PS1 games. — FAE, Apr 02 '13 at 09:33
I just got the original Ps2, yesterday driver 2 backon the streets worked and played properly — samuel, Apr 02 '13 at 23:57
Don't remember if this will help for PS1 games / your situation (leaning towards 'no'), but since a few people here are talking about failing PS2s ... Optical drives often go long before the rest of the system. You might want to install a softmod while you can; the current ones are easy, non-destructive, and will be a big help when the drive goes (you can play your (legally owned) games off other media, among other things). Also helps w/ cross-region issues (for PS2 games, at least). — hunter2, Jun 28 '13 at 04:22

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 27 '13 at 22:48

This is most likely due to different BIOS.

There is NTSC-->30frames/second (USA,Japan.etc..)
and PAL-->25frames/second (Mostly Europe)

Some Pal version of games wont run on the NTSC and NTSC wont run on PAL.

Also note that these PlayStation games are incompatible with all models of PlayStation 2

Arcade Party Pak
Arcade's Greatest Hits/Atari 2
Fighter Maker
Final Fantasy Anthology
Judge Dredd
Monkey Hero
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Tomba!
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete

And the following games are incompatible with the SCPH-75001, "slim", model PlayStation 2

102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue
Akuji the Heartless
Barbie Race and Ride
Broken Helix
Bubsy 3D
Driver
Gundam Battle Assault
The Hive
Hooters Road Trip
In Cold Blood
Jampack Vol. 2
Land Before Time: Great Valley Racing Adventure
NFL Xtreme
NHL 2000
NHL 2001
NHL Blades of Steel 2000
NHL Rock the Rink
Nuclear Strike
One
PO'ed
Powerboat Racing (VR Sports)
Rascal
Rush Down
Sentient
Speed Punks
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Syphon Filter 2
Syphon Filter 3
Tomorrow Never Dies
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Worms

the best solution I have found for problems like this requires a softmod at least. you will be glad you did it when the laser gives out entirely....check out freemcboot....If you dont already know someone with a modded console you will need goldeneye agent under fire and a blank dvd-r disk and a computer with a program called apache tools....you are going to copy an iso of the disk(or just download it for convenience) and trade the driving.elf file for any .elf file available on sks apps...most comonly ulaunchelf or the installer for freemcboot. — Firobug, May 19 '16 at 07:37
Here's the reference for this that I just found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PlayStation_games_incompatible_with_PlayStation_2 — Vandermonde, Aug 09 '17 at 00:00

Why won't my PS2 play PS1 games?

1 Answers1