(Please note that the downloads can change quickly, if one doesn’t work any more, please tell me. I’ll see what I can do.)

Have you been searching high and low for your favourite old PlayStation games or wanna try playing them for the first time? Are you having trouble getting your head around all the tricky things you’ve gotta get to make it work, with the ‘emulators’, the ‘plug-ins’, the ‘torrents’ and the ‘roms’? Or do you have no idea what any of those even are?

Well then, here is the guide for you, my friend. I’m gonna to do my best to give you detailed and easy-to-follow steps to get these games.

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Let’s start with the basics, here’s what you’ll need:

Internet (congratulations! If you are looking at this, you have internet!)

Half decent computer, with half decent video-card

A Torrent client (I recommend BitTorrent but Azureus/Vuze or even Limewire will work. You  can download all of these for free on the internet. Yes they are clean of viruses)

Winrar/something like it (a zipping and unzipping program, that compresses files to make them smaller. Like packing all your clothes into a suitcase)

Patience

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How to get the first few games

There are three things you will need to download. Two of them are torrents (a torrent is like a download that you download from not only the website, but other people. They download off of you too. Its called leeching when downloading and seeding when uploading and sharing.

When finding a torrent look for a large amount of seeders, you will download faster)

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Download this torrent:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/4879206/Crash_Bandicoot_1_2_3___Spyro_%5B_PS1emulator-ePSXe%5D_Instructions

This beautiful person has most generously shared not only Crash Bandicoot 1 2 3 and the first (but only the first) Spyro. But they have also included instructions and the emulator (the thing the games need to be played) which is mostly set up.

When you click download, a box will pop, select open with bitTorrent or whatever torrent client you have. Your download will begin, all you need to do is wait.

While you are waiting you may or may not need to download something else called a plug-in. (Plug-ins are files that make the emulator work, different plug-ins do different things. You have a different computer from mine so I cannot tell if you will need other plug-ins) Try this one for graphics: http://www.pbernert.com/html/gpu.htm

Once your download is done right click on it in the Torrent client, click ‘open containing folder’ or something to that effect. This should open a folder with the download selected. Follow the instructions the best you can. Then test the game.

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How to test the games

Follow the instructions in the text document included with the torrent.

You may want to change the controls, go config, game pad, pad 1. Click on a letter and press another letter to change a control. Mine looks like this:

Then once the ISO is running, four options should appear. Use the arrow keys to scroll through the games and select one (with the select button, not enter). If everything is running smoothly and to your liking, then make no more changes.

If you have an issue with graphics go config>Video, change the graphic plug-in (to say, the one I recommended) or adjust the settings (don’t be afraid to experiment, it may crash a few times but just make sure the program is no longer running in the task manager and try again). If you having trouble with size then make sure it looks something like this (change it to your resolution);

If the sound is bad or not there, make sure you have ticked the first three options under ‘ePSXe SPU core 1.5.2.’.

If it says something about a ‘bios’ go config>bios then amongst the files of the ePSXe program should be a folder named ‘bios’. Select whatever’s in it.

If anything has not been covered, please let me know.

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Download Spyro 2 (Riptos Rage!)

Download this torrent:

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5164960/PSX_-_Spyro_the_Dragon_2__Ripto_s_Rage_.iso

This one may take longer as few people are seeding it, but its the best I could find. If you manage to get the whole thing downloaded, then please seed it.

This file should work as is, just go run ISO and select it. If not, try the things listed above.

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Download Spyro 3 (Year of the Dragon)

This one is different, see the youtube video here (links in the description):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3YnGyJDMmM

(the maker of the video asks you to subscribe if you download. You probably should if you have an account and you liked it)

This one is a bit trickier. You need to download four packages.

For this to work, make sure you have all the downloads where you want them (in their own folder together, preferably). Make sure they are all in the same folder! Now select all four files and right click on one of them. Click extract to here. They should make a few files. The one you need is the IMG file.

Usual routine to make it work, see above.

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Here’s a list of the problems discovered.

Spyro/Crash Bandicoot 123

None/unknown. Everything seems to work fine as long as the plug-ins are in order.

Spyro 2 (Riptos Rage!)

Plot developing videos. The sound in the videos get progressively (and hilariously) worse. It starts out fine, then sounds and words get more and more jumbled. For example, at one point I was told to “carry this trouble around Avalar.” This may be fixed by other plug-ins, but I’m unsure.

Spyro 3 (Year of the Dragon)

Sound. The music in some (if not all) levels start out fine then stops and restarts. It can get annoying. Creatures’ dialogues sometimes get cut short. Changing plug-ins doesn’t seem to work.

Plot developing videos. Basically the same as above but worse.

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Ethics

Yes I realise that some people disapprove (including governments apparently) of downloading games. I really don’t care, since this is just a guide for people who want to play Spyro/Crash Bandicoot, like they use to, without a huge fee. Since Spyro was never released for PC, this is the only way you can get it without spending hundreds on the games and on the PlayStation (number here). And if you wish to have a smug feeling of self-satisfaction at the fact that you have more money to throw around than me and countless other people, then don’t let me stop you, you can try ebay or amazon for the games. It’ll probably be second hand and won’t actually make a difference to the original creators, but oh well.

Those who use this guide, are saving money whilst getting to play six games they’ll love. They know all the risk and problems with the game (as listed in this guide). There’s no messing about with ‘accessories’ and scratched disks, fake sales on ebay to get conned into and waiting for the bits and pieces to arrive. You get what you see as fast as your internet will allow you.

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Thank you for reading! Please enjoy your shiny new games!

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So, back to school. The last half of the holidays were eventful, and as I have an abnormally large amount of time on my hands, I’ve produced an abnormally large number of pictures. I’ve had a chance to learn more about Photoshop, A LOT more. But apart from a short and physically damaging camping trip and an epic week in Auckland, nothing much has happened.

Also to help resist ACTA, an insane new treaty to enforce “copyrights” on the internet, see my other blog at www.actonacta.com

So I guess I’ll leave you with some pictures from my holidays.

Click the images for better versions with explanations. (Unless you’re accessing this from school, then deviant art might be blocked.)

ACTA response

http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2009/11/draft-of-secret-copyright-treaty-should-give-you-chills.html

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/policy-laundering/

This is remarkable. If this gets through things could end badly.

The World According to Ronald Reagan. Father sent it to me.

Click here for bigger version

We have a new principal at our school, yet again. I would have called the last one (who replaced Jones temporarily until the next principal) unhelpful and also mediocre if she hadn’t gotten up in front of the entire school and sworn (LOL). Any how we have a new principal, I noticed when he got up to speak, it wasn’t the usual negative ‘this school is made of failure’ crap we normally get (even if the school IS made of failure, I expect at least the principal to retain a positive attitude!) and he used large words frequently, ones that half the school wouldn’t understand. His appearance is not entirely unlike John A. Gotti (take the glasses away and add a few years). A mafia boss that had been arrested recently. Maybe it was the tie and suit, but it just struck me that the new principal looked a lot like Gotti. So I decided to tell him that. I had no idea how he’d take it.

. He greeted me and Melinda in a ‘I’m trying to show you that I really care’ kind of way that reminded me of a politician in an election year. He asked our names and acted chirpy and eager. I told him he looked like Gotti. It turned out the man had a sense of humour. And he seemed to actually be happy about managing our school.

“No no no no no, I’m not Gotti.”

“Aww! But if you were mafia there would be no more fights at the school!”

“Yes, but their solutions are a bit too permanent.”

“Haha! Put concrete on your feet and throw you into the sea!”

“Heh. Yes. Concrete shoes.”

As he was leaving he said something about putting a .44 magnum back in his pocket. Then as he was walking past, I waved over enthusiastically in a half sarcastic way. He waved back then made an imaginary gun with his hand and pointed it at me. I think he might be a good principal, partly because he seems relatively intelligent, partly because he seems optimistic. But mostly because he looks like Gotti (And that’s awesome). Don’t quote me though, you never know what might happen.

Also I am drawing a picture of my family as mafia and it might include a story. I came up with the idea before the whole Gotti thing started. =P

“There is no quitting the mob,” the former Bonanno family capo told jurors in federal court in Manhattan. “We’re not Microsoft.” - Gotti witness: ‘There is no quitting the mob’

I have noticed in my last post, Daniel looks just like Brock… What does it mean?

A catoon I made, not up to my usual standards, but it pretty much says it all. What annoys me… A true story!

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FFFUUUUUUUU
Awesome Smily

Well when people ask why I’m communist, I tend to have trouble explaining. So I’ve decided that I’ll just tell them to visit my website, which they’ll never do and I won’t have to answer their question. But just in case they do, I’ll write up a story of how it happened which should help explain why.

So, if you really want to get to the source of it, right to the beginning of it, there was a deceptively harmless sentence spoken near the end 2006 which changed my life;

“You should do history next year.”

Sure, I thought, why not?  If he thinks its a good idea why the Hell not? Nothing better to do really.

It was nagging done by Mr. Burkett which made me decide to do history next year.

The very next year I had Mr. Brady for year 11 history. We learnt about New Zealand’s history after World War II, in which New Zealand tried to find some protection from communism.

Some point in 2007 I realised I really liked history and looked in the library at the history section to see if there was anything Cold War related. (As for my interest in the Cold War I’ve never been entirely sure of the source of that) Here I found;

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OK, I thought, I’m gonna sit here and read this whole thing through. And I proceeded to do just that.

I found this ^^^ and I thought it was funniest thing ever. A leader, a man meant to be respectable and dignified was actually kind of crazy. I quickly became more and more interested not only in the Cold War but in Khrushchev. The more I found out about Khrushchev the better I liked him. Then when I went to see my father he took me to Borders (bookshop/cafe). I decided I wanted to know more about the Cold War, so I looked in the History section (of Borders this time) and found;

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It looked good so I got it. I read it and it taught me a lot about communism, especially at one point where mentioned Christian Communism. Upon seeing that there were Christian Communists, I saw communism in a new light, one where it wasn’t just an oppressive scary system but an idea of perfection, of society as it should be, an idea of complete equality and freedom. However that was not the only reason I became communist, I’m primarily a communist because Khrushchev is my hero and he was an embodiment of awesome and also because it just seemed to fit so well into my life.

So there you have it, Burkett, Khrushchev and two books were to thank for one of the most significant things in my life.

So I’ve got a troll as you can see. Not your typical troll, usually they are anonymous. But the comment was about the level you’d expect from a troll. I know I shouldn’t ‘feed the troll’, but Hell, its too funny for me to just let it pass.

There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who make life Hell for others, those who don’t care about the other two, and those who live in the Hell created by others. Talking generally here I’m usually in that last group. Although I must admit I’ve been in the other two groups once or twice. The Apathetic group are as bad the Tormentors. Their inaction is as bad as the Tormentors actions. Why do I say this? Because I’m tired of the crap me and my friends have been getting at school. If you see someone hurt and bleeding on the sidewalk, you help them don’t you? The Tormentors have them on the ground beating them and the Apathetic walk on by. Maybe when you see someone struggling you should attempt to help. You could just try and say stop it.

“If you live among dogs, keep a stick. After all, this is what a hound has teeth for - to bite when he feels like it!”
Nikita Khrushchev