Minecraft Playstation 1 Edition

 Minecraft Playstation One Edition... 

It's an average Saturday afternoon. I just got my paycheck from my degrading part time cashier job. A whopping 55 dollars and 62 cents. With my new found riches, i decide to hit up some local garage sales to see if i can get a good deal on any retro games. These relics, forgotten by time, remind me of a simpler world. A world of play, of laughter, joy, excitement. Concepts that are becoming more and more unfamiliar to me with each passing day that you waste away at that fucking cash register.

I climb into my beat up 2007 Saturn Ion with the rear bumper held on by ductape, and drive, stopping at each location to see what they have to offer. Clothes, books, kids toys, but no games. This average Saturday afternoon has now devolved into a disappointing Saturday evening. With the orange glow of the setting sun enveloping you in despondency, you decide to make one last stop before calling it a day. I step out of the car, hopes lower than ever, to see more of the same. Tables of neatly folded clothes, boxes of old VHS tapes, dusty dinnerware, miscellaneous knick-knacks.

As I'm heading back to the car, something out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. A lone Playstation 1 game, resting atop a plastic tote full of bed sheets. With the glare of the sun reflecting off of its plastic jewel case, i can't quite make out what game it is, but i can tell it's a 3 disc game by the thickness of the case. I wonder which game it could be. Alone in the Dark? Final Fantasy? Chrono Cross? Curiosity now at its peak, I find myself reaching for the alluring game.

My curiosity has now twisted into total confusion. Now holding the game in my cold, clammy hands, i read the title, speaking it out loud. "Minecraft: Playstation Edition". As these words leave my lips, i feel a chill run down my spine. "How can this be?", i think to myself. "Minecraft wasn't created until 2009. By then, even the Playstation 3 was already 3 years old. This is impossible. Surely this is a fake, or a homebrew, or...something?"

Flipping the game over, i take a gander at the rest of the case. At first glance, all appears to be normal. It has a rating, a barcode, gameplay screenshots, even a SLUS number. But upon further inspection, i notice the text on the back of the case. It's not English. In fact, it's no language that i've ever seen before, to my recollection. Strange, indeed.

I tear my eyes away from the case. It's getting dark out. The owners of the house have begun packing up their unsold items, and most of the customers have gone home. I glance back down at the game to see the price sticker. $15. "Should I?", i ponder. 15 dollars is a sizeable amount for someone in your position. Why spend this much for something that might not even work? But i can't just let something this unusual go, i have to know what it is or it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

For the first time, i open the case. I see the first disc: Overworld. Next to it appears to be the game manual. I open it, but the pages are all torn out. "Why would someone do this?" Shoving the thought aside, i close the empty housing of what presumably once was an instruction booklet, and open the second compartment of the case, revealing the other two discs: The End, and The Slip. "The Slip? Is that supposed to be The Nether?" Shrugging off my confusion, i question the integrity of the game. All the discs are there, but in what condition? I check the shiny, black underside of each disc for scratches, but they are minimal.

I take one last look at my surroundings. Nobody has noticed me. In what is not my proudest moment, i close the case, shove it into the pocket of my hoodie, and as i do, i feel a sudden sense that someone or something is watching me. I spare a quick glance over my shoulder. Nothing. I briskly leave the scene, shuffle into my car and start the engine.

Upon arriving at my humble abode, i slam the door behind me, startled by the sound. It seems to have snapped me out of my daze, bringing me to a more conscious state of mind. It's a very familiar feeling. The same feeling i experience every time i wake up. Your surroundings slowly become more real to me. I slowly become more self aware. My clothes are damp from sweat, my vision is blurrier than normal, I don't even remember the drive home. It's as if i... teleported.

Looking around the room, not quite sure what I'm looking for, my eyes stop once they reach the clock on the wall. 11:57. "What the fuck..." Not so much a question that begs for an answer, but rather a simple declaration of bewilderment. I toss my keys in the direction of the table, not caring whether they land on it or not.

I open the mysterious case, remove the Overworld disc, and place it into my Playstation console, close the lid, and press the power button. A procedure I've done so many times before, but this time, it doesn't feel so comforting. I am welcomed by the notoriously eerie startup sequence of the PS1, proceeded by a large spinning grass block accompanied by the word Loading... I feel myself become increasingly more uneasy as the block continues to spin, and spin, and spin, and as it does so, I feel myself starting to slip away.

Before i have time to process this feeling, it stops, and the title screen presents itself to me. "Minecraft: Playstation Edition". There are 3 buttons: Play, Options, and Quit Game. Next to these options, a graphic of Steve. His eyes seem to pierce through mine, looking directly into my soul. But it's just a picture...right? The background, while perhaps unintentional, is intangibly disturbing. It appears to be some kind of mansion, expertly built, nonetheless, in a dark and foggy setting.

I press play, proceeding to the World Select screen. To my surprise, there is already one world: Tutorial. I'm no stranger to Minecraft, so i ignore it, eagerly jumping straight to the Create New World button. Most of the standard world creation options seem to be there, along with a virtual keyboard. I use it to name my world, then i set my gamemode, world type, difficulty, and with the controller ever so slightly trembling in my hands, i hesitate just for a second. Curiosity, anxiety, excitement, fear. All of these emotions hit me like a punch to the stomach. My breath stops. The clock strikes 12. "Preparing for world creation. Do NOT turn off system"...