You’d think after thirty years, we’d have a simple number for how many games came out on the original PlayStation. We don't. It’s actually a mess. If you go on Wikipedia or some old fan forum, you’ll see people throwing around numbers like 1,300 or 4,000, but they're usually just looking at one part of the world.
The truth is way more chaotic.
When you look at the list of all psx games across the entire globe, you’re staring at a library of roughly 7,918 software titles. Yeah, nearly eight thousand. That's a staggering amount of plastic and data. It’s the kind of number that makes modern "complete" collections look like a small shelf of paperbacks. But that total includes everything from the heavy hitters like Final Fantasy VII to weird Japanese-only software that taught you how to trade stocks or cook a perfect bowl of ramen.
The Regional Breakdown: Why Your List is Probably Incomplete
Most of us in the West grew up with a very specific version of the PS1. If you were in North America, your world was defined by about 1,335 games. This is the NTSC-U library. It’s the one with the iconic jewel cases and the "Greatest Hits" green labels that everyone loves to complain about now.
In Europe and Australia (the PAL regions), the list looks different. They got around 1,639 games. They had better cover art—honestly, they did—but they also had to deal with those chunky, fragile multi-disc cases and games that sometimes ran 17% slower because of the 50Hz refresh rate.
Then there’s Japan.
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Japan is the reason the global list is so massive. The NTSC-J library consists of roughly 4,944 titles. Sony’s home turf was an absolute wild west of experimentation. For every Resident Evil, there were ten "Simple 1500 Series" budget titles or bizarre dating sims that never had a prayer of being translated. If you're trying to build a truly complete list of all psx games, you’re basically looking at a mountain of Japanese imports.
Beyond the Big Names: The Games You’ve Never Heard Of
Everyone knows Crash Bandicoot. Everyone remembers Spyro and Metal Gear Solid. But a list of all psx games isn't just a highlight reel of hits. It's a graveyard of ambitious failures and "how did this get made?" curiosities.
Take LSD: Dream Emulator. It's a Japanese exclusive that has become a cult legend online. There’s no "gameplay" in the traditional sense; you just walk through surreal, nightmare-fuel landscapes based on a developer's dream diary. It’s unsettling. It’s weird. It’s one of the nearly 5,000 Japanese titles that makes the PS1 library so distinct.
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Then you have the "Lightspan" games. If you’re a North American collector, these are the bane of your existence. These were educational games sold directly to schools, not in retail stores. Titles like Mars Moose or Caterpillar Cactus. They aren't "fun" in the way Tekken 3 is fun, but they are officially licensed PS1 discs. If they aren't on your list, your list isn't complete.
How to Actually Navigate a List of All PSX Games
If you're trying to track these down for a collection or just for the sake of nostalgia, you have to categorize them. You can't just look at an alphabetical list and expect to stay sane.
The Essential Heavy Hitters
These are the games that defined the 32-bit era. Gran Turismo is technically the king here—it’s the best-selling game on the system with over 10.8 million copies sold. You’ve got the SquareSoft RPG golden age (Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story), the birth of stealth with Metal Gear Solid, and the survival horror explosion led by Resident Evil and Silent Hill.
The "Hidden Gems" and Imports
This is where the list gets interesting. Games like Mizzurna Falls (an open-world Twin Peaks-style adventure) or Racing Lagoon (a street racing RPG from Square) never left Japan. For years, they were just names on a spreadsheet to Western gamers. Now, thanks to fan translations, they’re finally playable.
The Budget Series
D3 Publisher’s "Simple 1500 Series" accounts for a huge chunk of the Japanese list. These were games sold for 1500 yen (about $15 at the time). Some were basic mahjong or card games, but others were surprisingly deep, like The Adventure or The Hellion.
Why Does the Count Keep Changing?
You might find one source saying there are 7,918 games and another saying 7,890. Why the discrepancy? It comes down to what you count as a "game."
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- Re-releases: Do you count Resident Evil: Director’s Cut as a separate game or just a version of the original?
- Collector’s Editions: Does the Arc the Lad Collection count as one entry or three?
- Demo Discs: Some lists include the Pizza Hut demo discs or Jampack volumes. Most serious archivists leave these out.
- Unreleased Titles: There are "beta" versions of games like Thrill Kill that were cancelled but are fully playable. They aren't official, but they're part of the PS1 story.
Actionable Steps for the Modern Collector
If you're diving into this world in 2026, don't try to "collect them all" unless you have a literal warehouse and a six-figure budget. Instead, focus on a specific subset of the list.
- Define your region. Decide early if you’re strictly NTSC-U, PAL, or NTSC-J. Mixing regions usually requires hardware mods or specific emulators.
- Target by Genre. The PS1 was the king of the "mid-tier" RPG and the experimental 3D platformer. Pick a genre and work through the list that way.
- Use Digital Archives. Since physical prices for rare games like The Misadventures of Tron Bonne or Suikoden II have gone through the roof, use the list to curate what you play on a MiSTer FPGA or a high-end emulator.
- Check for Fan Translations. If you're looking at the Japanese list, always check if a translation patch exists. Games like Policenauts (Hideo Kojima’s visual novel) are essential experiences that the official "list" originally kept from us.
The original PlayStation wasn't just a console; it was a cultural shift. Its massive library is a testament to a time when developers were still figuring out what 3D gaming even looked like. Whether you're looking at a list of all psx games to find a lost childhood memory or to discover something weird from 1997, the sheer variety is unmatched. Dig in, but don't expect to finish the list anytime soon.