Blog
Updates, research notes, and news from the PlayStation PAL Database project:
A Guide to PAL PS1 Rental Copies
Coloured stripes, two black disc designs and a premium-rate hint line. Everything I've worked out so far about official PAL PS1 rental copies.
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Collection Database Update — October 2026
1,465 games and 5,086 variants tracked, 393 more variants than in September.
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A New Fake Hologram: Hologram A Gets Copied
Someone has finally copied the older diagonal Hologram A. I bought one and put it side by side with the real thing - it's a hot mess.
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Postcard from Crete: The Heraklion Video Games Museum
Earlier this year we visited the Video Games Museum in Heraklion, Crete - and found out how Greece once made it illegal to play video games in public.
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AI Is Rewriting Our Listings
AI background removal is quietly mangling holograms and barcodes in eBay listings.
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Playable Heritage 2026: Meeting Charles Cecil at the National Museum of Scotland
I spent a day at the National Museum of Scotland talking video game preservation, heard Charles Cecil on how Broken Sword came to PlayStation, and got my PAL copy signed.
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Collection Database Update — September 2026
1,468 games and 4,693 variants tracked, 415 more variants than in March.
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Games Day 2026: Getting GTA Signed in Dundee
I spent yesterday at the SGDA's Games Day in Dundee, heard the original DMA Design team talk about how GTA nearly didn't happen, and came home with a signed PS1 copy.
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Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro - UK PAL's Most Underrated Rare Collectible
Fewer than 100 copies may exist. The PAL pre-9/11 pressing of Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro is, in my opinion, the most underrated rare collectible on the market - and I've been digging into how it got there.
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Collection Database Update — March 2026
Monthly update — 1478 games, 4278 variants documented.
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