Something about all this makes me feel like they are doing this for two obviously brilliant marketing reasons:

1. Nintendo disappointed gamers so royally bad by pulling their product, and limiting players to "these are good for you" games. NES Classic. SNES classic. Wait, are they making another NES classic? I don't know anymore. It left such a bad taste in our mouths, we're ready to buy anything cheaper that will continue to get better games and support to satisfy our nostalgia needs. Nintendo already did most of the advertising work to explain how these old rom systems work, so Playstation can eliminate most of those costs in their advertising, and focus on picking the games fans really want to win over a larger share of support from disgruntled Nintendo customers. The technology to make a dinky little system is so high right now, we're only limited by executives making dumb decisions about which breadcrumbs they'll let us eat while we starve for more.

2. FF7 is going to be a big push. Everybody knows they are working on the remake, which sounds like it will take forever to finish. By giving away the original game on a cheap system that everyone can get their hands on, they can make some easy money, and get players hyped up about the remake coming up. It will introduce a new generation to the game as people share it with their friends and family. By seeing some of the small bells and whistles that were cleaned up, such as no-loading, and easier to save (and speed up/down would be awesome), people in love with the gameplay and story will be even more excited once they get better graphics and animations once the remake released. This is a slam dunk way to get everyone addicted again, and to be the sole provider of the must-have game. This will increase sales for PS4, which is really the ultimate goal for marketing and making profits.

Thanks for this post. This is the first I heard about this, and I'm really excited. Sounds like a great stocking stuffer to hit the shelves this winter.