Earlier we reported of the possibility of playing PlayStation 1 (PS1) and PlayStation 2 (PS2) games on the PlayStation 4 (PS4).
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One of the things that set the PlayStation 3 apart from its rival Xbox 360 was backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles. Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry dug into the classic Star Wars titles bundled with the Battlefront PS4, and uncovered several telling indicators that the three PS2-era games are running on an emulator.
The alleged emulator is distinct from Sony’s PlayStation Now service, which offers PS3 games on the new-gen console via online streaming.
We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation. “We have nothing further to comment at this point in time”.
Eurogamer’s report also makes note of visual and performance improvements for the games. Well, at least in the case of PS2 games.
The possible PS2 emulator on the PS4 actually improved the resolutions of these games from the old PS2 resolution of 512 x 448 and 640 x 448 to the new PS4 resolution of 1292 x 896.
Before Sony got involved, emulating PS2 games was already a tried-and-true – although technically illegal – practice by fans of older games who did everything themselves. An old PS2 logo came up in “all of its poorly upscaled glory when you boot each title”.
Having a functioning PS2 emulator running on the PS4 begs the question of if, or when, further titles from the classic console’s library will be released for the PS4.
Rumours have persisted for ages that Sony was bringing backwards compatibility of a sort to the PlayStation 4.
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Sony’s remained tight-lipped on this one, but if emulation is on the cards, expect an announcement at 5 December’s PlayStation Experience event.
