It might be time to dust off those old discs…
Get ready PS2 fans. Sony has announced they are planning to bring Playstation 2 emulation onto the Playstation 4.
Sony confirmed the news through an email to WIRED stating, “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.”
PS2 emulation for the current Playstation platform has been rumored for some time, but this news was all but confirmed earlier this week when Eurogamer analyzed the retro titles that came packed in with the Star Wars Battlefront PS4 bundle.
Three of these titles, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, were originally PS2 games, and it was expected that these games would be remastered ports on PS4.
However, upon further evaluation (evident in the video below), these titles are actually being emulated onto the PS4, only with upscaled graphics, improved performances, and trophy support.
Here’s a quick rundown of how emulation works: Hardware (like a PS4) enters a state where it behaves like another piece of hardware (PS2). The best examples of this are the numerous emulators one can download in order to play classic Nintendo games on a PC.
Sony hasn’t divulged any more details on specifically how this emulation will work on the PS4. It could be the same as PS2 emulation on PS3, where one can download “PS2 Classics” via the PSN; or it could work like Xbox 360 emulation on Xbox One, where one inserts a disc into the system, and then the game can be played once it is downloaded to the hardware.
While we hope either method is feasible, we also hope that most of PS2’s vast library of games is actually playable through emulation.
A number of classic PS2 titles like God of War, Metal Gear Solid 2, Jak and Daxter, Kingdom Hearts and Shadow of the Colossus were never available to emulate on the PS3 because HD remastered ports were made instead.
As Sony has confirmed that PS3 games are only playable on PS4 via PS Now, will they still bring these popular games over to the new console?
We don’t know, but chances are it won’t be long before Sony explains how the emulation will work.
Playstation Experience, an upcoming press event, will be held on December 5-6, and we wouldn’t be surprised if more emulation details are revealed then.
Which PS2 games do you want to play on PS4? Let us know, and we’ll let you know when more PS4 backwards compatibility news arrives.
