Owners of the PlayStation 4 will be able to play PlayStation 2 games on their consoles via an emulator. Sony has confirmed it is working on emulation software that will allow the high-selling classic console’s games to be playable on the PlayStation 4 itself, with it being playable locally instead of being streamed over the Internet, as currently performed using PlayStation Now.
Originally reported by Eurogamer, the emulator is apparently already in use, with a PlayStation 4 Star Wars bundle including a collection of titles previously available on the PlayStation 2. While the games were downloaded from PSN, it was found the games were in fact emulated versions of the PlayStation 2 originals.
Closer examination discovered the games included system prompts appearing in ways not available to third-party developers, suggesting this to be more than a remaster of the original game content with new code. It has also been found it uses a system for dealing with PlayStation 2 memory cards similar to how the PlayStation 3 handled it, all in-game prompts relate to the earlier console’s controller, and that it appeared to still use the original game’s 2D artwork that hasn’t been adjusted to cope with higher resolutions.
Sony has since confirmed the existence of the emulator to Wired. “We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation,” a representative told the report, adding “We have nothing further to comment at this time.”
