PS2 emulation has arrived

Stinja

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As speculated a few days ago, but bigger sites have picked up on this now:

Digital Foundry: Hands-on with PS4's PlayStation 2 emulation

As it happens, the PlayStation 4's PS2 emulator is now available, released with no fanfare whatsoever. A new PS4 Star Wars bundle has been released, including a package of four 'classic' franchise titles: Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, Star Wars: Racer Revenge and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. All four titles are supplied via a single PSN code, as opposed to a physical disc included with the hardware. You'll note that three of those titles hail from the PlayStation 2 era, and after we downloaded them, it became clear that all of them are running under emulation.

But it's not clear if at some point we will get the ability to plop our PS2 discs into the PS4 to play - i doubt it, as there's no money to be made, but one can still hope given MS is currently crowing hard about 360 emulation, with authentication via old discs.

 
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Not a Star Wars fan but if they could make it so that my PS1 and PS2 discs worked then I'd be very happy (as I'm not sure how much longer my PS2 can last).
 
Results are promising

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Not a Star Wars fan but if they could make it so that my PS1 and PS2 discs worked then I'd be very happy (as I'm not sure how much longer my PS2 can last).

Likewise. I still have a pile of classics: Kingdom Hearts I and II, Twisted Metal Black, Silent Hill 1 and 2, Vice City and San Andreas, DMC 1-3, FF XII, Gran Turismo 4
 
Ps1 too I believe? Wanna get in on some parappa the rappa action
 
Sony would make my xmas if i could play ps1 and ps2 discs on my ps4. Especially if they were improved graphics. Too too much to wish for :)
 
Older retro arcade games are all I'm interested in tbh. Bubble symphony would be awesome.
 
Sony has released a (non)statement, obviously they've been rumbled before marketing wanted, so are being vague and giving little away. Still it is a nugget:

Sony Says It's Bringing PlayStation 2 Classics to PS4

“We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation,” a Sony representative told WIRED via email. “We have nothing further to comment at this point in time.”

I'm hoping for PS1 emulation, i've got Syndicate Wars on the shelf staring at me :smashin:
 
Great news! Might have to dig my PES3&5 discs out if they let you play the original discs. The upscaled emulation looks fantastic!
 
If you can use discs I might have a couple of the crash bandicoot games stashed away.
 
You and @Sonic67 can each have -1 likes :nono:

What do the kids say theseadays? Haters gonna hate...
I am being honest though. I'd wish they spent more on the new console than worrying about the ability to play older console games.

People moan like hell now over the plus games as they look like crap. Wonder if those same people will be happy to load up PS1 and 2 games!!! Because they will look like crap.

People have rose tinted glasses because the games were superb at the the time and they have fond memories of playing them. Going back will taint those memories.

Put the time and money into a better speedier network, giving users the ability to customise the themes, friend notifications. Things like that.

I just think it's a waste of time personally.


Obviously I understand people like to retro game. I'm sure if they liked it that much they would have kept their consoles too then :)

But seriously yeah I know it's not for everyone before I get the different strokes different folks classic :)
 
I am being honest though. I'd wish they spent more on the new console than worrying about the ability to play older console games.

People moan like hell now over the plus games as they look like crap. Wonder if those same people will be happy to load up PS1 and 2 games!!! Because they will look like crap.

People have rose tinted glasses because the games were superb at the the time and they have fond memories of playing them. Going back will taint those memories.

Put the time and money into a better speedier network, giving users the ability to customise the themes, friend notifications. Things like that.

I just think it's a waste of time personally.


Obviously I understand people like to retro game. I'm sure if they liked it that much they would have kept their consoles too then :)

But seriously yeah I know it's not for everyone before I get the different strokes different folks classic :)
 

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Sorry but I bought a PS4 for next gen gaming. I don't mind if software houses want to go back to the original Tomb Raider and redo it as a brand new PS4 remixed version but just playing old games? Nah.

I have fond memories of a lot of old Spectrum and Amiga games. Then I played them by emulator. They were rubbish.
 
I am being honest though. I'd wish they spent more on the new console than worrying about the ability to play older console games.

People moan like hell now over the plus games as they look like crap. Wonder if those same people will be happy to load up PS1 and 2 games!!! Because they will look like crap.

People have rose tinted glasses because the games were superb at the the time and they have fond memories of playing them. Going back will taint those memories.

Put the time and money into a better speedier network, giving users the ability to customise the themes, friend notifications. Things like that.

I just think it's a waste of time personally.


Obviously I understand people like to retro game. I'm sure if they liked it that much they would have kept their consoles too then :)

But seriously yeah I know it's not for everyone before I get the different strokes different folks classic :)
I've got a PS2 in the loft, but to be honest, i'm not going to have it out taking up a plug socket and space in my AV rack.

That said, I do certainly get your point re: playing old games. We all do it now and again, for that Nostalgia fix, but to be fair, most of the best PS2 games (MGS games, ICO, GTA, PES, GT etc.) have either been bettered by more recent versions, or remastered on the PS3/4.

For those with a stack of old PS2 games, then if they allow those to be played from disc (fully upscaled as shown above), then that would be a nice feature to have though. I'm kind of thinking of say Burnout 3, PES 3 & 5, SSX Tricky etc. Let's face it, there hasn't really been a decent snowboarding game since the likes of SSX Tricky.
 
Don't see the point in backwards compatibility to be honest. If you want
To play old games then get the original console for probably just a few £. I'd rather the effort and money went in to the current generation.
 
Ps1 and 2 not interested in any games. Be nice to play Farcry 3, Modern warfare 2 and both the Batman games again. Hopefully get remastered at some point. I dont think they are released on ps now as of yet.
 
Yeah i know what you guys mean. But when they just churn out "remastered" games, it's much the same. At least with backwards compatibility you could play what you liked from past gens, and not have to pay for it ;)

Ideally, yes, i wish they'd put all their effort into getting Morpheus out, and stuff like Rime, No Man's Sky and Wild, but idealism doesn't feed you in the short term...
 
I also don't have any PS1/PS2 games. I have a PS3 and the media handling on that is better. Two years on since the PS4 came out and the older console is still better. So I'd prefer more features on the new console.
 
I am being honest though. I'd wish they spent more on the new console than worrying about the ability to play older console games.

People moan like hell now over the plus games as they look like crap. Wonder if those same people will be happy to load up PS1 and 2 games!!! Because they will look like crap.

People have rose tinted glasses because the games were superb at the the time and they have fond memories of playing them. Going back will taint those memories.

Put the time and money into a better speedier network, giving users the ability to customise the themes, friend notifications. Things like that.

I just think it's a waste of time personally.


Obviously I understand people like to retro game. I'm sure if they liked it that much they would have kept their consoles too then :)

But seriously yeah I know it's not for everyone before I get the different strokes different folks classic :)

I partially agree, I can't get that excited about BC as I don't really want to spend much time playing old games.

HOWEVER PS1 and PS2 emulation should have been a gimme almost since day one. There are freeware emulators already that work well with weak spec PCs and Sony should have been able to pull something together themselves without too much drama.

Given the size and quality of the PS1/2 catalogue this would be a nice bonus, albeit not a game changer in any way. There are still some gems out there that stand the test of time gameplay-wise even if the graphics are a bit rough.

I don't imagine that the development of an older gen emulator impacts the development of any PS4 titles in the slightest.
 
I don't think it does either. Still wish they put the resources into other stuff though.
 
I do care about BC, i have over 100 PS1 titles and 250 PS2 titles and would love to be able to play them on PS4 with enhanced graphics. I do have 2 ps2's connected but they won't last forever and just look at the screenshots above!!!

For the amount of effort it would take to implement i don't see why not as it could bring in retro gamers who have ignored the new console, which increases the number of owned console, which brings development of new games. Win \ Win i would have thought.
 

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