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

C

chadskin

Member
It's been a long time since we first reported that classic PS1 and PS2 titles were heading to PlayStation 4, running under emulation. It's been so long in fact, that we began to wonder whether Sony had shelved the project. The company originally informed developers of the existence of the emulator at the same time it briefed them on the planned rollout for the PlayStation Now cloud service, way back in January 2014. Since then, the only hints at its existence came in the form of some telling PEGI game ratings, along with some sightings of PS2 classics appearing in shared media lists during the PS4 firmware 3.0 beta phase.

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.

How can we tell? First of all, a system prompt appears telling you that select and start buttons are mapped to the left and right sides of the Dual Shock 4's trackpad. Third party game developers cannot access the system OS in this manner. Secondly, just like the PS2 emulator on PlayStation 3, there's an emulation system in place for handling PS2 memory cards. Thirdly, the classic PlayStation 2 logo appears in all of its poorly upscaled glory when you boot each title. And finally, all in-game button prompts relate to the PS2's controller - nothing has been changed at all, effectively ruling out a remaster.
Click to expand...
The arrival of PS2 emulation on the PlayStation 4 is a big deal - we reached out to Sony and await comment, but it is a little odd that a lovely piece of technology that's bound to excite a lot of interest has slipped out without any kind of fanfare. The PlayStation 2 is one of the classic pieces of console hardware, and the ability to access that back catalogue with enhanced visuals is a tantalising proposition. And with that in mind, it's actually a bit of a shame that the emulator has launched with a trio of mediocre titles, as opposed to a sparkling line-up of the console's greatest hits.
Click to expand...
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-hands-on-with-ps4-playstation2-emulation
 
H

Henrar

Member
It seems like those games are exclusive to owners of SW Battlefront bundle (even though they were available for PS3 some time ago).

Fuck :/

EDIT: I think Sony is quiet about that, because MS has better solution than them - emulating newer console. Or maybe I'm wrong. Still, I was suprised to read the title of the article at first.
 
L

LewieP

Member
Improvements to both resolution and framerate are particularly exciting. I hope they are working on a more comprehensive comparison, ideally looking side by side with original PS2 hardware, PS3 hardware BC, PS2 classics on PS3 and PC emulators.

Lordy I hope they'll allow you to use discs.

Edit: Why are people so surprised? Did you expect native ports of three mediocre PS2 titles? Emulation was obviously the most plausible explanation when these releases were announced.
 
X

Xando

Member
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.
Click to expand...

giphy.gif
 
F

Flandy

Member
Where the hell have you guys been? We've been speculating for months that the Star Wars games would be PS2 emulation
 
S

Somnia

Member
Are some of you just reading the title and not the article?

They didn't spoil anything. Please read before posting.
 
V

Vinc

Member
Guys, check out the article before you say they jumped the gun. They're just analyzing the PS2 games that came with the Battlefront bundle, we already know about this :p.
 
T

Tambini

Member
Whats with the reactions, didn't we already know they were running under emulation? I think someone confirmed it earlier this week too after streaming the star wars games
 
T

Toki767

Member
Does streaming features and such work with those games?

Being able to stream PS1/PS2 games straight from a PS4 would be awesome.
 
ULTROS!

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Imagine getting all those trophies for your PSone and PS2 games.

Trophies for Legend of Mana
Trophies for Xenogears
Trophies for Suikoden II
Trophies for Mega Man Legends
Trophies for God Hand
Trophies for Shin Megami Tensei III
Trophies for Persona 3 FES
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
I hope this means I can i finally play FFXII IZJS.
 
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