They had no choice. Sony is locked into some choices and haven't developed proper hardware abstraction for the OS and development tools. Its going to affect the CU count going forward.
This is the reason they need a "ps4 mode" where you don't get a benefit of increased speed with the new hardware. Xbox doesn't have this problem based on the way the software is structured. This is why xbox is able to provide visual upgrades for older games that were not developed for newer hardware.
I will bookmark this quote when PS5 BC is shown........Do you even know that there was a patent long ago that increases resolution to older library PS games, replaces the texture assets to more improved and higher resolution ones and implements trophies as per event and timelines? Do you even know how Parappa Remastered and some other games were achieved.
"Would you believe that the PlayStation 4 remaster of Parappa the Rapper is actually the PSP version running under emulation? That's the remarkable claim put forward by hackers using compromised PlayStation 4s to examine game code, first revealed by 'KiiWii' on the GBATemp forum (with a tip of the hat to Ars Technica for its write-up of the story so far). The actual remastering - such as it is - appears to come in the form of a high resolution texture pack that swaps out the original PSP assets for renditions more becoming of a current-gen system.
The evidence here is compelling, with several hackers providing proof of a small number of other PSP titles running on PlayStation 4 using the same emulation wrapper. Essentially, within the PS4 package, a configuration file points to a PSP UMD disc image, which - in the case of Parappa the Rapper - apparently has the same MD5 hash as the original PSP game, confirming that it's original, untouched code. The configuration file itself suggests that Parappa is running under an all-purpose emulator, with a number of options including the ability to choose between multi-sampling and super-sampling anti-aliasing, plus a toggle on the L3 button to swap between original textures and any remastered replacements.
Further research from hackers has led to a small number of other PSP games running on PS4, apparently confirming that it is a general emulator working behind the scenes here, as opposed to any code bespoke to Parappa only. Compatibility does seem to be highly limited at the moment though. The implication is that further PSP titles released on PS4, such as Loco Roco and Patapon, may also be using the same technique, as injecting the original PSP code for those games into the emulator seems to work fine. Since the original Parappa revelation, 'injector' tools have been released that swap out the Parappa UMD image for one of the user's choosing, with the resultant files only able to run on compromised PlayStation 4 consoles."
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-parappa-remastered-is-the-psp-game-emulated
Original article
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...l-usable-psp-emulator-hidden-in-ps4s-parappa/
Source
https://gbatemp.net/threads/wip-psp-injection.503103/
So yes, Sony has been working with several emulators for years now......
The patent for emulation remastering.
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180140954A1/en
The patent for putting trophies on older PS titles...
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2013/0073551.html
So PS can use these for BC if they want to. It should have improved even more now and PS5 architecture should run these games like a dream with no loadtimes whatsoever at maybe 4k 60FPS on everything with AA, improved textures, trophy injection etc......The only question is, that this took a lot of work and man hours to get there. So will Sony offer the emulator for sale on the store if people want to get improved versions of their PS1, PS2, PSP titles?