The Nerd StashPlaystation 2 fans rejoice, it’s finally happening – Sony have confirmed they are actively working on PS2 emulation for the current-gen PS4.
Speculation began to surface that Sony were planning a rival to Xbox One’s backwards compatibility when the Star Wars Battlefront special edition PS4 shipped with three PS2 titles, apparently running on an emulator. Digital Foundry spotted that the games were using an emulated memory card – something previously ported classic titles haven’t used.
Speaking to Wired magazine, Sony have now officially confirmed the news:
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.
The emulator was likely slipped in on one of the previous firmware updates, and will allow titles to run as if they were on the PS2, but with enhanced graphics and higher resolution.
While no other news is available, it seems strange that Sony would announce emulation – something that fans have practically been begging them for – in such an understated way. It also seems likely that instead of allowing gamers to play their old PS2 discs through the PS4, we’ll have to re-buy them through the PlayStation Store – but again, nothing is confirmed.
Mark is the Gaming Editor for UNILAD. Having grown up a gaming addict, he’s been deeply entrenched in culture and spends time away from work playing as much as possible. Mark studied music at University and found a love for journalism through going to local gigs and writing about them for local and national publications.