Sony bringing PS2 Emulation to PlayStation 4; it’s a start
Sony is bringing PS2 emulation to its newest rig. I hold myself 1,000% solely responsible for this development, after weeks of barking about the lack of backwards compatibility on the PS4. And this? This is a start. However, Sony is still holding out on the White Whale, PS3 support. ‘Cause, you know, they want you to check out their shitty streaming service. But it is a start.
What exactly is Sony up to with emulating PlayStation 2 games on the PS4? A report this week from Wired confirmed that the company is, in its own words, “working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation,” but it seems that the PlayStation 4 already has this capability (at least in part), and Sony has done nothing to publicize it.
As DigitalFoundry and Eurogamer pointed out earlier this month, the recently-released Star Wars: Battlefront bundle for the PS4 includes three Star Wars PS2 games that appear to be emulated, rather than ported, to the newer system. There are numerous clues suggesting that this is the case, including the appearance of the classic PlayStation 2 logo before the games load; the inclusion of an emulation system for memory cards; and the automatic mapping of old controller buttons on to the new Dual Shock 4.