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With the release of the PS4 Star Wars: Battlefront bundle came an interesting discovery. Some of the bonus games in the bundle (Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter) aren't just remasters, nor just direct ports. It seems that they're run via an emulator on the PS4, allowing PS2 games to run at a higher framerate and resolution compared to their original releases. An article from Wired reports that Sony is confirmed to be, "working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation."

Source

 

[Imparasite]

just use ps2 emulator much better than ps2 backwards compatibility from Sony LOL

 

[placebooooo]

I smell some jelly
Yeah Sony, don't let Microsoft xbox one backward compatibility crush your sales.

 

[samedifference]

just use ps2 emulator much better than ps2 backwards compatibility from Sony LOL

To be honest, I've had nothing but trouble with PS2 emulation over the past few years; it's just a big pain for me.
An official emulator from Sony wouldn't be as problematic considering they know their own hardware inside and out.

 

[Pedeadstrian]

To be honest, I've had nothing but trouble with PS2 emulation over the past few years; it's just a big pain for me.
An official emulator from Sony wouldn't be as problematic considering they know their own hardware inside and out.

And I've had nothing but great successes (except for one of many emulated games, Valkyrie Profile 2). I was able to play Persona 4 in HD before Persona 4 Golden was even a thing. I was able to play games that I couldn't on my PS2 because my dog chewed them up. I'm not one of those people who blindly stick to their nostalgia. If I see an objectively better method of doing something, I will. I doubt the PS4's emulation of PS2 games will be any better than PCSX2, and like others are saying, it probably won't accept discs, at least until hackers get their hands on it.

 

[daniel26150]

Sony won't give you the chance to use your Ps2 discs, most likely will be a digital relase only and only a few games but we will see

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

If anyone remembers how Sony treated PS2 emulation on PS3 then it's likely the same will follow here. And I personally don't see the point in this, if one wants to play PS2 games then get a PS2 or a PS3 60GB (Fat) or a Hacked PS3 Slim.

 

[Margen67]

Hopefully somebody can reverse-engineer their findings into code towards PCSX2, or a new emulator, since it's x86 architecture.

Anything would be better than P(HAK)CSX2
They used to have adware in their installers. The devs of course justify it with the typical excuses:
"You Can Choose To Not Install It™"
"It's Optional™"
etc.

To be honest, I've had nothing but trouble with PS2 emulation over the past few years; it's just a big pain for me.
An official emulator from Sony wouldn't be as problematic considering they know their own hardware inside and out.

I've only experienced graphical bugs. The software renderer may be better but it runs slowly for me.
Speedhacks may "speed up" the game but they lower the ingame framerate so it looks worse.
Async mix makes the sound more tolerable, though.
You literally just put the bios into the PCSX2 folder, configure the buttons, choose the iso, start the game, and you're done.
It's really not that hard. lol
If your GPU doesn't have DX9/10/11 support then it's time to upgrade. Don't blame the emulator for your shitty PC. (if you have one)

But to be fair Dolphin runs MUCH better so it goes to show which one has made more progress.
I wouldn't ever expect it to improve significantly. I have faith in Play! though.
It doesn't need the BIOS and has made lots of progress. It's actually starting to boot up some games now.

And I've had nothing but great successes (except for one of many emulated games, Valkyrie Profile 2). I was able to play Persona 4 in HD before Persona 4 Golden was even a thing. I was able to play games that I couldn't on my PS2 because my dog chewed them up. I'm not one of those people who blindly stick to their nostalgia. If I see an objectively better method of doing something, I will. I doubt the PS4's emulation of PS2 games will be any better than PCSX2, and like others are saying, it probably won't accept discs, at least until hackers get their hands on it.

I have a different reason to have consoles.
If I find a glitch in game with an emulator I'll try to replicate it on the actual hardware to make sure it's not an emulation glitch and vice versa.
And PCSX2 (or Dolphin) in 1080p sure as hell beats 480i (or 480p) on a CRT. There's no competition.
The "it looks better" excuse is only valid if the game is sprite based.

 

[The Catboy]

Now if only Microsoft can get Xbox games working on the Xbox one!
Seriously though, this is pretty cool news, hopefully it doesn't end up like the PS3 and they remove it.

 

[IpsoFact0]

If they let people use discs they already own, then there's no profit in it for them. I'll be happy to eat my words, but I'm like 99.999% sure they won't ever let you use PS2 discs, just games you buy/rebuy from them. If it was PS3 games, then maybe, since they still make and sell those, but something they last got paid for years ago? Yeah right. And maybe the millionaire fairy will leave fat stacks under everyone's pillow too.

This line of thought makes no sense, anyone with a collection of PS2 discs is not gonna buy digital anyway? so how does it hurt there sales? just let those people play there discs and they might toss some more money your way just for convenience.

 

[Jayro]

If someone were to do that, they would get into a ton of legal trouble; but it'd be cool to see nonetheless.

Nobody cares about stolen code when it comes to Emulators, when the end goal is just to get it working, and working fast+accurate.

 

[pwsincd]

i would assume these ps2 games would be disc compatible otherwise wouldnt they just throw them at PS now and be done with it ?

 

[mightymuffy]

i would assume these ps2 games would be disc compatible otherwise wouldnt they just throw them at PS now and be done with it ?

Shhh... don't give 'em ideas!
No I think they've already mentioned PS1 and 2 will come via emulation (thankfully! I've tried PS Now [on my pretty decent connection/wifi rig] and it's a joke)
In reality disc-based is wishful thinking, Sony might use the 'but we're improving the visuals' as another reason for sticking with digital - most likely be very similar to the PS3's.

If anyone remembers how Sony treated PS2 emulation on PS3 then it's likely the same will follow here. And I personally don't see the point in this, if one wants to play PS2 games then get a PS2 or a PS3 60GB (Fat) or a Hacked PS3 Slim.

Deary me, I heard the same thing with 360 BC on Xbox One - what if your missus only let's you have one console under the TV in her fancy living room? What if you've upgraded to a PS4 and given the PS3 to your kids (or in my case, my mum, who uses it more as a media player but also like the odd PS1 game). What if the PS3 is in your bedroom? I can probably think of a good few other reasons too... sure you can just go there and play it, but it's nice to have the option on your main machine too - look at the amount of people on this thread that are looking forward to it, just coz you don't see the point doesn't mean to say everyone should agree with you...

 

[Imparasite]

To be honest, I've had nothing but trouble with PS2 emulation over the past few years; it's just a big pain for me.
An official emulator from Sony wouldn't be as problematic considering they know their own hardware inside and out.

maybe just you because ive experienced super b on ps2 emulator with smooth game-play maybe you need to upgrade your PC

 

[master801]

Nobody cares about stolen code when it comes to Emulators, when the end goal is just to get it working, and working fast+accurate.

Most emulator projects are licensed under the GPL license, so yes, it does matter in most cases.

 

[RaMon90]

Pcsx2 is old, I think any decent quadcore cpu can run at full speed. Even with my dual core i3 can run at full but some heavy games or effects makes it sometimes unplayable.

 

[spotanjo3]

Sony rules over Microsoft. Thats all I can say about it.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Sony rules over Microsoft. Thats all I can say about it.

Making the user pay for a licence he/she already owns sure makes Sony rule over Microsoft. Because who would want to just pop in the disc on their Wii U or on the Xbox One (insert the disc + download the game) and play, right? Paying again is way better.

 

[SSG Vegeta]

I'd love if it could read discs. Would really be nice to play my ps2 games on my ps4

Hell yes TLOS series is back ^^

 

[codezer0]

Call me skeptical, but I find it only too convenient this was revealed only after Microsoft unveiled their BC update for the Xbox One.

Call me cynical, but I certainly won't expect it to be where you could pop in your existing PS2 disc(s) and have them play on the PS4, like with 360 games on the One. Sony WILL try to force people to re-buy them, just like they already did on the PS3, to ensure the laziest ports possible (looking squarely at you, God of War Collection).

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I'll take an LCD display over CRT any day, and filters are a thing.

You may wake me when an LCD/LED is finally fast enough for a zapper or any of the light guns of the day work again.

I have also been pining for my dreamcast light gun to work again, being I had discovered how good Confidential Mission was on it too late, and had to settle with playing on the controller.

 

[Burlsol]

If they let people use discs they already own, then there's no profit in it for them.

I would disagree. Being able to use discs might not lead to an increase in sales since these discs are still floating around between resellers. But it would help drive console sales for those people who already have a PS2 library around, and who are into retrogaming. It would also completely taking a shit on Microsoft's "retrogame" plan by essentially making hundreds of games (instead of the 60 or so Xbox classics) instantly playable as well as available through their online store. Leading into the holiday season, anything that pushes people into buying the console ends up being an important thing in terms of market share.