After years of work, hackers have finally managed to unlock the PS4 hardware with an exploit that lets the system run homebrew and pirated PS4 software. In a somewhat more surprising discovery, those hackers have also unlocked the ability to run many PS2 games directly on the console, using the same system-level emulation that powers legitimate PlayStation Classics downloads.
That’s actually quite useful. Too bad this requires hacking and cracking, instead of it simply being a legitimate option. I have quite a few PS2 games I’d love to play directly on my PS4, instead of having to buy remasters.
It’s still just emulation. A real PS2 isn’t extremely expensive, even the older and much more reliable “thick” consoles.
We wore out our original “thick” PS2 and two free “Disc Read Error” replacements from Sony before their position on replacement changed to “buy a PS3”.
As far as I’m concerned, the only thing the original PS2 unit is good for is dumping the BIOS so the games and built-like-a-tank controllers can be plugged into PCSX2 without stepping outside the bounds of Fair Use.
Edited 2018-01-24 00:45 UTC
But the PS2 had the worst controller of it’s generation. Those pressure-sensitive buttons everywhere come at the cost of lots of button misses if you pressed softly, the D-pad is unplayable for any 2D fighter. It’s still good to have if you have an old CRT around, playing from an internal hard drive, like I do. PS2 emulation is nowhere near as complete as Gamecube emulation.
Fair enough. As a matter of policy, if I can’t play it on commodity hardware with some degree open-source emulation insulating the closed-source game from the platform, I just don’t play it at all.
(At minimum, Wine or a container to ensure that stuff written for old x86 is more or less guaranteed to work on much newer x86… like the 16-bit Windows games I still play.)
Even with that restriction, I already have more entertainment than I know what to do with and that gap is only growing.
(Plus, it gives me the freedom to swap in whatever controller I want. For example, an original DualShock for PSX, the brand new Gamecube controller I bought from Japan during the Wii era, or one of my 360 controllers. I’ve actually been playing Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles for PSP with a SNES controller.)
Edited 2018-01-24 08:27 UTC
I assume only “thick” models (IIRC only they had the option of internal HDD …or perhaps also a USB-connected HDD or pendrive with “slim” models”?), by way of some modded firmware?
“Too bad this requires hacking and cracking, instead of it simply being a legitimate option”
But then you wouldn’t have to buy them again.
The problem comes down to the fact that companies are trying to max the amount of money they can get from you by trying to force you to buy all the software again.
However, I sometimes wonder if the sales of the latest hardware would increase to the point of making up for lost sales of the software.
Note: I am talking long term where I hope people will buy hardware because they know how many games it will play. The more I think of it, the more foolish that sounds to me, for all I know the hardware is sold with very little profit and all the real money comes from software.
PlayStation: Pay up to play PS2 games. Keep paying for PS+ if you want to keep the “free” games you get with it.
Xbox: Backwards compatible with 360 AND OG Xbox for free. Keep the games you get for free with Live Gold forever.
We’ll have to wait and see how Nintendo handles it.
Up until the Wii U they’ve been pretty excellent and consistent with their backwards compatibility – practically all games from the previous generation were playable. It’s a little different now that the Switch doesn’t take disc media so it’ll probably end up the same way as the others unfortunately, remastered versions of previous games only available from the store.
“Up until the Wii U” is really only since GameCube …previous to that, between NES, SNES and N64 the upgrades were incompatible. At least Nintendo portable consoles usually (except Game Boy Micro) had the ability to play games from generation prior… (I have more Game Boy & Game Boy Color cartridges than GBA ones to play on my Game Boy Advance)
Ha, just reminds me of Sega. They’re seemingly the only ones though that built a converter for their own system, then piled on other accessories/upgrades to try to keep it relevant.
Wonder how well a 2600/5200/7800 upgrade would have sold for the Jaguar (assuming the Jaguar had ever sold very well. The ‘retro’ scene wasn’t what it is now though, so maybe homebrew hardware kit for that would sell well?)
Imagine if they sold a disc emulator in the PS4 store for about $100 instead of selling each game again at a premium for download.
Ah, who am I kidding, the latter makes more money so they’re doing the latter.
Microsoft is this generation’s looser and they are providing really good backward compatibility. At the start they were cocky and trying to destroy second hand game trade and force Kinnect on their customers.
My guess is that the PS4 would emulate PS1 and PS2 discs for free is Sony was the underdog in this generation. These console companies are just milking whatever they can as soon as they establish any dominance in the market.
Buy a PS2! As the best-selling computer system of all time, i don’t think it’s hard to find one that works.
It is space and comfort that is problematic, not the money. If you have a PS4 that can handle PS2 emulation, it is reasonable to expect that it will do.
For me, I have all my consoles(DC,PS2,X360) and my computer hooked up to my TV, I have an arcade stick for the PC, at least 1 controller for each console and a racing wheel. And let’s not talk about the speakers or the prosoundcard or the hdds… I do it this way, because I love the setup. But to be honest the PS2 and the DC are more like decoration because the PC can play games for those platforms. So now I am up to get a PS4, and I am in trouble with space. I suppose most people already have trouble with having 2 big boxes under the telly, especially if they have a hi-fi already
Since when has it been “expected” for a console to be backwards compatible with anything more than its predecessor? And why should that backwards compatibility be provided for FREE? One of the greatest strengths of a games console, is the fact it has no requirement to be backwards compatible, as there’s no concept of forwards compatibility either. If you want to play a game for the PS4, and you own a PS3, looks like you’re buying a new console. Same applies if you own a PS4 and want to play PS3 games. I see no reason why the extra added cost of backwards compatibility should be forced onto users, just so a subset of consumers can play games out the box for an older console.
It’s also worth remembering, if you want that backwards compatibility, it’s probably because you have a large back catalog for that console, which probably implies that you do, or at least used to own that console. And if you sold it, then maybe you should have thought about selling all those games too.
I have a large back catalog of PS2 games. I wanted to play them but i didn’t own a PS2, after my sister trashed it in 2007. So i went down my local junk shop and bought one for £8. Now i can play my 100ish games for the approximate cost of 2 pints of beer, or 4 coffees, or 2/3rds of a PS2 rerelease for the PS4
Edited 2018-01-25 12:37 UTC
It is not that it is expected, but it is demonstrated that it is possible to get PS2 compatibility.So yeah, they could allow you to play your old games, because there is very little money to lose with that decision. But no, they have to remind us on every corner that they are only nice to customers if they are on the losing side of the business.