Sony confirms PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility for PS4
While Microsoft's Xbox One has just gotten the ability to play over 100 Xbox 360 titles, its looks like Sony is working on bringing backwards compatibility for PlayStation 2 games to the PS4. This was discovered with the release of a PS4 console bundle this week that includes the new Star Wars: Battlefront, along with four classic Star Wars games from previous console generations, including three from the PS2. In an email to Wired, Sony confirmed that they are working on making more games compatible.
It was Digital Foundry and Eurogamer that uncovered the fact that the three older games in the special edition bundle, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars Racer: Revenge, are not just ports or remastered versions for the PS4, they are the actual PS2 games running via emulation.
There are a number of signs that confirm the games are being locally emulated, including the fact that the PS2's logo appears when the games are booted up, and that all in-game button prompts refer to the PS2's controller.
Sony's confirmation to Wired was brief, and unfortunately included little additional details: "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."
A recent PS4 customer survey asking users about their interest in backwards compatibility for both PS2 and PS1 games indicates that Sony has plans to make more games available beyond just this Star Wars bundle. The big question at this time, however, is if the feature will require users buy their favorite PS2 games again via the PlayStation's digital store, or if they'll also be able to insert PS2 game discs into the PS4 and play directly from that.