Implicit Conversions has suggested it’s looking into native PS3 emulation on the PlayStation 5, admitting it’s “dreaming about” running classic games on the console
The PS3 has a fantastic collection of titles(Image: Future via Getty Images)
The PS5 is great, but there’s one area where the Xbox Series X has it beat – backward compatibility.
While Microsoft’s console can run all four generations of Xbox games, the PS5 is missing one – the PlayStation 3. Infamously tricky to develop for, and apparently challenging to emulate, Sony’s current solution involves streaming PS3 games from the cloud for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Still, the studio that handles many of those PS3 ports appears to have loftier ambitions, as spotted by the Gaming Leaks and Rumours Reddit.
PS3 games on PS5 is something PlayStation Classics studio is ‘dreaming about’
Could we soon get PS3 titles played natively on PS5?(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Implicit Conversions, the team tasked with porting many classics from earlier PlayStation generations to the PS5 via PlayStation Plus, has a Kanban-style board on its website.
This ‘roadmap’ mentions a “PlayStation 3 Emulator” in the “Dreaming About” column, with the description reading “Researching and prototyping the possibility of a PlayStation 3 emulator package for Syrup”.
PS3 emulation has proven challenging, but not impossible. Users have got PS3 titles running on PC and Mac in recent years, and it’s just as well as there are some phenomenal titles still locked away on Sony’s third console.
The PS3 recently appeared in our list of the worst console launches of all time, and while it finally outgrew that poor start (namely by shedding its colossal price tag), it built a huge library of exclusives.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Infamous, Motorstorm and many of the Ratchet and Clank titles are still stuck on PS3, as well as Sony’s Smash Bros. rival, All-Stars Battle Royale.
Interestingly, Implicit Conversion’s PS1 emulator, dubbed Pancake, is currently being worked on for Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Xbox Series X according to the roadmap page.
Here’s hoping we can get PS3 emulation on PS5 one day – if not, I’ll take a remaster of Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, thanks.
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