Hurrah for backward compatibility! SONY filed patents for PS2 emulation on PS3

In January 2008, we reported that Sony is hiring engineers for developing old-PS emulators. And now some patents to enable PS2 games to run on PS3 are filed by the company.

First lot of PS3 had both PS3 and PS2 chipsets for backward compatibility. But on 40GB model released in Nov. 2007 and ongoing 80GB model, Sony canceled PS2 chipset for price competitiveness, which became a focus of criticism.

Read on for detail.

Siliconera >> Sony Patents Emotion Engine Emulation Technology For Cell Processors

According to the post above, Sony Computer Entertainment USA has filed the patent of technology to emulate PS2's Emotion Engine processor on PS3's Cell processor.

The patent covers the technology of translating Emotion Engine's instruction sets to Cell processor's. So theoretically you will be able to play every PS2 games on PS3.

The overview. Flow chart of how emulator translates instruction sets.

It's also interesting that this method needs no hardware modification. You will need to update firmware on your PS3 to enable emulation.

While we still have to wait a little more, it's the big step forward to backward compatibility once canceled.

Related Post:
Which users are more experienced, Wii’s or PS3’s? Poll revealed the history of gamers - GIGAZINE

The photo review of special PS3, with 160GB HDD and demo version of “PS3 Final Fantasy XIII” - GIGAZINE

Dojin Game on PS3? BD-J enables homebrew game application on the console. - GIGAZINE

New high-performance computer expansion card based on the “Cell” microprocessor of PS3 - GIGAZINE