Despite Sony remaining shtum about its plans for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita’s storefronts, many fans are frustrated by the firm’s perceived lack of respect for its legacy platforms. While we wait for official confirmation on that front, a patent has been dug up by Reddit which seemingly reveals plans for Trophy support in emulated titles.
“A Trophy trigger is detected during emulation of the game by comparing a memory value of the emulated game to a predetermined value and assigning the one or more Trophies to the user based on the detected Trophy trigger,” the abstract explains.
Does it sound familiar? Long-time readers may recall an extremely similar document being published almost ten years ago, although this new one does have an application date of 30th January, 2020. As far as we understand it, a similar method to what’s proposed here was used for the small number of PS2 titles that were ported to PS4 earlier in its lifecycle.
Could it potentially be considering revisiting the idea? Well, it would certainly ease some criticism that the company’s facing right now, as many feel the firm is outright abandoning its history – especially if the aforementioned PS3 and PS Vita rumours turn out to be true. Our guess? This is probably just some old paperwork that the publisher’s pushed through.
[source patentscope.wipo.int, via reddit.com]
Comments 60
Now that the only modern PS systems capable of natively emulating most of these games are pretty much losing that feature reportedly, the PS5 basically has no excuse
I don't want to hear anything about the PS3's architecture being too unique to run these games on native hardware because I can emulate Persona 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4 perfectly well on PC and it sure as hell doesn't have a Cell Processor. A PlayStation Virtual Console of sorts or the revival of the Classics Line (especially for PS2 games) has been long overdue
I mean, it's kinda ridiculous that with a crappy pc I can play old games and with a shiny brand new PS5 with so much power...you can't lol
They Already Have An Answer To This Whole Thing With PS Now They Just Have To Use It.
@Areus Honestly PS Now I still find a mediocre substitute to just re-releasing the games digitally like they did with PS1 and PS2 Classics, especially with the fact the games rotate after a period of time
It kind of feels redundant on PS4 especially since a bulk of the titles are just games that are on PS4 and in some cases, PS3 games that are also available on PS4. The only platforms I found actually benefitted from the service were Vita and PC personally
@Areus they do with psnow but it would be nice to have a hardware based solution instead of being stuck behind a subscription...ahhh Sony i love you and hate at the same time 😩
I don't think PS Now is the answer because, while it certainly could be extended and improved upon, it seems crazy using up loads of bandwidth to stream a game that's like 25MB in size.
I think licenses are probably the biggest headache that most people overlook. Sadly, it's probably not as easy as it seems to legally dump a lot of these games on the PS Store.
I do wonder if they can be convinced to do it by the end of the gen, though.
@TheFrenchiestFry If a group of fan programmers can emulate the Cell architecture then Sony who actually own the patents certainly can. It’s baffling.
Put more ps2 games on psn.scarface the 🌎 world is yours.black.beyond good and evil.grand theft auto liberty city stories.grand theft auto vice city stories.maximo.etc.word up son
@playstation1995 IF Sony wouldn't Have Stopped They Probably Would Have Had Most Of The PS2s Library On The PSN By Now.
@Areus PS now is not the answer as it is, like someone above said nothing on PS now is permanent and games come and leave all the time so that's definitely not something that can be relied on.
I'm not getting my hopes up until this is officially confirmed by PlayStation themselves in a press article or official tweet.
@Juanalf Yeah PS4 Games Come And Go When Was The Last Time They Removed One Of The PS3 Or PS2 Games For Another.
As a longtime gamer and owning a Switch, a PS5 and a Gaming PC, along with having a gameboy color, gameboy advance, PSP, PS Vita, a powerful phone that can play console type games alongside emulation, a PS2, NES Classic, SNES Classic, PlayStation Classic and the sega mini who has time for all the games!! I cant even play all that I have now even on current gen systems.
Yes it does suck and the fear is digital replacing physical (this has been happening since ps3 and 360 days when patches and dlcs started becoming the norm making physical copies pretty much obsolete unless the full game came on the disc) is very real but these companies won't keep old games alive, old systems alive. The gaming community will. And then who has the time to play all the games. Old or new.
It also costs money to keep these old stores up and running. Especially when there is no money being made off them as traffic is low.
@Areus. I agree.ps2 got so many amazing games.i still play bully thats a epic game.so is manhunt.word up son
I remember the news of this originally as mentioned in the article and I was super excited for trophy support for previous gen games, would have been amazing replaying the original tomb raider or metal gear solid with the added incentive of trophies... Years later we're still waiting, just seems like such a missed opportunity.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if Sony suddenly said they had emulated every ps1,2, 3, PSP snd vita game and they would all be for download on PS Now with trophy support! I’d not play these game without trophies, but with them I’d definitely go back to some games I’d missed.
it means we can pop in a ps1, ps2 or ps3 game and get it to work on ps5, then great. amazing! if it means we have to re-purchase a digital version of a game we already own in physical form, then i couldn't care less. either way, it will be a curated list and not the entire library. better than nothing, but the ship has sailed with full b/c so not going to get my hopes up.
@thefourfoldroot Check out RetroAchievements, it’s encouraged me to go back and play all my old games. It’s basically everything a trophy hunter could ever want from an achievement system.
Insofar as the story itself goes,agree it sounds more like a renewal of existing patents,after all they have the ps2 classics on ps4 range,& I think their PSP ported games like Papaton etc,use emulation too?🤔
Very much agree how underused the PS2 classics range was...on ps3 they had the full psn library of GTA games like LCS/VCS,& the Maximo games. Could've had Hitman Silent Assassin/contracts, NFS Underground 1&2,SSX/Tricky,Splinter Cell trilogy,GUN & so much more!!😔
Unfortunately unlike XB,Sony just don't have the system engineers,& moreso just don't seem willing to invest either in recruiting the emulation community or engineers like XB have in their b/c virtual engine/emulation.
Then as Sammy mentioned whether Microsoft had different licensing arrangements when it came to republishing/enhancing old titles vs Sony or they just threw $$ at it like most things we just don't really know
@nessisonett I recently watched a video Modern Vintage Gamer did where he went into the technical side of things of cell emulation and it looks like it is crazy difficult. With 10 years of development RPCS3 has gotten to around 60% of the library playable.
Now of course Sony has all the technical documentation and so on that makes it easier to develop but according to the people MVG interviewed it’s still a massive engineering task with a pretty questionable ROI. As we’ve seen with Microsoft’s approach they haven’t been able to bring everything over due to licensing issues and I doubt the people buying old PS3 games digitally would make back the investment.
I’d love to be proven wrong though but I think we are much more likely to see them port across any more PS3 games they think will sell. Off the top of my head I’d like Motorstorm Trilogy, Ratchet Games, Resistance trilogy, Infamous, Killzone trilogy and maybe the ps2 had collections they did if they don’t do further ps2 classic stuff. It could be a fairly cheap way to continue new titles coming to PS4 once the ps5 mainly has exclusives and they would be forward compatible of course.
This however doesn’t excuse the lack of ps1 and ps2 emulation however. PS1 was already fully software emulated on the PS3 and PS2 could be done easily now. They could have it so you can put any ps1 or 2 disc in but with no guarantee on how well it runs but have trophy supporting ones on the store guaranteed to work (discs should work for these too). I’ve got boxes full of ps1 and ps2 games just begging me to put them back on the shelves and this would be the excuse I needed.
@Areus I know you think this is your shtick like "Ninja approved" or ".word up son", but reading your comments typed like that literally gives me a headache.
Really? well i apologize if my writing is causing you discomfort.
Boy id love to go back and earn some trophies on some PS1 games.
@ILikeStake - You're not alone there, that posting 'style' is an absolute eyesore. @Areus could be one of the best contributors here and I'd never know, as soon as I see that obnoxious capitalization I scroll straight past to get it off my screen asap. No offence meant btw Areus, it just plays hell with my vision.
I already own the PS2 title "Primal", that got trophy support 😎
shtum - my new word for the day. Thanks!
@nessisonett
That’s interesting, but I’m not a PC gamer
@thefourfoldroot Even the starchiest of potato PCs could run RetroArch. Unless you literally don’t own a PC or laptop at all.
I gave up my hopes. A few days ago, I've dusted off my ps1 (cca 20 games), ps2 (cca 100 games) and ps3 (cca 150 games) collection and hope discs and consoles will last as long as they can. .... when Sony act as mean toddler in backwards question...
@nessisonett
Literally don’t. The wife has a MacBook thing she uses for work and some streaming but that’s it. Plus, I like my trophy history in one place - which it has been since MS deleted my account because I didn’t buy Xbox One and my years of achievements just went poof.
When they do announce the closure of the old stores, nothing short of "But we have plans for new ways to allow you to access the legacy library in future," will cut it.
I'm worried we're witnessing a bad fumble here.
PS4 is capable of emulating a PS1 & PS2. PS5's extra grunt should even be capable of supporting basic PS3 emulation.
Why aren't Sony doing it? Because they don't think it's worth it in terms of $ profits.
PS Now could be expanded on (god knows the PS2 'selection' is truly dire) but that'll take time and effort - more so than buying in one of the best Linux PC emulators and converting it to PS4/5.
I want to play all Mortal Kombat, Rayman and Sonic games on old console emulators.
@Glassneedles that 60% basically tells you how many 3rd party games never were fully optimised for PS3 and ran better on 360. As in that group they don't fully utilise the SPE's of the CELL, those that do are going to be very hard to emulate.
I'd love to see Sony do this and let you put PS1 and PS2 discs into the PS5 to play, then have those that can still be licensed (of which there should be many) available to buy from the store, perhaps even put them on PS Now for those that would rather pay a fixed fee to play games
My PS3 slim is still under the TV and up to this day my goto bluray /DVD player. The loss of online support is the point where I consider to jailbreak the system. I would prefer ongoing legit support over that though.
@OM1993 emulation by and large is CPU limited and the PS4's CPU was awful, the PS5's CPU alone should clear up any issues the PS4 had. People have many PS2 games running perfectly on the Series S using retroarch so Sony should be able to do better
Guys, let me remind you that ALL ps3 games are in 720p resolution.
It'll look awful on your 4k TVs.
Not to mention ps1, 2 era format 4:3.
Why even bother?
Some games are better to stay as a good memories)
@deathaxe true as the biggest issue for that era is often publishing rights as many developers didn't yet publish their own games, plus music rights for things like racing games. There would still be a lot of games available to sell and if they had it so those who had discs could just play them, perhaps charge them a subscription to access the trophy support and potential enhancements to make money that way? Or play them for free as they were
I would have bought, or at least attempted to buy, a PS5 at launch of it had support for PS1-3.
@get2sammyb Sony would need a push to convince them to care about their legacy like how Microsoft and Nintendo allowing crossplay on Fortnite was what forced Sony to do crossplay but Nintendo's not really treating their legacy well either with stuff like 3D All Stars being delisted on March 31st.
Honestly I think Sony will announce the shutdown of the PS3/PSP/Vita stores on March 31st so a lot of the backlash that would go to Sony for the shutdown of the stores instead goes to Nintendo for the delistings and digital gaming in general.
@Areus 😂😂
@Blacksmith1985 Tried a few PS1 games on a 40" 1080p TV and they do look awful. The 4:3 resolution is just incompatible with modern TVs.
Had a 60Gb PS3 and tried that with the PS2 games using the built-in smoothing & up-scaling and they looked quite good - 16:9 resolution is a lot more compatible with modern wide-screen TVs.
PS3 was 720p (and 1080p on occasions such as the Lego games) and they were fine on modern TVs - some games might look a bit pixelated on 4K ones but I would think it still more than acceptable.
A PSP 5G that can play all the back catalogue would be great.
If emulators on PC can run these games at higher resolutions, you can't tell me Sony can't do the same for PS5?
I think this is going to be an Xbox One moment, where Sony realize they screwed up with their lack of back-compat (outside of PS4), and go all in with their engineers to get a proper solution up and running.
@nessisonett And not only that, they'd be better at since they have all the official documentation, so arguments about RPCS3's performance aren't fully valid.
@Blacksmith1985 Agreed. I remember downloading some PS1 games for my PSP and they even looked awful on that.
Personally, I'd much rather Sony focus all their attention on putting something new and worthwhile on the new hardware, than waste time, effort, and money on looking backwards.
I put away my PS2 and PS3 consoles and games once I got the PS5 because I gave up wishing for full PS Disc B/C
They can easily emulate for PS1/PS2 generation games. No excuses there, more like a lack of interest from gamers and it is not worth the effort on their end. Lets be honest, we can barely keep up with the games from the PS4/PS5 gen, much less play dated games from 20+ years ago. I would love to see it happen though because of the game preservation angle. However, I would never play them myself.
The PS3 cell architecture is another can of worms to unpack. I don't believe that even the PS5 hardware can smoothly emulate PS3 games in a manor in which we would want to play them. There would be all sort of performance issues and game errors that would crop up. Not exactly what you would want your customer having access to or have them complain about. Streaming them remotely through Now is still the best option and they will eventually port over and remaster most of the beloved games from the PS3 era.
I'd prefer more PS2 stuff at this point. There's just not that much PSX stuff that I'm that interested in that hasn't been ported or remastered. MGS? Croc. Idk.
I'd also love for some of those ps3 HD collection games to get ported too. Sly, GoW, Jak etc.
@Get2sammyb Forgot to mention this. I don't remember if it was this site or another, but last year around April there was an article about the original GTA that was trademarked for the PS3 or PS5. It raised some eyebrows back then, but no one could make heads or tails of it. Maybe that had something to do with this.
all i want is for every game i've ever bought to be available for whatever console i currently own and i don't think that's too much to ask
I wish Sony would make more older games available, PS1 and so forth. According to Xbox there are only about 40 Original Xbox Games but then a few hundred Xbox 360 titles playable. Come on Sony.
I know not to get my hopes up but it would be cool if Sony would announce some sort of way to play previous gen games on the PS5 when they talk about the storefronts being shut down.
Why not release a spin-off console, which could play all the games for every PS console released?
This is why I keep and have my Legacy Hardware setup from 8 bit micros to 16,32 bit consoles, Ps2, Ps3, and more. Now I have Switch, Ps5, xbox series s.
A patent? Microsoft call it backwards compatibility. Personally to me it's nothing special, but let's see...
@Slippship. Its a amazing game.and the game still looks good.definetly it needs a sequel.imagine how it would like on the ps5.ps4 already have some amazing looking games.and ps5 is more powerful.imagine.resistance 4max payne 3.bioshock 4.dragon dogma 2.sleeping dogs 2. Sly cooper 5. Dead space 4.word up son
This is gonna make those people who said BC on PS5 isn't necessary very mad :@
@Slippship. Your a old school gamer just like me.been playing video games since atari.arcade games.nes.but before i was a PlayStation fan.sega genesis was my favorite.rambo 3.super hang on.truxton.sonic.streets of rage.etc good times from new york.word up son
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