Rumor Clarification: PS2 Emulator Already Exists In 80GB PS3

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Okay, this is a rumor report with a little clarification on PSXE's part.

The headline that's sweeping the Internet is, "PS2 Emulator Downloadable for PS3?" which seems relatively straightforward on the surface. VideoGameCentral issued a product description of Sony's next-gen machine (the 80GB model), and in it, they say- (PS2 Games can be played when downloading Sonys PS2 emulator software online). GamersPlatform picked up on this and things escalated from there, but we think everyone is blowing this a little out of proportion. First of all, when we say "emulation," we're not talking about the illegal kind; we're talking about software emulation; what Microsoft uses in the Xbox 360 to allow certain original Xbox titles to play. Secondly, we have to remember the PS3's history. The original 60GB model featured the graphics synthesizer chip, which enabled nearly full backwards compatibility for both PS2 and PS1 games. No model after the 60GB had this chip; Sony moved to - you guessed it - software emulation with the 80GB model.

Hence, we don't think that product description tells us something we don't already know. Sony uses software emulation in the 80GB PS3 to allow many PS2 games to play. However, here's the big question: are they talking about the old 80GB PS3, or the new 80GB PS3, recently unveiled at E3? The new one wasn't supposed to have b/c of any kind, so this rumor is worthy if that's the machine in question. But the product description comes from a retail bundle that seemingly includes the old 80GB model, so...we're just gonna have to say, from our end: rumor busted.

10/4/2008 Ben Dutka

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