While Microsoft works to enable gamers to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One at no extra charge, Sony’s going a route that might make a bit more cash.
PlayStation 2 emulation is officially coming to PlayStation 4 tomorrow. Sony’s official YouTube channel for Europe, Africa, India, and the Middle East has just published a trailer that details how the old games will work on the company’s current-generation console. The video shows games like Mark of Kri, PaRappa The Rapper 2, and more running on a PS4 with visuals upgraded to 1080p high-definition and full trophy support. But this is specifically not “backward compatibility.” Your old PS2 discs won’t work in a PS4. Sony still wants you to buy the games again even if you purchased certain PS2 games digitally on PS3.
The above trailer ends with the following warning: “PS2 Classics and PS2-formatted discs are incompatible with the PS4 system.”
We asked Sony for a clarification about why it has put these limits in place and whether you’ll get a discount if you already bought the game as a PS2 classic, but it only provided us with the following statement:
PS2 titles playable on PS4 will support 1080p/60fps, trophies, and features unique to PS4 — Live Broadcast, Share Play, Remote Play, Activity, Second Screen– and it offers an upgraded gaming experience compared to PS One/PS2 Classics.
So Sony is claiming that it is making significant upgrades. Trophy support means these older releases will feel more modern, and the 1080p graphics (something PC emulators have done for ages) should make these games a bit easier to look at. But broadcasting, Share Play, and the rest of those “unique” PS4 features are all on the system itself, so it seems a bit deceptive to claim those are the reasons PS2 discs and PS2 Classics won’t work.
But you’re going to have to buy them again if you want them, and so how much do you think those upgrades are worth? Well, Sony knows how much it wants you to pay.
Here is the full list of PS2 games coming to PS4 along with their prices:
- Dark Cloud — $15
- Grand Theft Auto III — $15
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — $15
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas — $15
- Rogue Galaxy — $15
- The Mark of Kri — $15
- Twisted Metal: Black — $10
- War of the Monsters — $10