Sony is currently working on a new PlayStation 4 feature that could rival Microsoft's Backwards Compatibility.
According to various reports, the new emulation feature allows gamers to run PlayStation 2 games on Sony's next-gen console.
Work on the project was directly confirmed by Sony through a statement to tech news site Wired.
"We are working on utilizing PS2 emulation technology to bring PS2 games forward to the current generation," a spokesperson for the company told Wired. "We have nothing further to comment at this point in time."
Although it may seem that it might take a while before Sony publicly debuts the emulation feature, it is actually already available for certain games. Earlier this month, publisher Electronic Arts re-released the PS2 titles "Star Wars: Racer Revenge," "Star Wars: Bounty Hunter" and "Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter" for the PS4 during the official launch of the "Star Wars Battlefront" game.
According to Eurogamer, the PS4 versions of the classic titles sport various improvements and even Trophy support. The site also noted that the visual quality of the games have been improved for the PS 4. For instance, the "Star Wars: Racer Revenge" on the PS2 runs at 33 frames per second (fps). But on the PS4 console, the new version of the game runs at 60fps.
As reported by Gamespot, it seems Sony has been working on the emulator feature for the PS4 for some time now. Back in January of last year, an anonymous source who claims to be a member of the PlayStation Now streaming technology team said that Sony was planning on running an emulator that would allow gamers to enjoy PS2 titles on PS4 with native HD resolutions.
Then, in October, Sony conducted a survey asking the changes and improvements that PS4 gamers want to see. Some of the options that were featured in the survey were support for PS1 and PS2 classic games.
Once Sony pushes through with the emulator technology and releases it to the public, it could be the company's answer to Microsoft's Backwards Compatibility service. Microsoft recently launched this feature which basically allows Xbox One gamers to play a total of 104 Xbox 360 games on their consoles.
As for Sony, it is not yet clear which PS2 titles the company will re-release through an emulator or how it will exactly work for the PS4. Also, there are no reports yet as to how the company will execute the feature's official launch.
