Open Forum: Was PlayStation 4’s PS2 Emulation Worth The Fanfare?

When Sony announced that PlayStation 2 games would be playable on its latest console through the wonders of emulation, it stirred a sizeable portion of the gaming community. For me, as someone whose Facebook is largely free from the influence of game-related content, it was surprising to see the number of people chipping in on the topic, making PS2 emulation one of the social networks most talked about trends that week. Although some were more excitable than others, none of my friends could wait to dust off their shelves of decade old gaming goodness.

However, the dream of Sony simply allowing users to pop in old discs and relive their favourite titles on PlayStation 4 never came true. Sadly, what the company actually meant by emulation was a means for it and other publishers to repackage their ageing catalogue and sell them anew on the PlayStation Store. When the first wave of these enhanced PS2 games hit the digital store front there was a palpable sense of disappointment. Although keen to see the return of some PlayStation classics as well as some of the lesser known titles, their associated price tags left a bitter taste in the mouths of many, as they ranged from eight to twelve quid.

Despite being caught up in all the excitement, for me this put an early nail in the coffin for PS2 emulation. I don’t usually buy digital titles anyway, and to pay anything more than a fiver for a spruced up version of San Andreas of Twisted Metal Black just seems like throwing money away. Even some of the rarer PS2 games I have always been itching to play lost their appeal, with Rogue Galaxy being one of the more premium £11.99 offerings.

Dom thought more of less the same, having been eager to grab copies of Dark Cloud, Fantavision, and more. For him, the most he’d be willing to pay is four to five pounds for smaller PS2 games, with a couple of quid thrown on top for slightly bigger ones. Then again, Kris and Dave make the point that many of the big franchises from this era have been remastered on PS3 such as Metal Gear Solid, Ratchet & Clank, and God of War. Although even more expensive than their emulated counterparts, these updated versions have been given far more attention, with some going far beyond a simple visual top-up.

Tuffcub goes on to stress these points further:

Frankly I’m not all that interested, when you do go back and play PS2 games they look and sound ropey, and there are very few I would really want to play. None of the current crop of PS2 games are worth the money. A lot of the games I would really like to play again have already been ported to PS3, such as Resident Evil 4 and Kingdom Hearts, so I have no desire to buy them yet again.

That said, he would like to see some games make their way to PlayStation 4 via emulation. For one, he cites the lack of side-scrolling shoot ’em ups on the platform, calling for the return of R-Type Final. Secondly, there are hits such as Manhunt and The Suffering, though he fears that these won’t have aged well, even with a bit of polishing up.

Although miffed, I suppose that’s what is keeping me interested in the emulation line-up. There’s always the prospect of something incredibly obscure or offbeat turning up. If games like TimeSplitters 2 or X-Men: Legends were to suddenly turn up I’d have to seriously re-evaluate whether £10 is really a stupid price to pay. After all, it was games like these that really defined my childhood.

For all the negative things we’ve been saying about the PlayStation 4’s PS2 emulation, Teflon points out that the system has actually been doing a job in reviving older titles. Although PC emulators have been upping the resolution and frame rates of these games for a while now, the inclusion of trophy support as well Share functionality are smart tricks that definitely add value.

It seems that, for many, only time will tell whether PS2 emulation was worth all the initial hype. The two main obstacles are variety and price, though I suspect we’ll witness some sort of change within the next twelve months. Though some may call me cynical, I can definitely see Sony looking to inflate its monthly PlayStation Plus line-ups with emulated games, and in terms of the variety of games, this is something that will no doubt grow organically.

If so, it seems as though Dave has quite a few suggestions up his sleeve. Unlike the other staffers here at TheSixthAxis, pricing wasn’t a primary issue:

Honestly, the only thing that has been making it difficult to purchase any of the PS2 emulated games on PS4 has been the lineup. It’s full of games I either didn’t care too much about or games that I’d played to death on other systems.

If Dave ever got his way, he’d jump straight on under-rated hits like God Hand, as well as games like Viewtiful Joe, Final Fantasy XII, the Onimusha series, TimeSplitters 2, SMT: Persona 3 FES, and Katamari Damacy.

But where do you sit on the topic of PS2 emulated games? Are you eager to pick up classics and play them again, or have you been put off by the small selection and high pricing?