PlayStation 3 emulation has reached an important new milestone and it is now possible to boot every PS3 game to successful image output. The infamously complex Cell processor used by Sony's seventh-generation console was a significant hurdle for emulator developers, but the recent couple of years have led to substantial improvements in this field.

Though the PS3 is now considered a legacy platform, Sony's console is still fairly relevant to many gamers due to the quality of the games it ended up getting over the course of its lifetime. Exclusives included titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4, the original Demon's Souls, and Gran Turismo 6, and getting to emulate them on PC has been an important consideration for many gamers.

PlayStation 3 emulation is mostly relegated to RPCS3 due to the complexity of the original console, and there has been important progress as of late. In fact, the official RPCS3 Twitter account recently announced that the application can now officially boot every PS3 title ever released. This includes the best PlayStation Plus Premium PS3 games, too, like Infamous and Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time. Note, however, that this doesn't necessarily mean that all PS3 games are actually playable on PC at this time.

We are delighted to announce that as of today, the RPCS3 Loadable compatibility category has reached 0 GAMES!

This means there are no PS3 games left that boot to a black screen on the emulator - every PS3 game at the very least boots and shows image output.

Happy holidays! pic.twitter.com/3ZAWFzbyGP

— RPCS3 (@rpcs3) December 25, 2022

Notably, just under 68% of the grand total of all PS3 games can be completed with playable performance and without game-breaking bugs, with the remaining 32% or so booting but still unplayable. Naturally, RPCS3 is bound to continue improving as time goes on, and it now seems practically inevitable that all the PS3 exclusives will eventually run well on PC. Since Sony has many exclusive games, it's not particularly strange to see that a working PS3 emulator would be as popular as it currently is.

Sony hasn't chimed in on the matter, of course. While other companies, like Nintendo, take a hardline stance against anything related to emulation, Sony hasn't been quite as draconic in this regard. Just recently, Valve deleted a Steam Deck video featuring Switch emulation to avoid any potential problems that might arise from Nintendo's lawyers targeting the new device.

It may be worth pointing out that it's possible Sony itself is working on PS3 game emulation for PlayStation 5. Earlier in 2022, leaker Jeff Grubb stated that it's entirely possible Sony might be looking into ways to run old classics on its latest console offering. Nothing's come of this rumor just yet, but since these things take time, it's anyone's guess whether something of the type might happen in the future.

Posted: Dec 29, 2022 12:28 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/playstation-3-emulator-boot-every-game/