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PlayStation Classic Uses an Open-Source Emulator to Play Games
But maybe don't consider that a negative.
News
by
Matt Kim,
11/08/2018.
The PlayStation Classic is nearing release but as we've gotten hands-on with the console it was discovered that Sony is using an opensourced emulator to run the 20 games installed on the console.
According to a preview by Kotaku the PlayStation Classic, Sony's retro mini console pre-loaded with 20 games, is using the PCSX ReARMed, open source emulator to play its games. The PCSX is a longtime favorite emulator software that let gamers play their PlayStation CDs on their PCs. It may not have helped a certain writer test out some bargain bin PS2 games he bought at the local record store in college.
While some readers were disappointed to discover that Sony opted to use an opensource emulator available to everyone to play its own classic games bundled in the PlayStation Classic, video game archivist Frank Cifaldi offered a rebuttal.
"The collective knowledge of the emulation community is going to exceed 'internal' knowledge almost every time," Cifaldi tweeted. "Now we have acknowledgement from the people who make PlayStation that a free emulator is good enough to be official."
I want to expand on this now that it's kind of blowing up. There's been this decades-long myth that emulators a company makes and sells you are somehow better. Now we have acknowledgement from THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE PLAYSTATION that a free emulator is good enough to be official.
— Frank Cifaldi (@frankcifaldi) November 9, 2018
Cifaldi isn't advocating for the PlayStation Classic or the emulator per se, but instead is arguing that the fact the PlayStation Classic uses the PCSX is a vote of confidence in the emulator itself. Sony wouldn't sell its customers something subpar, and instead opted to use a readily available emulator they believed was up to standards.
The PlayStation Classic will be available this December for $100. That's more expensive than either the NES or SNES Classic, and while the product is nice there have been some hesitation on account of the PlayStation Classic's library. We still went ahead and ranked the PlayStation games that will be on the Classic, but we would have maybe preferred what Japanese gamers are getting in their consoles.
Check out our PlayStation Classic guide for release info, games list, and more.
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Comments 14
I'm probably mis-remembering this, but I think he mentions (or was it DYKG?) something about Connectix Video Game Station. the original Mac Emulator that would let you run Playstation Games on your Mac and PC, with the actual discs.
Sony sued Connectix and connectixVGS was discontinued, but what was interesting, I think - I can't confirm this - but supposedly, didn't they end up hiring the programmer who worked on connectix and then used that same emulation software in, I think, the PS2, PS3 and PSP for PSone classics? I'm not clear on this, but it was a really interesting story and it blew my mind when I first heard it.
Either way, this is really great news all around. It's starting that discussion - wouldn't it be great if 40 years from now, you could pick up Crash Bandicoot, just as easily as you could pick up The Greatest Hits of Queen, Elvis or the Beatles and be able to play it on anything that you owned?Edited 4 times. Last edited 2 weeks ago by Funny_Colour_Blue
I'm typing this right now on an open-source operating system. It's called Android. Perhaps you've heard of it?
Is the server that's hosting this website running Apache, perchance? Maybe MySQL? Perhaps even, dare I suggest, Linux? All open-source.
This isn't 1998. Free and open source software is not a new idea. It is a known quantity. It's in our phones, our desktops, our laptops, our TVs -- even, in some cases, our microwaves, toasters, refrigerators, thermostats, and garage door openers
This isn't even the first PlayStation to run open-source software; the PS3 ran a BSD-based OS.
You're almost certainly reading this, right now, in a web browser that has open-source components.
Of course open source software can be high-quality. We use open-source software every day. Every one of us.
But the real question this raises: PCSX isn't merely free/open-source; it's published under the GPL, a license that requires anyone who releases a modified version to release the modifications under the same license. So has Sony modified the PCSX code and, if so, when can we expect to see those modifications published?
Rebuttal: This thing's selection of titles.
I agree with Cifaldi that open source emulators can be great but I don’t think it’s always the case that the community knows hardware better than the creators. The knowledge the community has is always from reverse engineering the technology, in the case of certain arcade hardware like Model 2 and Model 3 we still don’t have perfect emulation of those systems because they’re still not fully understood. I would think Sega still has access to the technical documentation of that hardware and could do a better (or at least quicker) job of getting an accurate emulator running.
There are great emulators out there made by passionate people and I recognize and applaud their work. But their work would be better if they could chat with the hardware developers and get spec manuals from the source (instead of leaked, piecemeal info from people breaking NDA's).Edited 2 weeks ago by mobichan
I also think the best way to protect your products against piracy and derivative works is to make a paid experience that is undeniably superior to what people can get for free, and when the paid experience uses freeware it becomes more difficult to argue its value.