PlayStation Classic Uses an Open-Source Emulator to Play Games

But maybe don't consider that a negative.

News by Matt Kim, News Editor

Updated on 8 November 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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Matt Kim

News Editor

Matt Kim is a former freelance writer who's covered video games and digital media. He likes video games as spectacle and is easily distracted by bright lights or clever bits of dialogue. He also once wrote about personal finance, but that's neither here nor there.