An incredibly busy gaming schedule is looming ahead, and a growing number of people seem to be reflecting on their past from the era of PlayStation 3. I still remember when I got my PS3-the games that amazed me were Resistance and Infamous. Lots of time has passed since those days, and now the major news is when the PlayStation 5 gets a way to play PS3 games properly. What is strange, though, is that after years of murmurs, nothing concrete has been done by Sony; thus, fans and even studios are trying to find ways to bring back their favorite games.
For ages now, people have been talking about creating an emulator for the PS3 on the PS5. Hopes were revived when Sony introduced Implicit Conversions to enhance the PS2 emulator and, it is reported, began work on a PS3 version. Progress has apparently stalled, however, because Sony has not yet given it the final go-ahead. Some think that they might be saving PS3 emulation to bait for the PlayStation 6, as the PS5 is projected to end around 2027.
Many have just gone ahead and remastered or remade PS3 games to avoid wasting time with Sony’s extended waiting game. It puts them right in the nostalgia realm of that generation, as well as avoiding all of the messy technical side of emulation.
Sacred 2 is an excellent example. An action-RPG, which came out in 2009, was routinely compared with Diablo because of its loot system and speedy combat. By remastering it, players can enjoy high-end visuals and sharper frames per second while on top of it still maintaining its rare offline co-op in today’s world. Sacred 2 had been the place where I played for hours alongside my friend during weekends, and now reminiscing will sound pretty perfect before I go and make the trip down to memory lane-sans an always-online requirement.
It is not just for PlayStation games; Gears Reloaded – the new up-to-date Gears Ultimate Edition – will be available this August. The title again has been a remaster of an already remade game, but fans are hoping to see Gears of War 2 and 3 getting the same treatment. Some even dream that they might one day set foot on PlayStation.
Talk about cross-platform is also growing. Industry talk has it that The Master Chief Collection (holding Halo 1 through Halo 4, ODST, and Reach) will finally be released on the PS5. How about playing through the entire Halo campaign on a Sony console? In years past, this could have only been a dream. Perhaps it signals that old walls are slowly breaking down between consoles.
PS3 fans could make a killing cashing in on that hunger for remastered titles. Namco Bandai, for instance, could generate a lot of income with hits along the lines of Bluepoint’s remake of Demon’s Souls, which quite literally resurrected a classic for the PS3. The Infamous series, Resistance, and Killzone trilogies are all perfect candidates for remasters. Even without online modes, the single-player campaigns alone would drive in players who started with PS4 or PS5.
But even more importantly, these games need to be preserved. The PS3 era was when PlayStation built up its reputation as a console for story-driven and creatively rich titles. Most of those experiences today are in the vaults unless you have the old hardware. Remastering them could then turn that history into a personal chance for new audiences.
There, of course, are substantial technical gains. Most games designed for 720p at max have been fixed for a 1080p output by the console, and most require minor tweaks to play on modern screens. This is usually a monumental improvement in quality without altering gameplay. This was done before with upgraded PS2 collections such as Jak and Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and God of War.
Admittedly, full remakes and remasters take time and money. But rather than going for huge open worlds, the change towards shorter, more-focused games could make such projects more manageable. Upcoming Ghost of Yotei is said to be 25 to 50 hours of content-there is still a market for mid-sized, high-quality releases.
How Sacred 2 fares on its return could be a test case. If it reaps success, then maybe it’s high time for Sony to look even more closely into its PS3 compendium. Whether they tackle it themselves or partner with other studios, fans will simply be pleased to play these classics again without the trouble of digging up old consoles.
Modern hardware can run these easy-to-manage, improved versions. Whether or not people will want them is not the real issue, though. It’s about how long they have to wait. Are we ever going to see an official PS3 emulator for PS5, or are these just remakes destined to be handled by the studios that are keeping gaming history alive? You may also be interested in: Tales of Xillia Remaster Leak Might Have Happened After Bandai Namco Pulled Video
