RUMOR: Sony releasing upscaling emulator for PS2 and PS-One games

by Nick Doerr { Mar 1st 2007 at 11:30AM }

This is classified as a rumor, but we really hope it's as RumorReporter says and consider it more of on the Report end, rather than the Rumor. We've kicked the whole "replacing hardware backwards compatibility with software" story to death (and we've got one more post to go on it, actually), so you know all about that. But now, an "anonymous industry insider" (who else gives us these rumors?) tells us that Sony is toying around with something else, beyond the 1.60 firmware update coming up soon.

HD upscaling of specific PS2 and PS-One titles is rumored to be in the works for, possibly, summer. We're not talking about 480p support -- the internal PS3 upscaler will move these games into 1080i/720p! Just think how some of your favorite games would look if they're supported by the PlayStation 3 into 1080i/720p... it's almost legendary in awesomeness. Let's hope we get more official word on this closer to summer.

[thanks, Bruce!]

Tags: firmware update, FirmwareUpdate, Playstation 3, Playstation3, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Thomas @ Mar 1st 2007 12:14PM

Some pics of FF XII running in 1080p were posted on CAG , some days ago. Said to be running off of a dev kit. I think this is perfect for God of War II which is coming out on the 9th..

Gamey McGee @ Mar 1st 2007 12:30PM

This is really a great piece of news. I am curious how they will upsample. Will it be adding triangles to the geometry?

Bored @ Mar 1st 2007 12:31PM

This could prove decisive for a lot of people who are considering a PS3.

SuicideNinja @ Mar 1st 2007 1:11PM

Xbox games get cleaned up well on the 360, so I'd imagine that PS2 games would finally look "normal" upscaled. Unless this is implented, the PS3 still isn't a good vessel for PS2 games (still have two PS2's which do the job much better). Need the dualshock adapter for rumble as well.

I hope they do this so I can remove the PS2 from my gaming rig though. Maybe Shadow of the Colossus/ICO/FFXII won't be so horribly jaggy after being upscaled?

Snappywave @ Mar 1st 2007 4:00PM

Just a rumor... but nice one at least. I wonder if upscaling 1080i/720p (or 1080p if possible) will make any visual improvements on SDTV?

DarkMan @ Mar 1st 2007 5:31PM

@Rob Holiday

Since Sony is getting rid of the Emotion Engine chip in the Euro PS3, but leaving the Graphics Synthesizer chip. What if, and only IF, that the Graphics Synthesizer might be Sony upscaler chip for video output.

taz030485 @ Mar 1st 2007 6:11PM

I seen those screenshots at http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_posts.php?forum_id=1&thread_id=75949&start=210
a few days ago, the CAG thread is http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129424

Funny how know one has picked up that the rez of th epics is 1280x960. I don't see how that fits into the HD rez's of 1280x720 (720P) and 1920x1080(1080i/p), fair enough that 1280x960 is double 640x480(480i/p). But then again if it is running on a dev kit it could be out putting through vga to a monitor, they could be working on the initial upscaling before resizing and adding borders to fit widescreen. Which brings up a good point how willl they handle widescreen games? PS2 widescreen is anamorphic and there is no way for the console to know if it should be using widescreen or adding bars to the sides (don't know the term, if there is one), maybe a user option?

Andir3.0 @ Mar 1st 2007 7:40PM

If they are OpenGL 3D games, upscaling is as simple as changing the renderer resolution as long as the "emulator" has the power for it. I don't see this as a problem in the PS3. The textures and such would be the same, but your going to have "cleaner" looking model geometry.