Talking Point #4: Future of Emulation

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The current state of emulation has never been better. PCSX2 1.7 was a gift from the heavens, DuckStation was a welcome surprise, the Steam Deck is a retro beast, emulators on mobile are better than ever and even PS4 emulation is making healthy progress in recent times. What more could one ask? Well, maybe a few things.

For starters, perhaps a less-hardware demanding PS3 emulation would be a good start. Although do keep in mind it’s been well-documented how tricky that would be, so keep your expectations leveled. For now, seeing progress with ShadPS4 would be something to look forward to.

Alright, thank you for reading the article. If you’ve got something to add, leave a comment below. Hasta luego!

Nah nah, I’m just kidding​

​

Obviously, this is not where the article ends, as there’s still a lot to go over. While the near future of PS3 and PS4 emulation is unknown, both in terms of compatibility and performance, it has made a ton of healthy progress as 2D games seem to run decently with 3D games being on the way.

While it would be nice to play the obvious big hitters, there is merit in highlighting a sleeper hit no one seems to be aware is also stuck on the Sony PlayStation 4! Don’t worry, it’s not the silly Ratchet & Clank 2016 movie tie-in. Rather, we’re talking about none other than the elusive Sakura Wars, a game that’s been stuck on the console through no fault of its own.

You see, Sakura Wars 6 was released in the unfortunate year of 2019. Why was it so unfortunate? Why, none other than the face it was crunched right between Sega being comfortable releasing their lesser popular games exclusively for the PS4 but right before Sega had magically developed the foresight to port most of their games to PC! For this reason, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (released in 2018) is also caged on that system!

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“Wow, you love InFamous” Gee, wonder what gave that away…​

​

So I really really really really really like the InFamous dualogy, and have been head over heels for it for the past, gee, I dunno, almost two decades? It’s a tough love (to hide), and as an avid Steam Deck user, what I would give for a more Steam Deck friendly RPCS3 experience…

But it’s ok, I’m not sad about it or anything, what gave you that idea? Not like I think about it 30 times per month, okay it’s actually per day, but who’s counting?

Wait, so was this just an excuse to gush about InFamous?​

Alright, did we fill up enough word-count? Good. Here’s what the article is actually about. ​

What? No way! Alright, I’ll come forward. I just reeeally wanna play InFamous 1&2 on my Steam Deck, surely that’s not a crime! If it’s wrong to love InFamous so much, then I don’t wish to be right!

But what do you think? Are there any games that you wish you could emulate, but was never able to? Possibly something under the radar too? Please let us know in the comments below!

Oh and…
RPCS3 devs! Please have InFamous run flawlessly on my Steam Deck and my life is yours!

​

 

[tetrobroyg]

View attachment 24057
​

The current state of emulation has never been better. PCSX2 1.7 was a gift from the heavens, DuckStation was a welcome surprise, the Steam Deck is a retro beast, emulators on mobile are better than ever and even PS4 emulation is making healthy progress in recent times. What more could one ask? Well, maybe a few things.

For starters, perhaps a less-hardware demanding PS3 emulation would be a good start. Although do keep in mind it’s been well-documented how tricky that would be, so keep your expectations leveled. For now, seeing progress with ShadPS4 would be something to look forward to.

Alright, thank you for reading the article. If you’ve got something to add, leave a comment below. Hasta luego!

View attachment 24059​

Nah nah, I’m just kidding​

​

Obviously, this is not where the article ends, as there’s still a lot to go over. While the near future of PS3 and PS4 emulation is unknown, both in terms of compatibility and performance, it has made a ton of healthy progress as 2D games seem to run decently with 3D games being on the way.

While it would be nice to play the obvious big hitters, there is merit in highlighting a sleeper hit no one seems to be aware is also stuck on the Sony PlayStation 4! Don’t worry, it’s not the silly Ratchet & Clank 2016 movie tie-in. Rather, we’re talking about none other than the elusive Sakura Wars, a game that’s been stuck on the console through no fault of its own.

You see, Sakura Wars 6 was released in the unfortunate year of 2019. Why was it so unfortunate? Why, none other than the face it was crunched right between Sega being comfortable releasing their lesser popular games exclusively for the PS4 but right before Sega had magically developed the foresight to port most of their games to PC! For this reason, Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise (released in 2018) is also caged on that system!

​

“Wow, you love inFamous” Gee, wonder what gave that away…​

​

So I really really really really really like the inFamous dualogy, and have been head over heels for it for the past, gee, I dunno, almost two decades? It’s a tough love (to hide), and as an avid Steam Deck user, what I would give for a more Steam Deck friendly RPCS3 experience…

But it’s ok, I’m not sad about it or anything, what gave you that idea? Not like I think about it 30 times per month, okay it’s actually per day, but who’s counting?

Wait, so was this just an excuse to gush about InFamous?​

View attachment 24065
Alright, did we fill up enough word-count? Good. Here’s what the article is actually about. ​

What? No way! Alright, I’ll come forward. I just reeeally wanna play InFamous 1&2 on my Steam Deck, surely that’s not a crime! If it’s wrong to love InFamous so much, then I don’t wish to be right!

But what do you think? Are there any games that you wish you could emulate, but was never able to? Possibly something under the radar too? Please let us know in the comments below!

Oh and…
RPCS3 devs! Please have InFamous run flawlessly on my Steam Deck and my life is yours!
View attachment 24066​

I heard thru the grapevine and thru other sources a Infamous Remakes for both games is coming not sure how much within this present to future but personally I loved the first two and got to finish the last two entries of Infamous second Son (liked the Add on mission for cole's jacket) and finished First light Still gotta play Festival of game (:

 

[Octopus]

I wish 360 emulation was way better than it is, Xenia barely works for something like 60% of the library last I checked. 7th gen in general is hard to emulate, as you said with the PS3 as well. I just want to play (and make some articles on!) Too Human, OG Ninja Gaiden 2, Tenchu Z and Army of Two again in a decent enough playable state, you know?

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

I wish 360 emulation was way better than it is, Xenia barely works for something like 60% of the library last I checked. 7th gen in general is hard to emulate, as you said with the PS3 as well. I just want to play (and make some articles on!) Too Human, OG Ninja Gaiden 2, Tenchu Z and Army of Two again in a decent enough playable state, you know?

I feel like no one cares enough about the Xbox 360 when it has games like Culdcept Saga and Idolm@ster. It needs more love

 

[ZombieFish]

Sometimes I think I want to be able to emulate MGS4, but then I remember YouTube exists, and then ten minutes into a YouTube video I remember why I gave my brother my copy of MGS4.

 

[Octopus]

I feel like no one cares enough about the Xbox 360 when it has games like Culdcept Saga and Idolm@ster. It needs more love

It's very true. It's my personal favourite console behind the PS1/PS2. I could always bite the bullet and just get a used console from somewhere, but I just can't be bothered to worry about the shape its in, or deal with secondhand market stuff.

Post automatically merged: Feb 10, 2025

Luckily I have the games already; there's a stack behind each of the front rows on both shelves.

 

[fake-kun]

I think you like inFamous, Yousef.

 

[Yousef's iconYousef]

I think you like inFamous, Yousef.

I can’t possibly what gave you the hint!

 

[fake-kun]

I can’t possibly what gave you the hint!

My intuition told me. : )

 

[pl1sk1n]

Nice article! and for me i would have to say 3D dot game heroes. Should have been a slam dunk, but like inFamous, can get in game but buggy and crashes.

 

[Cu-Neo]

The real question here is: Good or Bad Karma Cole?
I really hope that PS3 emulation evolves only for me to play 3D dot game heroes .
Great introspective!

 

[Yousef's iconYousef]

The real question here is: Good or Bad Karma Cole?
I really hope that PS3 emulation evolves only for me to play 3D dot game heroes .
Great introspective!

 

[pl1sk1n]

The real question here is: Good or Bad Karma Cole?
I really hope that PS3 emulation evolves only for me to play 3D dot game heroes .
Great introspective!

Hay man, do not knock it till you try it, the game is amazing! So many awesome jokes, It is like a meme of Zelda. You would be surprised the lengths i would go to for a good meme!

 

[LiberoVulpes]

All i want is the Resistance series and the Killzone series.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Great article, nice and simple. Game I'd like to see playable is definitely Ratchet and Clank games. I have to thank the RPCS3 developers for taking up this impossible task of emulating the most complicated console for the 7th gen. All thanks to DH and Hykem since the and also the the others for their help, really huge respect to all of them

 

[Skeetos]

RPCS3 has made so much progress. And since getting my new CPU I'm playing games like God of War Ascension and Killzone 2 at stable 60fps. SEGA really needs to port Hokuto no Gotoku to PC though real stuff. I've bought every Yakuza game except for the three that aren't in America yet. It really bites having to pull the old crappy PS4 I have out to play that game because I don't want to pay Sony for PS Plus cloud saves. Especially when I can play the rest of the games on PC with restoration mods and better non-muddy textures. Seriously did the textures have to be so low quality in the Yakuza games on Playstation 4?

 

[RetroFreax]

The future of emulation, as usual thriving. One thing is remarkable how rogue became Nintendo for all those emu-years: Funkin' Ninten-do in 90s fights with emulation (ZSNES / Ultra64), then in 00s tried to monetize it (taking all whats was created in emu-scene including sources of emus and throw it onto Wiiware) and now tries to ultra monetize it in every way: SNES Mini / NEs Mini-* / Arcade Archives on switch, and uses OpeSource GPLed emulators etc.. and still "fights" with emulation (vide Ryujinx / YUZU). FU Nintendo..

* - https://support.nintendo.com/jp/oss/index.html
* - https://www.ncesc.com/gaming-pedia/does-the-nes-classic-use-emulation/

 

[Aziamuth]

I LOVE EMULATION, YESTERDAY I BANKRUPTED EA, CAPCOM, NAUTILUS AND LEVEL-5 (that is, I downloaded FIFA Street 2, God Hand, Shadow Hearts 3 and Dark Cloud)

The emulation of PS4 is progressing adequately, a friend of mine is beating Bloodborne on PC

 

[ATenderLad]

Nice one Yousef, I wish I had something thoughtful to chime in with. I think we're only an AMD generation or two away from a solid template for a Steam Deck 2 and handhelds that run RPCS3 really well in general, and PS4 emulation keeps marching forward. I'd love improvements to Xenia, but I don't have much of a "wishlist" beyond that; everything newer is still beyond the pale for my, uh, precious ethics.

 

[Skeetos]

Nice one Yousef, I wish I had something thoughtful to chime in with. I think we're only an AMD generation or two away from a solid template for a Steam Deck 2 and handhelds that run RPCS3 really well in general, and PS4 emulation keeps marching forward. I'd love improvements to Xenia, but I don't have much of a "wishlist" beyond that; everything newer is still beyond the pale for my, uh, precious ethics.

Xenia is one I'd really love to see big improvements for, maybe an actual GUI. I hate having to do everything manually.

 

[Zzap]

Nice article, indeed. The point is: the emulation will sadly reach a limit, not hardware driven, but for the digital delivery and the extensive use of online patch and authentication. Ps3, Xbox will be emulated (and I can't wait for this: the killzone and the Mass Effect Saga are my primary targets!), but then what? I admit to feel a little bit scared...

 

[Laura Zonih]

So, the progress of emulation is going faster than I can ever play it?
At my rate, I'll be emulating PS3 or XBOX360 in another 10 years!

Interesting article~

 

[DanCalibur]

Look on the bright side, RPCS3 is in much better state than PCSX2 was in 2015 and the release of Switch 2 will certainly bring some stronger decklike portable computers to the market. Things are getting interesting

 

[nmdt]

I suppose I'd love some improvements for Saturn emulation. Beetle is good, but somewhat demanding for mobile platforms — like ARM handhelds or smartphones. Yaba Sanshiro is a lot more efficient, but also not that accurate — some major games won't run at all or have noticeable glitches. So would be nice to have something inbetween the two in terms of accuracy/performance.

And yeah, I know Saturn is a complicated platform, but it does have a terrific library, and we getting new English translations basically every month now.

 

[Helga]

Sometimes I think I want to be able to emulate MGS4, but then I remember YouTube exists, and then ten minutes into a YouTube video I remember why I gave my brother my copy of MGS4.

The game are just movie with little be of control, no matter what mg fanboy say I would change my mind.

Post automatically merged: Feb 11, 2025

Emulator wouldn't die, the only difference is, you need why more powerful pc to emulate newer consoles

The reason why switch had emulator so soon because it's was custom made android.