DISCLAIMER:
This is only a rumour, for now. Nothing has been confirmed by Sony.
The gaming community has received another leak, courtesy of Nick Baker, co-founder of XboxEra. The leak suggests that Sony is secretly working on bringing PS3 games to PS5 via backwards compatibility. The leak does not detail what games will be included, but (if the rumours are true) it would most likely be Sony exclusives released for the PS3. Baker states that “select” PS3 games will be coming to PS5.
Over the past few years, Sony has been paying attention to their legacy of titles and bringing them back for modern audiences. These games, often PS1, PSP, and the odd PS2 title thrown in, have been available through PS Plus, or to purchase separately for a small price. Unfortunately, Australia is one country that does not support PS Plus Premium, the highest tier of the subscription service. Premium allows gamers to cloud stream games on the service, similar to PlayStation Now (also not functional in Australia). Because cloud gaming is not supported, Australia has got PS Plus Deluxe, a considerable downgrade.
PS3 games themselves are notoriously difficult to emulate through unofficial software on PCs. The reason is how the PS3 is designed, with extensive copyright restrictions built into the system. Even game capture for streaming or YouTube can be tricky to work around with the PS3. If the source turns out to be factual, PS3 exclusives could have another chance in the spotlight.
"Select" games are not a lot to go from when speculating what games could be coming. However, critically acclaimed Sony exclusives from the PS3 era like inFAMOUS, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, and Killzone 2 would be more than welcome on the PS5, benefitting from the 4K upscale and 60fps graphics.
However, as great as this would be, I think Sony has work to do concerning emulation. Over the past week, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Tomb Raider: Legend, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars have been brought to PS Plus Deluxe. All of these games are from the PS2 and are classic in their own right. The problem is that issues about the performance of the games have been appearing online. Digital Foundry has shown reports of blurred graphics and glitches in Tomb Raider: Legend. Sly Cooper had an entire level consisting of no music, which is even more upsetting because the soundtrack is one of the best aspects of the game. Digital Foundry has stated that unofficial PS2 emulators are more capable of running PS2 games than Sony’s official solution. This is not good news, especially if you want to invest in Sony's backlog.
PS3 games are more detailed and more complicated to run than PS2 games. Sony needs to work out a way to run these “select” games to a point that meets customer satisfaction. If Sony is going to offer gamers a discounted charge to play through their fantastic backlog, the experience needs to be stellar. It must have graphical improvements, increased frame rates, and little to no bugs. Whether this is possible or not, only time will tell.
