PS5 New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test

It looks like the new PS2 emulator for PS5 and PS4, which launched earlier this month, has been met with criticism from tech experts at Digital Foundry. They find the emulator to be lacking in quality, comparing it to “someone booting up an emulator with default settings and handing you the controller.”

PS5 New PS2 Emulator Fails

The emulator suffers from a lack of visual filters and poor resolution, making the games appear blurry. Digital Foundry notes that the scaling on PS5 hardware is “slipshod.”

The emulator offers only a few basic features, such as the ability to toggle between PAL and NTSC builds, save states, and rewind.

The emulator feels rushed and lacks attention to detail, resulting in a subpar experience compared to free emulators available on PC or Android.

While not offering significant performance improvements over the original PS2 releases, the emulator provides more consistent 30 frames-per-second gameplay.

Criticism:

• The emulator offers limited options for customizing visual settings and lacks the depth of free emulators.
• The emulator is seen as offering the bare minimum, with a lack of polish and refinement.

Digital Foundry expresses disappointment with the emulator’s quality and hopes that Sony will address the feedback and improve the experience for classic PS2 games moving forward.

The core of the issue seems to be a distinct lack of care when it comes to emulation, with some of the same issues we noted with the PS4 version of the emulator remaining unsolved two years later – and some new problems too, as John and Rich noted in the latest episode of DF Direct.

Many followers agree with the criticism, pointing out the lack of care and the availability of better free emulators. Some of them are disappointed but still want to play their childhood games, regardless of the technical shortcomings.

Others speculate that the lack of investment in the emulator might be due to licensing issues or a desire to push subscription services.

Sony may need to invest more resources and attention to detail to provide a truly enjoyable experience for classic PS2 games on PS5 and PS4