PS3 emulation might be too difficult even for the PS5
The ravages of time are now gnawing on Metal Gear Solid 4 as well as on Old Snake – but a refresher via emulation on the PS5 is a long way off.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is one of the few games that never made it to any platform other than the PlayStation 3. At least if we assume official publications.
DigitalFoundry has now looked at the classic using the “RPCS3” emulator to reflect the current state of PS3 emulation on the PC. This has made massive progress since its launch in May 2011; a resolution of 4K is not a hurdle, but the frame rate achieved is.
Close to the remaster
In the case of Metal Gear Solid 4, the much higher resolution is particularly noticeable. The original PlayStation 3 renders the game in a resolution of 1024 by 768 pixels, which is why annoying jagged edges form on many polygon edges and shadows are displayed with extremely low precision.
Dynamic shadows appear much cleaner based on the higher internal resolution. The better filtering also smooths out distant textures when viewed from an acute angle to the camera. (Image: Digital Foundry)
The native resolution can be freely selected in the RPCS3 emulator; a powerful graphics card is not even required for a 4K resolution. Nvidia’s RSX chip that powers the PS3 is close to a conventional GPU, making it easy to emulate.
The PS3 Cell processor is extremely complex
With the PS3’s own cell processor, however, Sony deviates from all standards. A central control unit – called Power Processing Element (PPE) – is expanded by seven co-processors that accelerate graphics calculations. These so-called “SPUs” have their own architecture and instruction set, which makes them difficult to emulate.
The result: PS3 emulation is insanely CPU intensive. Digital Foundry therefore used a current high-end CPU from Intel in order to be able to play Metal Gear Solid 4 in a largely stable 60 frames per second.
The emulator itself was also a specially adapted version for Metal Gear Solid 4, which achieves higher refresh rates than the general development branch. It still stuttered occasionally in complex scenes, but that’s still a huge improvement compared to the original, which ran at 20 to 30 fps.
In addition, Metal Gear Solid 4 could not be emulated entirely without display errors. The crow’s feet on Snake’s eyes flare up again and again, as if more and more wrinkles were being loaded and then disappearing again:
Snake’s face shouldn’t look that wrinkled. (Images: Digital Foundry)
In addition, the display of the water effects is not correct and it came to strange AI dropouts:
Bodies of water behave statically, only the area behind the bar is rendered correctly. (Image: Digital Foundry)
Even the PS5 might not offer enough power for the PS3 emulation
The emulation of the SPUs should even overwhelm the PS5, even if the main processor was able to record a decent performance boost compared to the previous generation. However, Digital Foundry also set a goal of 60 frames per second. The CPU could be relieved with a limitation to 30 fps, which resulted in a more constant gaming experience. Jerks with an unlocked frame rate can be effectively concealed with variable refresh rates (VRR).
Even on the PS5, VRR could be used in this case, the latest firmware update finally provides the function:
more on the subject
PS5: The wait for VRR is finally coming to an end, but what does it actually bring us?
Chris Werian
@DrChrisRespect
In my eyes, emulation is the only way to preserve video game history over the long term. It would be preposterous to expect that over countless generations, much of the PS3 catalog will be ported to the latest model, or that streaming services will last forever.
So I’ve been following RPCS3 for over half a decade and I’m really excited about the progress the team has been able to make. A lot of less complex games like Demon’s Souls now run pleasantly fast if the performance of the installed CPU allows it. However, exclusive titles that push the PS3’s SPUs to the maximum, such as Killzone 3, cause problems even for high-end computers.
Despite the most expensive PC hardware, the frame rate drops significantly in graphically demanding Killzone 3 scenes. (Image Source: Youtube / Emulators and Gameplay HD)
The PS5 offers powerful hardware, but in relation to top CPUs it draws the short straw (at least on paper), which is why I have serious doubts that PS3 games can be emulated on the PS5 in the foreseeable future. The decision to offer a pure streaming solution here is therefore quite understandable, but it also has disadvantages that affect us gamers in particular:
- No future security as we are dependent on Sony’s server infrastructure
- Higher input latency
- Image artifacts, such as when the quality of the internet connection fluctuates
- No freely selectable resolution, PS Now is limited to a maximum of 1080p
- Binding to a subscription
However, one must not forget that Sony has all the source documentation for the PS3 and the source codes for many games, which is immensely helpful when developing an official emulator. So there is a chance for a change of strategy, but it is currently negligible due to Sony’s large investment in PlayStation Now. However, I would be very happy about an official product that incorporates the accumulated technical know-how of the PS3 generation.
Which PS3 classic would you like to see on the PS5?
Reference-www.gamepro.de