Looks like PlayStation Classic is using an Open-Source Emulator

Sony’s retro mini console, the PlayStation Classic is launching next month, just in time for the Holiday season, and early previews offer brand-new details on what customers can expect. One fascinating tidbit that came from the preview event, is that we now know how the PS Classic plays PS1 games. Via non-Sony emulator software.

Game journalists were invited by Sony to test – and report to their readers – about the upcoming PlayStation Classic this week. The media event, meant to promote the mini console, gives a first hands-on experience how the games play, how the interface and menus work and of course, if the PS Classic achieves its goal of bringing gamers back to the mid-90s.

Kotaku, in their preview quickly glossed over their discovery that PCSX ReARMed is listed under the licensed software used. This comes as a big surprise, since Sony is not using their very own PS1 emulator. Sony famously pioneered the trend of backwards compatibility throughout its gaming console history.

The mighty PS2 could also play PS1 games. The rather ill-priced launch-PS3s were handling both PS1 & PS2 games. Only in later hardware revisions did Sony take out the cost-increasing necessary PS2 components. But PS1 emulation stayed as it was done purely through software emulation.

Similarly, both portable gaming handhelds of Sony, the PSP and the PS Vita are able to play PS1 games through software emulation. With their current console, the PlayStation 4, Sony for the first time abandoned disc-based backwards compatibility. Only through software emulation can PS1 and PS2 games be played now.

Seeing the decade-old experience of Sony in emulating their first console, it’s pretty weird to see the company favor an open-source emulator built not by themselves. The selection of PCSX ReARMed gives some insight as to why Sony went with this decision. The emulator is a fork of another popular PS1 emulator, PCSX Reloaded, tailored for devices running on ARM chips. Pretty much the standard in mobile devices.

So, it’s likely the PlayStation Classic is running an ARM processor, similar to the NES Classic and the SNES Classic. As gaming historian & game preservationist Frank Cifaldi comments, Sony did the right move and it’s an acknowledgement that an “amateur” emulator can be just as valid as an “official” one.

It looks like it, as previews of the PlayStation Classic are positive in terms of correct game emulation. The selection of games is still a matter of discussion however.