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So, what's preventing Sony from allowing me to put PS2 discs on my PS5?

MarkMe2525

Member
Blu ray lasers can read dvds and cds, it’s just a licensing issue. They might include ps3 chipset in the upcoming external drive. Otherwise just do aethersx with hd textures.
My understanding is Blu Ray lasers can in fact not read cd's and DVD. The difference in wavelength means that the literal blue light cannot register the etches in the cd and DVD media. Blu Ray players get around this by simply including a red laser in the drive.
 
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BlackTron

Member
Why do you expect a company to devote resources to develop an emulator to play PS2 discs on the PS5? Are you that fucking entitled that you think Sony should spend 10s of thousands of dollars on this project for the handful of people like you that have PS2 disc games? It's not just slapping an emulator on there, it is designing the UI, QA testing, security testing, etc. Also who would even want to work on that project? People like to see their efforts being used. How many people would use this?

Sony would not need to invest any money in an emulator. They already have a working one. As stated elsewhere in the thread, you can use Sony's own emulator on a modded PS4, or even use a PS3, and get more games running perfectly than Xbox has.

This isn't about cost of investment, it's about opportunity cost of selling you the same games over again or enticing you to a sub service. Same reason Nintendo only rents away old games instead of selling them like they used to. The strategy shifted.
 

Shifty1897

Member
I want to put Sega Saturn games in my PS5.

As other have said, there's no profit for Sony in creating an emulator when they can just sell you a remaster. The part that hurts most is when they don't even want to sell you a remaster (Valkyrie Profile 2).
 
First off, from a business perspective, there is no financial incentive for them to allow you to play games that you've already purchased, if anything there is a cost in doing so because they can't re-sell you the game digitally or induce you to pay for a subscription that might contain the game.

Second, the PS5 doesn't read CDs, which means that the same support couldn't be made for PS1 games, which would be an incongruency.
PS2 games use DVDs. OP never mentioned PS1. I think beyond fine-tuning some software emulation, there’s nothing stopping them from allowing PS2 games to be readable except money-grubbing.
 

RespawnX

Member
They made the calc, people just don't spend enough money to justify the development of an emulator. It would also put their PS+ marketing strategy into question. Pretty simple from a business perspective.
What Microsoft did was pure marketing move masked as fanservice to have a selling preposition. Maybe they found a way to do it relatively cost-effectively. However, by now we know that licenses also play an important role.
 

Mobilemofo

Member
For me, when I look at the premium sub currently, it's ok, but it could be alot better. Lack of games in the "classics", list of selected games is quite poor. I'm undecided if I'm gonna keep it. It's a bit "meh" currently.

Also, you can put your ps2 discs ON your ps5, but not IN your ps5.
 
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IFireflyl

Gold Member
Alright, maybe you guys are right. I was sure the drive they use literally can't read CDs, but maybe they're just dumbasses then.

CDs require an infrared laser with a 780nm wavelength. DVDs require a red laser with a 656nm wavelength. Blu-rays require a blue laser with a 405nm wavelength. You were certainly not incorrect about the different lasers being required, but most blu-ray devices will also include the red and infrared lasers in addition to the blue laser because the cost is negligible.
 
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IFireflyl

Gold Member
My understanding is Blu Ray lasers can in fact not read cd's and DVD. The difference in wavelength means that the literal blue light cannot register the etches in the cd and DVD media. Blu Ray players get around this by simply including a red laser in the drive.

This is correct. See my above post.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
CDs require an infrared laser with a 780nm wavelength. DVDs require a red laser with a 656nm wavelength. Blu-rays require a blue laser with a 405nm wavelength. You were certainly not incorrect about the different lasers being required, but most blu-ray devices will also include the red and infrared lasers in addition to the blue laser because the cost is negligible.

Yeah, but can the same red laser read DVDs and CDs? I'm having trouble finding a conclusive answer to that. Some say it can, because a CD is basically like a DVD but with larger "hills and valleys" in the data tracks, but I don't know.
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
They can't sell enough PS5s as it is. They have absolutely no interest in letting you put in old discs which makes them no money.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Yeah, but can the same red laser read DVDs and CDs? I'm having trouble finding a conclusive answer to that. Some say it can, because a CD is basically like a DVD but with larger "hills and valleys" in the data tracks, but I don't know.

The different lasers can only read and write in their specific wavelength. The pits in CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays are different sizes, and the lasers are only able to read their size pit.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It is about money, and development costs. This is a company that routinely shuts down online servers for their games. These servers have costs so minimal, it is a joke to even bring it down. Literally in the thousands. They are shutting down entire games to save a few bucks. You really think they are going to invest in an emulator so you can play your games for free?

The emulator actually already exists on PC. All they have to do is hire the RSPS3 dudes. There are only like 3 of them. Get them a $100k each and have them port it to the PS5. Might take less than a year. But is it worth $300k? Clearly not to Sony who would rather you subscribe to their monthly service so you can stream games in shitty PS2 quality instead of enhanced 4k 60 fps versions.

I remember when the PS4 Pro came out. Cerny had all these devs from Sucker Punch, ND and Sony Bend come out and say that it took 1 single dev 4 weeks to get the game running on the PS4 Pro at a higher res and framerate. We've seen the PS5 literally require no work in order to run games at a higher framerate. TLG, GOW, KZSF, Infamous and other games with uncapped framerates literally just work. And yet DriveClub, Bloodborne, and several other games remain without a PS4 Pro patch, let alone PS5. We are looking at maybe $10-30k worth of work and they wont do it. I work in a software development company, and we routinely make these decisions. We prioritize PAID work over R&D that will make the lives of our users easier. Sony is basically doing the same. Using dev funds to make new games instead of wasting them on features that wont earn them any money because you already own the games.

P.S Porting RSPS3 might also open them to hacking so who knows maybe thats the reason why there is no emulator on PS5. But you can run it on Xbox Series consoles so maybe its just about the money.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
The different lasers can only read and write in their specific wavelength. The pits in CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays are different sizes, and the lasers are only able to read their size pit.

So then the answer is probably that the PS5 drive has only two lasers?
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
So then the answer is probably that the PS5 drive has only two lasers?

Correct. They have the red and blue lasers, but they do not include the infrared lasers that is required for CDs.

What causes the PS5 laser fault?
The laser diode in all consoles, not just the PS5, naturally deteriorates to the point that they no longer read discs. The strength and focus of the laser reduces over time. It is normally the Blu-ray laser diode that fails first as it is normally the most used. You may find DVD and audio discs still work as these use a different (red) laser which is on the same assembly.

Source: https://kasynparts.com/product/original-new-laser-lens-for-playstation-5-ps5-replacement/
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
The simple and real answer is the don't won't the customer complaints when 1 game doesn't work.
It just too much of a headache for a time consuming service with no profit to make.
Hell they won't even do it if you paid for it for the same reason
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
It’s the simplest reason. They want you as a customer in the present, and your PS2 games are money you spent in the past.
Backwards compat means the money you spent in the past, isn’t turning into money that ends up in their pockets in the present. It stays in the past, therefore it doesn’t exist.
You either spend your current money for products that are currently available, or you’re not a customer and can fuck right off. Thanks for your business 20 years ago, I guess.

This is the company that’s very proud of selling you the same game 3 times in 9 years, and people aren’t shy of showing off how happy they are to buy it for the third time. And you expect their latest system to run discs from 20 years ago?
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
It’s the simplest reason. They want you as a customer in the present, and your PS2 games are money you spent in the past.
Backwards compat means the money you spent in the past, isn’t turning into money that ends up in their pockets in the present. It stays in the past, therefore it doesn’t exist.
You either spend your current money for products that are currently available, or you’re not a customer and can fuck right off. Thanks for your business 20 years ago, I guess.

This is the company that’s very proud of selling you the same game 3 times in 9 years, and people aren’t shy of showing off how happy they are to buy it for the third time. And you expect their latest system to run discs from 20 years ago?
Actually Microsoft proved that you can have it both ways. Just because I can play my old version of SotC doesn’t mean it will turn to SotC remaster.
 
Because Sony got greedy over a few cents per unit. The last Sony console that could play cd/ cd audio etc... was the PS3. I noticed this right away when I got a ps4 on launch in 2013. No Compact Disc logo on the box. The ps1, ps2, and ps3 had it. They have to license the tech, spend 20cents per ps3 or what not. Apparently the bean counters didn't want to do that. Thats a few grand in profits they loose.
You may ask what does cd's have to do with Dvds. Well the audio portion of a dvd needs the cd audio format, and they aren't going to give ps2 bc without also giving ps1 bc. PS3 had it.

Why Sony did this , I don't know. At the time they were pushing their digital music service, but they are not anymore so no clue why its not in the ps5. It sucks. It would also suck for me though personally, as I got rid of a lot of my ps2 games, outside of the rpgs. I got ps3 collections for silent hill 2 and 3, not knowing that the collection would be ps3 only and never again to be relaunched. Meanwhile my ps3 is on its last leg. I should of kept the ps2 games as they are now worth $80, and i still own a ps2. Ps2 is working fine, ps3 won't even connect to wifi or bluetooth.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Actually Microsoft proved that you can have it both ways. Just because I can play my old version of SotC doesn’t mean it will turn to SotC remaster.

You're talking about the same Microsoft that is trailing behind Sony in console sales two generations in a row? I don't think that's proof of anything.

Don't take this as a console warring response because it isn't intended as such. I have the Xbox Series X and I love (looking at) it. I just legitimately can't see how a console that is losing in console sales (last generation by a substantial amount, and this generation by about 5 million consoles) is able to be used as proof that something is working.
 
Why do you expect a company to devote resources to develop an emulator to play PS2 discs on the PS5? Are you that fucking entitled that you think Sony should spend 10s of thousands of dollars on this project for the handful of people like you that have PS2 disc games? It's not just slapping an emulator on there, it is designing the UI, QA testing, security testing, etc. Also who would even want to work on that project? People like to see their efforts being used. How many people would use this?
Thats part of the problem, the other is most games you can't get in stores. This would only benefit people that kept their games. It would enable ebay parasites to scam users out of 1000s of $ and jack prices way up.
They are already doing this with older games now. These people buy them all up and then sell them for high prices. They aren't even gamers, just glorified pawn brokers that only buy and sell.

For the games that you find in stores or used game places, they will be shit yearly sports games, or kids games. You are not going to find silent hill, mgs, jrpgs, prince of persia, splinter cell, mercenaries, champions of norrath, etc....
 
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solidus12

Member
So, for those who know more about the PS2 emulator on modded PS4s, how does it work?

Do you just insert your PS2 disc and start playing?

Fuck me, I really need a 60gb PS3 that’s been delidded, had its RSX swapped with a 40nm one, and had all other changes that prevent overheating and YLOD…
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
I asked the same question previously. They told me to just keep my PS2 or buy a PS2 because it is super cheap or something. New console for new games.

So OP here you go.
 

sainraja

Member
Time, effort and likely the business aspect (will it be profitable). Sony has shared in the past usage metrics or at-least spoken on it, saying it was a feature that didn't get used much or 'attract' people enough. That might be a little short-sighted....back then people didn't carry digital libraries with their accounts and nowadays that is happening a lot, so if you want to keep people into your ecosystem for as long as you can, ensuring their library travels with them is worth investing money into.

Sony should embrace it or offer what they can, given they were the first in the console space to do it with the PS2.

EDIT
I would also assume licensing probably has a lot to do with it.
 
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NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Actually Microsoft proved that you can have it both ways. Just because I can play my old version of SotC doesn’t mean it will turn to SotC remaster.
If I’m not mistaken, all the MS consoles share some basic architecture that makes retro compatibility less work than running PS2/3 games on modern hardware.
MS’s goodwill about retro compatibility is also very much about 1) showing they care to gain some brownie points, and 2) expanding their library with relatively little effort. Sony always had the lead and PS gets all the games, so they don’t feel like they need that.

Sony could. If the XSX can emulate PS2, the PS5 can too. They don’t want you to though, and they especially don’t want you to use your old discs if they can make you pay again for the games.
 

K' Dash

Member
whats preventing them is that they need to invest money on the emulator and they will receive nothing from you.
 

nocsi

Member
Incorrect. The blue laser used for reading BDs has a wavelength that's too far from the red one needed to read a CD, it literally cannot do it. Any player that reads all disc types has separate lasers for it.
Incorrect. You can actually get a Blu-ray lasers to read dvds and cds. Not a separate laser. The players that have separate lasers do it for completely different reasons
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I might be remembering wrong but it was the ps3 that only had a blue laser. I assume ps4 and ps5 have both. But that is just an assumption.

The PS3 can read all disc types though (more than the PS4 and PS5).

Incorrect. You can actually get a Blu-ray lasers to read dvds and cds. Not a separate laser. The players that have separate lasers do it for completely different reasons

Source?
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
The heartbeat of the gaming community is hiring individuals who can remake or remaster games.
 
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