Ever wondered what you could do with your old PS3 Eyetoys, Wonderbooks, Dualshock 3s, and even the PSP Go now that their glory days are behind them? Well, Sony’s clearly been thinking about the possibilities as well and may be onto a solution with a patent being lodged that serves as a way to reconnect you with those dusty old peripherals.
Having felt the scorn of the gaming community when it briefly planned to shut down the PS3 and PS Vita digital storefronts, and then gone a way towards redeeming itself by announcing PlayStation Classics, Sony has now lodged a patent to revitalise their old peripherals and make them compatible on the PS5.
The patent filed on June 30, 2022 by SIE is titled “Systems and Methods For Converting A Legacy Code Into An Updated Code” highlights a video game emulation process that Sony may look to implement in the near future, and this patent, if followed through on, ensures that all titles of that era are compatible, from Eyepet, to everything on the PSP Go.
Considering that Sony’s current efforts in the backwards compatibility space are a half-step forward for all three of their oldest consoles, as well as the PSP, this patent, if nothing else, continues to show that the company is interested in elevating its efforts in the legacy gaming space.
Currently, the new PlayStation Plus, including an “Essential”, “Extra”, and “Premium/Deluxe” tier has a large range of PS4, and PS5 games available free to play if you’re subscribed to the “Extra” tier or higher, and classics from the PS1, PS2, PS3, and PSP available via the “Premium/Deluxe” tier. PS1, PS2, and PSP titles are all available to download via console-based emulation, while PS3 titles are only available via the old PlayStation Now streaming feature which was bundled into this new take on PlayStation Plus. Hopefully the focus on all of these peripherals, further indicates that Sony is willing to crack the PS3 emulation egg that has plagued them for so many years.