If you want to know whether PS2 games can be played on the PS4 - and if so, which ones - you've landed on the perfect article!
Sadly, one thing you can't do is slot a PS2 disc into a PS4 and expect it to work - the PlayStation 4 simply cannot run PlayStation 2 discs, which is something of a shame.
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We have spoken before on PlayStation backwardscompatibility throughout the years, and how we hope that it comes back with a vengeance with the PlayStation 5.
We already know that Xbox Series X backwards compatibility will support a huge library of games that go back to the original Xbox, essentially the last twenty years of games, and even some that will support frame rates higher than 60 frames per second.
Sony is on the cusp of announcing heaps of PS5 games with a State Of Play live-stream, but the elephant in the room is still backwards-compatibility.
With that, let's look at what PS2 games are available on the PS4, and just how it stands for now.
Where we currently stand
If you go onto the PS Store, either on a web browser or your PS4, you will be able to find certain PS2 games, 54 of them to be exact, all ready to purchase and play. You can click here to see which games made the cut!
Some are bonafide classics such as the Jak and Daxter series, or Grand Theft Auto, while others like Dark Cloud and Ape Escape 2 are underrated gems that need to be played.
These are possible through an official emulator that was introduced around two years ago, where it has upscaled the resolution for these games, while making the graphics sharper and easier on the HD and 4K televisions that we commonly have in 2020.
They’ve also been made available on the ‘PlayStation Now’ service, where you can stream these games over the internet, direct to your PS4. It would be nice to see this service be expanded to other products like tablets and Fire TV peripherals, but for now, it’s available as a monthly subscription if you require.
They all play really well, with the games having the rumble features still intact on the Dual Shock 4, but it does make you want to play other games that have been lost to time, or through a confusion of who has the rights to it.
Games such as Tekken 5, or Onimusha 2, or TimeSplitters would have been great to see on the PS Store, but it seems as though there will not be any further releases, mainly due to the PS5 coming.
READ MORE: Will the PS4 controller work with PS5?
Where to go from here
There are a few avenues really: one option would be for the PS5 to be fully enabled to work with all the games we’ve owned over the years, and it would be as simple as placing the disk and having a great weekend.
But the closer it gets to the PS5 release date, the less likely that seems. We’ve already spoken about this, but it’s worth repeating: nostalgia is a valuable commodity, and people want to play those games that they hold near and dear to their heart, so Sony could be making a mistake if it doesn't honour the games of the past on PS5
That’s really the meat and potatoes of PS2 games on PS4. It looks like we’re at the end of the road for more games to come to the console, but it would be a great curveball if it turns out that we can play even more games on the PS5 when it launches later this year.
But for now anyway, until you trade in your PS4 for the new console, have a play of Ape Escape 2 over the week in that sweet 1080 resolution, and think what could be possible for the PlayStation 5.