PS5 may support older PS versions

With the buzz about Playstation 5 gaining momentum, console users around the world would be eager to know if they would still be able to games they bought for the older generation.

If the rumours are to believed, gamers can breathe a sigh of relief as PS5 is likely to be backwards compatible for not just PS4 but even the original PlayStation.

Techradar, citing a patent, reports that the patent, numbered 2019503013, was filed by the PS4’ s lead architect Mark Cerny, and describes a process that would allow the next- gen CPU to “interpret” the the CPU of previous machines.

According to the description, the patent focuses on synchronisation errors – making sure that newer, more powerful hardware only sends required information from a game in response to a “call” from the title itself, rather than jumping the gun and overwriting data being held in RAM.

The patent also discusses the possibility of simply including hardware chipsets that mimic older consoles in the cases where the legacy design is particularly difficult to emulate, as was the case with the PS2.

In the fights between PS and Xbox, the area of backwards compatibility has been a key one. The Xbox One has had extensive backwards compatibility with original Xbox and Xbox 360 titles for some time, and continues to grow its legacy library, with users needing merely to pop their old discs into the console to play.

However, PS4 relied on its streaming service, PlayStation Now, and charges a subscription fee.