It’s no secret that the lack of PS2 emulation on newer PS3 units is a bit of a put-off to prospective purchasers. Especially when considering that majority of would-be PS3 owners are those that own a large library of PS2 titles. Granted, not being able to play those games isn’t a deal breaker for most, but it certainly makes laying down $400 on new hardware a tougher decision.

However, it looks like Sony may be bringing to PS2 emulation to non-backwards compatible PS3 units after all, if a recently unearthed patent is any indication. The patent references a software-based technology that would allow the PS3’s Cell CPU to translate or emulate code written specifically for the PS2’s Emotion Engine chip.

We can only think of one reason why Sony would be experimenting with such a technology and that is backwards compatibility. That leads us to questions over implementation. Will Sony allow folks to emulate any PS2 game of their choosing or sell digital downloads of PS2 titles over the PlayStation Store? We can only hope that Sony will side towards both options. Doing so would benefit consumers across the board, those that own an expansive library of PS2 oldies as well as the younger ones that missed out on last generation’s hits.

Sony Patents Software Based PS2 Emulation Technology - [eXophase.com]