Progress on PlayStation 4 emulation is slow, but certain. It’s strange to think about, when you consider the fact that we still don’t have a perfect PS1 emulator, but we could be on the threshold of some significant advances in the creation of a current-gen emulator. A new video update from Alexandro Sanchez hints that we’re in the early phases of working out some of the initial boot-up issues, which could open the flood-gates for other developers to pour their work into a functioning PS4 emulator.
The video isn’t too exciting; it’s like looking at the Matrix, but not as cool. Sanchez didn’t upload the video for us, though. He uploaded it so that other developers could see his progress, learn, and iterate on his approach. In the video description he offers the following update:
Current status: All drivers initialize correctly. VFS is successfully loaded. First userland application, /mini-syscore.elf, is decrypted and launched successfully. Shortly after /SceSysAvControl.elf is lauched which successfully handles system events. Simultaneously, mini-syscore detects an issue with the HDD, which is to be expected during first-time boots, and launches /safemode.elf. The system enters Safe Mode successfully, but gets frozen while rendering the safe mode menu.
Translation: You’re not going to be playing a heavily-modded version of Marvel’s Spider-Man on your ultra PC any time soon. PS4 emulation, as far as you and I are concerned, is still a dream. It’s just encouraging to know, though, that we may be able to back up, play, and modify our games in the near future. As long as code is kept open-source and developers work together, progress is certain.
In the meantime, we’ll be content if someone can figure out how to transform the PlayStation Classic into a more competent emulator.
