Sony PlayStation 3 Emulator RPCS3 Gains Native Arm64 Support, Including Compatibility with Raspberry Pi 5

This week brings exciting news from the developers behind RPCS3, the PlayStation 3 emulator. They’ve made a breakthrough, securing solid native Arm64 architecture support across multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. What’s even more impressive is that this support extends to the Raspberry Pi 5, pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible in emulation on such a device. Previously, the Raspberry Pi 5 managed to emulate GameCube and to a lesser extent, Wii, but now, with adjustments to settings, it appears that even PS3 games can be emulated on entry-level Arm hardware.

If you’ve ever thought about emulating PS3 games on a Raspberry Pi 5, you’re in for quite the technical adventure. By tweaking the settings to scale down the resolution to match the PSP’s 273p — a far cry from the original PS3’s 720p — you’ll experience a gaming session that feels more akin to the PSP. Yet, it’s precisely these adjustments that make running certain 3D games achievable on the Raspberry Pi 5. Games such as God of War and God of War II HD, originally from the PS2 catalog, along with Catherine and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, can actually run. While 2D games predictably perform better, achieving playable framerates in 3D PS3 titles on a Raspberry Pi 5 is quite a feat many wouldn’t have thought possible.

Meanwhile, over on macOS, the introduction of native Arm architecture support, in contrast to simply emulating x86, has led to substantial performance improvements on Apple Silicon systems running PS3 games. Framerate boosts ranging between 50% to 100% are observed when games run natively rather than relying on x86 translation, paired with the demands of PS3 hardware emulation. This makes viable and efficient PlayStation 3 emulation on Arm-powered machines more than just a fantasy.

Testing on Apple Silicon reveals stellar performance in some real PS3 heavy hitters, like God of War III and Skate 3. These games are notoriously difficult to emulate compared to simpler PS2-to-PS3 HD ports such as God of War HD. However, when backed by the robust capability of Arm-based hardware, they perform admirably.

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