The Microsoft Xbox Series X and the Series X gaming consoles are reportedly better at playing old games that were developed for previous iterations of Sony PlayStation. Activating the special ‘Developer Mode’ on the latest Xbox helps the console have a better support for Sony PlayStation 2 titles than the latest PS5.
Playing older and exclusive Sony PlayStation game titles on officially unsupported Microsoft Xbox gaming console is quite possible. The seemingly impossible and rather forbidden feat has been achieved by a user using the special ‘Developer Mode’ available on Microsoft’s latest premium dedicated gaming consoles.
Xbox Series X and S can run classic Sony PlayStation 2 games better than Sony PS5?
Sony has indicated that its latest PlayStation 5 has backwards compatibility. However, as gamers will gradually realize, the feature is rather limited to a few specific game titles.
Incidentally, the Sony PlayStation 5 can, in fact, play a few of the much older PlayStation 2 titles. However, there’s a rather big condition. These PS2 game titles will have to be ported for the Sony PlayStation 4 game console.
Needless to mention, the list of PS2 games that were ported on PS4 is rather limited. Some notable titles include Jak & Daxter and Grand Theft Auto 3. In a rather strange twist of fate, though, the Microsoft Xbox Series X and Series S can play retro PlayStation titles.
It is important to note that the latest Microsoft game consoles do not officially support PS2 game titles. Moreover, playing old game titles on officially unsupported hardware, and even owning digital copies of games isn’t completely legal. With those words of caution said, lets see how to play Sony PlayStation 2 game titles on Microsoft Xbox Series X and S game consoles.
How to play old Sony PS2 game titles on Microsoft Xbox Series X|S Through Emulation And ‘Developer Mode’:
YouTube channel called Modern Vintage Gamer has proven that the Xbox Series X and S are actually capable emulation machines in their own right. Moreover, playing older games from a direct competitor’s catalog doesn’t require any hardware hacks or modding.
Microsoft, the company that makes the Xbox game consoles, offers ‘Developer Mode’. It is essentially a special software environment that users can be easily activate. Once activated, the Xbox Series X and S support Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps.
While intended to run the UWP Apps, developers have quickly realized that the Developer Mode does allow certain emulators. These are software that mimic the behavior of game consoles, and allow running digital copies of game titles stored on removable media.
As evident from the video, Modern Vintage Gamer used a preview build of RetroArch with PCSX2 integration. The Youtuber cautions that development on PCSX2 within RetroArch is still in the early stages.
Simply put, the PS2 emulator will run and load games, but there are certain limitations and occasional bugs. Notably, the emulator has a memory limit of 2 GB. This means users are limited to 2GB of memory and the emulator won’t work with larger games. The video shows a number of PS2 games running on Xbox Series S such as God of War, Metal Gear Solid 2, Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus.
Speaking of emulators, Microsoft Xbox Series X and S has a distinct advantage over the Sony PlayStation 5. Microsoft has modeled the Xbox Architecture and software on the lines of the Windows operating system platform. Hence it has a Developer Mode, which unlocks several functions and capabilities. Sony PS5, on the other hand, does not have any such feature.