This week brought some exciting news for fans of PlayStation emulation: the team behind the RPCS3 emulator revealed that they’ve now achieved stable support for Arm64 architecture across Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms. Impressively, this even includes the Raspberry Pi 5, which has pushed the boundaries of what we thought possible for emulation on this device. Historically, the Raspberry Pi 5 has been capable of emulating systems like the GameCube and the Wii (albeit less effectively for the latter), but now, with the right tweaks, even PlayStation 3 games are within reach for this entry-level Arm hardware.
Running PS3 games on the Raspberry Pi 5 is no small feat, effectively pushing the envelope in the realm of PlayStation 3 emulation. By tweaking settings to scale games down to the resolution typical of a PSP, at 273p rather than the PS3’s typical 720p, some impressive results can be achieved. Although some might think of this as a step back, it actually makes more demanding 3D games playable on the device. Games like the HD remasters of God of War and its sequel, Catherine, and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm can run, albeit at a lower resolution. While 2D games are more straightforward to play, managing playable framerates on 3D games from the PS3 era is beyond what most would expect from the capabilities of a Raspberry Pi 5.
Shifting gears to macOS, Arm architecture support offers a leap in performance when compared to the traditional approach of emulating x86. On Apple Silicon devices, users are seeing performance boosts of 50-100% due to native execution, bypassing the need for x86 translation layers on top of the already demanding PS3 emulation. This development turns the dream of high-performance PS3 gameplay on Arm hardware into a present-day reality.
While the tests on the Raspberry Pi 5 are impressive in making PS3 games resemble a PSP in terms of performance, the real power is shown through Apple Silicon’s tests. Here, heavyweight PS3 games such as God of War III and Skate 3 are not only playable but perform remarkably well. Despite being harder to emulate than simpler PS2-to-PS3 HD ports, these titles showcase the Arm architecture’s potential when coupled with sufficiently robust hardware.
So, whether you’re tinkering with a Raspberry Pi 5 or enjoying Apple’s latest tech marvels, this evolution in emulation technology has something exciting to offer for everyone—an exciting development indeed for the community and gamers alike. For updates like these and more in-depth gaming reviews, you can always count on Tom’s Hardware to deliver the best straight to your inbox.
