Sony Patents Emotion Engine Emulation for PS3 Cell

When Sony was looking for ways to trim PlayStation 3 manufacturing costs, one feature that didn't make the cut was the built-in Emotion Engine, which allowed PS2 backwards compatibility. But, according to a Siliconera report, it may be on its way back thanks to software emulation. A new patent from Sony Computer Entertainment America suggests Sony has developed the code to emulate the Emotion Engine on the Cell processor. The patent shows "an example of a host system based on a cell processor that may be configured to emulate the [Emotion Engine]." 

This could be paving the way for bringing back one feature that newer PlayStation 3 adopters have missed: the ability to play older PS2 titles. A firmware update could easily update all PS3's to include the feature, even newer models. Of course, we also wouldn't be surprised if Sony plans to start selling full PS2 games through the PlayStation Network, similar to Microsoft's (now retired) Xbox Originals.