This week brought some exciting news from the developers of the PlayStation 3 emulator, RPCS3. They announced that they’ve now achieved solid, native Arm64 architecture support for platforms such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. What’s really remarkable is that this also extends to devices like the Raspberry Pi 5. This breakthrough significantly pushes the envelope in terms of what we thought was possible with emulation on the Raspberry Pi 5. Historically, this device managed to emulate GameCube and, somewhat less effectively, Wii games. Yet now, with the right tweaks, it seems even PS3 emulation isn’t beyond its reach on today’s entry-level Arm hardware.
Running PS3 games on a Raspberry Pi 5 certainly pushes the boundaries. Given the settings used, it scales the resolution down to that of a PlayStation Portable (PSP) at 273p from the PS3’s standard 720p. Surprisingly, this adjustment makes it feasible to play certain 3D games. Titles like God of War (the HD versions of the original PS2 games), Catherine, and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm become playable. While 2D games perform better across the board, achieving any level of playability with PS3-era 3D games on a Raspberry Pi is quite an achievement, surpassing what most would expect from the device.
Switching gears to macOS, the introduction of native Arm architecture support, as opposed to just emulating x86, has yielded significant performance improvements on Apple Silicon, especially for PS3 gaming. Frame rates have leapt by 50-100% simply by running natively. This eliminates the need for cumbersome x86 translation nested within the demanding PS3 hardware emulation, transforming Arm-powered PS3 emulation from a distant possibility into a practical reality.
On Apple Silicon, the performance is impressive in demanding PS3 titles such as God of War III and Skate 3. These games are considerably tougher to emulate compared to HD ports from PS2, like God of War HD; however, they run quite smoothly on Arm architecture hardware—provided it has enough power to support such an intensive experience.
