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

Recently, the team behind the PlayStation 3 emulator, RPCS3, shared some exciting news: they’ve successfully integrated stable, native Arm64 architecture support across Windows, macOS, and Linux. This milestone is notable for its broad compatibility, even extending to the Raspberry Pi 5. It’s a remarkable step for emulation technology, especially considering the Raspberry Pi 5’s previous capabilities, like running emulations of the GameCube and Wii—although with less effectiveness in the case of the Wii. With a few tweaks to the settings, enthusiasts can now even experience PS3 emulation on today’s budget-friendly Arm devices.

When you get PS3 games running on the Raspberry Pi 5, you really are pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible. To make this work, the emulator scales the game’s resolution down to that of a PSP—just 273p instead of the PS3’s standard 720p. This clever trick allows some 3D games like God of War (originally from PS2) and titles like Catherine or Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm to be playable. Of course, if you’re sticking with 2D games, you’ll find even more consistent playability. Still, hitting playable frame rates with PS3-era 3D games was something not many would have anticipated from a device as modest as the Raspberry Pi 5.

Switching over to macOS, the native Arm architecture support rather than emulating x86 results in dramatic performance boosts for Apple Silicon users playing PS3 games. Native execution instead of x86 translation means frame rates are soaring by 50-100%. What was once a distant dream—smooth Arm-powered PlayStation 3 emulation—has now become a tangible reality.

Unlike the Raspberry Pi 5, where you’re working with something closer to PlayStation Portable performance, Apple Silicon tests reveal impressive capabilities when tackling demanding PS3 games such as God of War III and Skate 3. These titles are far more complex to emulate compared to the PS2-to-PS3 HD ports, but they run quite smoothly on the right Arm architecture hardware, provided you have the necessary processing power.

For those interested in staying updated, devices leveraging Arm64 architecture represent a significant leap forward, bringing us closer to a future where even more complex emulations are easily accessible on a wider range of hardware.