does ps3 download games work on ps4 Can You Play PS3 Games On PS4? Can I Play PS3 Games On PS4? Does PS4 play PS3 games? That’s the question which many people have been asking for a while now, and guess what, we have the answer for you right here. Does PS4 Play PS3 Games – Can I Play PS3 Games On PS4? The answer is, somewhat sadly, no you cannot play PS3 games on PS4. The reason why you cannot play PS3 games on PS4 is because the PS3 was built using the Cell CPU architecture which, when taken in tandem with a raft of other custom components, meant that the PS4 could not play PS3 games straight out of the box. The PS4 and PS4 Pro by comparison use a lot of the off the shelf PC parts, whereas the PS3 did not, hence why PS3 games simply will not work on PS4. There is however, a workaround of sorts. Sony has launched the PlayStation Now service which allows you to stream PS3 gameplay to your PS4. This works by having a number of PS3s hooked up to a server and when that server streams the game to you in a video stream. You then interact with that game using your controller and the video stream returns to the server to let it know that an interaction has taken place, before firing back the response to the player. All of this occurs extremely quickly and in a matter of milliseconds, but the quality of the stream and the responsiveness of it both entirely depend on the quality of your internet connection. The faster the better. You can catch the full list of all PS3 games on the PlayStation Now service right here. If you’re worried about the PS5 not playing PS4 games don’t be – Sony have already confirmed that the PS5 will have backwards compatibility and play PS4 games right out of the box. You’ll be able to use your existing PS4 saves and play against PS4 players online, too. As far as PS3 games though, nothing has been announced – but the fact that the PS5 follows the same architecture path as PS4 and PS4 Pro, means that out of the box compatibility with PS3 games will be unlikely. Can I Play PC Games on My PS3? The PS3 is designed to play its own proprietary games, which come loaded on Blu-ray disks. But it's also possible to load another operating system onto the PS3 that can allow it to do things it wasn't designed to do. Changing the PS3's operating system into a Linux-based operating system will let it stream games from a PC that can be played from the PS3. Preparation. Verify that both the PS3 and computer are on your home network. A wired or wireless network can be used, providing that both the PS3 and the PC computer are both on the same one. Changing the Operating System. Download a version of the Linux-based operating system by going to YDL and selecting and downloading the file to the PC's desktop (see Resources). Burn the YDL onto a blank DVD using a program like Nero 6. Attach a USB keyboard and USB mouse to the USB ports of the PS3. Format the hard drive of the PS3 by going to the System > Format drive > PS3 from the PS3 home menu and select "Custom" from the menu. Press "O" on the game controller to format the drive. The PS3 will restart once the format is completed. Insert the Linux-based operating system disk into your PS3. Select "otheros.bld" on the menu and press "O" on the game controller to select it and load the files onto the hard drive. Go to System > Install other OS from the menu and the PS3 will now reboot. Press the disk eject sensor to remove the DVD. Press the "Enter" key on your keyboard to continue the installation of the Linux-based operating system. Follow the prompts to install the Linux- based operating system onto the PS3. Go to Start > Applications > System Tools > System Config > Network Config. Double click "etho" and select the wired or wireless tab (depending upon your network). Select the network name from the onscreen list and enter the security password. Click "OK" and then select "etbo" and click "Activate." Hit the "Return" key on the keyboard to return to the root screen. Installing StreamMyGame. Go to the StreamMyGame website and download the application to the PC (see Resources). Click on the StreamMyGame icon to install the software. Restart the computer. Insert a PC game into the DVD disk drive of the PC. Click on the icon of the PC game to run the game. Click on the StreamMyGame software to burn it and stream the PC game being played onto your home network. Video and audio is being streamed from the PC game to the PS3, which can be viewed and listened to on the TV or monitor that the PS3 is attached to. Play the PC game using the game controller on the PS3. Specifications of the PC. You will need a PC that is designed to run games at optimal speeds in order for the PS3 to be able to play the PC games being streamed over the network without slowdown problems. Warning. Altering the PS3 operating system will void the warranty and neither Sony nor an authorized dealer will do any work on the game console if it is given to them. Can You Play PS3 Games on a PS4? Do PS3 games work on PS4? Let's take a look to see how you can enjoy older PS3 titles on a PlayStation 4 console. Backward compatibility is a major selling point of any video game console, as being able to play your old games on a new system increases its value. It's a good idea to know whether a system has this function before investing in it. Thus, you might wonder if you can play PS3 games on the PS4. Let's answer this question and examine your options. Can the PS4 Play PS3 Games? The short answer is that no, the PlayStation 4 is not backward-compatible with PlayStation 3 games . Inserting a PS3 disc into the PS4 will not work. And you cannot download digital versions of PS3 games from the PlayStation Store onto your PlayStation 4. This is the case with all editions of the PS4, including the slim PS4 and PS4 Pro. The reason for this, like most backward compatibility situations, is that the PS3 and PS4 have different system architecture. PlayStation 4 consoles don't have the hardware of the PS3, so they can't run the older games natively. And Sony decided it wasn't worthwhile to build a software emulator to handle the older titles, leaving the PS4 only able to play PS4 games. Thankfully, there are other ways to play PS3 titles on your PS4, even without native backward compatibility. Stream PS3 Titles on PS4 via PlayStation Now. PlayStation Now is Sony's cloud gaming service, available on the PS4, PS5, and Windows. It allows you to stream PS4, PS3, and PS2 games, so you can enjoy some of the best titles the family of consoles has seen over the years. Thus, if you subscribe to PlayStation Now, you can play certain PS3 titles on your PS4 by streaming. At the time of writing, there are around 370 PS3 games available on the service, though the exact number changes as titles are added and removed. As long as you have a steady enough connection and don't mind the cost, this is the best way to play large numbers of PS3 games on your PS4. See our comparison of PS Now and Xbox Game Pass for more information. We've also picked out some of the best games on PlayStation Now as a starting point. Play Remasters and Remakes. Thankfully, due to the huge number of video game remasters and remakes that launch these days, you can often enjoy games made for older systems with a fresh coat of paint on a current console. Sometimes, these release in compilations, so you get multiple games from a series in one package. Below are a few examples of PS3 games you can play remastered on PS4: Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is a remaster of Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, along with loads of DLC. The Last of Us Remastered is an enhanced version of the monumental PS3 title. BioShock: The Collection bundles in remasters of BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite. While you're technically playing a PS4 game and not a PS3 title, these are effectively the same games with some small enhancements. If you missed out on the best of the PS3 generation but have a PS4, give these a try. Use Cross-Buy and Cross-Gen Offers. The only other way to play PS3 titles on your PS4 is through cross-buy promotions. These grant you access to a game on multiple systems when you buy it on one. For example, if you bought Doki-Doki Universe on PS3, you automatically have access to the PS4 version at no extra cost. Similarly, when the PS4 generation started, some cross-generational games also offered upgrades to the new system for a small fee. For instance, if you bought Battlefield 4 on PS3, you could upgrade to the PS4 version for another $10. Physical copies of the games had a code inside to activate the offer, while digital purchases automatically discounted the next-gen versions. Check your game library on PS4 to see if you have access to any of these. The codes have probably expired by now, but digital offers could still be valid. Workarounds to Play Your Favorite PS3 Games on PS4. While PS3 games don't work on PS4 directly, we've seen how to enjoy PS3 titles on your PS4 through other methods. Whether you subscribe to PS Now or check out the many remasters available, you'll find a way to play the PS3's top games on your PS4. Thankfully, the PS5 is backward-compatible with almost all PS4 games, but it still can't play PS3 titles. Can you play older titles on PlayStation 5? Here, we look at whether the console supports past-generation games. Ben is a Deputy Editor and the Onboarding Manager at MakeUseOf. He left his IT job to write full-time in 2016 and has never looked back. He's been covering tech tutorials, video game recommendations, and more as a professional writer for over seven years. Subscribe To Our Newsletter. Join our newsletter for tech tips, reviews, free ebooks, and exclusive deals! New PlayStation 3 game console does not play some older games. Sony's new PlayStation 3 game console can't play some of the older games for the original PlayStation and the upgrade PlayStation 3, a company official said today. Sony Corp. had billed PlayStation 3 as compatible with the previous PlayStation machines. But Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said some of the 8,000 older games weren't working properly on PS3, making the wrong sounds or images, and some couldn't be played at all. He declined to give a number for the games that weren't functioning, but he said the same problem is expected when the game console goes on sale in the U.S. on November 17. About 16,000 different games have been sold for the PlayStation and PlayStation 3 in North America. Fukuoka said the problems in playing the older games had been expected, and Sony announced the problem on its Web page Nov. 11, the day when the PS3 went on sale to lines of eager fans at Japanese retailers. Users can punch in the name of the PS or PS2 game on the Web page, and a list will pop up, telling you if the game can be played without problems or not. For example, all the "Biohazard" series games can be played without problem, except for one in which a virtual gun won't fire properly, according to Sony's Web page. "We are sorry for the game fans that they cannot play all the games," Fukuoka said. "But unfortunately some of these problems could not be avoided." What Will PS3 Games Look Like on the PS4? Backwards compatibility is one of those things you love or you simply can live without. Unlike a lot of things out there online, it's hard to find people that hate it. Most will take a little extra something as long as it doesn't cost them more money or take the place of other features on their precious game console. When current PS3s stopped including backwards compatibility a few years ago, there was a faint murmur to be heard in the community. A lot of people still liked to play the old Grand Theft Auto and Metal Gear Solid games, after all. All in all, though, most people did not miss it. Now we are faced with the release of the PS4 and history looks to be repeating itself, as the PS4 will not have native backwards compatibility with any past PlayStation system. However, there are other compatibility options being discussed by Sony, so let's take a look at what PS3 games may look like when they finally do hit the PS4 via other means. The Two Camps The first group of people talking about backwards compatibility seems to make the most sense to most people. We know the PlayStation 4 cannot play PlayStation 3 games via disc, but Sony will be adding in backwards compatibility via streaming services such as Gaikai further on down the line. PS3 games look great, everybody knows it, so you might as well let people continue to play them on their new Playstation 4s. Hopefully, these games will have visual enhancements that make them look even better on the PS4. Many of those gamers will sell their PS3 and its games because, eventually, they can play them on the PlayStation 4. The other camp of people say, "Always look ahead." In other words, keep your PS3 games on your PS3 - if you play them at all. These people like progress for the sake of it and want to be at the crest of the technological wave. This is an understandable position (well, kind of), but most folks simply don't have the money to simply ditch their old game console every time a new one comes out and there simply aren't enough launch titles available at most console launches to keep the hardcore gamer occupied for very long. So they hold on to their old consoles. This camp of people also agree that the games work and play best on their original system; after all a handful of PlayStation 2 games did not work on the launch PlayStation 3 units. But How Will They Look? The eventual phase-out of backwards compatibility on the PS3 was pretty understandable; as the years went by, more and more people were abandoning their PS2s for new, flashy PS3s. It was progress. Concurrently, many gamers were noticing that their PS2 games didn't look much better on the PS3, if they looked better at all. In fact, many complained that their PS2 games looked WORSE on the PS3. People complained about jagged graphics, graphic flashes, lag, and other issues. Some PS2 games wouldn't play at all on backwards-compatible- enabled PS3s. Many that wanted to still play their old PS2 games just kept their PS2s around for such occasions. So can we do better this time? Of course. Time and technology marches on and we should all expect to see a whole different animal this time. The issues with the PS3 backwards compatibility resulted from whether it was using hardware or software to run PS2 games, among other things, and we'll see these issues resolved this time around. Sony will have no doubt learned its lesson and will make adjustments. But will they actually look better? As you all probably know, the onus is on the actual game. No console is going to take a game that looks like crud and make it look like L.A. Noire (or whatever game you favor for its graphics). Game designers put everything they presumably can into the graphics on their game and ship it off. There's not much to be done after that. That being said, there IS room for improvement. Just as some saw some decline in graphics when playing a PS2 game on a PS3, we can see an improvement in graphics when playing a PS3 game on the PS4. Other consoles have done it. How much of an improvement, however, is anyone's guess. We're all keeping our fingers crossed that Sony will pull a rabbit out of a hat with this new console, so who knows? Additionally, we may see backwards compatibility come in the shape of re-releasing PlayStation 3 games on PlayStation 4 discs with updated graphics, similar to the releases of the past generation. With this method, we can see PlayStation 3 games rebuilt to take full advantage of the PlayStation 4's many features, which some gamers may prefer to just straight ports via streaming.