Sony filed a technology patent relating to video game trophy systems in games that weren't originally built with the trophy award system in their code. The system accounts for disc-based games, not downloadable or streamed titles, which then points to the Playstation 4. Sony revealed it was going to us the streaming technology of Gaikia to provide gamers with a catalogue of previous PlayStation console games.
The patent itself goes into great detail on how a machine (never specifying or requiring certain machine builds) might identify the original nature of a disc, locate key points in the game's codes and reward the player with Trophies in coordination with those key points, all without obstructing the game's original code. The whole point is Sony won't have to reproduce titles that already exist in order to give them Trophies for players to earn.
"Generally, trophies are an important part of modern gaming. However, often, older games do not have the capability to award trophies to player. In order to enhance the gaming experience, it would be desirable to be able to award trophies to users playing older games that were not introduced with the trophy feature," reads the patent filing.
This technology was patented by Sony, yet there are no indicators they have a desire to use it in the PS4 or even at all, aside from the co-inciding existence and timing of both things. Oddly, the emphasis on reading an older disc might suggest Sony is looking into true, disc-based backwards compatibility, but the technology can be implemented as software in a cloud-based system of distribution, like Gaikai.
"The present invention may be implemented in a distributed or "cloud" computing environment in which shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices over a network, which may be, for example, the Internet, "Cloud computing" typically involves delivering hosted services over the Internet," it reads.
Chances are those discs would in fact run on Sony's servers, they're just trying to streamline the implementation of Trophies rather than having to recode every game they want to put on the streaming system, with the intention of implementing the technology on their side of things.
Of all possible conclusions, we can almost be certain Playstation 1, 2 and 3 games released in whatever form on the PS4 will have Trophies in them.
