Online play has been part of the emulation scene for ages, but emulators which are focused on more recent platforms have struggled with the fact that these systems require very complex infrastructure when it comes to replicating play over the internet.
The good news is that, as time goes on, things are improving – and a recent update on the excellent PS3 emulator RPCS3 proves that.
As reported by Games Radar, the development team behind the emulator has just released a new video which details the many upgrades that are being made to RPCN, RPCS3's matchmaking server.
Games now supported for online play include Peace Walker in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Soul Calibur V, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken 6, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Demon's Souls and Minecraft.
"Not only are more games supported," reads the video description, "but we now support adding friends to your RPCN account and inviting them to matches similar to how it worked on PSN on a real PS3! Some games even have working leaderboards."
While many official PS3 servers are still active, there will be a day when they go offline, which makes the continued development of emulators like RPCS3 all the more important; online play is such a massive part of gaming now that it needs to be preserved if future generations are going to be able to experience games the way they were intended to be played.