Sony has posted job listings for Software Engineers to work on Virtual Machines for the PlayStation brand, with team members being a “part of extending and improving the virtual machines which SCE currently uses across many platforms.”

Virtual machines essentially function as software-based emulators of computers, allowing a machine to think and act like a different platform. This is especially useful when running multiple operating systems on the same system but has also found use in video game emulators to allow a current console to run software from previous generations’ devices.

What’s especially interesting is that the required skills include “Understanding of low-level PlayStation 3 system, PS Vita system, and PlayStation 4 system” and “Experience writing and debugging low-level code for PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and PlayStation 4”. Preferred skills also include “Experience with PlayStation Edge Geometry”, “SPU coding and optimization” and “Assembly-level optimizations (i.e. PPU/SPU)” – all which have to do with the PS3’s Cell technology.

Sony has stated before that it will offer PS3 games for the PS4 via Cloud streaming through PlayStation Now. However, what does that say about the requirements for PS Vita experience? Is it possible that Sony could be looking to develop PS3/PS Vita emulators alongside PS1/PS2 emulators for the PS4 some time down the road?

This is far from confirmation for the same, but it’s definitely intriguing. To back it up there was a report not too long ago about Sony working on emulation for older games on the PS4. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

The first emulator to launch is Snes9x EX+ which will feature “near complete game compatibility”. Combined with the sheer amount of titles released across all the major handhelds and consoles of the past few decades, the OUYA seems set in terms of playable titles.

It will be interesting to see how the respective game companies respond to this. For what it’s worth, they haven’t really persecuted emulator developers as far as the PC platform is concerned. But if the emulators become a major source of revenue for the OUYA, the legal eagles could come, er, pecking.

We’ll see how the situation plays out when the console releases today for the various Kickstarter backers.