It seems as though Sony has filed for a patent that would allow it to add trophies to PlayStation One, Two, Three, and Minis that do not have trophy support already.
NeoGaf is showing that Sony is filing a patent for a technique that would allow the company to put trophies into games that do not have them, but does so in such a way that it does not interfere with the original game's programming. The abstract for the patent reads as such:
"A method and apparatus for adding trophy support [to] games that do not have trophies without modifying the original game. The method and apparatus are used to detect particular disk access, use the detected disk access as potential trophy triggers in games, and recognize the triggers while a game is played. Trophies are awarded based on the triggers, and the awarded trophies are stored."
The full patent application can be seen here.
This would be a huge benefit for players obsessed with obtaining trophies, which many early Playstation 3 games do not support, as well as the older console games available on the PlayStation Network. Many companies do not put trophies into older games simply because of the fact that it would cost too much money to go into the game and modify the code, then the game would have to be recertified. This technology would allow Sony to bypass that process and remotely patch the games.
This move could potentially boost sales of older games, as trophies and achievements have become the main bragging right for this generation of gamers. There are many different websites devoted to tracking trophies/achievements, as well as competitions for who can gather the most the fastest. This patent, if it goes through, will surely fuel many to take a trip down memory lane, and get the trophies to prove they were there.