PlayStation 2 emulators
Developer | Sony Computer Entertainment |
---|---|
Type | Home video game console |
Generation | Sixth |
Release date | PlayStation 2 JP: 4 March 2000 |
Discontinued | JP: 28 December 2012 WW: 4 January 2013 |
Predecessor | PlayStation |
Successor | PlayStation 3 |
Emulated | ✓ |
- For emulators that run on the PlayStation 2, see Emulators on PS2.
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a sixth-generation console released by Sony on October 26, 2000, and it was retailed for $299.99. It has the Emotion Engine CPU based on the MIPS R5900 at 300 MHz with 32 MBs of RDRAM system memory and 4 MBs of eDRAM (VRAM). Its GPU was a custom Graphics Synthesizer, which ran at 150 MHz. It became the highest-selling console of all time, with over 155 million units sold.
Announced in 1999, Sony began developing the console after the immense success of the PlayStation. The PlayStation 2 offered backward-compatibility for the PlayStation DualShock controller, as well as its games.[1]
The PlayStation 2 received widespread critical acclaim upon release. A total of over 4,000 game titles were released worldwide, with over 1.5 billion copies sold. In 2004, Sony released a smaller, lighter revision of the console known as the PS2 Slim. Even after the release of its successor, the PlayStation 3, it remained popular well into the seventh generation. It continued to be produced until 2013 when Sony finally announced that it had been discontinued after over twelve years of production, one of the longest lifespans of any video game console. By the end of its life, two new games were launched posthumously for the console.[1]
Contents
- 1 Emulators
- 2 Enhancements
- 3 Hardware features and accessories
- 4 Arcade Hardware variations
- 5 PSX
- 6 Emulation issues
- 7 See also
- 8 External links
- 9 References
Emulators[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Playable state in the PCSX2 compatibility list purposely doesn't include minor performance and graphical issues both with SW and HW renderers. PCSX2 team do not accept issues relating to upscaling at this time.[1] While the compatibility list categorizes majority games as playable, some users may encounter issues that impact their individual experience and consider them unplayable.
Comparisons[edit]
- PCSX2
- Started sometime in mid 2001, with its first release on March 23, 2002. It was the first PS2 emulator to boot games on Dec 19, 2002. Succeeding their earlier PCSX PlayStation emulator, PCSX2 dedicated its development to faithfully replicating the PS2 experience thanks to the continuous improvements focusing on compatibility and performance. In the last years, PCSX2 nightly builds boast a sleek, modern QT GUI and a pluginless design, eliminating the headaches of plugin configuration and making all features readily available. PCSX2 also has lots of enhancements and supports some of the hardware features, peripherals of the PlayStation 2.
- PCSX2 has great compatibility, and it is capable of playing most titles without any major glitches however some titles[2] still need software rendering or hacks to run without any major issues. For checking if your games works or needs any fixes, tweaks, or settings, see these sources;
- PCSX2 GameDB/GameIndex - GameIndex is a database developed for PCSX2 that automatically configures the emulator for each game, ensuring optimal experience without requiring manual adjustments by the user.
- PCSX2 Wiki - Note that the wiki can contain outdated information. It is encouraged to do personal testing and contribute to the wiki.
- Official Compatibility List
- PCSX2 github issues
- AetherSX2
- A closed-source freeware emulator partially forked from PCSX2. It's designed to be optimal for ARM-based platforms, primarily those running Android. It has multiple versions; The latest google play version which contains ads while an ad free Alpha version can be downloaded directly from the AetherSX2 website. Development was stopped due to various dramas: developers calls it quits, shuts down site leaving a message citing "complaints, demands, and death threats" made to him during development process and it is no longer on the Google Play Store. Using NetherSX2 patches heavily recommended.
- EtherealSX2
- Source code for the future container, and eventual core, that will make up the EtherealSX2 emulator. It's main purpose is to be an up to date port of PCSX2 for modern mobile devices while being a proper successor to AetherSX2.
- LRPS2
- A complete hard fork of PCSX2 for RetroArch and its own separate emulator at this point, so there is no point in chasing after any kind of upstream and it is under development. Heavily recommended to use standalone PCSX2 or XBSX2 builds instead, since those projects are significantly more actively developed, some fixes, enhancements and hardware features haven't been implemented in this one. However, because it's a libretro core, you can still leverage some of the libretro enhancement features with this core specifically.
- LRPS2 has an active external repository outside the main libretro github repo. Also, Hans-Kristian Arntzen (Themaister)'s recent involvement has enabled the integration of the paraLLEl-GS renderer into the core.
- Play!
- Development is almost all done by the single maintainer jpd002. Also, unlike PCSX2 it's supports Namco System 2x6 variations and it has a playable Android and iOS port.
- DobieStation
- Many titles can go ingame, focused on accuracy, and therefore inherently slower than Play! or PCSX2.
- HPS2x64
- Can also run quite a few commercial games, but probably less so, and at slower speeds than Play!. It also emulates and focuses more on PlayStation emulation. There is also a mirror that has fixes done to it.
- DamonPS2
- Closed-source payware/malware emulator only for Android, illegally based on PCSX2, Play! and PPSSPP. It can hardly run any games and behaves very much like virus software. It is the worst PS2 emulator and as such, it is NOT recommended under any circumstance. DamonPS2 uses unnecessary DRM, making the emulator useless without an internet connection.
Enhancements[edit]
Side note: Please don't bump/spam GitHub threads/issues and feature request pages.
Name | PCSX2 | Play! | AetherSX2 XBSX2.0 |
Official Sony emulators | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Graphics | Resizable Internal Resolution | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ? | ||||||
Texture Replacement | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N3 1] | |||||||
Widescreen hack | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
Pre-rendering AA (MSAA, SSAA) |
~[N3 2] | ✗ | ✗ | ? | |||||||
Ray-tracing (DXR, VRT and MRT) |
Implementing ray-tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. However you can try "Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination" shader using ReShade.[3][4] | ||||||||||
RTX Remix | Implementing RTX Remix technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future. Besides, PCSX2 already supports most of RTX Remix features such as texture replacement etc. On top of that you can use ReShade for post-processing effects. | ||||||||||
Force Texture LOD0/Enhanced Mipmap Modes | There was a pull request for bringing back enhanced mipmapping modes to PCSX2 but it's closed. Recently LRPS2 libretro core got updated with Force Texture LOD0 setting. | ||||||||||
Performance | Overclock | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ||||||
Internal Framerate Hack | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
Preload optical disc image to RAM For users with sluggish multi-platter HDDs or plagued by horrible seek times, this enhancement might offer smoother experience, potentially reduced power consumption; it also shines when disc images reside on a network drive. Although keep in mind that preloading image would take some time, and it will require additional amount of RAM capacity. |
✓* | ? | ? | ✗ | |||||||
Frame generation technologies (LSFG, DLSS-G, ExtraSS and AFMF) |
Implementing frame generation technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future, however post-processing techniques such as motion interpolation is quite possible. Input latency will be a crucial factor, but its impact likely varies depending on the specific technique employed, it's recommended to use after applying the "Internal Framerate Hack" and "skip presenting duplicate frames option". While AFMF or LSFG can be used with PCSX2, please be aware that some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time. | ||||||||||
Rendering latency reduction technologies (LatencyFleX, Reflex and Anti-Lag+) |
While most emulators offer frame pacing or framebuffer latency control options, implementing rendering latency reduction technologies isn't currently feasible. This is likely doesn't offer enough benefit to justify the development effort. | ||||||||||
Post-Processing | Deinterlacing Since most PlayStation 2 games run at interlaced resolutions like 480i, deinterlacing is a significant enhancement for PlayStation 2 emulators. See List of PlayStation 2 games with alternative display modes. |
✓* | ? | ✓ | ? | ||||||
Post-rendering AA (FXAA, TXAA and MLAA/SMAA) |
✓ | ? | ✓ | ? | |||||||
Post-rendering scaling (Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and FSR 1) |
✓ | ? | ✓ | ? | |||||||
Filters | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
AI-powered filter compatible (Freestyle) |
✓* | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
Shader Chain | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||||
Inverse tone mapping compatible | ✓[N3 3] | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
TAS features | Macros/Scripts/Lua | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✗ | ||||||
Rewind | ✗* | ✗ | ✗* | ✗ | |||||||
Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
Savestates | ✓ | ? | ✗ | ✗ | |||||||
Movie recording/playback | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |||||||
Controls | True/dual analog control | ✓* | ? | ? | ? | ||||||
Mouse Injector Compatible | ✓* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||||
Input lag-mitigating technique | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||||
Quality of life | Pause/Resume Emulation | ✓ | ? | ✓ | ? | ||||||
Built-in mod editor and manager | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |||||||
Built-in Cheat Manager | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
Built-in Patch Manager | ✓* | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |||||||
Built-in Custom resolution/CRTSwitchRes For using this on Windows OS you need CRT Emudriver. Another option is using EDID editor tool such as "Custom Resolution Utility". |
✗* | ✗ | ✗ | ~* | |||||||
Streamable compression format | ✓ | ✗ | ? | ✗ | |||||||
Per-Game Profiles | ✓ | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
Command Line Options | ✓* | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
On-Screen Display Showcases messages, controller input state which is useful for speedrunners, performance data, active settings, and various notifications. |
✓ | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
Variable Refresh Rate compatible | ✓* | ~[N3 4] | ? | ✗ | |||||||
Big Picture Mode | ✓ | ? | ? | ? | |||||||
Misc | RetroAchievements | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ~[N3 1] | ||||||
EmuVR support | Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | ||||||||||
AI Service With the help of OCR and other techniques, the AI service can provide a live translation of a game, or text-to-speech capabilities for the visually impaired among other things, either on demand or automatically. |
Exclusive to libretro cores at the moment. | ||||||||||
Free Look Free Look is a enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera. |
While freecam would be technically possible, its requires per-game patches like Gran Turismo 4 360 Chase Cam by "Vyerq/unko_". Said patches would require a significant amount of time to reverse the game's engine, which means that only someone talented with enough dedication to a single game could do it. There is a feature request for adding this enhancement feature to PCSX2 emulator. Also see ps2 cam acolyte project. | ||||||||||
Debug Features | ✓[N3 5] | ? | ? | ✗ |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 No PS2 game has trophy support or enhancements for PS3 backwards compatibility but PS2 games that received HD ports, do.
- ↑ SSAA is possible with paraLLEl-GS builds. Also see PCSX2 Forum Thread: Future anti-aliasing implementations?
- ↑ RTX HDR is compatible with PCSX2, there is a feature request for direct HDR output support similar to Dolphin and Retroarch implementation.
- ↑ Exclusive to libretro core version.
- ↑ Pull requests for PCSX2 debug features.
Hardware features and accessories[edit]
Side note: Please don't bump/spam GitHub threads/issues and feature request pages.
Name | PCSX2 | Play! | AetherSX2 XBSX2.0 |
Official Sony emulators[N2 1] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
System Menu | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | |
DVD player | ~ | ✗ | ? | ✓ | |
PlayStation Backwards Compatibility | ~ | ✗ | ~ | ✓ | |
DTS Surround (DVD-Video only) Dolby Digital 5.1 Dolby Pro Logic II |
~* | ? | ? | ✓ | |
Development Kits | ~ | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
Linux for PlayStation 2 | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ? | |
Communication | PocketStation communication | ~ | ✗ | ~ | ✓ |
PSP communication | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ~[N2 2] | |
LAN (Slim models) |
✓ | TBD | ~ | ✓ | |
LAN tunneling | ✓ | TBD | ~ | ✓ | |
i.LINK | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |
Inputs | Pressure Sensitive Buttons | ~ | ✗ | ? | ✓ |
Vibration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Motion control (Tilt sensor)[N2 3] | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |
Accessories | |||||
Network Adapter (Fat models) |
✓ | TBD | ~ | ✓ | |
ASCII Trance Vibrator | ✓* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
Audio | USB Headset | ✓ | TBD | TBD | ✓ |
SingStar Microphone | ✓ | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
Logitech (Rock Band / Guitar Hero / Konami) Microphone | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
WebCam | Konami Capture Eye | ✓ | ✗ | TBD | TBD |
Sony EyeToy | ✓ | ✗ | TBD | ✓ | |
LightGun | Konami Justifier/Hyper Blaster | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | TBD |
GunCon | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
GunCon 2 | ✓* | ✗ | TBD | ✓ | |
Controller | |||||
Multitap | ✓[N2 4] | TBD | TBD | ✓ | |
DJ Hero Turntable | ✓* | ✗ | TBD | TBD | |
Buzz! Controller | ✓* | ✓ | TBD | TBD | |
NeGcon | ✓* | ? | ✗ | ? | |
Jogcon | ✓* | ? | ✗ | ? | |
Densha de GO! (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) | ~* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
Pop'n Music Controller | ✓* | ✗ | ✗ | ? | |
Guitar | ✓* | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
USB Keyboard & Mouse | ✓ | TBD | TBD | ✓ | |
DVD Remote Control | ✗* | ? | ? | ✗* | |
Motion | Gametrak | ✓* | ✗ | TBD | TBD |
RealPlay | ✓* | ✗ | TBD | TBD | |
Printer | GamePrint① | ~* | ✗ | TBD | TBD |
GamePrint② | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
Epson printer | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
HMD | Sony PUD-J5A | ✗* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD |
Storage | Hard Disk Drive | ~*[N2 5] | ✗ | ? | ? |
USB Mass storage | ✓* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD | |
PictureParadise | ✓* | ✗ | ✗ | TBD |
- ↑ ps2_emu: peripheral support
- ↑ PSP communication does not work on PS4 and PS5. However, Jak X: Combat Racing can detect Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection in place of Daxter.
- ↑ SplitFish Motion FX Adapter attached to DualShock 2 and Fanatec Zero G Controller are controllers with implemented accelerometer support. They are allowing remap motion controls to right or left stick helping with camera control or steering vehicles by tilting controller left or right.
- ↑ Additional Memory Card slots must be enabled in the .ini file.
- ↑ Doesn't appear in the system's browser menu.
System Menu[edit]
Initial Program Loader (IPL) of the PlayStation 2 and its top level interface, allowing the player to load discs, change settings, and manage up to two memory cards at once. Use this dumper tool for ROM0, ROM1, ROM2, NVM and MEC files which will affect IPL’s console model number recognition positively when used with latest PCSX2 builds (see #DVD_player section for more information).
PlayStation Backwards Compatibility[edit]
Wikipedia:List_of_PlayStation_games_incompatible_with_PlayStation_2
- PCSX2: Partially compatible. Only PS2 BIOSes from original fat models will be able to run PS1 games with PCSX2 due to the IOP changes Sony made on the slims. Those later models PS1 backwards compatibility feature simply not supported in PCSX2 right now.
- Play!: Play has no support for backwards compatibility.
- Official Sony emulators: PlayStation 3's ps2_emu firmware used for PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility and ps1_emu for PlayStation backwards compatibility. See Official_emulators for more information.
PocketStation communication[edit]
Wikipedia:PocketStation#Compatible_games
- PCSX2: PS1 memory cards will appear in the PS2 BIOS as Pocketstation devices. This is due to a hack that was required for some Pocketstation compatible games to detect memory cards, and is strictly a visual side-effect with no performance or compatibility issues.
- Official Sony emulators: PocketStation communication with PlayStation 3 system is possible with a "memory card adaptor for PlayStation 3".
PSP communication[edit]
List of PlayStation 2 games with PSP connectivity
- PCSX2 has no support for PSP communication at the moment.
- Official Sony emulators: PlayStation 3's ps2_emu firmware supports PSP<->ps2_emu communication. This feature shouldn't be confused with PSP-PlayStation 3 direct communication.
i.LINK[edit]
S400 Firewire cable for connecting two PS2 console together and play split screen on separate TVs. Not all games supported it and it was dropped in later versions of the console. Currently no emulators support it.
Linux for PlayStation 2[edit]
- For Recommended Linux distributions, see Recommended Linux distros.
- For Ports of the Linux kernel on consoles, see Homebrew and hack Roms#Operating_systems.
- For Running Linux on PlayStation 3 (using OtherOS), see PlayStation 3 emulators#OtherOS.
Linux for PlayStation 2 (or PS2 Linux) is a kit released by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2002 that allows the PlayStation 2 console to be used as a personal computer similar to OtherOS feature on PlayStation 3. It included a Linux-based operating system, a USB keyboard and mouse, a VGA adapter, a PS2 network adapter (Ethernet only), and a 40 GB hard disk drive (HDD). An 8 MB memory card is required; it must be formatted during installation, erasing all data previously saved on it, though afterwards the remaining space may be used for savegames.[5]
- PCSX2 doesn't support Linux for PlayStation 2 emulation at the moment, according to the PCSX2 wiki.[6] It likely requires MagicGate emulation to be implemented before further development can proceed?
- Official Sony emulators (ps2_emu for PlayStation 3) placeholder text. It's already supports OtherOS feature though.
Pressure Sensitive Buttons[edit]
The DualShock 2 has all buttons and sticks with variable pressure states (except for L3, R3, Start, & Select).
Most PS2 games do not require this feature, instead preferring to use the triggers and/or joysticks for pressure-sensitive actions (e.g., sneaking past the sleeping dog in Chulip), but a select few do. Some examples include:
- All three attack buttons in The Bouncer precipitate different attacks based on whether the press is light, medium, or strong. The same goes for the musical game Mad Maestro.
- Star Ocean 3 has a musical item that plays different melodies depending on pressure, and they're required for progressing.
Games requiring variable trigger pressure need physical controllers with analog sticks, which is fortunately a standard feature of most half-decent controllers on the market. Pressure-sensitive face buttons, on the other hand, haven't appeared on any standard PlayStation controllers since the DualShock 3 (DualShock 4 removed this feature), and it's very rare for a third-party controller to feature them either.
- Current situation
-
- DualShock 2 can be used only with adaptes emulating DualShock 3. Bliss-Box API is not supported. DualShock 3 can be used only with DsHidMini community driver and a custom XInput proxy DLL. Support for official Sony driver has been dropped after moving from Wx to Qt environment. Althrough old v1.7.3771 Wx build still allows to run games with Official Sony driver support or you can wait for this pull request: native DualShock 3 support for Qt builds in Windows using official Sony driver. Other controllers with pressure-sensitive buttons like Xbox controller are not supported. This pull request completely replaces all pad code for Qt.
- PCSX2 QT builds guide
-
- Install DsHidMini - Set DsHidMini to SXS mode - Drop DsHidMini's custom Xinput DLL into the PCSX2 folder - Enable the Xinput source in PCSX2 - Use "Automatic Binding" button and select Xinput, or rebind to L2/R2 or use the pressure modifier(default at 50%).[7]
- PCSX2 wxWidgets builds guide
-
- To know if your controller supports it, open the LilyPad plugin settings by going to the PCSX2 menu and selecting "Config", "Controllers (PAD)", and "Plugin Settings". At the LilyPad plugin popup, select your gamepad from the list of detected controllers in the "Device Diagnostics" box in the lower left, then click the "Test Device" button. A small popup window will appear, showing a list of all the gamepad's buttons and their current state. 0.000 = indicates unpressed, 1.000 = indicates fully depressed. Roll either analog stick around. See how the values change from 0.000 to 0.xyz, with the .xyz values shifting incrementally. These changing .xyz values show how the plugin detects different changes in angle as you move the analog stick around. Now press any of the buttons normally used by games, i.e., the triangle/square/cross/circle buttons. See how the values immediately shift from 0.000 (unpressed) directly to 1.000 (pressed) If your gamepad really has pressure-sensitive buttons, you'll see gradual 0.xyz changes as you slowly press each button, just like the different changes in angle as you move the analog sticks around. If the buttons change from 0.000 directly to 1.000, that proves your gamepad buttons aren't pressure-sensitive and are merely tracking the pressed/unpressed state. The solution would be to either buy an official DualShock 2 or 3 controller (The Original Xbox Controller is not supported) and use an appropriate 3rd party driver such as SCP Driver Package.
- Also you can map the button to a rarely used trigger/stick in LilyPad;
- Open the gamepad plugin configuration and choosing a rarely used key - for example, the lower shoulder button L2 - and remapping it to the circle button and setting the sensitivity to 0.500 or thereabouts. In the game, merely use the remapped L2@circle button to deliver "light" tap/hold tunes, while the regular circle button can be used normally to deliver "hard" tap/hold tunes.
- Also you can map the button to a rarely used trigger/stick in LilyPad;
DVD player[edit]
PS2's DVD player was a versatile and powerful feature for its time, it supports PlayStation2 format DVD-ROM, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 1 format CD-ROM and offering great playback compatibility for the most common disc formats. While it lacked official support for DVD Audio and VCD, its ability to play DVD Video and Audio CDs, along with additional options like progressive scan and upscaling, made it a compelling choice for entertainment and multimedia playback. Also Interactive film/movie formats like DVDi and DVDPG supported. Lastly, PlayStation 2 supports both DVD5 (single-layer, 4.7 GB) and DVD9 (dual-layer, 8.5 GB) DVD-ROM discs. However, some users report encountering issues with DVD9 discs, particularly on older PS2 FAT models.[8].
To begin with, when a disc is inserted the request goes through what's known as a 'mechacon'. This chip's firmware determines whether or not a disc is valid, or should be ignored. As mentioned above, you can have PS2 CD, PS2 DVD, PSX CD, DVD VIDEO and AUDIO CD. If none of those apply, the mechacon will ignore the request and return an error, which then results in the scary red 'eject the disc'. After it has been identified it then gets sent to the respective routine to process it; PS2 DVD/CD; PS2LOGO PSX CD; PSXDRV DVD VIDEO; DVDDRV AUDIO CD; Present the browser Now, you might be asking yourself, what do each of those do? Well, PS2LOGO is the program responsible for decrypting the PS2 LOGO that you see on startup. Any failure will return you to the same red block error screen. PSXDRV is the PS2's native emulation system for PS1 titles. Since It doesn't run through PS2LOGO, there's no encryption, so you can hotswap on the browser and boot the games you own. DVDDRV is the DVD Player, running native on the EE/GS.[9] |
- PCSX2 has CD-ROM and DVD-ROM support so you can boot your game directly from your physical discs (demonstration), however there are no DVD-Video support at the moment. Audio CDs only supported when disc images virtually mounted[10] until .cue support added to the emulator. See DVD-Video compatibility, CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format + Audio CD support feature request pages, #MagicGate section and MechaResearch project for more information.
- DVD-Video, DVDi and even FreeDVDBoot works in custom MagicGate builds. One of them is PCSX2's MagicGate branch of 987123879113 fork. Other option is AKuHAK's custom build which it comes with FMCB (softmod) installed to memory card, using "MTVU" speedhack, "software mode" for GS and "screen offset" option is recommended with this custom build.
- Requires a complete BIOS dump (4MB ROM0 + 4MB ROM1 + NVRAM), use this dumper tool for dumping those files from your PlayStation 2. Also requires MagicGate key files (civ.bin, cks.bin, eks.bin, and kek.bin).
- Keep in mind that there will be no audio during DVD-Video playback with 987123879113's MagicGate branch but there is no such problem with AKuHAK's custom build mentioned above. If your DVD-Video image has region-locked copy protection, change your BIOS region to match it. For other copy protection and encryption techniques, you may encounter artifacts when trying to play the disc image, using VLC media player software is recommended for those situations.
- PlayStation 3 has no PlayStation 2 DVD player interface support because: no emulation process needed to handle DVD-Video. PlayStation 3 already features a slot-loading 2× speed Blu-ray Disc drive for BD-ROM, PlayStation2 format DVD-ROM, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 1 format CD-ROM, Blu-ray Disc Video, DVD-Video, and Audio CDs. Having said that there is no support for VCDs for PlayStation 3 just like PlayStation 2.
- See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.
- See Ripping games.
LAN tunneling[edit]
- Offline multiplayer gaming on the PS2 home console over a LAN (local area network) multiplayer games, just like System Link for XBOX systems. Over time, most private game servers have been shut down. However, computer programs such as XBSlink, SVDL and XLink Kai allow users to play multiplayer for LAN supported PS2 games by using a network configuration that simulates a worldwide LAN.
Accessories[edit]
Hard Disk Drive[edit]
The PS2 Hard Disk Drive was an official peripheral released by Sony for the PlayStation 2 console. It launched in July 2001 in Japan and March 2004 in North America. The HDD required the Network Adapter to function, because of this it's important to know that not all PS2 models supported the HDD. Only the fat models (SCPH-30000 to SCPH-50000 series) had the Expansion Bay needed to connect the Network Adapter for Hard Drive. As stated in the Network Adapter section, Slim models don't have an external interface to connect a Network Adaptor. Instead, the Ethernet functionality of the Network Adaptor has been integrated onto the motherboard, while the ATA/IDE interface was dropped, because of this slim models have no Hard Drive support.
PlayStation 2 Hard Drive offered;
- Ability to install and run Linux using Linux for PlayStation 2 disc
- Extra network functionalities, such as: accessing online content (game demos and updates etc) from platforms like PlayStation Broadband Navigator and PlayOnline Viewer. Also some of the titles such as: Pop'n Music Puzzle-dama Online requires an installation to the PS2 HDD in order to play, as the game boots from the PlayStation Broadband Navigator or HDD Utility Disc, and does not require the game disc or a registration code.
EyeToy[edit]
The EyeToy is a device similar to a camera or a webcam. It's an accessory developed by Sony and manufactured by Logitech. It is used in some PS2 games to interact physically through motion detection. The EyeToy device can be emulated with PCSX2. It also works natively with the PlayStation 3.
DVD Remote Control[edit]
This peripheral is mainly used for playing DVD-Videos on the PlayStation 2. You can even play games with it as long they support digital control. There's a setting in the system configuration menu that says "Remote Gameplay Function." Set this to on for playing games with this peripheral.
USB plugin for wxWidgets builds[edit]
Some PS2 games use a USB adapter with a module/dongle consisting of two jack ports for microphones. Installments from the SingStar series on the PS2 could use microphones (Sometimes bundled with these game discs) with this method.
- These adapters could either formally or informally be called:
- SingStar USB Converter (Official)
- SingStar USB Converter Box (Official)
- SingStar USB Microphone Converter
- SingStar Microphone USB Adapter/Converter
- SingStar USB Converter Microphone Adapter
Steering wheels are also supported for many racing games via a USB adapter.
While PCSX2 isn't benefiting from a working USB plugin in its original release, Jackun, a PCSX2 plugin author, made a USB plugin that supports a microphone in most games and even a steering wheel for racing games.
- A compatibility list of the working titles with this plugin can be found here.
Arcade Hardware variations[edit]
Notice that Play! is still in relatively early stages so the gaming experience might not be perfect.
Also there are pull requests and feature requests for implementing some of these variations or its features to these emulators, so it is being worked on actively.[2]
Konami Python 1/Konami Bemani Python 1/Konami Python Satellite Terminal[edit]
- Currently, there is no emulator that supports this variation.
Konami Python 2/Konami Bemani Python 2[edit]
Konami Python 2 is a Konami arcade system based on PlayStation 2 hardware.
- A fork of PCSX2 (987123879113) supports the emulation of the Konami Python 2 (Guide). This fork requires MagicGate key files into the bios folder (civ.bin, cks.bin, eks.bin, and kek.bin) and you must use "ps2-0190j-20030822.bin" BIOS.
- This fork does not and will never support Python 1 or system 246/256 games as those would require much more work than a simple USB device to make work. The MagicGate code being used in this fork also does not support memory card MagicGate encryption stuff properly (the memory card dongles used for Python 1 and System 246/256) so those platforms aren't really any closer to working compared to before.
- MAME romsets of Python 2 games won't work on this fork as they are missing ILINK_ID files.
Namco System 246 #1/Namco System 246 #2/Namco System 246 #3[edit]
Namco 246 is a series of Namco arcade system based on PlayStation 2 hardware, Featuring a MIPS II R3000A IOP Sub-CPU.
- Play! supports the emulation of this hardware. Security dongle images and disc images have to be placed inside the arcaderoms subdirectory of Play! Data Files directory.
O.R.B.S (Over Reality Booster System)[edit]
Placeholder text for a VR cabinet that never made it pass testing.
Namco System 256 #1/Namco System 256 #2[edit]
Namco 256 is a series of Namco arcade system based on PlayStation 2 hardware, Featuring a MIPS II R3000A IOP Sub-CPU. System 256 comes with larger VRAM and overclocked CPU compared to System 246.
- Play! supports the emulation of this hardware. Security dongle images and disc images have to be placed inside the arcaderoms subdirectory of Play! Data Files directory.
Namco System Super 256[edit]
- Play! supports the emulation of this hardware. Security dongle images and disc images have to be placed inside the arcaderoms subdirectory of Play! Data Files directory.
Namco System 147[edit]
- Currently, there is no emulator that supports this variation, however it is being worked on in Play! at the moment.
PSX[edit]
Not to be confused with the original PlayStation.
The PSX is a Sony digital video recorder with a fully integrated PS2 console. It was also the first device to use Sony's XrossMediaBar (XMB) graphical user interface, which was later used on the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation 3, some Blu-ray Disc players, and 2008-era BRAVIA TVs.
None of the PSX features have been emulated yet.
Twitter user @DiscoStarslayer claims to be working on bypassing the HDD encryption of the PSX, which could result in this hardware being emulated, and it would allow for replacing the HDD in those consoles. This user also encourages dumping the content of the HDD of your PSX using a guide made by a PCSX2 contributor called 987123879113
See Home Media Player.
Emulation issues[edit]
Despite a large interest in PlayStation 2 emulation due to its sizable collection of games, it is still one of the harder consoles to emulate for several reasons.
Many people believe that the PlayStation 2's main CPU, the Emotion Engine, due to its R5900-based core clocked at 294 MHz (299 MHz on later revisions), would make emulation easy on modern hardware. However, this is not the case because the clock speed of the emulated CPU is not necessarily indicative of the ease of emulation (e.g., Sega Saturn emulation). The complexity of the Emotion Engine, which includes custom components like the FPU co-processor, two Vector Units, and the Subsystem Interface (SIF), which together work asynchronously to comprise the 128-bit Emotion Engine. Emulating them perfectly with correct timing requires an enormous amount of power. Additionally, the MIPS architecture, used by both the PlayStation 1 and 2, differs significantly from the x86 architecture used by modern PCs. Other factors, such as the complex Graphics Interface, Memory Interface, DMA Unit, and IPU, further contribute to the difficulties of emulating the PlayStation 2.[3]
- While discussing the Emotion Engine and it's custom sub-components, it's important to mention the challenges of emulating the PlayStation 2's floating-point unit (FPU), because it doesn’t follow the IEEE standard. To keep it simple, just changing a couple of numbers will cause glitches to occur to the game’s graphic (VU) and logic (EE), resulting in things like broken AI, odd behaviors, and/or graphical bugs. While PCSX2 allows for either clamping/rounding on both VU and EE as a solution to fix these glitches, it remains by far not the most accurate way to emulate the PlayStation 2's FPU.[4][5][6] However, there's promising news: a new "Soft FPU" is being developed for PCSX2, which aims to provide a more accurate emulation of the PlayStation 2's FPU.
IOP (I/O Processor); MIPS R3000A (PS1 main processor) used in PS2 since SCPH-10000 to SCPH-700XX. Runs at a 36.864 MHz or a 33.8688 MHz (underclocked when in compatibility mode) clock speed. It is connected to an external 2 MB EDO-RAM chip. Later got replaced by a new IOP based around a PowerPC 405 core, but with an additional MIPS core. Handles peripheral devices, memory management, and other system tasks. Less complex than the EE but still requires accurate emulation to ensure correct game behavior.
SPU2 (Sound Processing Unit 2); Dedicated to audio processing, including sound effects and music. Its unique architecture and real-time audio processing capabilities pose significant emulation hurdles.
MechaCon; Dedicated chip handles various tasks, including PlayStation 2 system security, game disc security, MagicGate, and KELF file decryption. MagicGate is an encryption technology embedded within specific PlayStation 2 memory cards, which is relies on the MechaCon chip for security functionalities. Emulating MagicGate presents unique challenges because replicating its encryption process and hardware verification can be difficult and raising concerns about copyright situation [11][12]. Having said that, there are PCSX2 forks for emulating MagicGate, although you need MagicGate keys. See Konami Python 2 and #DVD player sections. Also see Legal Status of Emulation and Copy protection#Hardware-based protection.
To conclude the problems with PlayStation 2 emulation, we come to Graphics Synthesizer (GS) and hardware rendering. The PlayStation 2’s graphics pipeline acts very differently from modern GPU cards, and emulating it in hardware mode with any degree of accuracy is difficult. This is due in part to the versatility of the PlayStation 2, the fact that it doesn’t use fixed shaders, or that even the games themselves do not use a consistent formula to achieve different graphical effects. Various emulation enhancements like display resolution scaling lead to the typical “black lines glitch” because of the use of a non-integer resolution. While hardware renderer on PCSX2 has significantly improved in recent years, especially after dropping support for plugins like GSdx, there are still considerable amount of games requires “software rendering” to fix many common glitches, which is significantly increases CPU ST performance requirement for the emulation and eliminating visual enhancement options. Recently there is a new project called "paraLLEl-GS" announced for compute shader emulation of the PlayStation 2 Graphics Synthesizer, similar to other compute shader renderers. The end goal of this project is to be a no-compromises PS2 graphics emulation, i.e., retain the accuracy of a CPU software renderer while supporting upscaling / super-sampling and be fast enough to do so on modest GPU hardware. See this blog post for more information about the project.
In summary, The PlayStation 2 is a very complex machine that even game developers struggled to work with and it is difficult to achieve close-to-perfection PlayStation 2 emulation with actual PC hardware.
For more information about PlayStation 2 hardware and reverse engineering;
- FOSDEM 2021 - The PlayStation 2: From Emotion to Emulation, Celebrating 20 Years of Reverse Engineering
- MVG: Why was the Sony PlayStation 2 so hard to develop games for?, How the Sony Playstation 2 Security Was Defeated, Was the PS2 "Emotion Engine" over hyped?
- Rodrigo Copetti's PlayStation 2 Architecture Practical Analysis
- ps2tek: Documentation on PS2 internals
- PSDevWiki: PlayStation 2
- emudev: Dynarec
- fobes.dev
- (Reddit Thread) ELI5: Why do PS2 emulation be like that?
- Implicit Conversions: The Origin Story - From Self-Taught Developer to Emulation Expert
- PCSX2: Blog
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- PlayStation 2 DataCenter - Tons of PS2-related things. Emulator files like plugins, game manuals, game configurations, and many tutorials are just some of the things you'll find here.
- arcadeotaku: Namco System 246/256
- digitpress forum - Master List of PS2 CD-Based Games
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 PlayStation 2 at Wikipedia
- ↑ Feature request: support for Namco Arcade systems based on PS2 for PCSX2, 2x6 touchscreen support for Play!
- ↑ https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Why-is-PCSX2-slow
- ↑ https://wiki.pcsx2.net/PCSX2_Documentation/Nightmare_on_Floating-Point_Street
- ↑ https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/DobieStation/issues/51
- ↑ Stuntman - FPU rounding errors for AI pathing