Difference between revisions of "PlayStation 2 emulators"

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The '''[[wikipedia:PlayStation_2|PlayStation 2]]''' (PS2) is a sixth-generation console released by Sony on October 26, 2000 and it was retailed for {{Inflation|USD|299.99|2000}}. It has the Emotion Engine CPU at 300 MHz with 32MB of RDRAM system memory and 4MB 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 160 million units sold.  
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The '''[[wikipedia:PlayStation_2|PlayStation 2]]''' (PS2) is a sixth-generation console released by Sony on October 26, 2000 and it was retailed for {{Inflation|USD|299.99|2000}}. It has the Emotion Engine CPU at 300 MHz with 32MB of RDRAM system memory and 4MB 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 160 million units sold.  
  
 
==Emulators==
 
==Emulators==
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===Comparisons===
 
===Comparisons===
 
;[[PCSX2]]:The first Playstation 2 emulator. The current stable version is 1.6. Accuracy has continuously improved during dev (1.7) builds. The emulator is capable of playing most titles without any major glitches. Check the [[Game problems FAQ#PS2|Game Problems FAQ]] or the [https://pcsx2.net/compatibility-list.html Official Compatibility List] for information regarding playability.
 
;[[PCSX2]]:The first Playstation 2 emulator. The current stable version is 1.6. Accuracy has continuously improved during dev (1.7) builds. The emulator is capable of playing most titles without any major glitches. Check the [[Game problems FAQ#PS2|Game Problems FAQ]] or the [https://pcsx2.net/compatibility-list.html Official Compatibility List] for information regarding playability.
;[[Play!]]:Able to run a decent amount of commercial games. Development is almost all done by the single maintainer jpd002. Information regarding compatibility is located on the emulators [https://purei.org/ home page]. Also has a playable android port.  
+
;[[Play!]]:Able to run a decent amount of commercial games. Development is almost all done by the single maintainer jpd002. Compatibility information is located on the emulators [https://purei.org/ home page]. Also has a playable android port.  
;[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/DobieStation/ DobieStation]: Many titles can go ingame, focused on accuracy and therefore inherently slower than Play! or PCSX2. A compatibility list is provided [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kPLMTBSB2xZ8Rar140jiLWNRqsLX9vlCx12PJS2H5aw/edit#gid=0 here]. Once accuracy has reached an acceptable point, the focus will be shifted to optimization / speed.
+
;[https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/DobieStation/ DobieStation]: Many titles can go ingame, focused on accuracy, and therefore inherently slower than Play! or PCSX2. A compatibility list is provided [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kPLMTBSB2xZ8Rar140jiLWNRqsLX9vlCx12PJS2H5aw/edit#gid=0 here]. Once accuracy has reached an acceptable point, the focus will be shifted to optimization/speed.
 
;[[sourceforge:projects/hpsx64/|hpsx64]]: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 emulators|PlayStation]] emulation.
 
;[[sourceforge:projects/hpsx64/|hpsx64]]: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 emulators|PlayStation]] emulation.
;[[DamonPS2]]:Closed source payware/malware emulator only for Android, illegally based off of [[PCSX2]] [[Play!]] [[PPSSPP]]. It behaves very much like a virus software, and may also secretly use your mobile phone to mine cryptocurrency. Basically, '''please DO NOT use this emulator'''.
+
;[[DamonPS2]]:Closed source payware/malware emulator only for Android, illegally based off of [[PCSX2]] [[Play!]] [[PPSSPP]]. It can hardly run any games and  behaves very much like virus software. '''It is best to NOT use this emulator'''.
  
 
==Emulation issues==
 
==Emulation issues==
  
Despite a large interest in PS2 emulation due to its sizable collection of games, it is still one of the hardest consoles to emulate for a number of reasons.
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Despite a large interest in PS2 emulation due to its sizable collection of games, it is still one of the hardest consoles to emulate for several reasons.
  
First of all: many people believe that since the main CPU (Emotion Engine) runs at a clock speed of 294Mhz (299Mhz on later revisions), it would make emulation easy on recent hardware. But this is not the case, because the clock speed of the emulated CPU is not necessarily indicative of the ease of emulation. Specifically, the PS2 CPU contains a multitude of custom sub-components and chips such as the FPU co-processor, 2 Vector Units, IOP, SPU2, Graphics Synthesizer and SIF which together work asynchronously to comprise the 128-bit Emotion Engine. In order to emulate them perfectly with correct timing requires an enormous amount of power. Moreover, the PS2 just like PS1 uses the MIPS architecture instead of standard x86 code, thus making emulation slower.<ref>https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Why-is-PCSX2-slow</ref>
+
First of all: many people believe that since the main CPU (Emotion Engine) runs at a clock speed of 294Mhz (299Mhz on later revisions), it would make emulation easy on recent hardware. But this is not the case, because the clock speed of the emulated CPU is not necessarily indicative of the ease of emulation. Specifically, the PS2 CPU contains a multitude of custom sub-components and chips such as the FPU co-processor, 2 Vector Units, IOP, SPU2, Graphics Synthesizer, and SIF which together work asynchronously to comprise the 128-bit Emotion Engine. To emulate them perfectly with correct timing requires an enormous amount of power. Moreover, the PS2 just like PS1 uses the MIPS architecture instead of standard x86 code, thus making emulation slower.<ref>https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Why-is-PCSX2-slow</ref>
  
Another big problem is the emulation of PS2’s own 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 or graphical bugs. While PCSX2 allows for the option of 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 PS2 FPU.<ref>https://wiki.pcsx2.net/PCSX2_Documentation/Nightmare_on_Floating-Point_Street</ref><ref>https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/DobieStation/issues/51</ref>
+
Another big problem is the emulation of PS2’s own 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, or graphical bugs. While PCSX2 allows for the option of 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 PS2 FPU.<ref>https://wiki.pcsx2.net/PCSX2_Documentation/Nightmare_on_Floating-Point_Street</ref><ref>https://github.com/PSI-Rockin/DobieStation/issues/51</ref>
  
 
To conclude on the problems with PS2 emulation, we come to hardware rendering. The PS2’s graphics pipeline acts very differently from modern GPU cards and emulating it in HW mode with any degree of accuracy is difficult. This is due in part to the versatility of PS2, 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 type of emulation enhancements like display resolution scaling leads to the typical “black lines glitch” because of the use of a non-integer resolution. While the OpenGL backend on PCSX2 greatly improved on many of these issues, most games still require “software rendering” to fix many common glitches, which in turn slows down the emulation. Although Games using mip-mapping (Ratchet & Clank, Ace Combat, etc...) and games running on the Snowblind Engine are playable in OGL HW mode with minimal problems on high-end PCs.  
 
To conclude on the problems with PS2 emulation, we come to hardware rendering. The PS2’s graphics pipeline acts very differently from modern GPU cards and emulating it in HW mode with any degree of accuracy is difficult. This is due in part to the versatility of PS2, 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 type of emulation enhancements like display resolution scaling leads to the typical “black lines glitch” because of the use of a non-integer resolution. While the OpenGL backend on PCSX2 greatly improved on many of these issues, most games still require “software rendering” to fix many common glitches, which in turn slows down the emulation. Although Games using mip-mapping (Ratchet & Clank, Ace Combat, etc...) and games running on the Snowblind Engine are playable in OGL HW mode with minimal problems on high-end PCs.  
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The [[wikipedia:EyeToy|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 can be used on PC with [https://web.archive.org/web/20070327192750/http://eyetoy8057.sourceforge.net/cms/ unofficial drivers]. It also works natively with the [[PlayStation_3_emulators|PS3]].
 
The [[wikipedia:EyeToy|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 can be used on PC with [https://web.archive.org/web/20070327192750/http://eyetoy8057.sourceforge.net/cms/ unofficial drivers]. It also works natively with the [[PlayStation_3_emulators|PS3]].
  
As for now, there are no emulators that can play EyeToy-only games or EyeToy enhanced events and modes in other games. You can find more informations about said games on this [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/525 PCSX2 GitHub issue].
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As for now, there are no emulators that can play EyeToy-only games or EyeToy enhanced events and modes in other games. You can find more pieces of information about said games on this [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/525 PCSX2 GitHub issue].
  
 
==USB Plugin==
 
==USB Plugin==
  
Some PS2 games make use of an USB adapter with a module/dongle consisting of two jack ports for microphones. [[wikipedia:List_of_songs_in_SingStar_games_(PlayStation_2)|Installments]] from the [[wikipedia:SingStar|SingStar]] series on the PS2 were able to use microphones (Sometimes bundled with these game discs) with this method.  
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Some PS2 games make use of a USB adapter with a module/dongle consisting of two jack ports for microphones. [[wikipedia:List_of_songs_in_SingStar_games_(PlayStation_2)|Installments]] from the [[wikipedia:SingStar|SingStar]] series on the PS2 were able to use microphones (Sometimes bundled with these game discs) with this method.  
 
:These adapters could either formally or informally be called:  
 
:These adapters could either formally or informally be called:  
 
* SingStar USB Converter (Official)
 
* SingStar USB Converter (Official)
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* SingStar Microphone USB Adapter/Converter
 
* SingStar Microphone USB Adapter/Converter
 
* SingStar USB Converter Microphone Adapter
 
* SingStar USB Converter Microphone Adapter
Steering wheels are also supported for a large number of racing games via an USB adapter.
+
Steering wheels are also supported for a large number of 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 [https://github.com/jackun/USBqemu-wheel USB plugin] that supports a microphone in most games and even steering wheel for racing games. The plugin is still updated nowadays.
 
While PCSX2 isn't benefiting from a working USB plugin in its original release, Jackun, a PCSX2 plugin author, made a [https://github.com/jackun/USBqemu-wheel USB plugin] that supports a microphone in most games and even steering wheel for racing games. The plugin is still updated nowadays.

Revision as of 19:58, 4 October 2021

PlayStation 2
PS2-Fat-Console-Set.png
Developer Sony
Type Home video game console
Generation Sixth generation
Release date 2000
Discontinued 2013
Predecessor PlayStation
Successor PlayStation 3
Emulated

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 at 300 MHz with 32MB of RDRAM system memory and 4MB 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 160 million units sold.

Emulators

Name Platform(s) Latest Version Libretro Core FLOSS Active Recommended
PC / x86
PCSX2 Windows Linux macOS 1.6.0 (stable)
SVN
Play! Windows Linux macOS Builds
DobieStation Windows Linux git
Builds
hpsx64 Windows v0430
orbum Windows git
Mobile / ARM
Play! Android iOS Builds (WIP)
DamonPS2 Android 4.0.1
Consoles
ps2_emu PlayStation 3 FW 4.78

Comparisons

PCSX2
The first Playstation 2 emulator. The current stable version is 1.6. Accuracy has continuously improved during dev (1.7) builds. The emulator is capable of playing most titles without any major glitches. Check the Game Problems FAQ or the Official Compatibility List for information regarding playability.
Play!
Able to run a decent amount of commercial games. Development is almost all done by the single maintainer jpd002. Compatibility information is located on the emulators home page. Also has a playable android port.
DobieStation
Many titles can go ingame, focused on accuracy, and therefore inherently slower than Play! or PCSX2. A compatibility list is provided here. Once accuracy has reached an acceptable point, the focus will be shifted to optimization/speed.
hpsx64
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.
DamonPS2
Closed source payware/malware emulator only for Android, illegally based off of PCSX2 Play! PPSSPP. It can hardly run any games and behaves very much like virus software. It is best to NOT use this emulator.

Emulation issues

Despite a large interest in PS2 emulation due to its sizable collection of games, it is still one of the hardest consoles to emulate for several reasons.

First of all: many people believe that since the main CPU (Emotion Engine) runs at a clock speed of 294Mhz (299Mhz on later revisions), it would make emulation easy on recent hardware. But this is not the case, because the clock speed of the emulated CPU is not necessarily indicative of the ease of emulation. Specifically, the PS2 CPU contains a multitude of custom sub-components and chips such as the FPU co-processor, 2 Vector Units, IOP, SPU2, Graphics Synthesizer, and SIF which together work asynchronously to comprise the 128-bit Emotion Engine. To emulate them perfectly with correct timing requires an enormous amount of power. Moreover, the PS2 just like PS1 uses the MIPS architecture instead of standard x86 code, thus making emulation slower.[1]

Another big problem is the emulation of PS2’s own 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, or graphical bugs. While PCSX2 allows for the option of 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 PS2 FPU.[2][3]

To conclude on the problems with PS2 emulation, we come to hardware rendering. The PS2’s graphics pipeline acts very differently from modern GPU cards and emulating it in HW mode with any degree of accuracy is difficult. This is due in part to the versatility of PS2, 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 type of emulation enhancements like display resolution scaling leads to the typical “black lines glitch” because of the use of a non-integer resolution. While the OpenGL backend on PCSX2 greatly improved on many of these issues, most games still require “software rendering” to fix many common glitches, which in turn slows down the emulation. Although Games using mip-mapping (Ratchet & Clank, Ace Combat, etc...) and games running on the Snowblind Engine are playable in OGL HW mode with minimal problems on high-end PCs.

In summary, it is not possible to achieve close-to-perfection PS2 emulation with actual PC hardware, and even if it was possible, the results would most likely be unplayable. The PS2 is simply a very complex machine that even game developers struggled to work with.

EyeToy

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 can be used on PC with unofficial drivers. It also works natively with the PS3.

As for now, there are no emulators that can play EyeToy-only games or EyeToy enhanced events and modes in other games. You can find more pieces of information about said games on this PCSX2 GitHub issue.

USB Plugin

Some PS2 games make use of a USB adapter with a module/dongle consisting of two jack ports for microphones. Installments from the SingStar series on the PS2 were able to 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 a large number of 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 steering wheel for racing games. The plugin is still updated nowadays. A compatibility list of the working titles with this plugin can be found here.

External links

  • PCSX2 Wiki - For checking if your games work and any fixes, tweaks, or settings you should know beforehand. Note that the wiki can contain outdated information. It is encouraged to do personal testing and contribute to the wiki.
  • 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.

References