PlayStation 3 emulators

PlayStation 3

Developer	Sony
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Seventh generation
Release date	2006
Discontinued	2017
Predecessor	PlayStation 2
Successor	PlayStation 4
Emulated	✓

For other emulators that run on PS3 hardware, see Emulators on PS3.

The PlayStation 3 (known shorthand as PS3) is a seventh-generation console released by Sony in late 2006 and retailed for $599. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it began development in 2001 when Sony partnered with Toshiba and IBM to create the Cell Broadband Engine. The console was launched a year after the Xbox 360 and around the same time as the Wii. While it was debatably the most powerful console of the seventh generation, it was also difficult to program for, as its architecture was even more complex than its competitors.

The Cell Broadband Engine consists of a 3.2 GHz Power Processing Element (PPE) and seven Synergistic Processing Elements (SPE), and the system contains 256 MBs of XDR DRAM main memory at 3.2 GHz and 256 MBs of GDDR3 video memory at 650 MHz for the Nvidia/SCEI RSX Reality Synthesizer GPU. The GPU ran at 500 MHz and has to communicate forth and back with both RAMs. The complexity of the SPEs bogged down the PlayStation 3 in multi-platform titles, as developers had to go through the process of learning the SPE architecture before they could use it. As a result, several developers decided against using the SPEs, and the consequence is that many multi-platform games ran with lower framerates or worse graphics compared to running those same games on the PS3's competitors.

The number of units sold worldwide was about the same as the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 initially included a feature called OtherOS, but once it was removed shortly after the PS3 Slim model was released citing "security concerns", fail0verflow had a jailbreak detailed in 2010, giving way for modders to downgrade firmware on a specific version and install a custom firmware, something Sony would patch in newer updates until an exploit was released for 4.82. Emulation only started gaining traction in the late 2010s, as RPCS3 had made strides in improving its largely HLE-based emulation. It has since become the emulator of choice.

Emulators

Name	Platform(s)	Latest Version	Arcade Variations	Hardware Features	Peripherals	Enhancements	Compatibility	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
RPCS3		Nightly 0.0.32 Alpha Qt5	~	~	~	~	68% 2457 out of 3612 reported titles	✓	✓	✓
Nucleus		git	✗	✗	✗	✗	N/A	✗	✗	✗
Short Waves		0.0.2	✗	✗	✗	✗	N/A	✗	✗	✗
PS3F		0.1	✗	✗	✗	✗	N/A	✗	✗	✗

Comparisons

RPCS3 (Compatibility)

An open-source emulator for 64-bit Windows, GNU/Linux, BSD and macOS. While it isn't anywhere near as compatible as Dolphin is for GameCube or Wii, it has still made immense progress compared to its early days, when development was slow and seemed like it wasn't really going anywhere. Some of the SPU intensive titles have insufficient performance which requires top-notch single thread performance of CPUs. As of now, all known titles now load, and initialize properly, without crashing the emulator. Beyond this, RPCS3 supports some system features and peripherals. As of April 13, 2022, builds for macOS have started being officially distributed for Intel and ARM Macs.

Nucleus

A one-person project that aimed at low-level emulation, some AOT emulation, and portability. Made by AlexAltea.

Short Waves

Released in 2014 by InoriRus, who later returned to the emulation scene in 2021 as the developer of the PlayStation 4 and 5 compatibility layer Kyty. Short Waves could run a few complex tests that RPCS3 couldn't at the time it was released, but it hasn't been updated since.

PS3F

Made by Shima, the creator of SSF. More information can be found here.

Enhancements

Name		RPCS3
Resizable Internal Resolution		✓
Texture Replacement		✗
Built-in Graphics mod editor/manager		✗
Internal Framerate Hack		✓
Ultrawide hack Widescreen already supported on PlayStation 3 system. But there is no support by system for render games in other ratios such as ultrawide 21:9 or super ultrawide 32:9.		✓
RetroAchievements		✗
Overclock		✓
Built-in Cheat Manager		✓
Free Look Free Look is a enhancement feature that allows manipulation of the in-game camera.		While freecam would be technically possible, it will require per-game patches. 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. Also there is a feature request for adding this enhancement feature to RPCS3 emulator.
Post-Processing	Filters	✗
	Shader Chain	✗
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".		✗
TAS features	Macros/Scripts/Lua	✗
	Rewind	✗
	Fast-Forward/Turbo Speed	✗*
	Savestates	✓*
Mouse Injector Compatible		✓*
Input lag-mitigating technique		✗
Streamable compression format		✗
Debug Features		✓

Hardware Features

Name	RPCS3
PSP emulation (incl. PSP Minis and PSP Remasters)	✗*
PSP communication	✗*
PSVita communication	✗
PlayStation emulation (incl. PSOne Classics) and PocketStation communication	~
PlayStation 2 emulation (incl. PS2 Classics)	✗
LAN tunneling	✓*
PlayStation Network (incl. PlayStation Home)	~
XMB	~*
Trophies	✓*
DVD and Blu-Ray movie	✗
Pressure Sensitive Buttons	✓
Motion controls (Gyro)	✓

PlayStation Network

During the development stage for the PlayStation 3, Sony expressed their intent to build upon the functionality of its predecessor by creating a new interconnected service that keeps users constantly in touch with a "PlayStation World" network. In March 2006, Sony officially introduced its unified online service, tentatively named "PlayStation Network Platform". A list of supporting features was announced at the Tokyo Game Show later the same year.

Netplay in RPCS3 was introduced by GalCiv, who developed RPCN (an open-source server that emulates the P2P match-making done on the PlayStation 3). RPCN can also be used to communicate with private servers for games that require a dedicated server for multiplayer features. In this regard, games that require a custom server will not work unless a fan-made, private server is created. This is outside the scope of the emulator and will have to be developed by the community.

Beyond this there is a project called Destination Home; a preservation team dedicated to restoring PlayStation Home's original online functionality and network services, but progress is heavily reliant on the development of RPCN; as key networking functionality is yet to be implemented.

• RPCN compatibility list
• RPCN compatibility list #2
• Private/Custom servers for PS3/RPCS3 & RPCN

  MAWK3 - How to Connect to Every Playstation 3 Private Servers in 2023, Most Active PS3 Online Communities in 2023, Most Active Online Playstation 3 Games in 2023

  For more information about other revive projects see Preservation projects page.

LAN tunneling

There are 104 games with the LAN feature for the PlayStation 3. To see if the game you want to play is supported please see this page or look on the back of the game case.

DVD and Blu-Ray movie

PlayStation 3 has featuring a slot-loading 2× speed Blu-ray Disc drive for games, Blu-ray movies, DVDs, and Audio CDs. However there is no support for Video CDs & VCDs for PlayStation 3 just like PlayStation 2.

• RPCS3 has no home video support currently.

See this dedicated page for more information about home media playback support for emulation softwares.

Peripherals

Name	RPCS3
PlayStation Move	~
Skylanders Portal of Power	✓*
Rock Band 3 MIDI Pro Adapter	✓*
Buzz! controller	✓*
Wireless Keypad	TBD
DJ Hero turntable	~*
LEGO Dimensions Toy Pad	~*
Disney Infinity Base	✓*
Microphone	✓*
Drums and Guitars	✓*
GunCon 3	TBD
uDraw GameTablet	~*
Wonderbook	TBD

PlayStation Move

The PlayStation Move is a controller similar to a Wiimote, shaped to be held into hand and play with motion detection. It is detected by the PSEye, the successor of the PS2's EyeToy. The PSEye is usable on PC as it benefits from unofficial drivers made by the community. It is not yet implemented in a PS3 emulator. RPCS3 had some first steps implemented for PSMove use, but the controllers aren't working yet.

The author of this preliminary implementation, velocityra, is a dedicated developer for RPCS3 and Vita3K. His own branch of the PSMove has advanced further, as the PSEye and PSMove controllers are already physically supported using the PSMoveAPI. A pretty old compatibility list can be found here. Some YouTube videos are also showing the work-in-progress functionality working. The author unfortunately stopped working on this implementation years ago.

LEGO Dimensions Toy Pad

If you have the Toy Pad RPCS3 can communicate to the USB device directly (but only exposed devices that have been whitelisted). Just like cemu there is no Toy Pad emulation for the RPCS3 at the moment but you can use LD-ToyPad-Emulator for that.

Arcade Variations

Arcade variations pull requests for RPCS3.
With this PR merged, the following 3 System 357/369 arcade games are fully supported by RPCS3;

• Taiko no Tatsujin series
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Unlimited)
• Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle

Namco System 357

RPCS3 only partially supports some 357 games. A fork currently exists for RPCS3 called Project OMED/RPCS357, which supports more games, however the newest builds are locked behind a Patreon subscription. The fork has two versions of itself, the Taiko/Fighting version (for Taiko no Tatsujin games and fighting games) and the Gun version (for the rail shooters, requires a lightgun to play). Latest free version: https://pixeldrain.com/u/dfGaH2oX Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RPCS357

Namco System 359

WIP

Namco System 369

WIP

Emulation issues

PlayStation consoles have always been notorious for system complexity (e.g. PlayStation, PlayStation 2). Sony's gamble of their technology being emulator-unfriendly makes them developer-unfriendly as well, and the system's weaker performance in cross-platform games proves it. Even if done properly, an LLE approach would be performance suicide, as some things just have to be abstracted enough to get high framerates in games. The situation is so bad that Sony seems to be incredibly hesitant to produce an official PS3 emulator for the newer PlayStations. Simply because they wouldn't be able to justify the extremely high potential development cost to investors.

There are two major bottlenecks at play:

• Cell Broadband Engine - consists of two architectures that developers have to program for; PowerPC, and... whatever the SPEs really are. Add to that the fact that there are 6 that could be in use by a game, and you have a great formula for high system requirements. The RPCS3 developers technically cheat by using ahead-of-time recompilation using LLVM, but because the emulator constantly improves, that can be easily excused;
• RSX (Reality Synthesizer): The PlayStation 4 also went unemulated for a long time, simply because of how many components were just undocumented. The same thing applies here; the graphics card is Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX-based, which means it's not well-documented, and developers have to figure out how it displays graphics and graphical effects. Without access to Nvidia's resources, which would normally be included with an SDK, this would be very difficult.

Something of note is that this GPU was also managed by two different memory units with very disparate frequency speeds; 1) 256 MBs of GDDR3 RAM clocked at 650 MHz with an effective transmission rate of 1.4 GHz, and 2) up to 224 MBs of the 3.2 GHz XDR main memory via the CPU (480 MBs max).

New instructions like AVX-512, AVX10 and APX and potential benefits for RPCS3 emulation: These are Google Bard AI responses, so do not expect perfect results

• AVX512
• AVX10
• APX, APX potential benefits for RPCS3 emulation, Which specific APX instructions potentially benefit RPCS3 emulation
• Comparing AVX512, AVX10 and APX

RPCS3 blogs;

• progress report april 2018 - Summary: Improved support for TSX instructions
• progress report august 2020 - Summary: Since intel dropped TSX due to security reasons, RPCS3 will use TSX-FA/TSX Force Abort on CPUs with new microcode and this will result potential regressions, good news is RPCS3 has improved non-TSX performance, because of this, even if your CPU supports TSX it will be disabled for RPCS3 by default.

For more information about PlayStation 3 hardware and reverse engineering;

• MVG: Why is the Sony PlayStation PS3 so hard to emulate?, Why was the Sony PlayStation 3 so hard to develop games for ?
• Alexandro Sanchez: FOSDEM'22 - PlayStation 3 Emulation
• Rodrigo Copetti: PLAYSTATION 3 Architecture Practical Analysis
• psdevwiki: PlayStation 3
• whatcookie: Why Is AVX 512 Useful for RPCS3?

Screenshots

• 

  "Slim" release in 2009

• 

  2009 PS3 Logo

• 

  "Superslim" edition in 2012