Changes

|version = 1.6.0<small>(Stable)</small>

|developer = [httphttps://pcsx2.net/meet-the-team.html PCSX2 Team]|website = [httphttps://pcsx2.net/ PCSX2.net]

|license = GNU GPLv2LGPLv3 <small>(1.7+)</small><ref>Bositman (November 24, 2021). [https://pcsx2.net/301-aethersx2-pcsx2-mobile.html AetherSX2 brings PCSX2 to mobile]. ''PCSX2.net''.</ref>

'''PCSX2''' is an open-source, plugin-based [[PlayStation 2 emulators|PlayStation 2 emulator]]. Its purpose is to mimic the PS2 hardware using a combination of MIPS CPU [[wikipedia:Interpreter_%28computing%29|interpreters]], [[wikipedia:Dynamic_recompilation|recompilers]] and a [[wikipedia:Virtual_machine|virtual machine]] which manages hardware states for Windows and PS2 system memoryLinux. In Since 2016, preliminary work was started on it has also supported the PlayStation 2's backward compatibility mode for [[PlayStation emulators|PS1PlayStation]] supportgames.<ref>https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/pull/1571</ref>.

|'''[https://pcsx2.net/download.html Stable downloads/#nightly-anchor Nightly builds]'''

|'''[http://buildbot.orphis.net/pcsx2/ Dev Orphis dev builds]'''

|'''[https://github.com/tellowkrinkle/pcsx2/releases Dev macOS builds]'''|-|colspan=2|<hr/>|-|align=center|{{Icon|APK-big}}|[[AetherSX2|AetherSX2 Port]]

The Note that the stable builds for Mac and Linux are severely outdated, less so for Windows. Either wayFor those platforms, it's still recommended to you should use the nightly/dev buildsinstead, unless the latest one is actually broken (which it usually isn't)they contain regressions.

These are recommended specs for using PCSX2,<ref>https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2#system-requirements</ref>, but depending on the game you want to play, your mileage may vary. Some games need [http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-The-Most-CPU-Intensive-Games high-end, possibly overclocked CPUs] or [http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-The-Most-GPU-Intensive-Games powerful GPUs], whereas some games run even on [http://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-LIST-Games-that-don-t-need-a-strong-CPU-to-emulate weak processors].

For those =====Windows 7 Compatibility===== Despite Windows 7 not being officially supported, latest 1.7 dev version of PCSX2 can work with a few workarounds<ref>https://i.imgur.com/BsFBw1w.png</ref>. You'll need: * [https://pcsx2.github.io/downloads.html latest nightly of PCSX2]* [DualShock 3https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/releases dxvk]] controllers For starters, use extract PCSX2 in a folder and then extract the 64bit dxvk d3d11.dll and dxgi.dll files next to the main executable.You'll also need to select [[SCP Driver Package]https://i.imgur.com/flxI0GH.png Cubeb]as the audio renderer, otherwise it'll crash with XAudio. And lastly, always pick between Vulkan, OpenGL and Software. D3D11 can crash on occasion and it won't be functioning as intended anyways.''Don't expect any official support if you post logs that indicate you're using Win7.''

[[File:New_God_Hand_Config.jpg|thumb|Get God Hand running on a laptop]][http://www.mediafire.com/view/115130h5rc6qe6b/LilyPad-SCP.lily Native DS3 controls with LilyPad-SCP] - Import this with the 'Load Bindings' button in LilyPad's config.

Most of the video options should be straightforward, with the possible exception of interlacing modes. Many games will run fine with 'None', while others may experience artifacting or jitter. "Auto" is recommended.

To completely eliminate the issue of de-interlacing, the community has made patches/hacks for a lot of games that can be loaded through a .pnach file, like a cheat code. Those can be found in the PCSX2 wiki or forums. Another method to get around this in older versions (custom res as an option was removed), is by running GSdx in hardware rendering, doubling the vertical resolution (if a game displays 640x480 on the emulator window, set vertical res to 960) and selecting bob-tff for interlacing. This can eliminate interlacing artifacts in most cases, although issues with upscaling, as well as using hardware emulation over software, can arise.

Code for 64PCSX2 was originally created in 2001 by Linuzappz and Shadow as the successor to [[PCSX-bit support for all major PC versions Reloaded|PCSX]], another PlayStation emulator. Development of PCSX ceased on September 17, 2003 to focus on PCSX2 including Windows. When version 0.9.8 released in May 2011, Linux and macOS only 55% of the PS2's library was considered supported.<ref>refraction (November 25, 2010). [https://pcsx2.net/developer-blog/90-the-history-of-pcsx2.html The History of PCSX2]. ''PCSX2.net''.</ref> A significant number of quality-of-life changes have come about since the project moved to GitHub, with a renewed interest in bringing it up to par with emulators for similar-gen consoles. Until mid-2021, PCSX2 was a holdout of the plugin system, despite development from of each plugin eventually consolidating into the main repository. While the stable 1.6.0 build still contains the plugin API, the nightlies no longer have it as it was removed entirely in [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/pull/4436 PR 4436]. Compatibility has also seen major improvements across the board, to the point where every game at least boots. As of January 2022, 98% of the PlayStation 2 library is considered playable, with only 26 games marked as perfect. A pull request adding x86_64 support was opened on [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/pull/3451 June 077, 2020]; , and both 32-bit & and 64-bit builds for all three desktop PC systems started being Windows, macOS, and Linux were first made available on [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/pull/3451#issuecomment-653720205 July 04, 20204].<ref name="Reddit_1">{{cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/hkzzv2/pcsx2_now_has_a_64_bit_version/ |title=PCSX2 now has a 64 bit version |publisher=Reddit|accessdate=2020-07-06|date=2020 Jul 04}}</ref> Eventually, this has the potential The plan is to reduce the so-called '"technical debt' (Consisting of ", including game-specific hacks built in for some games) that still cause accuracy issues and bugs in the 32-bit builds; and , as well as broaden the emulator's support for more platforms and devices such as support for ARM64 chips (Also for Mac too).

A pull request removing x86 support was opened on [https://github.com/PCSX2 is a plugin-based emulator in name only. All plugins are developed in tandem with the emulator in the same source tree. With the exception of some specialized input plugins discussed below, there has not been a reason to add additional plugins such as the older ZeroGS/ZeroSPU2 for many years. Similar to current versions of Dolphinpcsx2/pull/5130 December 9, 2021]; and the PCSX2 developers intend to eventually have all the plugins statically linked/"bakedlast 32-in". To facilitate this, PSX emulator support was dropped from LilyPad bit build and GSdx (does not affect playing PSX games in PCSX2). Currentlyfirst 64-bit-only build were made available on March 19, all plugins except the graphics plugin (GSdx) have been integrated into the core2022.

{{main|:''Main thread: <span class="plainlinks">[https://forums.pcsx2.net/Thread-Sticky-PCSX2-General-Troubleshooting-FAQ PCSX2 General Troubleshooting FAQ}}]</span>''

Whenever a game has graphical Graphical problems such as garbage texturecorrupted textures, missing effects, clipping light sources visible through a wall, burn-in or transparent objects being opaque, can usually be solved by switching to the easiest fix is generally to switch to software mode renderer either by pressing F9 in-while the game is running or via the configuration GSdx's config panel of the GSdx plugin. If using the DX11 Direct3D 11 renderer another option is to , try the OGL one which is generally more up to date and OpenGL renderer as it may be more accurate. If you're using a stable version of the emulatorbuild, try using switching to the most recent development nightly or dev build. Newer development builds of the emulator may have fixes in or other features added to the hardware rendering renderers which may remove graphical errors such as common glitches like red or green bars appearing on the screen. The newest development build can be found at https://pcsx2.net/download/development/dev-windows.html, click the download link of the revision closest to the top of the page.

===Extreme fluctuation in emulation speed===The large fluctuation in emulation generally are is often caused by the games themselves and cannot be avoided , but there is a handful of cases where this is caused by specific configuration issues

* Using large internal resolution multiplier on a lower low-end GPUGPUs, even if the game runs mostly fine some effect can cause the emulator to suddenly have to do a lot of very heavy operation operations on the VRAM, lower GPU low-end GPUs tend to have much lower VRAM bandwidth and will get absolutely crushed by what PCSX2 tries to dothat, especially true when using Large framebuffer and even more so when using the OGL renderer, obviously . Obviously the only real fix is turning the resolution down and disabling Large Framebuffer if possible* Playing the game games directly from the original DVD using a disc drive, in which case you should [[Ripping Games|rip the game]] and play using the .iso instead

===BlurryBlurriness===

===Lightgun support===Lightgun support is available in the pcxs2 emulator via a third party plugin called nuvee. His allows you to use and mouse or mouse compatible device (such as a lightgun) to play the large ps2 library of lightgun games.<ref>https://lightgungamer.com/pcsx2</ref>.