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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.

|-!scope="col"|Name!scope="col"|Platform(s)!scope="col"|Latest Version

!scope="col"|Active!scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]|-! colspan="7"|PC / x86|-| [[PCSX2]]| align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}| [https://pcsx2.net/download.html 1.6.0] (stable)<br /> [http://buildbot.orphis.net/pcsx2 Nightly]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}

| [[Play!colspan]]| align="7"left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|PC [http://purei.org/ x86downloads.php {{Play!Ver}}]| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✓}}| {{✗}}

|[[PCSX2]]DobieStation|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[https://pcsx2github.netcom/PSI-Rockin/download.html 1.6.0DobieStation git] (stable)<br /> [httphttps://buildbotci.orphisappveyor.netcom/project/PSI-Rockin/dobiestation/pcsx2 SVNhistory Builds]|{{✓✗}}|{{✓}}|{{✓✗}}|{{✓✗}}

|[[Play!]https://sourceforge.net/projects/hpsx64 HPS2x64]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}|[http://pureiwww.orgemucr.com/downloads.php Buildssearch/label/hpsx64?&max-results=16 {{hpsx64Ver}}]|{{✓✗}}|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{✗}}

|DobieStationorbum|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}|[https://github.com/PSI-Rockinmarco9999/DobieStation orbum git]<br /> [https://ci.appveyor.com/project/PSI-Rockin/dobiestation/history Builds]|{{✗}}|{{✓}}|{{✓✗}}|{{✗}}

|orbum|align! colspan=left|{{Icon|Windows}}"7"|[https:Mobile //github.com/marco9999/orbum git]|{{✗}}|{{✓}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}ARM

!colspan| [[AetherSX2]] | align="7"left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM|macOS}} |Mobile [https:/ ARM/play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=xyz.aethersx2.android {{AetherSX2Ver}}] <br>[https://www.aethersx2.com/archive Alpha/Beta]| {{✗}} | {{✗}}| {{✓}} | {{✓}}

|[[Play!]]|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS}}|[http://purei.org/downloads.php Builds]|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{✓}}|{{✗}}<small> (WIP)</small>

|[[DamonPS2]] |align=left|{{Icon|Android}} |[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.damonplay.damonps2.free 45.0.1] |{{✗}} |{{✗}}|{{✗}} |{{✗}}

!colspan="7"|Consoles

|[[Official_Sony_EmulatorsOfficial_emulators#PlayStation_2|ps2_emu]]|align=left|{{Icon|PS3}}|FW 4.78|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✗}}|{{✓}}

;[[PCSX2]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https://pcsx2.net/compatibility-list.html compatibility])</small>: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.:;[[AetherSX2]]:A closed-source freeware emulator, partially forked from PCSX2. It's designed to be more optimal for ARM-based platforms, primarily those running Android.;[[Play!]]:Able to run a decent amount of commercial games. Development is almost all done by the single maintainer jpd002. Information regarding compatibility Compatibility information is located on the emulators [https://purei.org/ home page]. Also has a playable android 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.;[[sourceforge:projects/hpsx64/|hpsx64HPS2x64]] <small class="plainlinks" style="font-weight:normal;">([https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18OtsWyo9pTJ7swAhUXa8c_J3qX0G_b4px24dFXeLPlw/ compatibility])</small>: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. There is also a [https://github.com/Zero3K/hpsx64 mirror] that has fixes done to it.;[[DamonPS2]]:Closed -source payware/malware emulator only for Android, illegally based off of [[PCSX2]] , [[Play!]] and [[PPSSPP]]. '''It can hardly run any games''' and behaves very much like a virus software, and may also secretly use your mobile phone to mine cryptocurrency. Basically, '''please DO It is best to NOT use this emulator'''.

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. 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 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>

As for now, there are no emulators PCSX2 is the only emulator that can play emulate EyeToy-only games or EyeToy enhanced events and modes mechanics in other games. You can find more informations about said games on this [https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/issues/525 PCSX2 GitHub issue].

 Some PS2 games make use of an 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.

Steering wheels are also supported for a large number of racing games via an a USB adapter.