PlayStation 2 emulators

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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
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 PS1. The PS2 offered backward-compatibility for the PS1 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

Emulators[edit]

Name Platform(s) Latest version PSX DVR Arcade Hardware
variations
Hardware features
and accessories
Enhancements Compatibility License Active Recommended
x86
PCSX2       2.0.2
Nightly builds
Older builds for obsolete hardware
~ ~ 99%
2667 out of 2690 reported titles
[N 1]
GPLv3 (Copyleft)
Play!         0.65
git
libretro core
~ ~ 42%
1083 out of 2575 reported titles
MIT (Permissive) ~
LRPS2       shandonb's PCSX2 fork for libretro
LRPS2 (pcsx2_libretro)
~ ~ 97%
out of 2,641 reported titles
[N 1]
GPLv3 (Copyleft) ~ ~
hpsx64   v0450 ?%
3 reported playable titles
GPLv3 (Copyleft)
DobieStation     git
Builds
1%
6 out of 1212 reported titles
GPLv3 (Copyleft)
orbum   git N/A GPLv3 (Copyleft)
NeutrinoSX2 (nSX2)   0.08 N/A GPLv2 (Copyleft)
PS2emu   0.1 N/A Proprietary
ARM
AetherSX2       NetherSX2 Patch
1.5-3668 (apk)(no ads)
Builds
1.5-4248 (play store lastest with ads)
~ ~ 74%
451 out of 609 reported titles
Proprietary (stolen PCSX2 code) ~
Play!     Builds
libretro core
~ ~ 42%
1076 out of 2571 reported titles
MIT (Permissive) ~
PCSX2   Pull Request ? ~ 99%
2667 out of 2690 reported titles
[N 1]
GPLv2 (Copyleft) ?
EtherealSX2 ? N/A (WIP) ? ? N/A GPLv3 (Copyleft) ✗ (WIP)
Cosmic   git Progression: 14% MIT (Permissive) ✗ (WIP)
DamonPS2 (呆萌PS2模拟器)   5.0 ?%
16 reported playable titles
Proprietary* (stolen PCSX2 code)
Console
XBSX2.0     git ~ ~ 99%
2667 out of 2690 reported titles
[N 1]
GPLv3 (Copyleft)
Official Sony emulators  
   
FW 4.78 (PS3)
SYRUP (PS4/PS5)
~ ~ 84%
2250 out of 2682 reported titles (PS3)

57%
748 out of 1299 reported titles (PS4/PS5)
Proprietary ~
Play!     git (Switch)
2020(Vita Port)
~ ~ 42%
1076 out of 2571 reported titles
MIT (Permissive)
AetherSX2     Alpha ~ ~ 74%
451 out of 609 reported titles
Proprietary (stolen PCSX2 code)
LRPS2     libretro core ~ ~ 97%
out of 2,641 reported titles
[N 1]
GPLv3 (Copyleft) ~
  1. 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, check these sources;
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 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. If you really want to use a libretro core for PlayStation 2 emulation; it's recommended to use shandonb's PCSX2 fork for libretro instead.
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)
* ?
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.
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 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 * ? ? ?
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 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 2] ?
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 3] ? ?

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
LAN
(Slim models)
TBD ~
LAN tunneling TBD ~
i.LINK *
Inputs Pressure Sensitive Buttons ~ ?
Rumble
Motion control (Tilt sensor)[N2 2]
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 3] 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 * ? ?
USB Mass storage * TBD
PictureParadise * TBD
  1. ps2_emu: peripheral support
  2. 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.
  3. Additional Memory Card slots must be enabled in the .ini file.

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

PocketStation communication[edit]

Wikipedia:PocketStation#Compatible_games

PSP communication[edit]

List of PlayStation 2 games with PSP connectivity

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.

DVD player[edit]

 
PCSX2 MagicGate fork - DVD-Video menu demonstration

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]

  • 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]

Wikipedia - PlayStation 2 Hard Disk Drive and compatible titles

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.

PlayStation 2 Hard Drive offered;

As stated in the Network Adapter section, slim models comes with Ethernet functionality of the Network Adaptor has been integrated onto the motherboard, because of this slim models have no Hard Drive support.

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]

Wikipedia: DVD Remote Control

You can even play games with this remote controller other than multimedia functionalities, there's a setting in the System Config 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.

First of all, many people believe that since the main CPU (Emotion Engine) runs at a clock speed of 294 Mhz (299 Mhz on later revisions), it would make emulation easy on recent hardware. But this isn't the case because the clock speed of the emulated CPU is not necessarily indicative of the ease of emulation (e.g. Sega Saturn emulation). Specifically, the PlayStation 2's 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. Emulating them perfectly with correct timing requires an enormous amount of power. Moreover, the PlayStation 2, just like PlayStation 1, uses the MIPS architecture instead of standard x86 code, thus making emulation slower.[3]

Another big problem is the emulation of 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]

To conclude the problems with PlayStation 2 emulation, we come to 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 the hardware renderer on PCSX2 greatly improved recently, 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 ParaLLEl-RDP and redream's new LLE video renderer using GPU compute shaders. 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.

MagicGate[edit]

Wikipedia:MagicGate

MagicGate, an encryption technology embedded within specific PlayStation 2 memory cards, relies on the MechaCon chip for security functionalities. MechaCon chip handles various tasks, including PlayStation 2 system security, game disc security, MagicGate, and KELF file decryption. Emulating MagicGate presents unique challenges because replicating its encryption process and hardware verification can be difficult and raising concerns about copyright situation [10][11]. 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.

For more information about PlayStation 2 hardware and reverse engineering;

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