Changes

|successor = [[PlayStation 4 emulators|PlayStation 4(Pro)]]

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! scope="col"|[[#Arcade_VariationsArcade_variations|Arcade<br/>Variationsvariations]]

|[https://rpcs3.net/compatibility 68.769%<br/><small>2504 2551 out of 3645 3689 reported titles</small>]

;[[RPCS3]]:An RPCS3 is an open-source [[High/Low_level_emulation|hybrid approach]] emulator for 64-bit Windows, GNU/Linux, BSD and macOSand it stands as a remarkable feat in PlayStation 3 emulation, successfully tackling the intricate [[#Emulation_issues|PlayStation 3's complex architecture]] through innovative techniques. While it isn't anywhere near as compatible as [[Dolphin]] is for [[GameCube emulators|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 [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html single thread performance of CPUs] (see '''[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Rpq_2D4Rf3g6O-x2R1fwTSKWvJH7X63kExsVxHnT2Mc/edit#gid=0 single thread performance of CPUsRPCS3 CPU benchmark chart]'''). As of now, all known titles now load, and initialize properly, without crashing the emulator. Beyond this, [[RPCS3]] supports some [[#Enhancements|enhancements]] and [[#Hardware_features_and_peripherals|system features, peripherals]]. As of April 13, 2022, builds for macOS have started being officially distributed for Intel and ARM Macs.<!-- RPCS3 runs on Rosetta for Macs with M-series processors, while Intel Macs run the application natively. --> <ref>https://twitter.com/rpcs3/status/1514302544750780417?s=20&t=e1g7-9NzgIehtodHmXYytQ</ref> For checking if your games work and any fixes, tweaks, or settings, check these sources;:*[https://wiki.rpcs3.net/index.php?title=Category:Games RPCS3 Wiki]:*[https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/issues RPCS3 GitHub issues] ;[[Nucleus]]:A one-person project by Alexandro Sanchez (AKA 'AlexAltea', [https://youtu.be/4joCMfTPP4M?t=30 who is also one of the developers of the RPCS3 and Orbital projects]) that aimed at low-level emulation, some AOT emulation, and portability. Made by AlexAltea.

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| rowspan=6 7 | Graphics

| Super-resolution techniques<br/><small>([https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/Streamline/blob/main/docs/ProgrammingGuideDLSS.md DLSS], XeSS and [[Wikipedia:GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR 2+]])</small>

| Ray-tracing<br/><small>([https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/announcing-microsoft-directx-raytracing/ DXR], [https://www.khronos.org/blog/ray-tracing-in-vulkan VRT] and [https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metal/metal_sample_code_library/accelerating_ray_tracing_using_metal MRT])</small>| <small>Implementing ray-tracing in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future.<br/>However you can try "[[Shader_PresetsShaders_and_filters#Notable_presets_for_ReShadeNotable_ReShade_shaders|Screen-Space Ray Traced Global Illumination]]" shader using ReShade.<br/>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8ccDL3ND10 Demonstration][https://reshade.me/forum/general-discussion/5442-release-misc-emulators-with-depth-buffer-access#35304]</small>

| [https://github.com/NVIDIAGameWorks/rtx-remix/wiki RTX Remix]| colspan=4 | <small>Implementing RTX Remix technology in an emulator is unfortunately quite challenging and unlikely to be feasible in the near future.<br/>Besides, RPCS3 already supports some of RTX Remix features.<br/>On top of that you can use ReShade for post-processing.</small>|-| rowspan=3 4 | Performance

| colspan=4 | <small>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 [[Wikipedia:Motion_interpolation|motion interpolation]] is quite possible. [[Input_lag|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"'''.<br/>While '''[https://youtu.be/8hE-twtgIMY AFMF]''' or '''[https://youtu.be/vbbdP9ls2GY?t=299 LSFG]''' can be used with RPCS3, please be aware that some visual glitches and artifacts may occur at this time.

| Rendering latency reduction technologies<br/><small>([https://github.com/ishitatsuyuki/LatencyFleX LatencyFleX], [https://developer.nvidia.com/performance-rendering-tools/reflex Reflex] and [https://www.amd.com/en/products/software/adrenalin/radeon-software-anti-lag.html Anti-Lag'''+'''])| colspan=4 | <small>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.</small>|-| rowspan=4 6 | Post-Processing

| [[Wikipedia:Comparison_gallery_of_image_scaling_algorithms|Post-rendering scaling]]<br/><small>(Sharp bilinear, Lanczos and [[Wikipedia:GPUOpen#FidelityFX_Super_Resolution|FSR 1]])</small>

| [[Shaders_and_filtersShaders and filters|Filters]]

| [[Shader_PresetsShaders_and_filters#AI-powered filters|AI-powered filter compatible]]<br/><small>([https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/gfecnt/nvidia-freestyle-ansel-enhancements-geforce-experience-article/ Freestyle])</small>| {{?}}|-| [[Shader Presets|Shader Chain]]

| rowspan=8 9 | Quality of life

| [[Save_disk_space_for_ISOsSave disk space for ISOs#PlayStation_3PlayStation 3|Streamable compression format]]

| [[Wikipedia:Variable_refresh_rate|Variable Refresh Rate compatible]]| {{Y}}[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/uhp1lq/how_is_the_state_of_emulation_and_vrr/ *]|-| [[Frontends#Graphical_User_Interfaces_.28GUIs.29| Big Picture Mode]]

| rowspan=3 4 | Misc

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|colspan=2 | [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/List_of_games_that_support_Pressure-Sensitive_Face_Buttons[Virtual_reality#PlayStation_3_Emulation Pressure Sensitive ButtonsEmulators_with_VR_support|Stereoscopic 3D]]| {{✓}}<ref group=N3>Perfect support for [https://wiki.rpcs3.net/index.php?title=Help:Controller_Configuration#Using_DualShock_3_controller DualShock 3] controller which works with [https://www.pcgamingwikireddit.com/wikir/Controller:DualShock_3#Wired_connection_-_official_drivers Official Sony driver] and [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Controller:DualShock_3#Wired_connection_-_unofficial_drivers DsHidMini community driver]. Emulator allows to assign one key to change pressure sensitivity. It's possible to have more variants with [https://www.rewasd.com/releases/release-6.3.0 reWASD application] which allows to assign keys or gamepad buttons to [https://help.rewasd.com/basic-functions/virtual-controller.html Virtual DualShock 3]. Emulator supports DualShock 2, but only with special adapter emulating DualShock 3, RPCS3 does not support [https:rpcs3/comments/bliss-box.netfeyogl/integrationrpcs3_now_supports_playstation_3d/ Bliss-Box API*]. Other controllers with pressure-sensitive buttons like [https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Controller:Xbox_Controller#Games_with_pressure_sensitive_face_buttons Xbox controller] or Steam Deck touchpads are not supported.</ref>|-|colspan=2 | Motion controls (Gyro)| {{✓}}<ref group=N3>Perfect support. Emulator supports motion controls for DualShock 3, DualShock 4 and DualSense. Sony, Nintendo and Valve controllers can emulate DualShock 3 via reWASD application.</ref>

*RPCS3 [https://wiki.rpcs3.net/index.php?title=Help:Frequently_Asked_Questions#Running_VSH/XMB_in_RPCS3 supports XMB only partially], some functions and apps do not work at the moment. However , [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKkiI_RlmPc you can run some of the applications like Netflix from RPCS3 GUI]. As mentioned in [[#Trophies]] section, [https://wiki.rpcs3.net/index.php?title=Help:Frequently_Asked_Questions#Adding_Trophy_and_Home_Menu_sounds you can change XMB home menu sounds] if you want.

*See [[Preservation_projectsPreservation projects#LAN_Tunneling_ProgramsLAN Tunneling Programs]] for more information about other LAN tunneling solutions.

OtherOS is a feature of early versions of the PlayStation 3 video game console, allowing user installed software, such as many [[:Category:Operating_systems|distributions of Linux or BSD]] in a separate partition as long as they supported PowerPC. The feature was removed since system firmware update 3.21, released on April 1, 2010. Software running in the OtherOS environment has access to 6 of the 7 SPEs. Sony implemented a [[hypervisor ]] restricting access to the RSX. However either thru through a security vulnerability before FW 2.10 or by using some form of OtherOS++ CFW full access to the RSX, and/or the seventh SPE and other system resources is possible. See [[Recommended_linux_distrosRecommended linux distros#Wide_range_of_platforms_focusedWide range of platforms focused]] or [https://t2sde.org/hardware/console/Sony/PS3/ T2 SDE PS3 page] for more information.

:''René Rebe: PS3 [https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLjYwv0RogAQ6aliSQsDVZD77R8XbLnca&si=a5GSVaC7JNKlf6c9 playlist], [https://youtuwww.beyoutube.com/@renerebe/V5dpXXxGYCU René Rebesearch?query=PS3 streams]'': I made ''Model Citizen PS3 Linux UP TO 6% FASTER & save a whopping 7MB precious XDR RAM: [https://www.youtube.com/@model.citizen.ps3/videos YouTube], too[http://www.ps3linux.net/ PS3Linux.net]''

PlayStation 3 has featuring For a long time, the PS3's Blu-ray player was a versatile and powerful feature and considered the best of all time, and many people still use it for this purpose today. Featuring 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, SACD and Audio CDs. However Keep in mind that, there is no support for VCDs for PlayStation 3 or SVCDs just like PlayStation 2. Also [[Home_Media_Player#Interactive_media|interactive film/movie]] formats like DVDi, DVDPG, BDPG and Blu-ray Interactive HD supported.

*RPCS3 has no [https://rpcs3.net/faq disc support] or home media playback support currently. There is a [https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/issues/8579 feature request] for adding DVD disc/image capability for RPCS3 emulator.

==Arcade Variationsvariations==

PlayStation consoles have always been notorious for system complexity (e.g. [[PlayStation_emulators#Emulation_issues|PlayStation]], [[PlayStation_2_emulators#Emulation_issues|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, [[High/Low_level_emulation|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_emulators|official PS3 emulator ]] for the newer PlayStations. Simply because they wouldn't be able to justify the extremely high potential development cost to investors.<ref>[https://youtu.be/6WkpaJkB2M8 Why PS4 Doesn't Have Backwards Compatibility and Xbox One Does] (Mystic. Aug 21, 2018.)</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rzLZ9Bkhwo MVG: Sony's complicated history with Backwards Compatibility]</ref>

* '''[[wikipedia:Cell_(microprocessor)|Cell Broadband Engine]]''' - consists of two architectures that developers have to program for; [[POS_(Pong_Consoles)_CPUs_and_Other_Chips#PPC_CPUs|PowerPC]], and... whatever the SPEs really are; and you have a great formula for high system requirements, SPU hardware environment is the furthest thing from a [[POS_(Pong_Consoles)_CPUs_and_Other_Chips#x86_CPUs|x86 PC processor]]. The RPCS3 developers using ahead-of-time recompilation using LLVM. RPCS3 is not just compiling the code it runs, it's also need needs to compile a realtime environment simulator e.g . the 128x128bit register file, LS sram, the very weird memory flow controller, etc[https://discord.com/channels/272035812277878785/272083901277667342/1200171144603512892]. SPEs closer to [[PlayStation_2_emulators#Emulation_issues|VUs from PS2]] than to a GPU. They're a SIMD cluster, don't be fooled by their apparent similarity to GPUs. GPU are low throughput but very wide. SPEs are also wide, but not so much so. However, their individual thread throughput is insane even compared to a something like RTX 4090 GPU. It's not possible to beat SPUs 1:1 (it's ALL vector, it doesn't have scalar registers at least not general-purpose ones), they have 128 registers and very low latency SRAM, almost no memory fetches and everything is async. Although AVX-512 comes close in performance (at 5+ GHz). GPUs on the other hand are around 10-100x slower, but that's just because of how their cores are designed and the fact that SPU kernels are optimized to run in much smaller groups. There's too much working against emulation at 3.2 GHz rate since most SPU instructions need many instructions on PC (like dozens in some cases), so the PC side needs to be an order of magnitude faster.[https://discord.com/channels/272035812277878785/272083901277667342/12001711446035128921197648306084524202]* '''[[wikipedia:RSX_Reality_Synthesizer|RSX (Reality Synthesizer)]]''': The [[PlayStation 4 emulatorsPlayStation_4_emulators#Emulation_issues|PlayStation 4GPU]] also went unemulated for a long time, simply because of how many components were just undocumented. The , the same thing applies here; the [https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/RSX RSX unit] is a custom-designed chip developed by NVIDIA specifically for the PS3 PlayStation 3 and share similarities with GeForce 7800 GTX or G70/G71. 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.

:There is no APIIn practice, just raw hardware register modifications. Even if you had smaller devs use PPE most of the source codetime, you cannot compile it to x86 directly and have it work because of how the target hardware works. So you'd also need an emulator for an NVIDIA G70 in therebut AAA use everything.

* [https://whatcookie.github.io/posts/why-is-avx-512-useful-for-rpcs3/ whatcookie: Why Is AVX 512 Useful for RPCS3?]* RPCS3: . Also, there are new upcoming instructions for future CPUs such as [[httpsWikipedia://rpcs3.net/blog/ BlogAdvanced_Vector_Extensions#AVX10|AVX10]], and [[httpsWikipedia://discordAdvanced_Vector_Extensions#APX|APX]].gg/rpcs3 Discord]* RPCS3 's [https://rpcs3.net/blog/2020/08/21/hardware-performance-scaling/ progress report august August 2020] - : Since intel dropped TSX due to security reasons, RPCS3 will use TSX-FA/TSX Force Abort on CPUs with new microcode and [https://github.com/RPCS3/rpcs3/issues/6028 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.* New instructions like [[Wikipedia:AVX-512|AVX-512]], [[Wikipedia:Advanced_Vector_Extensions#AVX10|AVX10]] and [[Wikipedia:Advanced_Vector_Extensions#APX|APX]] and potential benefits for RPCS3 emulation: [https://gdiscord.cocom/bardchannels/share644252595329957915/196c4d4d723c AVX512668417976554225674 T2 SDE discord - ppc-aim-ps3 channel], * RPCS3: [https://grpcs3.conet/bardblog/share/12a429318f25 AVX10Blog], [https://gdiscord.cogg/bard/share/2a58e863e693 APXrpcs3 Discord], [https://bardwww.googleyoutube.com/share/ee2c7336e263 APX potential benefits for RPCS3 emulation@RPCS3_emu YouTube], [https://g.co/bard/share/67c7303fc651 Which specific APX instructions potentially benefit RPCS3 emulation], [https://g.co/bard/share/3896403e0301 Comparing AVX512, AVX10 and APX] - ''(These are Google Bard AI responses, so do not expect perfect results''