What is Reddit's opinion of
PCSX2?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
Time for my biennial "how are PCSX2 and ePSXe doing?" check.
ePSXe looking pretty good too, even a couple versions ago.
I presume they're still not as bulletproof as ZSNES, but I'll take it...
Katamari Damacy. Just so easy to sit and roll around for a few minutes, no competition or teammates to let down if I need to leave early (Like with LoL), not big levels or load times or an inventory to manage. Just simple rolling, can last as long or as short as I like.
edit:
http://www.emuparadise.me/Sony_Playstation_2_ISOs/Katamari_Damacy_(USA)/150753
Unlike that unhelpful jackass that also replied, I'll actually provide a guide for you.
Download for the latest development version of PCSX2: http://buildbot.orphis.net/pcsx2/
Guide: http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/official-english-pcsx2-configuration-guide.html
You do not have to download and install any plug-ins, the download I linked has them already. You just need the bios
I can't link you to the Ps2 bios I don't think, but you can literally Google "ps2 bios" and download it.
And you'll probably have to download all the versions of Microsoft Visual C++. This might be the only one you need, but if it still gives you an error, just find and download the rest by searching "Microsoft visual c++" and downloading the various years on the Microsoft website.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145
And that should set you up if you follow that guide.
If you want the games, use emuparadise.
Edit: Also, check out /r/emulation for an awesome emulator related subreddit.
PCSX2 is the best PS2 Emulator I've used yet, and they actually just officially released it not too long ago. (Sorry if Emulator discussion isn't allowed here. I haven't seen it in the rules.)
It's fairly simple to set up, and there are guides on the site. You can even use a gamepad with it too.
Haven't used it in a while but PCSX2 has come a long ways in terms of compatibility and performance. Might have to enable certain speedhacks to get some games running up to par and a few that used shortcuts to get certain effects running will be quite tricky to work.
Download the PS2 emulator.
Download the NCAA 11 ROM.
You'll need this BIOS pack also.
The setup and play is pretty self explanatory. There are plenty of vids on youtube if you can't figure it out.
The graphics during play are watered down but the dynasty and menus etc are spot on.
Yeah, a game from Atlus' Persona series might have fit better. P3 and P4 were both solid (if a little nontraditional) RPGs.
They don't have a PC version, but work well on pcsx2
I remember reading a post one of the PCSX2 guys made about some strange glitches they were finding.
Turned out that the processor in the PS2 handled floating point differently than x86, and some game developers were relying on the slight difference.
Edit: IanCormac pointed out the exact issue, and I was able to find the post here.
For those wondering how it's done it is likely: PCSX2 (the ps2 emulator)
xpadder (so the controller will work(even though PCSX2 has one but it's kinda shitty.))
The emulator can be frustrating and quite buggy (especially on multi-core systems) but there are plenty of video tutorials online and if you put enough effort into it you can get the games running quite well.
> f you own a PS2, I'd probably get one of the slim PS3 models
If you have a decent PC I would try and see if your games work in PCSX2. Games that do look spectacular (except for pre-rendered cut scenes).
It was pretty easy to setup, rip my games from the PS2 discs and play.
You read that correctly. Just put the disc in your optic drive and PCSX2 will be able to read it. (If you're having trouble figuring it out, here's a forum post about it.) Alternatively, you can create an image file of your game and play with that.
The only issue with setting up PCSX2 is obtaining a BIOS image. These are easily available online, but are illegal to obtain that way. You can dump your own BIOS, but you need a modchip to do so.
The PS2 is a ridiculously difficult system to emulate. In particular, it doesn't conform to IEEE floating point arithmetic standards, so an emulator has to double-check pretty much every single floating point calculation in software. It's hard to do that efficiently. The PCSX2 developer blog is a pretty fascinating read.
Now I don't know anything for sure, but my money is on the PS2 emulation for the PS3 being very heavily optimized for Cell. Rewriting it for the x86 processor in the PS4 is a pretty huge task.
http://www.epsxe.com/ Playstation 1 emulator
http://pcsx2.net/ Playstation 2 emulator
These run well for a 2ghz dual core cpu. You can use roms or pop your old playstation cd/dvd in the drive and run it as well.
Actually, there are more than four "PS2 emulators", using the words as loosely or tightly based as you wish:
1.NeutrinoSX2 (plays a few commercial games, I think). ☆
http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/ps2/neutrinosx2.html (only Windows)
2.PCSX2 (plays over 2,000 commercial games). ☆☆☆☆
http://pcsx2.net/download/releases.html (stable; multi-platform)
3.Hpsx64 (or something like that; it can run several commercial games). ☆☆
(newest binaries are hosted mostly on risky sites, so search and beware)
4.Play! (can run FFX and a few other popular games quite well; is making progress with Dark Cloud too). ☆☆
(same as hpsx64)
5.Emotionless (has some potential; nothing far yet). ☆
(in immature stages; not worth downloading yet in most cases)
6.PS2EMU (never heard of it before, but do now). ?????
(I asked the developer if they'll let me test it; I'll report back here if they do; otherwise IHNI)
It really depends on the game. If you're looking to play a specific game, you should look up to see if that game came out for GameCube or PS2. Then check the Dolphin and PCSX2 compatibility lists. That will give you an idea of how your game will run in each emulator.
You should also be aware that GameCube and PS2 versions may not be exactly the same. One version might be superior due to missing content or bonus features, or they may be completely different games.
And finally, the best experience with a specific game might even be on a PS3 or PS4 HD remaster or a PC version.
> GT4, graphics fuck up when starting a race. SoC, 10fps no matter what settings and anything below 60fps is unplayable. God of War 1, bugs out in the first map. I'm a ship and I'm supposed to kill something but the attack simply won't register/work.
How long ago? Because speaking of GT4, I see no open ticket on github.
Speaking of GoW, many bugs were fixed some months ago.
Speaking of SoTC... you realize that lagged even on original hardware right? Said this, indeed 50/60 fps are very hard to achieve there. But it's possible
> This comes from a guy who is professional in IT field, I know computers and I also have computer that is able to run BF4 for example at stable 144fps. Play station emulation is nothing but eternal pain.
Not to offend you, but it's not like this give you any title over anybody else that has read actual emotion engine and graphics synthesizer papers.
ps2 is a completely different beast from most gaming hardware (ps3 is a bit of an evolution on its design, though).
it requires very strict timings on sync between cpu, video chip and video ram, and this is the cause of most issues in emulation.
ps2 at time of its release had absurd internal bandwidth between its components (and overkill ram chips) and pc has issues faithfully emulating it, keeping all in sync and providing decent performance. also the cpu has nonstandard handling of overflowing values.
also, most heavy lifting on ps2 is done via its vector processing units, not the main cpu. high performance ps2 game constantly uploads and transforms geometry and textures on the fly and feeds it to the graphical processor. something that stands in total contrast to standard pc approach.
http://arstechnica.com/features/2000/04/ps2vspc/
http://pcsx2.net/developer-blog/89-threading-vu1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_Engine
> The Emotion Engine consists of eight separate "units", each performing a specific task, integrated onto the same die. These units are: a CPU core, two Vector Processing Units (VPU), a graphics interface (GIF), a 10 channel DMA unit, a memory controller, an Image Processing Unit (IPU) and an input output interface.
> The CPU core is tightly coupled to the first VPU, VPU0. Together, they are responsible for executing game code and high-level modeling computations. The second VPU, VPU1, is dedicated to geometry-transformations and lighting and operates independently, parallel to the CPU core, controlled by microcode. VPU0, when not utilized, can also be used for geometry-transformations. Display lists generated are sent to the GIF, which prioritizes them before dispatching them to the Graphics Synthesizer for rendering.
consider this for a moment and compare to other consoles.
I've played FFX, FFX-2, Tales of the Abyss, Persona 3 FES, Persona 4, FFXII, Rogue Galaxy, Star Ocean 3, Shadow of the Colossus, and ICO with PCSX2 so no, ps2 emulators are not "heavy".
They list 95% of titles as playable compared to Dolphin's 89%, but Dolphin looks to be far more rigorous with its standards. I haven't tried using PCSX2 for a year now, but it's undeniably more finnicky and less clean than Dolphin in end user experience. Also, Ratchet and Clank games still have infamous rendering glitches. It's important to keep in mind that it's not a competition, but PCSX2 still has a ways to go to reach Dolphin levels of accuracy.
Get the latest development build here: http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
Assuming you chose the GSdx plugin, the settings you're looking for are on Config > Video (GS) > Plugin Settings...
I personally use the OpenGL (Hardware) renderer because it's currently the most accurate. I'm running it at 3x Native resolution, Blending Unit Accuracy is on Medium - I have a quad core CPU and a beefy GPU and can't go above this setting without my FPS dropping and the audio getting time stretched.
I also have "Enable HW Hacks" and have TC Offset X/Y set to 320 because some postprocessing effects on games would otherwise be offset.
Hope it helps.
I'm running one of the SVN releases of PCSX2 with great success. The latest official release doesn't support multithreading, and it makes a huge difference. I'm currently about 15 hours into Final Fantasy XII, and it's run rock solid at 1080p the entire time.
I took a few comparison shots of the game running at 2880x1620 internal rendering resolution, and the PS2 native of 512x384.
A word of advice; disable anti aliasing, run with a large internal rendering resolution, and just let it scale the image to size. The 3D models look great either way, but 2D images with transparency (fence rails, etc) will look jagged as hell unless you run in a very high internal resolution.
This is a good first thing to read from the pcsx2 site (pcsx2 is the program you'll use to play the games)
http://pcsx2.net/getting-started.html
Also Ngemu is also a good site for more info, for looking up game specific configs
OK for all those asking:
Yes, there exists a PS2 emulator for years now. It is awesome, but it also needs a good CPU to run efficiently. Its name is PCSX2.
The way I've set this up, is by making a copy of the PCSX2 program for each game (each copy is about 100Mb, so it's not a lot) with its settings stored locally on the installation folder itself. The way is described here
Then in steam I've added each different executable of the pcsx2 emulator as a new steam game and modified its target to load the individual game image like so
"F:\Emulators\Steamworks\ICO\pcsx2-r4600.exe" "F:\Emulators\ROMs\PS2\ICO.iso"
Finally, I've renamed the shortcut, created a new category to put them in, and bob's your uncle!
Enjoy.
>The emulator haven't been updated since a year
> my PC can't run Ratchet and Clank games near to a playable speed
Ratchet & Clank is one of the more resource-intensive PS2 games to run. If you still can't run it after updating to the PCSX2 release from 4.5 hours ago then the only thing that can really be done is to update your CPU/GPU.
> it could run Battlefield 4 at high setting with no problems.
Emulation is completely different from running a PC game, don't compare them again.
If you own what would have been considered a high-end system in 2007, PCSX2 will more than likely run The Warriors at full speed. As a bonus, you get features that you wouldn't with an official release, like save/load states.
The PS3 and 360 emulators aren't even close to running a game like this, so that really only leaves the PS2 version.
PCSX2 is basically "the" Playstation 2 emulator for Windows.
Played in pcsx2 1.4.0 with this settings: http://pcsx2.net/download.html
DX11
CRC HACK LEVEL: AGRESSIVE
half pixel offset/alpha
X6 RESOLUTION
WITH RESHADE 2.0 PRESET INJECTED
To force reshade in pcsx2 DX11 mode use enb injector, here are the files ready to play: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ejll9l7il768r6b/PCSX2_1.4.0.rar
Please for the love of god, use the new "unstable"/development builds.
They are miles better than the normal stable version (1.2.1), which is almost two years old at this point. They should really just link to those instead, it's pretty damn confusing for new comers. Do the same with most other emulators as well, like Dolphin.
> It's not related to PCSX2. That project is not going anywhere any time soon.
Huh? Didn't they just announce major updates for linux support, a major graphics update, a change in development philosophy (to bring them closer to Dolphin's method of development), and an upcoming stable release?
>This project, Play!, has been in the making for a while, but it's less known.
Cool. Do you know what the licensing situation is for it? Poor licensing has killed many great projects in the past.
Abandoned? Just a few days ago they posted a new update. http://pcsx2.net/269-major-gsdx-progress-monthly-reports.html
Edit: and don't forget about the repository: http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
As an owner of two of the launch 60GB PS3s I'll say if you have a halfway decent PC take a look at the current PC PS2 emulator - PCSX2.
Issues I've had with my two 60GB PS3s, 1 defective blu-ray player (had to order the player guts and replace them), 3 YLOD/Black screens - required solder reflows. Chances are they'll require solder reflows again in the future too.
Edit: From the system requirements for PCSX2
>Recommended Processors:
>Intel Core 2 Duo / Core i3 @ 3.2Ghz or faster
>Intel Core i5 / i7 @ 2.66Ghz or faster
>AMD Phenom II / Athlon II (X2, X3 or X4) @ 3.4Ghz or faster
>Recommended VGA cards:
>Nvidia Geforce 9600GT / 8800GT or better
>ATI Radeon 4750 or better
Try latest PCSX2 build
http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
Okami works almost perfectly right now
With these settings
PCSX2. Here's the config guide. Download's on a different page. You can either rip an .iso of your game disc or 15-men-on-a-dead-man's-chest it. Not like there's even a way to actually give Squenix money for this game anymore.
If you have a PS3 or PS4 controller you can hook it up via USB or bluetooth and use the SCP driver pack to make it work with Windows like a 360 controller.
You need at least an Intel Core i5 3570(k) for Gamecube emulation. PS2 emulation needs at least a Core2Duo with 3.2GHz and a nVidia 8600GT, which roughly translates to a i5 3570(k), too.
tl;dr: Raspi won't cut it for PS2/GC emus.
PS1 emulation is definitely worth it no matter how powerful your system is. There are a few choices of emulators where usually at least one will support the game you want usually. Compatibility lists are out there if you look around, here is one for the emulator known as pSX
PS2 emulation needs a more powerful system, but still manages a fairly good overall compatibility list, available here, this emulator is the only one that really works for PS2 emulation at this point in time.
As for difficulty it's not too hard to set up the emulators, they just have lots of settings that can be modified, but if you want to you can pretty much download an emulator, bios, and rom and run it without changing any settings. I personally believe pSX is the easiest PS1 emulator to use as it doesn't rely on plugins (I think) so it takes away a layer of work you have to do for setting up the emulator.
No, if you check the git page, the latest devoloper build was uploaded yesterday.
Also PCSX2 runs fairly well on my five year old 7950.. so the problem isn't your graphics card.
http://pcsx2.net/270-june-2015-progress-report.html
> As promised in last month's update, welcome to PCSX2's very first monthly progress report! Sorry that it's a bit later than I had said - totally my fault! Let's start things off with a bang, shall we? A question that often gets asked on the forum to a surprising degree is a variation of the following: “How can I get XYZ Snowblind engine game working in hardware mode?” the answer up until very recently was “You can't, use software mode and expect it to be ridiculously demanding.” For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Snowblind engine was used for games like Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath, Champions: Return to Arms, and a few miscellaneous others. The Snowblind engine does some pretty crazy stuff on the PS2, like using 2x Super Sample Anti Aliasing! Because of that, it's very demanding and even ultra powerful rigs would have issues running these games in software mode. Running them in hardware mode would result in only half the screen being visible because of the way the engine achieves the 2x SSAA.
> GSdx: Hardware rendering Snowblind Game fix by Gregory & Refraction.
> However the situation has changed drastically thanks to Gregory. Snowblind engine games are now supported in hardware mode! Now these popular games can be enjoyed in HD resolutions and without owning a super computer! It is important to note however that they are still relatively demanding, just not quite as much as before.
http://pcsx2.net/ - PS2 Emulator (you'll need a pretty decent PC, though).
http://xeeynamo.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/kingdom-hearts-ii-final-mix.html - KH2:FM English Patch - I can't remember if that page has the untouched KH2:FM ISO download linked on it. If it doesn't, you'll have to find it yourself. If it does, congratulations.
Alternatively, if you have a shit PC, you can use a modded PS2 to play the English Patched game (although it obviously won't be in HD). If you need support, post on the PCSX2 forums, don't post on /r/emulation. It's rare you get someone who actually knows what they're talking about there.
Plus, the PCSX2 forums will have more specialised support whereas /r/emulation is more generalised. If you do go to the PCSX2 forums for support, don't mention that you downloaded the game.........
ps2 is very complex to emulate because it's very odd.
it is basically an architecture where vast amounts of data are constantly being streamed from main system memory, through VU units (where they are processed on the fly) and straight into (tiny) video memory. from there a graphics processor applies its own scripting language to the data.
that happens pretty much all the time in ps2 (almost every frame), and there is also a matter of very tight hardware sync between each chip. this approach is what makes ps2 emulation so difficult, and many people tend to describe ps2 as a 'bandwidth monster' because of speed of data exchange between various processors contained inside.
this is what ps2 was designed for - relatively fast rdram, direct dma channels for data transfers and optimizing everything for graphical performance.
there is also a different behavior of the main cpu in certain calculations that requires workarounds in the emulators.
while the specs alone don't impress much, the design is what makes things difficult ( http://pcsx2.net/developer-blog/230-graphics-synthesizer-gpus-and-dual-cores.html )
on pc, things are usually opposite - you load 3d geometry and textures into video memory and go from there. you don't constantly stream data into video card memory and have super tight sync cycles that,if disrupted, would break your game.
PCSX2 and Dolphin both do a good job at emulating their respective hardware. PCSX2 is absolutely capable of playing God of War 1 and 2 at high resolutions. I do feel Dolphin is a better emulator than PCSX2. Dolphin emulates the Gamecube and the Wii wonderfully. If you have a Bluetooth adapter you can even use real Wii Remotes! Sadly the XBOX is lacking a working emulator.
It is a PS2 emulator for PC. While obtaining the emulator itself is within the law, acquiring the individual game files and the PS2 BIOS usually infringe on some sort of copyright law somewhere.
They recently released the 1.0 update, and it's highly compatible + makes games look better with antialiasing and higher resolutions. I personally haven't had any issues with making it work or with slow down/choppiness. Best results with a USB or bluetooth controller eg. wired 360 pad or ps3 via bluetooth.
It can also load legitimate PS2 games from your PC's DVD drive.
Oh, and you can speed up/slow down your game + save at any point so you can load to that exact point later if you are feeling a bit cheaty.
Edit- Someone doesn't like emulators.
As long as you're willing to wait long enough, pretty much anything is playable on PC.
You need a fairly recent/high end PC to get SotC to run well though, especially if you want to run at a higher than original resolution. Anything less than a recent i5 or i7 overclocked into the 4-4.5GHz+ range will have trouble getting it to run much better than it would on a real PS2, if even that well.
Even with a high end CPU, you're still not going to be able to bump the internal resolution into the 1080p range without some slowdown (unless you're one of the lucky few with a Sandy Bridge CPU OCed into the 5GHz+ range, that might be enough to manage. Not certain as i haven't seen reports from anyone with such a CPU, but i could see it being possible as my 2500k at a mere 4.4GHz still manages fairly well at 1080p most of the time).
On the bright side, SotC is pretty much the most system intensive PS2 game to emulate well, so it's still worth trying out other games even if you don't have an especially great PC (the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts stuff is all relatively easy to get running on most non-notebook PCs made in the last few years for example).
The video card requirements for emulation are really low. The one you already have should be enough. The real problem is your CPU might be a bit of a bottleneck:
http://pcsx2.net/getting-started.html
Minimum (most games will be unplayable slow)
Windows/Linux OS
CPU: Any that supports SSE2 (Pentium 4 and up, Athlon64 and up)
GPU: Any that supports Pixel Shader model 2.0, except Nvidia FX series (broken SM2.0, too slow anyway)
512MB RAM (note Vista needs at least 2GB to run reliably)
Recommended:
Windows Vista / Windows 7 (32bit or 64bit) with the latest DirectX
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 3.2 GHz or better OR i3/i5/i7 @ 2,8 GHz or better OR AMD Phenom II @ 3,2 GHz or better
GPU: 8800gt or better (for Direct3D10 support)
RAM: 1GB on Linux/Windows XP, 2GB or more on Vista / Windows 7
Best thing to do is just try the emulation first and see what kind of results you get.
Yes and they have been always been making small or large jumps in performance or accuracy. They also post progress reports but a bit less often than dolphin emu.
PCSX2 http://pcsx2.net/
Pretty stable and most games work on it. Takes a bit of setting up and tweaking the settings to get games running optimally (and remember different games might have different settings). You'll need to find a BIOS or create one from your PS2, and you can use either ISO files or the actual PS2 disk for games.
Did you tried hardware mode?
And keep in mind latest version is this
> GTA 3 > > GTA Vice City > > GTA San Andreas > > NFSU2
Besides, trust me, these games are hell better on the native PC version.
At the very least, we'll eventually get a decent 360 emulator, I'm sure. When we do... I'm also sure that something along the lines of giant purple energy sword dildos will be there to greet us.
- Since the guy below me won't edit the reply, here's the compatability rate for the most popular PS2 emulator. I'd say that's quite a ways above "decent".
There's no native port to PC. I used to emulate it when my PS2 broke.
My old PC didn't support PS2 emulators pretty well.. if yours can, congratulations, just download PCSX2 and get a ISO file of the PS2 version of the game.
If you're getting pretty shitty FPS or lags, download a Dreamcast emulator, such Chankast, get some BIOS and get the MvC2 rom.
PS2 emulators do exist (PCSX2), but their success will vary greatly based on the CPU (not GPU) speed of your computer. A lot of laptops will not have the capacity to play at full speed, but some do and if you have a decent desktop it should perform well enough. You can use PS2 discs for the emulator too, but before you buy the game I highly recommend researching whether or not your computer will be able run any games.
Check here: FAQ and system reqs
Gundam Extreme VS is amazing. If you have a ps3, get that shit. Don't expect an amazing storyline or anything. Treat it like you would a fighting game. You can play online from anywhere around the world, but in order to buy DLC you need a Japanese PSN and Points.(Not that hard, theres tutorials out there.)
A similar game you can try Gundam Seed Destiny: Rengou Vs ZAFT II PLUS. It's basically the same game, except with only seed gundams. Pirate the ISO and run it on PCSX2 with a Japanese Bios to try it out. Buy it if you like it!
- Download a PS2 emulator
- Read and follow their instructions
- Insert KH disc in DVD drive
- ???????
- ~~DARKNESS~~ LIGHT
Also,
http://www.dolphin-emulator.com/ - GameCube and Wii
http://pcsx2.net/ - PS2
You need a fairly beefy computer to run these (That's where my 4.8GHZ i5 comes in handy), but it's worth it to play SSB: Brawl and Persona 4 at 1080p.
If you have a really snazzy computer it's not too difficult to emulate. You really only need PCSX2 (PS2 emulator), Daemon Tools (CD drive emulator), an .ISO of FFX (to run in Daemon Tools), and a USB controller like this one :D
PCSX2 has a mac emulator found here: http://pcsx2.net/download/releases/mac.html
Roms:
KH1: https://www.emuparadise.me/Sony_Playstation_2_ISOs/Kingdom_Hearts_(USA)/150757
KH2: https://www.emuparadise.me/Sony_Playstation_2_ISOs/Kingdom_Hearts_II_(USA)/150356
Have fun
I never said it's perfect but it definitely beats Play! in every aspect.
Feel free to come back when Play! offers a compatibility list with even 1/10th of PCSX2's 2500+ supported playable titles.
See you in a decade!
No. DOSBox is a DOS (old computer operating system) emulator. For PS2 you'd need a PS2 emulator. PCSX2 is the most reliable at the moment, but it's far from perfect. You might want to check the compatibility list on the website I linked. You're also going to need to get a BIOS file for PS2 emulation, which I will not supply.
This probably goes without saying, but I'll mention it since you said you're unfamiliar with emulation. Downloading ROMs (or ISOs) and consoles' BIOS files is illegal, though mostly unenforced for older systems. If you're planning on doing either then do so at your own risk.
Download this first http://pcsx2.net/download.html
Here's your game http://www.emuparadise.me/Sony_Playstation_2_ISOs/Jaws_Unleashed_(Europe)_(En,Fr,De,Es,It)/153598
And just quickly watch this video to set it up. Have fun! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plo8rMytBNg
If you can find your disk somehow, you can use PCSX2 to emulate it. You can tweak the settings to get it running at 1080p and it looks beautiful. You can use DS4 to Xinput Wrapper to get your Dualshock 3 or 4 to work with Windows. Information about setting the emulator up can be found here.
You should definitely look into PCSX2 if you have a good enough PC for it. If not, PS2's are generally ~$50 online now. They're usually much cheaper in pawn shops, thrift stores, or flea markets if you have any around you.
As for the games, the same thing applies with thrift stores, flea markets, and pawn shops. Online, they'll run you somewhere from $5-$15 depending on if you want just the discs or the complete copy.
Shadowrun: Returns and its sequel are probably the best RPGs that run natively on Linux. Shadowrun has the same feel as a lot of the better 90s isometric RPGs, heavy on text and story along with tactical, turn-based combat. Witcher 2 is also amazing, but the Linux port is pretty bad right now. Of course these are both Western RPGs.
Other people have some good recommendations for games that run in Wine.
For JPRGS, the Steam re-releases of Final Fantasy 7 and 8 are both rated as gold or platinum on Wine's AppDB. I haven't tried these versions myself, but these are of course classics.
Other than those, I'm aware of very few JRPGs that were released for PC at all. Console emulators are probably the best bet for JRPGs. If your system is decently powerful (probably Core 2-level or faster), you could run a Playstation 2 emulator or Gamecube/Wii emulator. Last I checked (a few years ago) PCSX2 has limited compatibility with lesser-known titles, while Dolphin has surprisingly good compatibility.
The i3 is actually dual core, just has hyperthreading. The i3 can do Dolphin emulation pretty good, but I'm unsure of the 6450. If you're not doing anything fancy with the graphics, I'm sure it'll run it at the standard 640/720x480 resolution. You can also try the PS2 version with PCSX2.
If you need help setting it up, just ask me.
You can't play PS2 games on a Vita. There's not a single emulator for it... :)
Having said that, look at PCSX2. It's by far the best PS2 emulator out there (for PC.)
http://pcsx2.net/compatibility-list.html?letter=G page 5 to see that Growlanser - Heritage of War, Growlanser 3, and Growlanser Generation all show as "Green" for being fully playable.
If you have a PC or laptop I would recommend downloading http://pcsx2.net/download/releases/mac.html this is a playstation 2 emulator and then go to http://coolrom.com/roms/ps2/41799/DragonBall_Z_-_Budokai_Tenkaichi_3.php this Is dbz budokai tenkachi 3 . Then go on YouTube and search up how to step it all up Have fun
The problem is your cpu. Its too weak for full speed ps2 emulation in many games unless you use larger ammounts of speedhacks.
amd cpus are terrible for emulation due to the low IPC performance and the fact emulators only use 2 cores (pcsx2 can use 3 cores if you multi thread the VU, and you can use even more cores/threads when using software rendering, tho software rendering will always be slower then hardware. software rendering is more for debugging, or playing one of the few games which wont work in hardware rendering mode)
So unless you clock your cpu to like 4.5ghz+, you probably wont see full speed in games.
The 7750 is a weaker graphics card (and it comes in GDDR3 and GDDR5, and GDDR3 is drastically slower). You will only probably be able to play at like 3x internal resolution w/o drops in speed.
http://pcsx2.net/download/development/svn.html get one of the latest dev builds from here (the 1.0 stable build is pretty ancient).
In your graphic settings, choose dx11 hardware. you should be able to safely set IR to 3x for most all games w/o fps/speed loss. leave AA off.
Go to emulation settings and then speedhacks.
turn on MTVU speedhack near the bottom. To get good speed boosts you will want to raise the EE or VU sliders. Its a guess and test, as each game reacts differently. Its usually best ot do one or the other, but some games u can do both.
If you put them too high, it may cause the game to not emulate properly or crash. if that happens lower it.
There's only one, PCSX2. Download: http://pcsx2.net/download/releases/windows/viewcategory/6-windows.html
Config guide: http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/official-english-pcsx2-configuration-guide.html
For this emulator you will have to go through the config setup step by step to do it right. I don't know how it will run on a dual core 2.10 GHZ cpu but it's worth a try. PM me if you need some help
You need a BIOS file dumped from a real PS2.
http://pcsx2.net/getting-started.html
There's a homebrew application to dump it, but one might possibly find dumped BIOS files on say torrent sites and just googling around for "PS2 bios". Hypothetically speaking of course.
If you are serious about the emulation, then I'd look over the source code to PCSX2, the leading PS2 emulator. That should give you a decent starting point. Maybe try porting this to whatever language you develop the OS in. It's worth noting that PCSX2 is still somewhat unstable, with many common PS2 games simply not working.
For GCN/Wii, you can do something similar by looking over the Dolphin source code. This emulator is actually quite stable and works well with both GCN and Wii.
PS3 and 360 emulators do not exist yet; probably won't for 6-8 years, judging by how PS2 was released almost 12 years ago and there still isn't a mature emulator for it. Plus, consumer PC hardware has some catching up to do to reach the parallelism levels of PS3.
You'll need the BIOS files as well.
Send me a PM if you need any help setting up, it can be a bit confusing trying it out the first time.
May I present unto you PCSX2 Emulator. Also, last year Sony supposedly filed a backwards compatibility device that would work with the PS3.
this is the official site and it is 1.5. http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
for whatever reason, the PCSX2 people decided to have the worst website design on the net and make it difficult to find 1.5. and then also labeling it as "unstable" doesnt help. 1.6 should be released soon and maybe they'll put a little better effort into their website.
Here is the dumping tool. And here is a step by step tutorial.
You don't have to down vote an answer you don't like. You came here asking us for help. I found all this info in a 5 second Google search. You'd be wise to do this kind of thing for yourself before "asking" for help from people who are going to tell you the truth no matter how many times you say "don't just tell me to download a BIOS", even though that's your fastest solution. Sheesh.
You didn't even look at the PCSX2 website, the Guide/Configuration Guide is right at the top center of the page. It breaks everything down to fairly simple terms on what each setting does and the descriptions can tell you which setting would work best in most cases.
What /u/nobbs66 was trying to say about Presets, is that there is a slider under Config > Emulation Settings menu, located at the bottom left corner (see here).
If you don't want to read through the guide, then stick to using that slider, the more you move it to the right the more hacks are applied to the emulator to potentially enhance the performance, but can also become unstable.
If you have at least a Quad-Core Processor, then the one option I would recommend you check out is MTVU (Multi-Threaded microVU1) found under Config > Emulation Settings > Speedhacks. For most games this will give you a great speed boost.
Go into Config > Video > Window to set your aspect ratio, and window size. You may want to change the Graphics Plugin, found under Config > Video > Plugin Settings. Depending on your graphics card, you can turn up or down the visual settings in here.
I recommend setting your Renderer to the highest Direct3D ## (Hardware) your card supports, I usually leave Interlacing (F5) off, you'll want Resolution to be at least 2x, I don't have the horse power to support Shade Booster/FXAA/FX Shader, but if you got it try turning them on. You can change the MSAA value under the Enable HW Hacks Configure... button, CRC Hack Level you'll want to set to Aggressive if you're using DirectX, otherwise if you're using OpenGL set it to Full.
That's mostly all I change, but read through the guide. It will answer what the other settings do.
Let's start with obvious - the ignorant BS with fake dates. "Stable release" for PCXe2 came back in 2010 or so, if not earlier. I've used it back then to play persona games and other JRPGs that simply never came to PC. 2014 is the last non-beta release of the emulator that has been stable for many years now.
Wiki linked is also a dead site with boatloads of massively out of date information and articles so hilariously wrong, it's not even funny. Read their article on compatibility issues among games, it's a grand total of two pages long across ALL games. I'm not kidding. http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Game_problems_FAQ#PS2
This is what actual compatibility list for PCSX2 alone looks like: http://pcsx2.net/compatibility-list.html?letter=num
No idea why OP included it instead of proper emulation information site: http://www.emulator-zone.com/
Overall, this post looks like a badly botched hit job against emulators.
You need 2 PS2 emulator. I recommend PCSX2
You'll need a copy of the PS2 BIOS, which you can get here
You'll need the ISO files for the games you want, which can be found at http://EmuParadise.me
It's not hard to do a quick google search to find your answer. No need to be afraid about every single link when looking for emulators especially when the wiki directly links to them for you.
In addition, Rule #1 prohibits anyone from linking pirated software (aka ROMS or ISOs in PS2 case).
No one can accurately tell you how to "setup" an emulator like PCSX2. It's setup will vary depending on your hardware.
Here is a guide you can follow to help you set it up -http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/official-english-pcsx2-configuration-guide.html
As for BIOS, it is software that tells the emulator how to actually run as a PS2. They are not included with the emulator as their distribution is questionable. However, there are numerous sources you can find with a simple Google search. As for the game, your best bet is to try and locate an ISO (it is a big no no to link directly to these for piracy reasons), otherwise you will have to try and use the actual disc in your PC. Really the best advice I can give you, for something like emulation, is to start learning the ins and outs of a PC. You don't have to be l337 haXorz level, but knowing some of the not-so-basic functions will go a long way.
The law probably depends on your location, however PS2 emulation requires a BIOS dump.
At least in the US the BIOS - being copyrighted - is illegal to download, however if you have a modded PS2 you can dump it from your own console if you have one and that's probably legal about anywhere.
http://pcsx2.net/config-guide/official-english-pcsx2-configuration-guide.html#Bios
Actually, it's not. Netflix released a disk for PS2 systems, and there are a few PS2 emulators available natively for Linux (PCSX2 has been known to work with the Netflix disk). Of course, you have to own a copy of the disk to rip it to your computer though, and considering it is no longer manufactured that may be rather difficult.
A more surefire way to do this would be through Wii emulation. I'm not sure if Dolphin has the capability to run the Wii Netflix disc yet, but I do know they are easier (though still quite difficult) to get than PS2 Netflix discs.
Still, it's not impossible to view Netflix on Linux without touching any Microsoft products.
EDIT: Seems like the Netflix disc no longer works even on real Wiis. It just tells you to download the new Netflix app. However, from first glance this seems like something that would be possible to patch out of the disc (ROM patching is actually pretty common for emulators and entirely new games have been made from patching ROMs.). Maybe one of the great minds of /r/linux could patch it out and distribute a fixed patchfile (if that could even be possible).
http://pcsx2.net/ for the Emulator. Hit up Google and search for "Playstation 2 Bios" and look for things like SCPH10000, SCPH3004R, SCPH39001... That's the bios. The next bit is the ISO of the game. You can make a legal backup of your copy and that's an ISO, or if you don't know how to make one, you can download a backup from any of a number of 'places' as long as you already own your own legal physical copy ~_^
Google is more than happy to help on all counts.
try pcsx2 1.5. http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
..and Gt3 in particular does not like high resolution settings. probably shouldnt go past 3x with that GPU regardless of what your percentage graph shows
use pcsx2 1.5, use 3X resolution. use dx11 or openGL hardware mode... and do not use any of the MSAA options with that GPU. it will just needlessly slow it down http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html
Well, to be honest it's not super simple, but it's doable, and you can find a lot of support on the official forum. Essentially you need a copy of the .iso of the Japanese version of the games, and apply the English translation patch. The you need to grab the PS2 emulator from here http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html , and set it up. Oh and you need a bios for the emulator. Once you got all that, go on the forum and check the guide on the emulated PS2 HDD, so you can install the .iso on your computer's hard drive and the loading times in the game will be much faster and there will be less problems with the game's stability in general. You can also increase the game's internal resolution and apply a 16:9 widescreen patch, and in the end it looks beautiful! You can see some of our screenshots here for reference.
Download dev build here: http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html and turn on hardware mipmapping in GSDX settings. At least when I last played those games on dev builds they worked pretty much flawlessly.
You need to install the Visual C++ 2015 redist to run these builds. go back http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html and make sure you click the link in the sentence "You need to install the Visual C++ 2015 redist to run these builds." at the top.
The only known PS2 emulator for Android is Play!, though really that is still an early alpha (it won't run most games smoothly at all). If you desperately want to play PS2 games on your Chromebook, for now you are better off putting your device into developer mode, installing Crouton + Linux, and seeing if PCSX2 runs on it.
Haha too right the PC version was shocking! http://pcsx2.net is a great PS2 emulator then just get the ultimate Spidey ps2 iso. Alternatively get ultimate spidey for PC and use a gamead with pinnacle game profiler because its a direct port of the console one.
The Git download page will have builds of the latest development builds of the emulator.
Just know that they may or may not be buggy or have low performance as they are dev builds.
> (PS2 era games re-made in HD, like Final Fantasy 10/10-2)
^Psst!
^Yeah ^You!
^PCSX2 ^is ^here ^to ^tell ^you ^that ^you ^don't ^need ^too.
PPSSPP texture and resolution upscaler works really well too. Enough that you don't even realize you're playing a 272p game at 4K resolution.
are you sure your cpu is running at full speed (high performance power plan)? Aswell as you dont have too many things in the background eating cpu resources? (maybe try making cpsx2 a high priority thread).
Lastly are you using a relatively up to date version? and did you get it from here: http://pcsx2.net/download/development/git.html ("stable" versions are pretty old)
i know rachet and clank (all of series i think?) are all broken games in hardware rendering. they suffer from bad fps, missing and broken textures and all sorts of garbage.
To fix this, run the game in software rendering mode. (press F9 in game to change from hardware to software or vice versa). But i would honestly set up the game to just use software rendering beforehand, and set extra rendering threads to 4 since you have 4cores/4threads.
sly cooper afaik runs fine on such hardware. so im guessing something to do with settings or other factors.
unless the game is broken in hardware rendering mode, you should always use hardware rendering. it will almost always be better performance (unless you have abysmally old/crappy graphics. intel HD3000 from sandy bridge is basically enough for everything at native resolutions).
Know that upping the resolution to x6 or higher and adding something like MSAA (under hw hacks) on top of it will force even the best gpus to their knees. so dont go too insane with upping the graphics and filters lol. back when i had an overclocked gtx760 i think i could only get around 5x native before i started getting speed loss. so a 650ti you probably are not going to fair well above 3x native resolution. if you play at 1920x1080, 3x native is more than enough.
speedhacks are also very helpful in performance boosting.
and just know some games are just plain broken and dont run well on any hardware or settings.
http://pcsx2.net The biggest difficulty for the emulator is emulating the graphics.
It has two modes:
- Hardware mode(HM) does not aim for PS2 Accuracy and is less safe at emulating the images on the screen. However, HM uses the GPU, as long as it is strong enough, and not an iGPU, it will be fast.
- Software mode(SM) uses the CPU, however it is more intensive on the CPU and will not use the Graphics card. Though SM has a more accurate view of what a PS2 will show.
In conclusion HM uses GPU and will most of the time be faster with an FPS hit that is dependant on the GPU, While the SM will accurately show PS2 graphics with an FPS hit that is dependant on the CPU.
http://pcsx2.net/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCSX2
Been playing MGS3 and a few other games from day one thanks to my PC. Its really come along way and I'm excited for the Wii U emulator to get released with good FPS in a year or 2.
He was also probably talking about the millions of sites dedicated to hosting some of the older games.
That's the best way http://pcsx2.net/. There is no guarantee that it'll work as it should - not all games work great with emulation.
BUT due to the rules of the subreddit - I'd suggest to use your original PS2 copy with the emulator :)
I don't want to make you sound stupid, but you're only getting viruses if you don't download from the official website. In fact, if you search PCSX2 on Google, the top three results are the official site, the Wikipedia article, and the project GitHub. You practically have to go out of your way to acquire it from a more shady source.
...Just use PCSX2?
The HD versions of (most) legacy games are nothing but the original game in higher resolution.
Here's a screenshot of FFXII in PCSX2.
If you have a decent PC, this works pretty well: http://pcsx2.net/
Its development is definitely targeted at Windows; the Linux version works okay, but lacks a lot of the features (such some D3D plugins/compatibility layers that improve graphical performance). My boyfriend has used it to play through his copies of the .hack games with minimal to no issues after getting the setup right.
You can rip discs right to a .iso file and play from that, too, so you don't have to have the disc inserted all the time. This will also generally improve performance compared to reading from a disc.
Just be aware that PS2 games only run at 480p, so any methods used to render at higher resolutions can and often will result in weird visual artifacts. But think of it this way: the quality is the same as you were getting on the PS2. It just wasn't noticeable at the time, because you had a big fuzzy CRT TV.
Just a little side note: this project was created entirely in people's spare time; it's community/collaboratively created open source software. Now think about what a big company like Sony has in terms of resources and manpower, and consider that they've been known to possess a working PS2 software emulator ever since the PS3...and you may find yourself more than a little annoyed at the lack of public release or progress on this front.
The lack of backwards compatibility is one of the things I don't particularly like about consoles. I really hate paying for software tied to a particular piece of hardware like that.