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Free Software PS2 Emulator PCSX2 Hits 1.0
An anonymous reader writes with an excerpt from geek.net on the release of PCSX2, a GPLed emulator for the PS2: "PCSX2 is a free PS2 emulator for the PC that has been in development since the year 2000 and managed to reach version 1.0 last week. As an emulator it's an impressive piece of work, boasting compatibility with over 73 percent of games, which is some 1,697 titles. It can offer up graphics beyond what the original hardware was capable of, achieving resolutions up to 4096 x 4096 with anti-aliasing and texture filtering. You can save games, record video as you play, use a range of controllers, and even adjust game speed if you so wish. Of course, you'll need a fast machine to run PS2 games at a decent speed, but the spec is still reasonable. It's recommended you have at least a Core 2 Duo running at 3.2GHz, or a Core i5 at 2.66GHz+. As for graphics cards, a GeForce 9600GT or Radeon HD 4750 is desirable."
Grab it while it's hot (official binaries and source). Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be packaged for any GNU/Linux distros (Debian has packages of the predecessor to PCSX2, PCSX: Reloaded which, naturally, emulated the Playstation).
PCSX2 is only really usable with the GSDX GPU plugin, which as the name implies, uses DirectX. Although it can run under Linux in software rendering mode.
On Linux and Mac, you're stuck with either poor graphics emulation (bad emulation quality, breakage, glitches, poor performance) with the GL plugin, or good but non-accelerated graphics emulation with GSDX.
It's also a 32-bit only app and they don't even support building it in 64-bit distros (even though it'd only take a few buildsystem fixes to actually make it build in 32-bit mode fine, much like Wine). This is why distros don't ship it.
Yeah, but NASA didn't have to deal with Sony's BS.
Yes, it can (because PS2 disks, thankfully and unlike e.g. Wii ones, are readable as-is on a PC).
Making an image is probably a good plan though, if only for the reduced seek times.
Yes, PCSX2 can play from the original disc and you do not need any special hardware to do that. However, ripping your disc to an ISO is a better choice because this pretty much does away with access times.
I tried using it on my old computer (Core 2 Duo @ 2.26GHz, GeForce 9600), and it didn't run at all well. Primarily seemed to be the sound - sound disabled, it ran at about full speed, but with sound it ran around 5fps. Changing video settings didn't seem to affect it - I got 5fps at 16x MSAA and 5fps at 0x AA.
That computer died a while back, and I'm on a new, more powerful one now (Core i7 @ 2.3GHz, GeForce 660), so I might try this out sometime, see if I can handle it now.
I've always admired peoples' commitment to creating emulators for gaming platforms. Years down the track they're often the only platform left to play, unless of course the game publisher decides to 're-release' an old title with an inbuilt emulator for a nominal fee.
As time goes on and as subsequent generations of consoles become more complicated in both their hardware and embedded operating systems, emulating them will become increasingly difficult. I don't know how long it can last.
Hopefully console manufacturers will shy away from overcomplicated designs as they have been quite costly for them in the current generation of consoles, but this is probably wishful thinking.
For one, a modern PC can render the PS2 content at higher resolutions. Sure, the geometric complexity is the same, but the jaggedness is much much better. Also, the HDLoader stuff can be a bit fickle and certainly kludgier to navigate than on a PC.
Finally, the ability to use PS3 bluetooth controllers is nice.
(Note, I don't actually do PCSX2, but this is the sort of thing I get out of other emulators, PCSX2 would be set up too if their Linux support was actually serviceable.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
This. I seriously tried to play a game right off the disc. But normal PC DVD-ROM drives like to spin down, which means the game stops until it spins up again. And as a bonus, playing from a rip somehow improved the frame rate in general.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
For one thing, good luck keeping that DVD drive working. Yeah, I know, WinHIIP, etc. But mostly it's a fiddling mess of hardware for which the only real advantage is that a PS2 with a 500 GB hard drive and FreeMCBoot is a lot more portable than a desktop PC. But that desktop PC is going to hook up to a modern TV set a lot more easily, too.
I just got tired of keeping a PS2 running.
And then there's save states. Very nice when you're playing RPGs.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
That is because the modchip is associated with the dreaded spectre of "piracy". Nevermind that no mainstream media house has produced a PS2 title in years, and that the SDK for small devs relies on homebrew ability to run.
Just list it as a PS2 Fat. Don't mention the modded nature, except in private with buyers.
Going back to about 2001, every couple of years when I've upgraded, I've tried to see if I can actually run a game on the fucker.
I've tried it on a Pentium II 350mhz, a Duron 1.3ghz, a Celeron 2.6ghz, a P4 3ghz with a x1950 radeon. Tried it today on my old dual xeon and its still nowhere near smooth with Gt4.
Oh well, sometime in the next decade, maybe.
You have to get a copy of Sony's PS2 BIOS to get it to work.
Universally recognized hit titles are things like GT, (gran Tourismo) resident evil series, crash bandicoot, suikoden series, some people were partial to the .hack series, and others I've met loved darkcloud 2.
Others are things like katamari damaci (which is hard to classify as a genre...) god of war, shadow of the collosus, and pals.
For shooters, you have medal of honor and a few others.
Trust me, you really, really don't want a low-level PS2 emulator. It would be a great thing to have made now for documentation purposes (so that the knowledge is preserved while it's still easily accessible), but it wouldn't run full speed on anything released in the next 40-50 years.
If this emulator project had received $2.5 billion in funding too, I'm sure version 1 would've been out the door much sooner.
No, copyright covers, wait for it... copying. It is entirely possible to infringe copyright without distribution. The trick would be someone proving damages and not getting the case tossed out of court if they tried to prosecute.
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