Playstation 2 Emulator for PC

The PCSX2 is a PS2 emulator for Microsoft Windows and Linux. It was developed by the same people who made PCSX, a Playstation 1 emulator. You can put a PS2 DVD or CD in your computer's drive, and the game will run. Earlier, PCSX2 could run some game demos, but now it can run many games from start to finish. The compatibility of these games are from new game to end credits. With other games, you can only see the cutscenes, intro sequences or logos. Let's learn more about this Playstation 2 emulator for PC.

The PCSX2 emulator is an open-source software. PCSX2 also supports high-resolution graphics, infinite memory cards, and cross-region support. Emulating the Playstation 2 is harder than emulating the Playstation 1. The Playstation 2 has many cores, so while emulating the individual CPUs is easy, emulating the interaction between them is difficult.

Recompilers such as eeREC (Emotion Engine recompiler) and vuREC (Vector Unit CPU recompiler) are needed to improve speed. PCSX2 needs plug-ins and a clone of the Playstation 2 BIOS binary, which is copyright of Sony, in order to work. There are the graphics, controls, CD/DVD drive, USB, sound and FireWire ports.

You will need a very powerful CPU to even break the 30 FPS mark. Even a powerful processor with a fast speed of 3.8 GHz cannot emulate Playstation 2 games. Prior to version 0.9, the speed was between 2 and 15 frames per second (FPS). With version 0.9, 2D performance had a speed of between 60 and 120 FPS, while 3D performance had a speed of 60 FPS for NTSC and 50 FPS for PAL. PCSX2 also works with dual-core PCs, achieving a speed of 60 FPS, if used with good video cards.

PCs running the PCSX2 emulator can play online with each other and even with players using Playstation 2 consoles. PCSX2 is also going to be backwards compatible with Playstation 1 games. The requirements for using PCSX2 are Windows XP or Vista. The CPU has to be a Core 2 Duo 3.2 GHz, while the GPU has to be GeForce 8600 GT or better. You should also have 1GB RAM, and 2GB, if you're using Windows Vista.

Uses of Video Game Emulators
Emulators lead to ROM hacking, in which game fans change the gameplay or add new game levels to the game. Many emulators need the game console's BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), in order to run. One way of obtaining the BIOS is ripping it from the game console by using network cables. Another but easier way is by downloading it from the Internet. An emulator is used to localize a foreign video game, such as Final Fantasy. This is done by translating dialog from the Japanese language to the English language. An emulator is also used to modify or hack a video game. Game fans change the rosters in sports games. For example, the FIFA soccer game may get the names of the new players of the French team. Game fans can also save games, so they can resume a paused game, or turn it into a massively multiplayer online game. They can also use cheats to get infinite lives or ammo, and run video games in high-definition.

Problems of Video Game Emulators
Makers of game consoles do not release hardware specifications. Programmers have to take apart the game machine, and analyze its insides in order to make an emulator for it. Manufacturers are protected by copyright law to stop the emulation of their game consoles. Websites with ROM dumps or ISO images are sued by the makers of game consoles. Emulation is usually achieved partly through both, hardware and software. Emulators are now being released, as soon as the game console is officially released.

History of Video Game Console Emulators
The most popular console that was emulated was Nintendo. The NESticle, which was an emulator for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), was one of the first console emulators that was very simple to use. It worked with ROM (read-only memory) images, which copied data from video game cartridges. This was followed by the release of Genecyst, which was an emulator for the Sega Genesis. The American arm of Nintendo used to ban games such as Dragon Warrior, Doom and Mortal Kombat because they had religious references or too much violence and blood. Sega made some of its Sega Genesis games available for Windows PCs. The Wii has Nintendo's Virtual Console which can play old Nintendo and Sega games on the new system. Emulation is also used to run previous generation games on next generation console.

The PCSX2 Playstation 2 emulator for PC will continue to be improved and get new features. There may even be a Playstation 3 emulator, one day. Till then, happy gaming!