Original author(s) Repository github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2 | Developer(s) PCSX2 Team Development status Active | |
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Initial release March 23, 2002; 15 years ago (2002-03-23) Stable release 1.4.0 / January 8, 2016; 14 months ago (2016-01-08) | ||
PCSX2 is a free and open-source PlayStation 2 emulator for Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
Contents
Background
PCSX2, like its predecessor project PCSX (a PlayStation emulator), is based on a PSEmu Pro spec plug-in architecture, separating several functions from the core emulator. These are the graphics, audio, input controls, CD/DVD drive, and USB and FireWire (i.LINK) ports. Different plug-ins may produce different results in both compatibility and performance. Additionally, PCSX2 requires a copy of the PS2 BIOS, which is not available for download from the developers, due to copyright-related legal issues. Since September 2016, PCSX2 is partially compatible with PlayStation 1 games.
The main bottleneck in PS2 emulation is emulating the multi-processor PS2 on the PC x86 architecture. Although each processor can be emulated well on its own, accurately synchronizing them is difficult, but not impossible.
Development
Development of PCSX2 was begun in 2001 by programmers who go by the names Linuzappz and Shadow, who were programmers for the PlayStation emulator PCSX-Reloaded. Other programmers later joined the team, and they were eventually able to get some PS2 games to the loading screen. The team then started working on the difficult task of emulating the PlayStation 2's BIOS; they got it to run, although it was slow and graphically distorted. Version 0.9.1 was released in July 2006.
From 2007 to 2011, developers worked on Netplay and speed improvements. PCSX2 0.9.8 was released in May 2011 and featured an overhauled GUI written with wxWidgets that improved compatibility for Linux and newer Windows operating systems, the addition of a new VU recompiler that brought better compatibility, a memory card editor, an overhaul of the SPU2-X audio plug-in, and numerous other improvements.
Compatibility
The current development version is reported to be compatible with 95.18% of 2,592 tested games. Compatibility means only that the game will not crash, lock up, or enter a loop; there can still be bugs, missing post-processing effects, textures, and shadows in many compatible games. This is especially the case in hardware mode; a slower software mode is available for bugs without workarounds.
Features
PCSX2 supports save states and dynamic recompilation (JIT).
Graphical improvements (GSdx Plugin)
Plug-ins
Several plug-ins are currently being further developed, for performance and compatibility enhancements.
Hardware requirements
Hardware requirements are largely game-dependent. The performance bottleneck in most cases is the CPU rather than the GPU. This is especially the case in software mode, in which only the CPU is used for emulation. In hardware mode, the GPU emulates the graphics, but can still be a bottleneck if the internal resolution is set too high. Some games may also run slower due to unoptimized graphics code or weak video cards.
Reception
PCSX2 has been very well received. Matthew Humphries of Geek.com described it as "an impressive piece of work". Alex Garrett of PC World criticized the difficulty of setting up PCSX2 but called it a "masterpiece". Although he also criticized the complexity, David Hayward of Micro Mart called it "technically amazing". Sriram Gurunathan of In.com described PCSX2 as "arguably the most popular emulator around" and named it as one of the site's Top 5 Emulators. Brandon Widder of Digitaltrends.com included PCSX2 in his Best Emulators article. John Corpuz of Tom's Guide mentioned PCSX2 in his Best PlayStation Emulators for PCs article, saying that "when it comes to stable, playable Playstation 2 emulation, PCSX2 is pretty much the best game in town at the moment".