The BEST PlayStation 2… is an emulator
# The Evolution of PCSX2: A Comprehensive Guide
## Intro
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) remains one of the most beloved gaming consoles of all time, thanks to its iconic design, innovative features, and an expansive library of games. However, as the hardware ages and collectible prices skyrocket, playing PS2 games on original consoles has become increasingly challenging. Enter PCSX2—a veteran emulator project that has been refining its craft for 20 years. With recent updates, PCSX2 is now capable of delivering a gaming experience that surpasses the capabilities of the original hardware in some aspects. This article delves into the history, features, and current state of PCSX2, offering insights into why it might be the best way to relive PS2 nostalgia.
---
## What Is PCSX2?
PCSX2 is a free, open-source PlayStation 2 emulator that has been in development for over two decades. It uses a combination of MIPS CPU interpreters, recompilers, and virtual machines to emulate the hardware accurately. Over 98% of the official PS2 library is now playable on PCSX2, with many games running perfectly. The emulator’s ability to handle even the most challenging titles makes it an indispensable tool for retro gaming enthusiasts.
PCSX2 supports a wide range of controllers, including PlayStation 2 controllers, DualSense, and other mainstream gamepads. Its compatibility with modern operating systems ensures that it runs smoothly on contemporary hardware.
---
## How to Use PCSX2
Getting started with PCSX2 is straightforward. Begin by downloading the latest release or a dev nightly build from its official website. Extract the files using software like 7-Zip and ensure you have two essential components: a PS2 BIOS file (which emulates the console’s firmware) and a game in ISO format (a digital copy of a physical disc).
To play, open PCSX2, select “Boot Game,” navigate to your BIOS and game files, and let the emulator do the rest. For optimal performance, consider using an external hard drive or SSD for storing games, as this significantly speeds up load times compared to reading from a DVD drive.
---
## Updates: Embracing Modern Technology
PCSX2 has undergone significant advancements in recent years. The emulator now supports six different renderers—OpenGL, DirectX 11, Software, Vulkan, Metal (for macOS), and DirectX 12—ensuring compatibility with almost any modern machine. Additionally, the project has transitioned entirely to 64-bit architecture, which enhances performance for supported systems.
The team has also incorporated support for modern instruction sets like AVX2, boosting speed and efficiency. Plugins have been deprecated in favor of integrating these features directly into the core emulator, simplifying setup and improving accuracy. Online gaming support, disc and HDD functionality on macOS, and compatibility with niche accessories like the EyeToy Camera are among the latest additions.
---
## “Best Settings” for PCSX2
Contrary to what many “best settings” videos suggest, most games run optimally with default configurations. The native resolution and widescreen mode (if supported) provide a smooth and authentic experience for the vast majority of titles. Tweaking settings like internal rendering resolution or anisotropic filtering can enhance visuals but should be approached on a per-game basis.
For example, games like *Soul Calibur 3* and *Tomb Raider: Anniversary* shine with increased render resolutions, while others like *Midnight Club 3* lose fidelity when upscale attempts are made. Always refer to the PCSX2 wiki for specific game recommendations and known issues.
---
## How Does It Play?
PCSX2’s performance varies depending on the game and hardware configuration. Most titles run smoothly at native resolutions, delivering a near-flawless experience. High-end systems can push games to 4K or even 8K with stunning results, but this may vary based on compatibility and visual effects.
Some games, like *God of War* and *Gran Turismo 4*, benefit from the emulator’s ability to eliminate screen tearing and upscale visuals beyond their original limitations. Others, such as *Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance*, already look stellar on native hardware but still appreciate minor enhancements.
A notable limitation is the lack of motion adaptive deinterlacing, which affects games relying on interlaced video output. However,PCSX2’s support for CRT monitors and shaders offers a nostalgic alternative to modern upscaling techniques.
---
## Features I Want
While PCSX2 has come a long way, there are still features that could enhance the user experience. A per-game configuration profile system would allow users to tailor settings without manual adjustments each time. Additionally, a built-in memory card manager and library launcher akin to Steam or Dolphin would make navigation more intuitive.
The absence of these features is understandable given the project’s focus on emulation accuracy, but they remainwishlist items for future updates.
---
## Region Locking
PCSX2’s ability to play games from multiple regions expands access to titles that were region-locked on original consoles. This feature is particularly valuable for fans of Japanese-only releases or those seeking rare imports.
---
## Texture Packs and Reshade & Shaders
A recent addition to PCSX2 is the ability to dump and load textures, enabling users to create higher-resolution texture packs. While this requires playing through entire games to extract assets, it opens up exciting possibilities for visual enhancement.
PCSX2 also supports ReShade, a tool that allows post-processing effects like anti-aliasing and color adjustments. Combined with TV shaders or CRT emulations, it’s possible to recreate the classic console experience on modern displays.
---
## CRT Mode
For purists seeking an authentic PS2 experience,CRT mode is a must-try. Running games at 480p with a PC CRT monitor recreates the look and feel of playing on original hardware. Alternatively, higher internal resolutions paired with CRT outputs offer the best of both worlds—enhanced visuals without losing the retro charm.
---
## PS1 Games
While PCSX2 primarily focuses on PS2 emulation, its PS1 mode is gradually improving. For now, DuckStation remains the go-to emulator for PlayStation 1 games, butPCSX2’s progress is worth monitoring.
---
## Conclusion
PCSX2 has redefined retro gaming by offering a near-authentic experience that often surpasses the original hardware. Its ability to run nearly the entire PS2 library and support modern enhancements makes it an indispensable tool for both casual and hardcore gamers.
While there are areas for improvement, such as deinterlacing and user experience polish,PCSX2’s achievements are undeniable. With ongoing updates and the availability of its Android port,AetherSX2, the future of PS2 emulation looks bright.
Whether you’re a collector or a retro gaming enthusiast,PCSX2 offers a gateway to relive the magic of the PlayStation 2 era in ways that feel fresh and exciting.
---
*For more detailed guides and exclusive content, check out EposVox’s companion video on Nebula.*
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en## IntroThe BEST way to play PlayStation 2 games mightnot be on original hardware anymore...PCSX2 - the veteran PS2 emulator project turns20 this year and they have some MASSIVE updatescoming that are starting to make it so thatthe emulator has the potential to be a betterexperience than original hardware - not somethingI ever expected to say.The PlayStation 2 is by far my FAVORITE gameconsole of all time.It had a cool design, awesome marketing, astellar controller, and the games were just...so cool.It had an enormous library, to the extentthat even regular players of the era stillhaven’t heard of half the games, the consolehardware was produced for TWELVE years, wrappingup in 2012 after 144 MILLION units shipped,and had releases into 2014, being servicedby Sony Japan until 2018... it was just MARVELOUS.But it wasn’t without its faults.It had noisy video output hardware, and thegraphics tech lead to most games relying onfield rendering rather than frames meaningmost games ran in 480i interlaced mode andgetting a smooth 60FPS out of them on theTV side (for modern TVs) wasn’t easy...but it had a lot going for it.The console supported optical surround soundaudio, composite, s-video, RGB, and componentcables for video with the component cablesbeing able to output 480p progressive scanon some games, and 720p or 1080i on a coupleof games, and networking and an internal harddrive via expansion card.It was also the first console to have USBports (even if limited to USB 1 speeds) andwas a STELLAR DVD player, much more affordablethan many at the time of release.It was a beast.The PS2 is my preferred console to collectfor, but as the hardware ages and games becomemore and more inaccessible thanks to rapidly-escalatinggreed in the collectibles scene the past fewyears, emulators are the next best way toplay older games and the PlayStation 2 emulatorPCSX2 is making STRIDES towards perfection.I thought it was compelling to take a renewedlook at the emulator before the launch ofSony’s new game streaming option for PS2releases, as it seems like Sony haven’tquite put much effort into improving the experience.## What is PCSX2?PCSX2 is top tier.It’s impressive just how long the projecthas been in development, and how well-performingit always was.I remember playing PS2 games on my crappylaptops in high school with it, and it’sonly gotten better from there.PCSX2 is free and open source and uses a combinationof MIPS CPU interpreters, recompilers andvirtual machines to manage the hardware virtualizationand run games.Over 98% of the official PS2 library is nowconsidered playable, with many of them ina perfect state, and that last less than 2%at least boots.This is a MASSIVE achievement for any emulator- especially one with as colossal of a libraryas the Playstation 2 has.## How to use PCSX2Using the PS2 emulator is pretty straightforward.Download the latest release for your operatingsystem - though I will say at the moment manyof the best upcoming changes are still onlyin the dev nightly builds, so it’s worthtrying those instead, I’ve been runningone of the AVX2 dev builds and have had nostability issues, but your mileage may vary.After you extract it with a program like 7-Zip,you’ll need two more things to play yourgames: A PS2 BIOS file and a game.The BIOS file is basically the software thePlaystation itself runs to boot and load games.This has not been reverse-engineered yet andwould be a massive copyright violation toprovide directly, so this has to be sourcedelsewhere.I have a companion video up on Nebula discussinghow to source BIOS files and games if youwant to learn more.Games can either be from discs themselvesor ISOs.You CAN boot games directly from the DVD inyour disc drive just like a real console,but this is significantly slower than bootingfrom the ISO running off of your local harddrive or SSD.An ISO is just a virtualized image, a digitalcopy, of the physical disc.Thankfully it’s free and quick to make yourown ISOs from game discs using a program likeIMGBurn - tutorial for that is in the aforementionedNebula video, if you need it.From there, open PCSX2, choose “Boot Game”and pick your game, point the program to yourBIOS file, and you can start playing.You will probably want a controller, too.You CAN map controls to mouse and keyboard,but PS2 games were not built for that andyou’ll have a far better time using a gamepad.Thankfully, the emulator supports any controllerunder the sun from Nintendo to Xbox, to Playstationto PS2 controllers with USB adapters, to randominput devices.Most mainstream controllers should be recognizedautomatically, or you can go to Config - Gamepadsettings and map the buttons to you’re liking.This also means you’re not stuck to thedefault controls in any game, either.Naturally, PCSX2 supports multiple gamepadsfor splitscreen games, so you can map extracontrollers here, too.With the dev builds and once these updatesare fully released, most of the settings don’teven need to be messed with.Any tweaks or fixes are going to be appliedautomatically, and for a great, accurate PS2gaming experience, you are set.But you CAN go in and bump up the visual qualitya bit.You won’t want to do this for every game,and we’ll talk about how different gamesplay with this in the timecoded section later,but under Config - General and then “GSWindow” settings, you can set games to runat 16:9 if you want to run them widescreeninstead of native 4:3 - most games have workingwidescreen hacks built into the emulator andwork fine with this.Then you can go to Config - Graphics to addthings like Anisotropic texture filteringto make textures smoothen out better, increasethe internal rendering up to 8X for an 8Krender of the game which is absolutely bonkers,and other visual tweaks.You can also change the renderer from DirectXto software or Vulkan or Metal if you’reon Mac.AMD GPU users might find that Vulkan worksbetter for them, though on my RTX 3080 systemI found while Vulkan performed great and finefor most games, some did run better in DirectX11or 12 mode.(Though when trying to push games to 8K onmy Titan RTX, the Vulkan renderer actuallywon out there.)If you’re chasing down specific quirks inhow a game is presenting, you may end up havingto try OpenGL or software mode, too.## UpdatesUpdates-wise, the emulator now has 6 differentrenderers they’re supporting: OpenGL, DirectX11,Software, Vulkan, Metal for MacOS, and a mergewas just made for DirectX12 support, too.This means a high-performing, compatible optionshould be available for just about any modernmachine with any operating system.They’re also moving it entirely to 64-bit,which does cut off update support for superold systems, but the 64-bit versional alreadyhad more optimizations and was faster forthe software renderer anyway.I also thought it was neat that they’vebeen working on supporting modern instructionsets - previously PCSX2 just required SSE4,but they now have dev builds testing AVX2- which all modern PCs support - and justmeans more speed and power available to you.The team has been hard at work merging ALLprevious hack-y tools into the core emulatoritself.So plugins are no longer a thing - they’rejust all part of the core, now.Hardware and game-specific hacks are now justautomatically applied to provide the bestand most accurate experience.Most controllers will also be automaticallysupported without manual mapping.Playing PS2 games with a DualSense controlleris wild.Support for online-only titles has been added,disc and HDD support has been added for Mac,and they’re working on emulating more nicheaccessories such as the EyeToy Camera, USBmicrophones, and so on.Accuracy and performance in general is ofcourse always being worked on.The team is even working on improving the“PS1 Mode” to play PS1 games via the PS2’sbackwards compatibility.I’m not sure it will ever fully supplanta dedicated original PlayStation emulatorlike Duckstation, but it’s awesome regardless.Also the recent changes for portability andcode unification helps bolster the developmentof AetherSX2, an Android PCSX2 port.Wild stuff.Pretty much everything covered here was testedusing Nightly Dev Builds of the emulator,but they’re rapidly approaching a full newstable release with all these features, withnew features being merged every day.The full release might be up by time thisvideo goes live, if not it will be shortlyafter.## “Best Settings”There’s a lot of videos out there for the“Best Settings” for PCSX2 - which is understandablesince it’s a big search term and don’tbe surprised if I release my own standalonevideo on it soon - but they’re all prettycontradictory and not necessarily helpful.Thankfully, with the updates I mention, mostof those “best settings” videos showingthe user checking a bunch of hack boxes andtweaking speeds - none of that is necessarynow, and in fact most of it isn’t recommended.The default settings are great.If you want to play PS2 games as they nativelyrun as accurate as possible, literally changenothing.If you want minor tweaks, go to Config - GSWindow, and change the view to Widescreen,and you can go to Config - Graphics, and changethe internal render resolution to start crankingthings up.However, this is something you’ll probablyhave to balance on a per-game basis if youwant to go beyond 720p.Let’s talk about how it plays in some games.## How does it play?Most of the videos that go up about emulatorupdates and progress each year tend to focuson the perfect examples, cherry-picking scenarioswhere things run amazingly or look betterwith increased settings, and that kind ofskews what the real experience is.I don’t want to lie to you.But at the same time, there IS some prettyamazing stuff here.I will say, though, if you’re fine to justrun games at Native PS2 resolution - perhapsin widescreen - without messing with the internalrender resolution or anything - you’ll havea very high-performing experience and thingsshould run smoothly for that full 98% of playablegames that was mentioned.If you’re curious about how a specific gameplays or what known issues the game stillhas, look it up on their wiki.It’s pretty detailed, although I’ve consistentlyfound a specific issue I have to not be reportedon most games, which I will discuss in a bit.Some games you’ll probably want to keepat native res, as changing things up breaksthe experience sometimes or makes things lookworse.This comes down to some of the traits I mentionedbefore: Games are built around field renderingand often went with blurrier textures to providea more “photorealistic feeling” that doesn’tscale well when you start cranking up therender resolution, and some effects just seemto break the experience - on top of beingbuilt to leverage the way CRT displays look,anyway.A big example of this for me is Midnight Club3 - trying to run at an increased render resolutionjust makes the game look AWFUL, in my opinion,and really isn’t a good time.But running it at native res, while obviouslymore overall blurry on my high res LCD display,but it looks like it should.It’s a PS2 game.The big thing to keep in mind with emulatorsis the way games were designed to look andto not expect them to magically look likenext-gen games - they just won’t.Second wave 3D graphics do not scale as magicallyas pixel art games.Leaving Midnight Club 3 at native res, itplays like a breeze, and looks exactly howyou’d expect an early 2000s car game tolook and feel.Awesome.If you’re curious what games you shouldcheck out on Playstation 2 to put this emulatorto the test - check out my companion videoon my lost_saves gaming channel where I anda bunch of other gaming creators give youthose exact details!Soul Calibur 3 is a peek at what could bepossible, once some game-specific fixes maketheir way to it.If you crank up the internal render resolution,the character models and some of the geometryfor the maps look outright INCREDIBLE, seriouslyimpressive, but we get some weird issues.By default if you crank up the res, you geta TON of ghosting, and applying a hack tofix that results in some wild screen tearingall over the place, neither of which are avery playable experience.Bummer.Thankfully again, native PS2 res works justfine.Mortal Kombat Armageddon is another game thatlooks absolutely stellar in higher resolutions.This was a scenario where trying to renderit at 5k - double the resolution of my 1440pmonitor - did not run super stable using Vulkan,but DX11 ran it great with only occasionalframe drops.I could push it to 8K, but had a little toomany hangups to be a smooth playing experience.By the way, you can change all of these graphicssettings on the fly and immediately see theresults without relaunching the game - whichis awesome.Realistically for most hardware configs - evenhigh end ones, I’m playing on an Intel Corei9-12900 and a RTX 3080, - 4K is the morerealistic upper ceiling for a flawless 60FPSexperience, though it certainly depends onthe game.Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex is anothergame that relies mostly on 3D assets and minimalisttextures and thus looks perfect upscaled,as does Digimon Rumble Arena 2.These kinds of games SOAR with higher renderresolutions compared to more photorealisticgames.Tomb Raider Anniversary is another game thatjust plays and looks brilliantly here.God of War and God of War 2 are interestinggames to look at.I’m using the sequel here.The game supports both Widescreen and ProgressiveScan modes - which you do still need to manuallyenable in the games that support them forthe proper experience, by the way, even withwidescreen set in the config earlier.So you get a clean 16:9 image with progressivescan, it (for the most part) upscales verycleanly and runs at a silky smooth 60FPS.But this is a game which immediately fixesa problem with running on native hardware:Screen tearing.For some weird reason, the PlayStation 2 Godof War titles run with obnoxious screen tearingduring so many scenes throughout the game,especially during big combat moments, andI always found it to be pretty distracting,even on a CRT.This was fixed in the PlayStation 3 HD collection,but always annoyed me back where my savesare.This is a complete non-issue in PCSX2 so youget a better presentation than any officialway of playing these games.Awesome.It’s also neat comparing the emulated versionversus the PS2 upscaled to 4K using the RetroTINK5X’s experimental firmware which lets youscale games to 4K30.This is unsupported and won’t be compatiblewith all displays, but it works wonderfullywith my LG CX OLED if you can tolerate 30FPS.While there are plenty of games that I thinklook “just fine” with a hardware upscalerand original hardware, these newer 3D gameswith higher-quality assets and effects actuallylook... significantly better through the emulator.I ran into this when attempting AI upscalingon God of War footage using Topaz Labs’Video Enhance AI, too, but the PS2’s noisyoutput results in Kratos looking super pixelatedwhen upscaled from original hardware, andjust looks bad for what is actually a verydetailed, great-looking 3D Model.Rendering and outputting with higher resolutionsin PCSX2 makes these assets SHINE by comparison.This is one kind of game where you get a REALbenefit from added image quality and morepixels - but more photo-realistic games likeMidnight Club do not.At a distance, the PS2 copy of God of Warupscaled on my OLED looks totally fine whileplaying, but up close it’s wild seeing thedifference.Seeing Burnout 3 in full 60FPS smoothness,is so great.Despite what internet edgelords may tell you,there was no world in which older video games“all ran at a locked 60FPS” ESPECIALLYonce we hit the 3D era, so getting higherperformance through emulation is great.Battlefield 2 Modern Combat is broken in allrenderers except Software mode.And that seems to not run very well.Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 highlights a specificissue that still affects MANY games: Linesdrawn throughout text frames, with the textblocks not lining up properly, and some weirdlines in FMV cutscenes or images.This is sometimes described in posts as screentearing, but it’s vertical, not horizontal.With Ultimate Alliance 2, I couldn’t finda complete fix.Reducing the game to native resolution fixedmost of the issues, but the cutscenes bothstill stuttered and still had lines.This affected Samurai Warriors 2, too - withany text elements being messed up.These kinds of things don’t affect gameplay,but help remind you that you’re not quiteyet getting the same experience as real hardware- but I feel VERY confident they will be fixedbefore too long.Guitar Hero 3 ran pretty well at 4K and tryingout a PS2 guitar hooked up via a cheap USBadapter, the whammy bar wouldn’t detect,but otherwise calibrating resulted in a 0latency offset needed.Playback is fine, but some crowd members weredisplaying corrupted in DX12 mode.An interesting game to look at is Baldur’sGate: Dark Alliance.This is a game that already looks absolutelyincredible on both Playstation 2 and originalXbox hardware, with brilliant particle effects,water physics, solid character models, andwonderful music.It’s using the same engine as the Championsof Norrath games set in the EverQuest universeinstead of D&D, and I would happily keep buyinggames made in this engine.The game already looks STELLAR on originalhardware, with the 480i restriction and noisyvideo output of the console being the maindetriments here.Also, the game JUST got a PC port on Steamrecently with ultrawide support and a coupleminor port-focused tweaks, and upon digginginto the files, it was clear to me they usedthe Xbox version to base this on as therewere still many files from the Xbox disc here.Putting these versions side by side alongwith the PCSX2 emulated copy with a higheroutput res reveals some interesting results.I’d say the PC copy is the best of the bunch,though with tweaks the PCSX2 version is nearlyperfect, too.I’d say if you’re going to upscale thegame for just a little bit of higher fidelityto the character models, aim for 720p or 1080p.Once you go beyond that, you get some weirdseparation in characters’ mouths and suchwhich starts to look funky and is masked bythe lower resolution of the original.Unfortunately no copy fixes the broken, over-compressedaudio across PS2, Xbox, and now PC versions,however.Finally, Gran Turismo 4 was a game I couldnot wait to test.Not only was it a legendary title in its ownright - even though I’m horrible at racingsims and never got super into it - but theracing mode supports both 480p and freaking1080i video output on native hardware.This has a benefit in the emulator, too, asyou’re feeding it higher resolution datato then work from for the render boosts.1080i turns into a crazy 7680x4608 resolutionoutput and it is... breathtaking.This looks like a PS3 or Xbox 360 game, nota PS2 game.The only problem is... the motion gets veryblurry.This is due to the deinterlacing.With GT4 you have to choose between higherdetailed images with blurry motion, or less-detailedimages with more clear and smooth motion reproduction.This is a frustrating compromise and one thataffects many games (at least in terms of blurrymotion output) and is only a choice you haveto make because PCSX2 only supports Bob andWeave deinterlacing models.These are fast and easy, but as I’ve discussedin much of my retro upscaler hardware coverage,are not very desirable looking.You might not think this matters for a sourcethat is rendering digitally, versus an actualanalog video signal - and yes, you avoid someof the annoyances like the bouncing up anddown from Bob Deinterlacing as seen with theRetroTINK 2X Pro MultiFormat, here, but itDOES still affect the image.Since many PS2 games were designed to rendergames IN those fields, with many renderinggames in 30 or 60 FIELDS per second, insteadof whole frames, the relationship betweenthe final image and deinterlacing algorithmis very important, ESPECIALLY when pushinghigher internal and output resolutions.It’s not as big of a deal for native resplayback, but it will only become more obviousthe more internal and output upscaling youdo.I would LOVE if the PCSX2 devs could manageto implement Motion Adaptive deinterlacingas seen in the RetroTINK 5X, Framemeister,and GBS-C AIO scalers, or maybe even QTGMCthat’s taken off in popularity for VHS capture- but the last update I could find in theforums suggests it’s just not a priorityfor them right now.Quickly comparing the 8K output (displayedat 1440p) of GT4 running with higher res renderingversus original hardware upscaled to 4K withthe RetroTINK, it’s... a much closer matchthan expected.Aliasing and noisy textures put original hardwarebehind the emulated copy, but if it weren’tfor that, original hardware would still bemy preference here.If you enable the OSD to show stats for gameperformance, you can actually see when a gameis using Field versus Frame rendering, bythe way.Also, the license demos for GT4 are completelybroken in PCSX2 right now, so shouts out toone of my editors, Wyatt, for getting me afew race replays that I could replay on emulatorand hardware for these comparisons.Virtually every game will output 60FPS inPCSX2 with the variety of 60FPS patches nowbaked into the updated versions, but the OSDwill also tell you when the game is actuallytargeting 30 instead of 60.## Features I wantThis leads me into other features I want forPCSX2, and honestly there isn’t much.Deinterlacing was the big one, but I alsothink there’s a massive need for per-gameconfig profiles.The devs have responded in forums suggestingit’s silly and unnecessary, BUT given howfrequently I was changing render resolutions,render engines even, and other things to getthe best results in games - if this is goingto be a truly easy “just play” experience,the ability to save and tie config presetsto specific game by the user is an absolutemust, IMO.There was a launcher at one point that combinedthis with another feature I want - which isa games library feature - but as is oftenthe case with open-source projects, it wasdeemed undesirable since it was from outsidedevelopers and it couldn’t keep up withcore updates to the emulator and has beenabandoned from what I can tell.Given you can’t reasonably assign ISO filesto open in the emulator if you use them foranything else, it’s kind of a bummer tonot be able to choose your game from a nicelibrary view like with Steam, Dolphin emulator,or even OPL in my soft-modded PS2 menus.By the way, get subscribed as I have a videocoming soon on lost_saves on the easiest wayto soft mod your PS2, easier than 99% of themethods online.I would love for some sort of hack to be madeso you don’t have to manually toggle 480pand widescreen in games that support it, sinceit IS still necessary to change the renderedaspect ratio of the assets in the game.Lastly, I REALLY feel like a memory card managerwill be necessary at some point.PCSX2 has amazing memory card support withthe ability to choose where they go, manuallyname the memory card files and hot-swap betweenthem, you can have it auto connect and disconnectthe cards at certain points to avoid corruption,and you can even download memory card packsonline to get complete save files.Having effectively an unlimited storage virtualmemory card option is amazeballs, too.But beyond that there’s no easy way to just...know what is ON the memory card.If you leave them on default settings or don’ttake verbose notes yourself, there’s noeasy way to see and discover which save filesare on which memory card file, and that’salready turned into a major headache for meagain.You CAN convert the memory card file intoa folder containing all of the individualsaves as separate files, but I don’t findit reasonable to have to do that every timerather than just giving a list view or something.Now you can choose “No Disc” in the ISOselect menu and browse the files like youcould on the normal PS2, maybe that shouldbe good enough.It’s worth noting that you can actuallycreate a memory card Folder to act as yourmemory card instead of the normal file - butthis is not the default behavior.I’m not sure if there are any disadvantagesto this.I think all this comes down to wanting a morepolished user experience flow.Right now if you launch it for the first timeyou aren’t really given any easy clue whatto do to just... play like other emulators,so I understand why some users get frustrated.I think the upcoming release having all thehacks and quality fixes applied automaticallyis a huge step in that direction - I justhope over the next couple years they can shiftsome focus to UX, too.I know they’ve said repeatedly that theirsole focus is on perfecting the emulationand getting all games fully functional overanything else, but these things matter, too!# Nebula AdIf you’re curious how to acquire BIOS files,games, how to rip your own games, manage thingslike that...Those aren’t topics I can easily talk abouton YouTube.So if you’re interested in learning more,that will be in the companion video uploadedon my own video streaming site, Nebula.Nebula is my own video streaming site I builtwith my creator friends.My videos are higher-quality there, ad-free,and I’ve been trying to give a lot morecompanion videos like this one which givesyou extra content.As well as my exclusive videos like my makerseries “Crafting Bench”, and we have sometutorial series for DaVinci Resolve and OBScoming soon - good stuff over there.## Region LockingPlaystation 2’s library is MASSIVE, nearly4000 games - but many of them were Japaneseonly.I have this lovely blue Japanese PS2, butnot everyone can afford that luxury.PCSX2 lets you play games from other regions- which is awesome, since there’s a tonof good fighters and shmups that never madeit to the states.## Texture PacksAnother epic feature coming to PCSX2 is theability to dump and load textures.This means you could (theoretically) sourcehigher res texture packs for just about anygame and further improve the visual fidelityor presentation.There are a tiny handful of these available.These will mostly be done using AI upscalingtools, such as Topaz Labs’ Gigapixel - we’llbe taking a look at this process and the prosand cons of the results in a future video,so get subscribed - BUT in some cases runninggames at Native Render Resolution with upscaledtextures can look better than running it inhigher res modes with the original textures.Wild stuff.The big downside here comes from the way texturesare stored in PS2 games: You have to loadthem in the game to dump them.Which means effectively playing through anentire game to get a complete dump.OUCH.## Reshade & ShadersPCSX2 now has shader support built in!Under Config - Graphics and then the Shadertab, you can enable FXAA anti-aliasing, controlbrightness, contrast and saturation, add externalGLSL shaders, such as from ShaderToy (if theywork and if you have a settings file for it),or choose from one of the built-in TV shaderoptions.I found the TV shader options to not be amazing- they’re super basic overlays.At a distance, most of them are barely visibleunless scaling down a capture where they getemphasized, but I did like the Diagonal andTriangular one the best.I tried one of the .fx shader downloads fromthe forums, but I think they moved to justwanting to support specific shader featuresin the core now, and all I got was brokenlighting from them, heh.Alternatively, since the emulator now supportsDirectX 11 and Vulkan renderers, you can utilizeReShade with it!ReShade is an injection tool to add additionalpost-processing effects to your games - cooldepth of field effects, color and contrasttweaks, added anti-aliasing or ambient occlusion- or crazy shaders.I must admit I don’t have a ton of experiencewith ReShade overall, BUT you can really gocrazy tweaking your PS2 games to look exactlyhow you want here, and there’s been greatstrides in implementing various CRT emulationshaders, including the one from RetroArchinto ReShade, so you can try to go for a classicCRT look to your gameplay.## CRTSpeaking of which, I’ve mentioned a coupletimes now that so many PS2 games have theirvisuals built around CRT displays to sellthe effects - naturally you can play on onewith PCSX2.You can either just set it to native PS2 renderres and set your PC CRT monitor to 640x480and have a mostly natural PS2 experience,or you can still render at higher internalres but display back at 480p on the CRT fora kind of “best of both worlds” setup.Higher resolution models, but most of thetextures and such will be unaffected.This look really works, in my opinion.I dig it.Since PC Monitors and the deinterlaced outputdon’t perfectly match how the PS2 mightlook on a normal consumer CRT TV set, youcould also pop on some of those ReShade filtersto truly make it look old-school, but that’slikely too distracting for regular play.I will say that playing on my big 21” CRTmonitor on my desk absolutely feels betterfor a lot of games than at 1440p on my LCDright next to it.## PS1 GamesIt’s really neat that they’re trying toget PS1 emulation working just to be feature-completefor the console, but it needs some work tosay the least.Just stick with Duckstation for now, thoughdefinitely keep an eye on the project.## ConclusionI have to admit, I’m a “play on real hardware”guy.I like my CRTs, I have at least 4 PlayStation2 consoles, I’m still hoping to get my handson a backwards compatible PS3, and while mycollection isn’t the most impressive onYouTube by a long shot, it’s my favorite,my biggest, and most personal collection,with so many of the games being true childhoodkeepsakes and not just adult pickups.BUT PCSX2 puts up a real competition and breathesnew life into this glorious games library.I’m still waiting on the PS2HDMI from DanKunz where we’re hopefully getting a fixfor the noisy video output for the first time,and hopefully motion adaptive deinterlacing,but in the meantime, there’s a gamut ofreasons to play some games on the emulatorinstead, even if you’re squishing it backdown to 480p.The cool thing is you don’t necessarilyNEED a super powerful computer to run theemulator.While they’re removing 32-bit support andcutting off super old PCs, this doesn’taffect 99% of users today anyway.Unlike the Playstation 3 emulator where evenjust running the games can take a fair bitof horsepower, I was running PCSX2 on laptopsin the early 2010s.You can run it.Whether you can push games to 1440p or 4Kis another question, but nearly everyone canPLAY games with at least native performance,if not higher, which is amazing.This is proven further by the AetherPCSX2project porting it to friggin Android.While it is great news that Sony is puttingmore PlayStation 2 games on their new consoleswith the Playstation Plus updates - it doesn’tseem like your previous digital PS2 game purchaseswill transfer over, and there’s little confidencein how they will treat the emulation experience.Huge kudos to the PCSX2 team for stickingwith it for 20 years thus far and making atruly incredible experience.I have my complaints and desires for featuresand polish, but it’s quite the achievementthat they have basically the entire libraryworking, and I can’t wait to see what thenext few years look like.Links to everything mentioned are down below- along with links to where you can sign upto watch the Nebula exclusive video on acquiringand managing BIOS and games, as well as myvideo on lost_saves focusing on some of thebest games to play in PCSX2.I’m EposVox, Remember: Be Kind, Rewind.\n"