The world of emulators is extensive and interesting, for those who do not have much contact with them, they are software systems for PC that make it a backward compatible console. It is the preferred mode of console lovers to be able to remember the best PlayStation titles, Xbox, Nintendo Game Cube and other types of consoles from even more years ago that we can no longer play with for one reason or another. Installing this type of software is usually quite easy and fast, and if there is something you don't know, don't worry, in Actualidad Gadget We are going to teach you what is necessary.
One of the consoles with the best catalog that we can imagine was the PlayStation 2, not only for quality but also for quantity, that is why it becomes a real candy for emulation, now the question arises: What is the best emulator for PS2? Stay with us and you will see which is the most interesting of these emulators and how to configure it.
What is an emulator and why would I install it?
You do not have to give too many explanations for now, if you have come this far it is because you know what it is. Actually, it is software that allows you to play video games from a console directly on a PC thanks to its hardware and operating system. Due to technical limitations, we will not find emulators for the latest generation or the most recent consoles, but it is very easy to find emulators for discontinued or retro consoles, since it is much easier to program this type of content for them, as well as there is more content on the networks in the form of backup copies of video games.
In short, installing this type of software will allow you to play your old console at your leisure directly on your computer, so that you can recall those titles that you once lost sight of for one reason or another. So of course, if you want to "give a vice" to the PlayStation 2, this is your post, we are going to show you which is the best PlayStation 2 emulator in Windows 10 and how to get all the performance that it can offer us Let's go!
PCSX2, the best PlayStation 2 emulator
This software has positioned itself as the best alternative when it comes to emulating the PlayStation 2 on PC, you could imagine that it has done it precisely because of its name or because of its catalog, but it goes much further, PCSX2 is capable of providing superior graphic performance which we could find on the original console. Thanks to the modifications at the software level and its important community, it is not difficult to find modified games and additions to emulation software to add an "HD" perspective to our old PlayStation 2 games.
We can download PCSX2 directly from THIS LINK on its official website. Beyond Windows 10, we also have versions for Linux and macOS, what did you not expect? Well yes, you can emulate the PlayStation 2 from almost any operating system. In addition, within the website we will also find content such as configuration guides, news, updates, files and much more. If you are a born programmer, you also have an opportunity to modify the PCSX2 code since it is totally free, and you will be able to do your little steps with the emulation.
To do this simply we are going to go to the download of the stable version for our operating system and we will execute and install it in the same way that we would install any other software with these characteristics on the system, and don't worry about the rest, we are going to give you some basic notions of configuration for it.
The initial configuration of PCXS2
Once we have run the program for the first time, and after the installation wizard, we are going to choose our preferred language and we are going to keep the emulator plugins (the additions that will allow us to get much more performance from the software) completely by default. The next step will be the BIOS configuration, for this we must have previously downloaded a PlayStation 2 BIOS corresponding to our region, or the one that interests us the most (if for example we want to emulate exclusive games from Japan).
If we have a PlayStation 2, within the PCSX2 downloads section we have the BIOS Dumpler - Binary (DOWNLOAD), a system that will allow us to directly extract the BIOS from our own PlayStation 2. If otherwise we want to emulate the PlayStation 2 directly from a BIOS that is not our property, we are already entering environments of questionable legality, in which case we recommend going to the community or specialized media where you can obtain said BIOS, always under your own responsibility (Actualidad Gadget is not a supporter or responsible for illegal emulation or any other type of piracy by users).
Once you have selected the BIOS file with the file explorer and seeing that it has been added to the list of our emulator, we are going to click on "OK" and we will go to the next configuration aspect, the command.
How can I play with a PCSX2 controller?
It is advisable to always go to the Windows 10 autodetected and preconfigured drivers, a good alternative for example is any Xbox controller, you already know that the Microsoft console is fully compatible with Windows 10, so the keypad would come preconfigured and we will only have to plug in the USB connector and enjoy our controller.
However, if what you really want is to get the most out of the experience using PlayStation controllers, I recommend downloading MotionJoy (DOWNLOAD) that will allow us only connecting our PlayStation 3 controller via USB to the PC to configure it. To do this, we will install the program and click on "Driver Manager" with the PlayStation 3 controller connected via USB, thus downloading and installing the necessary drivers.
Then with the drivers installed for the PlayStation 3 DualShock 3 controller, we will download Better DS3 (DOWNLOAD), a configured for Windows that will allow us to configure the buttons of our PlayStation 3 controller so that everything works in the best possible way. Its use is really intuitive, simply with the DualShock 3 connected by USB we will click on «New» next to «Selected Profile» and we will create a profile that will be the one we use to play.
The graphical configuration of PCSX2
Now what matters is to get the most out of it, for this we are going to start the emulator, now that we have everything we need to play. Once inside, we will click on «Settings» and we will go to «Video> Plugin Settings». A menu of GSDX10, a graphical configuration for PlayStation 2 emulators and we must maintain similar parameters to those that we are going to offer you below for mid-range computers (i3 / i5 - 6GB / 8GB RAM - 1GB Graphics).
First of all, we are going to take into account the screen ratio, we can choose to play 4: 3 or 16: 9, everything will depend on the way you want it the most, I am more of a lover of the panoramic environment. This setting will be changed in the "Window Settings" of the video settings. Nevertheless, let's remember that most PS2 games are designed for the 4: 3 format.
- Adapter: We keep the default settings
- Interlacing: We choose the option "BOB TTF"
- Rendering: We switched to the Direct3D option (D3D11 on high-end systems)
- Enable FXXA: We mark this option to activate antialasing
- Enable Filtering: Thus we activate the texture filtering
- EnableFXShader: It will also improve the graphic section if we activate it
- Anisotropic Filtering: It will improve the textures, we will choose the 2X option on mid-range devices
- Enable Anti-Aliasing: We will activate it in any case
With regards to output resolution, we are going to dance between 720p or 1080p, although the ideal is that we take as a reference the height of our monitor and apply it to the 4: 3 ratio so that it offers us realistic and unmodified results, for this we apply the following formula: (4x »height of our monitor») / 3 = XThis is how we will obtain the ideal output resolution to play this fantastic emulator on our monitor.
Conclusions on PCSX2
Ultimately, for these reasons, as well as for the important community behind PCSX2. We will easily find a lot of plugins on the internet that will allow us to modify many characteristics of the video games that we want to play at will. Definitely, the emulation of totally unloaded consoles like this one allows us to recall those fantastic games that one day we left behind for various reasons, so we can take advantage of the hardware of our personal computer to get a little performance in the entertainment aspect.
This emulator has been positioned since 2011 as the main alternative for those nostalgic for PlayStation 2, and something indicates that it will probably continue to be for some time to come. We hope this fantastic tutorial and recommendation on the best emulator for PS2 has helped you and that you can get the most out of it. I'll take the liberty of recommending some of the best PlaySation 2 games below.
Best PlayStation 2 games
- ICO
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
- Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
- Resident Evil 4
- Kingdom Hearts
- Final Fantasy XII
- Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
- Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
- God of War II: Divine Retribution
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
- Primal