You Can Now Emulate Every PS2 Game Ever - Except For One
Emulation has been around since the birth of gaming, with the debate surrounding whether you should ever be able to play older titles for free still raging on. With licensing expiring on literature after a certain amount of time, should you really be able to play your favourite N64 games without having to fork over for Nintendo's expensive Switch expansion?
These days, emulation and retro gaming go hand in hand, with consoles from the '90s and '00s being particularly popular right now. We previously covered how someone was trying to emulate PlayStation 2 games onto the Xbox Series, and now, they've done it.
How Can You Emulate PS2 Games?
According to Kotaku, the team at PCSX2 has made great headway in emulating PS2 games. There are currently 2,689 games in the database, with over 97% being marked in the "playable" category. Be warned though, being playable isn't going to give the same nostalgia of booting up Shadow of the Colossus or Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater like back in the day. Still, it's probably better than the GTA Trilogy remaster.
Only 22 of those game in the catalogue are marked "perfect", but to be branded with that honour, they have to be completely bug-free. Remembering we're going to playing old games on a brand new system, that's even harder than it sounds.
Every game can reach at least the boot screen, apart from one. So, what is this troubled title? According to PCSX2, 2005's Real World Golf is a tricky one because it requires special controller emulation. Considering In2Games' sporting game didn't exactly blow the critics away, we're sure it won't be missed too much.
What's Next For Emulation?
It's quite an amazing feat that pretty much every PS2 game is heading toward emulation. To this day, the PS2's jaw-dropping 158 million consoles shipped makes it the best-selling console of all time. Sure, the Xbox Series, Switch, and PS5 are selling well, but we're not sure anything will ever topple the PS2.
Of course, emulators means you can play your old favourites on a brand-new system. If you want to play God of War III on Xbox - now you can. It raises a lot of moral questions about exclusivity and the legal ramifications, which we've seen time and time again with publishers swinging their axe at any form of emulation. In particular, Nintendo is brutal with its assault on emulation.
Amazingly, modern emulation means the Xbox Series can run PS2 and PS1 games before the PS5. It's a baffling state of affairs that it's possible to play these classics covertly before those that actually released them are willing to get off their butts. Still, who wouldn't want to play PS4 games on PC?
With each new generation, it seems the big three are willing to let another of its past gens go out into the wild. Although there's an argument emulation is robbing publishers, others think it's time to Robin Hood those old favourites to the masses.
