# PS2 emulator **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 22, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240 "2004-12-22T23:05:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/1 "2004-12-22T23:05:31Z")
Is there a PS2 emulator that will allow me to play my PS2 games on my computer? I’m not looking for games. I have them. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/2 "2004-12-23T00:46:24Z")
There are a couple [here,](http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/ps2/) though I haven’t vouched for any of 'em. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/3 "2004-12-23T01:39:52Z")
Although this _probably_ isn’t illegal, it does have to do with emulators. So I’m betting… 3… ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/4 "2004-12-23T01:43:59Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Although this _probably_ isn’t illegal, it does have to do with emulators. So I’m betting… > > 3… Emulators are not illegal. Using game downloads that you don’t own with them is a gray area. But I have the games. But not the emulators themselves are not. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/5 "2004-12-23T02:10:43Z")
I know, but these threads always end up locked, just like any threads that deal with downloading almost anything. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/6 "2004-12-23T02:14:20Z")
It’s arguable. There are certainly patents or pending patents on some algorithms used by the hardware, and the system software running on the console machine is definately copyrighted. An emulator would be hard-pressed to avoid violating any of those things. 2… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/7 "2004-12-23T02:19:19Z")
I’m genuinely unclear on this, but even if you do own the game, and even if it is legal to own the emulator, you still can’t insert a PS2 disc on your computer and have your computer read it without some sort of copyright-breaking technology, right? Or can computers read PS2 discs? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/8 "2004-12-23T02:26:43Z")
Many PS2 games are on DVDs. CDs (even those blue-laser CDs) are much cheaper to put out, but the games are too big for CDs. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/9 "2004-12-23T03:41:05Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > It’s arguable. There are certainly patents or pending patents on some algorithms used by the hardware, and the system software running on the console machine is definately copyrighted. An emulator would be hard-pressed to avoid violating any of those things. I believe it’s considered fair use to copy the system software off your own console to use in an emulator. Most emulators require some kind of BIOS image to use, and they’re still around. Other emulators emulate the BIOS as well as the hardware, so they don’t require any copyrighted data files (other than the games). > [@levdrakon](#): > > I’m genuinely unclear on this, but even if you do own the game, and even if it is legal to own the emulator, you still can’t insert a PS2 disc on your computer and have your computer read it without some sort of copyright-breaking technology, right? Or can computers read PS2 discs? PS2 discs are just CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. A computer with a DVD-ROM drive can read them with no problem. Presumably you can’t _burn_ a valid PS2 disc with a DVD burner, because of some standard-breaking copy protection (as seen on PS1 discs), but that doesn’t matter if you’re only trying to play the game with an emulator. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/10 "2004-12-23T05:47:06Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > I know, but these threads always end up locked, just like any threads that deal with downloading almost anything. heh. I am not alone… ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/11 "2004-12-23T06:40:46Z")
Legal issues aside, I was under the impression that PS2 emulators were a long way off, and the few that are around barely even emulate demos correctly, let alone full games. But then again, I’m not a doctor, and to make matters worse, I don’t even play one on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/12 "2004-12-23T08:14:02Z")
Judging from the capriciousness of the various PS1 emulators I’ve tried {I have two consoles, an NTSC and a PAL, and I paid for all my games}, I can’t see a PS2 emulator being anything less than more trouble than it’s worth: you’ll probably save yourself a lot of trouble sticking with the old “plug 'n play” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/13 "2004-12-23T16:22:29Z")
> [@klintypooh](#): > > Legal issues aside, I was under the impression that PS2 emulators were a long way off, and the few that are around barely even emulate demos correctly, let alone full games. > > But then again, I’m not a doctor, and to make matters worse, I don’t even play one on TV. I’m pretty sure this is the case. I haven’t even been able to find a fast enough Playstation 1 emulator to run all my old games. My experience is that emulators can run software from about two generations of hardware back. When the Playstation One was around, the 8-bit emulators were working pretty well and 16-bits were still kind of on the slow and buggy side. By the time the Playstation II came out, the 16-bit emulators were solid, and work began on the Playstation I. I’m highly doubtful anyone has a PS2 emulator working anywhere near full-speed now. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/14 "2004-12-23T17:36:27Z")
Geez, I thought the OP was talking about games for his old IBM pc. :smack: Never mind… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/15 "2004-12-23T22:36:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > My experience is that emulators can run software from about two generations of hardware back. When the Playstation One was around, the 8-bit emulators were working pretty well and 16-bits were still kind of on the slow and buggy side. By the time the Playstation II came out, the 16-bit emulators were solid, and work began on the Playstation I. _Au contrare_ – when the PS1 was still king, you could buy Connectix’s [**Virtual Gamestation,**]([Search | MegaGames](http://www.megagames.com/psx/psx_utils_emu.shtml#Virtual) Game Station) and play Playstation games at full speed on your computer. The VGS was such a threat to Sony that they bought all the rights to it from Connectix, then shot it in the head. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/16 "2004-12-23T23:12:51Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > _Au contrare_ – when the PS1 was still king, you could buy Connectix’s [**Virtual Gamestation,**]([Search | MegaGames](http://www.megagames.com/psx/psx_utils_emu.shtml#Virtual) Game Station) and play Playstation games at full speed on your computer. > > The VGS was such a threat to Sony that they bought all the rights to it from Connectix, then shot it in the head. ☹ I totally forgot about that! Nice catch. Actually, I must admit I am wrong. My brother just showed me a shareware Playstation 1 emulator which works absolutely fine. He says PS2 emulators aren’t there yet. ---
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/17 "2004-12-23T23:47:13Z")
There is. Check out PSXEmu, if it has not already been mentioned. I run it on Linux so that I can play FF7. The graphics exceed those of the PS1, if certain variables are defined. Plus, you can fast forward, rewind, save anywhere, use PAR codes, watch any movies on the disc, play backup copies of your games, etc. have fun! ---
**Author:** ![ninetypercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@ninetypercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninetypercent)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/18 "2004-12-24T01:21:05Z")
er, no clue why i missed the 2… back to lurking for me. ---
**Author:** ![FyreFiend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@FyreFiend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FyreFiend)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/19 "2004-12-24T03:08:02Z")
The problem is the emulator’s themselves are legal but IIRC you’d need a PS2 firmware file to get them to run, which illegal to download ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/20 "2004-12-24T03:11:43Z")
> [@FyreFiend](#): > > The problem is the emulator’s themselves are legal but IIRC you’d need a PS2 firmware file to get them to run, which illegal to download You don’t need to download the firmware. If it’s available on the internet, someone had to extract it somehow, so presumably you can extract it from your own PS2. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240.md?page=2)