# PS2 emulator

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240>\
**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:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/21 "2004-12-24T04:22:28Z")

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> [@Mr2001](#):
>
> 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.

You can, but I’m not sure how. There are sites detailing the process however.

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**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/22 "2004-12-27T14:37:57Z")

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On the [PCSX2](http://www.pcsx2.net/) homepage you can see that it can run lots of PS2 games at a couple frames per second (sometimes it is less than 1 frame per second). But for about 10 or 20% of the cost of one of those fast PC’s you can get a real PS2 which plays the games at excellent framerates…

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**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/23 "2004-12-27T14:43:54Z")

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The PCSX2 FAQ:  
[http://www.ngemu.com/forums/faq.php?faq=pcsx2\_faq](http://www.ngemu.com/forums/faq.php?faq=pcsx2_faq)

> [@](#):
>
> Can I “play” games?  
> If by “playing” a game, you mean at full speed with sound, perfect graphics, etc, then NO. Come back next year.  
> Since the 0.6 Release a handful of games MAY work, and many will show screens and intros. Super Bust a Move is a working game, as with others like Police 24/7 are going much further, but 99% of games will NOT work.

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**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ps2-emulator/281240/24 "2004-12-27T16:00:22Z")

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> [@ninetypercent](#):
>
> 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!

That’s Playstation 1, the query was for Playstation 2. I bought Bleem a while ago, which did a half decent job at some games. In the end the emulators can get really good, the top of the bill emulator I know is STeem, which emulates the Atari ST home computer and it works with all games, demos, all peripherals, etc., in a way that is superior to the original machine.

Bios copyright IS an issue, and outside of STeem (Atari being bancrupt and the BIOS generally being accepted as in the public domain), most emulators are somewhat illegal. There’s a grey area when you own the original yourself, but even then there are rights to be dealt with. Both Bleem and the hardware card for getting a PS1 into your PC were succesfully challenged by Sony in court.

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