It’s the video game console best-selling in history. With more than 155 million units sold, PlayStation 2 is the most famous console, ahead of even the Nintendo DS, the Game Boy or the latest PlayStation 4. Who knows if it will ever be surpassed. Be that as it may, the years do not pass in vain, advanced technology and today we can find ps2 emulators to play on different devices. What’s more, you can even find a PlayStation 2 emulator for Raspberry or one that works in your web browser.
It’s amazing the ability of the software to emulate hardware. Replacing parts of a device that was once the most powerful on the market by lines of code. The result is not 100% accurate, but the feeling is very similar. This is the case of PS2 emulation. With a nearly 299 MHz 128-bit CPU, 32 MB of RAM, and other componentsthe PlayStation 2 was a revolution in the video game sector.
And it’s hard to forget PS2 titles What GTA: San Andreas, Gran Turismo 4, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, Tekken 5, God of War and God of War IIsome of the best titles in the saga need for speed or Kingdom Hearts. What’s more, you don’t have to forget them. You can play them whenever you want. Even if you don’t have a PS2 in front of you thanks to a PlayStation 2 emulator like the popular PCSX2 or as Play!which also points ways.
A PS2 emulator in your browser
Play! is a Playstation 2 emulator that has a peculiarity. can be executed directly from the web browser. Specifically, it is recommended to use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. And instead of the PS2 controller, you’ll need to use your keyboard. Otherwise, it has more advantages. First, you don’t need to load a BIOS file. You will only have to load the game file. And you can choose between ISO, CSO, CHD, ISZ, BIN or ELF format.
In the words of its creator, for now it is an experiment. In other words, it is about testing to what extent the game console emulation. Who knows how far the project will go. Hence the compatible games list not as complete as we might hope. Although it is not bad at all to play PS2 in the web browser.
At the time of this writing, over 1,730 games have been tested. 25% are playable and 53% are playable but have some bug. It’s not bad at all. In the list of compatible games you can search for your favorite games and, if you manage to get hold of their ISO, try them on the PS2 emulator yourself and collaborate with the project.
An alternative to the PCSX2 emulator
However, if you want to go beyond checking how well PS2 games behave in a current web browser, you can get hold of Play! and install it on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. You can compile the code yourself or download the installer official. For Android, you can download the APK installer or install this PlayStation 2 emulator directly from Google Play. There is also an iOS version, but to install it you will need to use Cydia.
Currently, the most recommended PS2 emulator is PCSX2. The idea behind Play! is to create an easy-to-use alternative. To use and configure, one of the main problems of some classic console emulators. Another advantage is that you do not need to look for the bios file. You just have to install the emulator and then load the game file.
Legal warning. It is worth remembering that although console emulators are legal, it is not entirely clear what happens to ROMs or BIOSes. As usual, it is considered illegal the use and possession of a ROM, since it is an unauthorized digital copy of a video game that has intellectual property. The same goes for the BIOS. When download an emulator that requires BIOS, it is usually not included for legal reasons, since it is protected by law in the same way as the ROM or game file. That does not prevent you from finding a multitude of ROMs on the internet if you do a search. But using them runs at your own risk.
In this sense, while PCSX2 needs a BIOS file to work, Play! deviates from that proposal. This simplifies its installation and configuration. You only have to worry about finding the ROMs of the games you want to remember.