Been a gamer for ages now but have a ps2 emulator question

my son told me since my ps2 died that I could play my ps2 games on my pc with a ps2 emulator. I got the official one but it needs a bios.

Anyone know what the heck this is and where I get one? xD I'd love to play my Silent Hill games again so badly. As well as The Suffering 1 and 2.

Well to start you must have a pretty impressive machine to run a ps2 emulator, I know that it (bios) is missing in some of the newer computers so I'm thinking you need to run it on an computer.

Thats just my 2 cents and i might be wrong, so wait for someone who is more familiar with it to help.

Heres the wiki page, might help a bit en.wikipedia.org...

Seriously just buy another PS2 they are so cheap, less than $100. Its less work than the motherboard and graphics card setup and config you'll have to do. Not mentioning possible issues with configuring the right gamepad or splicing copper cables to convert your PS2 controller to USB

If you are having major issues buying one cheap I could possibly assist you with that

Thanks all. I just don't have a tv and you know. didn't want to have to buy one just to get another ps2 xD

Suppose I can figure something out, get a cheap smaller tv or something.

reply to post by sarra1833

Do you mean running a ps2 emulator on the PC? As for BIOS, I would guess it needs a ps2 BIOS which is probably against T&C as that is (probably) copyrighted code and me helping you find that would be a no-no. I'm sure google will be helpful though, it's probably in a million places.

In any case, BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is the "code" that a machine usually runs when you turn it on. On the PC the BIOS is a chip (repgrammable) located on the motherboard. It enumerates and initiates connected devices and gets everything ready for the operating system to be loaded, such as Windows, Mac OS or Linux and on smaller devices such as mobile phones and mp3 players, etc. In the case of the ps2 bios, it might be available in a download available from Sony, it might be worth checking their website out. I've never had a console so little experience that can help you apart from theoretical.

My Canon EOS 1000D camera is actually driven by a special version of MS-DOS, I looked it up.

Using an emulator is frowned upon by the entertainment industry. But like downloaded copyrighted films, as long as you don't sell them you don't have a lot to worry about. You're biggest trouble with a Playstation 2 emulator is computer power. I would recommend 4 Gigabytes of RAM, a 2.8 Gigahertz Processor, and a 512 Megabyte Video card at least.

As for the emulator, this website has what you are looking for. In addition, it also carries emulators for other consoles such as Nintendo and can even provide some game files (Super Mario, Metroid, Zelda, etc). There are plenty of guides to setting up a PS2 emulator. For instance: here.

The games will probably be a problem. Computers aren't built to read PS2 discs so you will have to download them. Playstation 2 games take up about the same size as a single-layer DVD (about 4 Gigabytes) and are not very easy to download. If I were you, I would consider buying a used Playstation 2 on Amazon from a reputable seller (some even less than $50).

Originally posted by questforevidence
The games will probably be a problem. Computers aren't built to read PS2 discs so you will have to download them. Playstation 2 games take up about the same size as a single-layer DVD (about 4 Gigabytes) and are not very easy to download. If I were you, I would consider buying a used Playstation 2 on Amazon from a reputable seller (some even less than $50).

edit on 23-4-2012 by questforevidence because:

My experience with the discs this is true - you'd have to get Asian PAL pirated dvd discs which retail for less than $1 each or just download the ISOs and use something like daemontools to mount them

Yeah just get an old TV - lots of ppl are trading in their CRT stuff for LCD, really the PS2 graphics look better on CRT. High resolution LCD/Plasma just brings all the graphical imperfections in the game straight to the surface, even with top notch Squaresoft animations. Playing on a CRT goes really well with PS2 Motion blur style movement and the overall result is a smoother experience.

If you just simply don't have room for a TV I would look at something like Headplay goggles or some other Personal Cinema Screen that you can wear like glasses. The ones I take with me travelling have RCA input, great for PS2 in a confined space like a boat cabin.

His Dad probably tried to get him to play on an emulator

Saudi Boy 4 Kills Father Over Playstation

Never heard of Headplay goggles. I'll have to definitely look into those. I bet Fallout 3 and NV would be amazing with that!
(edit to add: AND SKYRIM. how could I forget /that/ game??????)
My pc is an Asus Republic of Gamers laptop, running 4gb ram, nvidia geforce gtx 260M, either 1 or 2 gb dedicated memory -though the processor is a wimpy sad 2.13ghz.

I'm looking into a few gaming desktops as I can play pretty much most games great with this, but it lately has taken to turning off suddenly with Minecraft :C I cleaned the fan and it's still overheating so I guess it's time for a new pc! plus half the keyboard isn't working any longer (bought it brand new in 2010 for 1200 bucks. You'd THINK it'd last) so it's just meh. I'll give it to my son and I'm upgrading to a sweet 2 Tb hdd, 8gb ram, 3.4 ghz processor, elite Nvidia graphics (Not that 5000 dollar one but you know. The top line of the affordable tier) and etc etc.

Gaming laptops are amazing but they wear out FAST. I'd rather just bite my tongue and get a non portable desktop that I can tweak and improve as needed instead of having to toss the lot and buy new just to upgrade as you have to do with laptops. Not worth the hassle.

Upsets me highly that Steam does not sell any Silent Hill games but that dumb Homecoming. And they don't have The Suffering or Suffering II either. Pleh. Unfair. Not right. xD

Oh my I didn't comment on the TV post!

That sounds sick, playing 'old school' games on an 'old school' tv. I used to have the snes emulator on an old laptop and had about 150 games for it. Amazing trip back to the 90's. I'd not mind a colecovision either to really take me back to the beginning (I'm 39, btw)


The actual makers of the PS2 made this emulator (from what people have claimed on the sites) and it's said they really sucked at it due to leaving out a lot of stuff they really shouldn't have overlooked.

I think it's okay to use them as long as you own the game, you know? I used to try out games before buying them to make sure they played on my pc and I liked them. Most games don't offer demo's sadly so if you don't like the game, you're either stuck with it online or have to sell it back for cheaper somewhere else (game stop, etc). But that's just my morals and ethics. I'd never keep a game when I would demo them if I loved em. I know the time and talent and such it takes to put a small game together, much less giants like Skyrim, Fallout 3, NV, etc. They deserve every cent they make off of sales for their time, work, visions and the sort.

reply to post by sarra1833


I just had a look for the Headplay company site and I think maybe they went out of business. imo, their build quality and price point was too high and would have impacted their profit margins and target market.

They couldnt compete with stuff like this Portable Cinema System

Lifetime warranty included! It goes pretty awesome on any sort of FPS game, you get a crazy feeling of immersion.

My recent favorite retro gaming experience has been playing PS1 games that are available for download from the PSStore. The games play on PS3 as well as PSP, and you can even exchange save games between the two....so like...as I leave in the morning I copy savegame from PS3 to PSP, play on my commute to and from work, then copy the savegame back to PS3 for a more relaxed experience.
Some pretty sick titles coming out and more in the plan, I think Shadow of Colossus was the latest big one....in time no doubt they will release PS2 Platinum titles and make them run on the Vita as the Vita has the screen resolution capability to do so.

For some next level action....combine a Portable Cinema System with a PSP and the Video Output cable.....boooyeah, instant gaming immersion anywhere.

Emulators suck, there's not one emulator out there that is 100% accurate and there's not even a PS2 Emulator out there that can play more than maybe 40% of the games and even then they are either slow, have graphic glitches or 'feature' both.
Not even the old video game systems can be accurately emulated. Just compare a real NES to an NES Emulator and you see a whole lot of difference with the colors and graphic glitches, speed glitches, missing graphic effects

If you don't want a TV, get a Playstation 2 and look for an Adapter to connect it to your PC Monitor. There are a couple of different types like SCART to VGA (what he use here in Europe), don't know what the Americans use as they don't have RGB-SCART but i bet there are similar adapters as they are fairly standard since at least the Dreamcast days.