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What are my options for portable PS2 emulation?

Shinobido Heart

Shinobido Heart

Member
Dec 23, 2017
8,148
latestps2collection.png


My PS2 collection is reaching 150GB and it's taking a lot of space in my gaming desktop. I still plan on hunting down more PS2 games too.

I'd like to take my PS2 emulation further by creating a portable emulation station, but I don't know what my options are.

I've been looking into laptops and handheld hybrids like the GPD Win Max Mini:




But...$1,000 bucks is too much for something like this. Is emulating PS2 games really this expensive?

-
www.resetera.com

I have seen the light that is PS2 emulation

I wanted to do something special for the 20th anniversary of the PS2. I dug out my old fat PS2 to see if it still worked, it hasn't been plugged in years. Surprisingly it still worked but it has some issues with the disc drive not being able to read blue discs and the disc tray likes to close...
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www.resetera.com

I have seen the light that is PS2 emulation, Part 2!

If you missed my first thread, you can find it here: https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-have-seen-the-light-that-is-ps2-emulation.176298/ - Ever since I tried out emulation for the first time, I haven't been able to stop. I've been working on my PS2 collection since the creation of that...
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Partridge

Partridge

Member
Dec 8, 2017
52
Buffalo, NY
The Play! core for Retroarch on Android is still pretty rough but it's technically available as an option. $1,000 feels pretty steep for playing PS2 games on the go. I would try to wait until we get more development on the PSCX2 core for android retroarch (which is a long way away) or the Play! core.
 
Pryme

Pryme

Member
Aug 23, 2018
8,164
Give it a year or two and you should be able to run it on Android flagships.

Apple's M1 has lit a fire under the asses of Qualcomm, Samsung and others. Expect to see them push more power in 2022/2023.
 
Vagabond

Vagabond

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,367
United States
The Win Max will likely drop price soon after Win 3 release March/April.

The cheapest option right now (I've been looking too) is the $500-600 Xiaomi SnapDragon 888-based phone - which should work out some of the performance hiccups I experienced running DamonPS2 on SD865 - but you lose out on a lot of PCSX2 optimizations
 
Damaniel

Damaniel

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,544
Portland, OR
Even desktop PS2 emulation requires beefy hardware for more demanding games - I'm guessing that running even the simple stuff on high end mobile devices is a lost cause.
 
C.Mongler

C.Mongler

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,888
Washington, DC
Literally a laptop or some kind of portable computer like the GPD Win line. PCSX2 is the only competent PS2 emulation out there, and it's only available on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. Hopefully we see some movement on a (good) Android emulator at some point, but it's yet to come to fruition.

There is a PS2 portable floating out there on AliExpress for about $600, but it's actually a gutted PS2 fitted with a controller and screen from what I understand. It's also thick as hell. Pretty easy to find if you're interested (not sure if linking to it here is kosher).
 
Serif

Serif

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
3,872


This will still be expensive though, in the $600 - $700 range. Launching later this month on Indiegogo.
 
Vagabond

Vagabond

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,367
United States
Most laptops north of the 3500U or 8350U should be able to handle PS2 like a champ, upressed to 720P/1080p. Try looking around for laptops a couple gens old on the Intel side
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
Serif said:


This will still be expensive though, in the $600 - $700 range. Launching later this month on Indiegogo.
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Even this won't be able to really run PCSX2 well. You are talking a 4500U and even that probably under a lowered power envelope to be able to run things on battery. Android PS2 emulation sucks right now so that won't help much even if 2-3 years smartphones / tablets would be fast enough.

So basically got to wait till 6500U or Intel Equivalent comes out and can run the emulator at higher paces.
 
BoredLemon

BoredLemon

Member
Nov 11, 2017
1,004
Vagabond said:
The cheapest option right now (I've been looking too) is the $500-600 Xiaomi SnapDragon 888-based phone - which should work out some of the performance hiccups I experienced running DamonPS2 on SD865 - but you lose out on a lot of PCSX2 optimizations
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DamonPS2 is using stolen PCSX2 code (as they don't comply with PCSX2 license).
Also they didn't even bother properly porting it to ARM

XrVw3NY.png
 
Vagabond

Vagabond

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,367
United States
StereoVSN said:
Even this won't be able to really run PCSX2 well. You are talking a 4500U and even that probably under a lowered power envelope to be able to run things on battery. Android PS2 emulation sucks right now so that won't help much even if 2-3 years smartphones / tablets would be fast enough.

So basically got to wait till 6500U or Intel Equivalent comes out and can run the emulator at higher paces.
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Hmm, I have a 3500U laptop which has run every PS2 game I've thrown at it upscaled with no tinkering. Every account of the Aya Neo has it running PS2 extremely well with its 3500U on stock and decently with PS3. What's your definition of well?
 
ApeEscaper

ApeEscaper

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,726
Bangladeshi


Not really a handheld portable but it's small and light for a laptop that can decently play PS2 emulation games
If you can find this for this price or cheaper worth it
 

Kris1977

Member
Nov 25, 2017
976
Yeah give it up. Your better option where possible would be to switch systems. Quite a few ps2 games were available on the gamecube for example. And that emulator is much less hardware intensive than ps2. That might take care of some of your games. Likewise dreamcast. That im sure had a small amount of the ps2 library. The rest...well, come back in 5 years for decent portable ps2 emulation and I'm not kidding.
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
Vagabond said:
Hmm, I have a 3500U laptop which has run every PS2 game I've thrown at it upscaled with no tinkering. Every account of the Aya Neo has it running PS2 extremely well with its 3500U on stock and decently with PS3. What's your definition of well?
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No frame skips, preferably 4x res, but even 2x should be ok, no stutters, 30 or 60 fps as originally ran on PS2. It also heavily depends on the game of course. Some are more demanding vs others. That said, I have been mainly running things on my main gaming desktop as well as my secondary emulation box and both are running fairly speedy CPUs and 1000 series graphics. So things might have changed last couple years.
 
RyougaSaotome

RyougaSaotome

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,709
GPD Win Max has been excellent for my portable PS2 needs, but like others have said, it's not exactly cheap.
 
Vagabond

Vagabond

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,367
United States
StereoVSN said:
No frame skips, preferably 4x res, but even 2x should be ok, no stutters, 30 or 60 fps as originally ran on PS2. It also heavily depends on the game of course. Some are more demanding vs others. That said, I have been mainly running things on my main gaming desktop as well as my secondary emulation box and both are running fairly speedy CPUs and 1000 series graphics. So things might have changed last couple years.
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I can honestly say that - especially with CPUs being so much faster for all manufacturers in the last few years as well as improvements on the PCSX2 optimization side - that PS2 emulation isn't a problem if you bought a laptop in the last couple years and should be able to meet all of those criteria for you. Definitely give it a shot if you got time! Even my Surface Go is capable of handling that - at least for MVC2/CVS2/Tekken :)
 
wwm0nkey

wwm0nkey

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,637
I really wish PS2 would have another emulator enter the scene, PCSX2 dev has slowed a lot.

Thankfully DuckStation came out for PS1 titles and that's been one of the most smooth emulators I've ever used
 
StereoVSN

StereoVSN

Member
Nov 1, 2017
13,620
Eastern US
Vagabond said:
I can honestly say that - especially with CPUs being so much faster for all manufacturers in the last few years as well as improvements on the PCSX2 optimization side - that PS2 emulation isn't a problem if you bought a laptop in the last couple years and should be able to meet all of those criteria for you. Definitely give it a shot if you got time! Even my Surface Go is capable of handling that - at least for MVC2/CVS2/Tekken :)
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I already got couple PCs running it and have probably 300GB I ripped from my couple shelves of games :).

Don't really need the portability, that was more directed at OP. Good to know though since it is certainly a nice option to have when travelling.
 
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