Playstation Emulation

By ZehDon on July 18, 2009 5:36:12 AM from

Like any PC Gamer, I'm always hungry for good games - unfortunately it seems that developers aren't able to keep up with the demand for quality titles. While this isn't always a bad thing, as it gives us more time to appreciate what we do have and to replay our old favourites, I often find myself staring at my computer wondering what to play because, frankly, sometimes I don't want to play a multiplayer game and much more like to lose myself in grand single player adventure! I can't claim to have played all of the classics across the years, however it's a very safe bet that I've played the majority of them. So, after fishing around the bowls of the internet for games I either hadn't heard of or had forgotten about, I found a previously untapped well of quality titles.

Enter the Playstation.
Back in the day, I was a Nintendo 64 kinda guy; Goldeneye 007 and The Legend of Zelda were my bread and butter, and games like Banjo-Kazooie always bring back fond memories (and catchy tunes!). It seems, however, that I completely overlooked the power of my modern computer which is capable of handling Playstation and even Playstation 2 titles with ease! A friend of mine suggested that if I wanted to play some quality games, grab a Playstation Emulator and grab the games off of ebay. So, I went shopping and walked away with a bag of bargins; Chrono Cross (!), Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX, Resident Evil 2 and so on. For a mere AU$50 I've got enough quality entertainment to keep me busy until the next Elder Scrolls. Maybe.

Anyway, after some self-educating and a some curse words, my Playstation Emulator now handles all of my semi-new Playstation titles and as an added bonus the games look 100 times better than they ever did on their original platform! I hooked up my wired Xbox 360 controller and I've spent most of today losing myself in Chrono Cross.

Has anyone else emulated games like these before - I'm not interested in Pirated ones - and if so could you recommend me any titles? Seems like I missed some very, very good games!

+115 Karma | 90 Replies

I'm not interested in Pirated ones

Unless you own a playstation already, you're still technically pirating the PS BIOS.

One of my favourites for the PS is front mission 3. I've downloaded the emulator a few dozen times just so i could play that game again.

I've never managed to get any Playstation emulator to get properly up and running, such as the easy-to-use ZSNES and VisualBoyAdvance emulators.

But one game I'd like to recommend is Xenogears. Absolutely ace game.

Quoting kryo,

reply 1

I'm not interested in Pirated ones

Unless you own a playstation already, you're still technically pirating the PS BIOS.

Correction: EVEN IF you own a playstation, you are pirating the BIOS.

Quoting kryo,

reply 1

Unless you own a playstation already, you're still technically pirating the PS BIOS.

Well, to be honest considering the options I had available to me, and considering the original Playstation is - I believe - discontinued, this was the lesser of the evils I could have chosen. If you'd prefer to remove this thread just in case, by all means do so. I'm not trying to promote anything illegal.

Quoting Luckmann,

reply 3

I've never managed to get any Playstation emulator to get properly up and running, such as the easy-to-use ZSNES and VisualBoyAdvance emulators.
But one game I'd like to recommend is Xenogears. Absolutely ace game.

Thanks! I've taken a bit of a look at it on Review sites and it definatly sounds like my kind of game. A quick scan of Ebay for copys doesn't bring up much however. I was very surprised to see Chrono Cross on there - that game's pretty rare. I'm also after the original Final Fantasy Tactics, however I doubt I'll ever see a legit copy for sale. It's a collectors item these days.

considering the original Playstation is - I believe - discontinued

PS2 machines (which include support for PS games) are still manufactured and sold; refurbs can be had for as little as $60.

Ah c'mon now Kryo, then I have to.. you know.. click buttons and .. organise postage.. and like ... stuff..

.. and it's.. you know..

.. it's like..

...

It's..

Ok, I see your point.

I've never managed to get any Playstation emulator to get properly up and running

As I remember it, the PS2 had an odd setup with synchronized CPUs, and even Sony had trouble emulating it on the PS3.

Quoting Kitkun,

reply 8

As I remember it, the PS2 had an odd setup with synchronized CPUs, and even Sony had trouble emulating it on the PS3.

Which is why the emotion chip came in to existence.

For good PS games, try parasite eve and parasite eve 2. If you can find them, and if you find them, let me know because i was really meaning to finish them before i lost my copies...

Assuming that you are interested in RPG / Strategy games (based on the forum in which you are posting and the games you purchased already), here are my suggestions:

Final Fantasy Tactics - (If you somehow managed to never play this, you have done yourself a disservice.) Please ignore the goofy translation and steep learning curve.

Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (limited edition) - amazing strategy game, originally for SNES was re-released on PS1.

Vagrant Story - often overlooked Squaresoft action/rpg.Really enjoyed this one.

Suikoden/Suikoden2 - Both of these tend to be ridiculously expensive. (As in, more than they cost when they were new back in the mid-late '90s.) Fantastic games though - still kick myself for ever trading-in part 2. Have fun!

Xenogears - already mentioned.

If you wannta get lost in a game play Shadow of the Colossus. Shame upon those who have not!

I'm really more after Playstation titles, rather than Playstation 2 titles.

Quoting Anesthesiac,

reply 10

Final Fantasy Tactics - (If you somehow managed to never play this, you have done yourself a disservice.) Please ignore the goofy translation and steep learning curve.

I haven't actually play the original, however the DS games were not too bad - albeit a little too childish in their presentation for my liking. The problem with getting a hold of this one seems to be it's rather limited release - it's a cult classic now, however it's a bastard to find.

Quoting ZehDon,

reply 12

I'm really more after Playstation titles, rather than Playstation 2 titles.

Quoting Anesthesiac, reply 10Final Fantasy Tactics - (If you somehow managed to never play this, you have done yourself a disservice.) Please ignore the goofy translation and steep learning curve.
I haven't actually play the original, however the DS games were not too bad - albeit a little too childish in their presentation for my liking. The problem with getting a hold of this one seems to be it's rather limited release - it's a cult classic now, however it's a bastard to find.

The original FFT is easily the best, but it's hard as hell. I mean, this game will kick your ass so hard, you'll feel it in your neck. As usual with Emu's, buy the game before you play it, but this really is a tough find.

As mentioned, Final Fantasy Tactics and Xenogears are possibly some of the best games ever made. Final Fantasy 7 and 9 are also dammed good. I also loved Chrono Cross, but you already have it.

If you're looking for totally different styles of games, Metal Gear Solid and the PS Mega Man X games (4-6) are very good.

And like Kryo said, a PS2 (which plays PS1 games just fine) isn't so expensive right now.

So as a legality issue,

Correction: EVEN IF you own a playstation, you are pirating the BIOS.

Are you sure about this? I haven't had a PS emulator in a while, but I'd much prefer to install one and bring the good old games for that system around with me on my laptop rather than lug around my PS2 (or dig the PS1 out of storage... wherever I put it).

As I understand it it's legal so long as you export the BIOS from your own machine yourself, unless there's some protection on it that would fall under the DMCA.

Quoting kryo,

reply 15

As I understand it it's legal so long as you export the BIOS from your own machine yourself, though I don't know if that can be done for the PS1 BIOS on a PS2.

I read a while ago some instructions about how to extract a PS(1) BIOS using a PS2. IIRC it was linked to the fact that when saving a PS1 game on a PS2, the console would write the (PS1) BIOS as a part of the save block. Then using the ethernet connector and a tool on a PC, you could extract the BIOS from the save.

Bleem! was a PS emulator that ran a while in retail stores (I believe I bought my copy back in the day at EB games for like $15, which was my PS until I was able to obtain a hand me down) And Sony couldn't do anything about it until after they made a contract with Sega. So there must be a loophole there involved with emulators in terms to how it is considered "piracy"
There is also general acceptance that emulators are legal, while using them is not on most sites I've seen retaining to such things.

In theory, if they do not directly copy the bios, but rather write their own software that mimics it, its not piracy right? (Flipping a copyrighted image and calling it your own is legal by the way, because it counts as changing the original content by more than 30%. In that case its 50%, but the point is that creating an emulator would not be a direct copy of the bios)

In theory (most emulators for older systems do it that way), but I'm not aware of any Sony system emulators that don't use the original BIOS.

Reference?

No law I've ever seen gives that sort of black & white definition, and certainly no court decision has done so. Usually a multi-part test is involved, addressing things like intended use, amount copied, and impact on the commercial value of the original.

Quoting ZehDon,

reply 12

I haven't actually play the original [FF:Tactics], however the DS games were not too bad - albeit a little too childish in their presentation for my liking. The problem with getting a hold of this one seems to be it's rather limited release - it's a cult classic now, however it's a bastard to find.

Thread is seriously getting hijacked...

But in regards to this, the DS (and Gameboy Advance) sequels to FFT were very dumbed down in story and difficulty. The original, while not the first strategy rpg of its kind, definately set the benchmark that is still sought after today. And yes, it WILL kick your ass. Probably in the first 2-3 battles. However, once you figure it out, it is much more managable, with the exception of some of the boss fights where you will randomly lose to a single attack and be forced to restart.

There was also a remake of this (with a fixed translation) on PSP, if you happen to own one.

ZehDon, while I know you're more interested in PS1 games, I really should re-iterate: Shadow of the Colossus is a truly awesome game. It's one of the few games out there that told a story in such a way as could not be rendered by a book or movie. If you can handle PS2 emulation on your computer, I highly recommend it.Also, if you can find it on E-bay for $0.99, Machine Head is a game that is so truly awful that it's good.

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were both brilliant games, no one is arguing there. I'm just really not interested in Playstation 2 games right now, I'd digging through the PSX's back catalogue to see what games I've missed out on. Believe me, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are on my list of games already to try when I get to Playstation 2.

Thanks for the advice so far guys. Final Fantasy Tactics is on my list to try and find, however a PAL release is a little more difficult to find than you'd think. The PSP remake, War of the Lion, looks great - however I don't own a PSP and I'd have to download ROM style files to get the game on the computer rather than being able to purchase the game itself. I'll find it eventually.

I own Metal Gear Solid on the PC and have finished it many, many times. It's a brilliant game, but I don't feel the need the buy it again. I'm looking at Tekken 3 and Gran Turismo 2 as possible additions, they sound like brilliant games.

Quoting Kellmar,

reply 16

That's one one way of getting the PSX's BIOS. The PS2 has, basically, a built in PSX to ensure maximum compatability - which was a major selling point for it's time.

Hmmm. I dunno if Legend of Dragoon aged well (or if playing it through at this age, I'd still even like it), but I've always been a fan of Breath of Fire III. Naturally, Ape Escape should make the list.

I've heard a lot of Ape Escape; is it really that good?

Hmm, maybe it didn't age well, but it was, for it's time, a very impressive game. I'd give it a go if it was on sale.

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Playstation Emulation