Best PC PlayStation emulators
To play old games on the PC PlayStation we can use the best PlayStation 1, 2, 3 and Portable emulator programs
An emulator is a program that allows you to run games belonging to a different platform, on a normal PC.
It is therefore id a software that makes the computer believe to be something else, it copies the architecture of the system that is trying to emulate and makes it compatible with the games developed for that platform.
The console emulators are available for free and are developed by fans who want to continue playing the old games bought several years ago on the computer.
The most famous Emulators for Nintendo consoles, Playstation and Sega are listed on another page with all their history.
In this post we see three emulators for PlayStation that allowplay the games on the CD of the Sony console, directly on the Windows PC .
The old Sony PlayStation consoles amused many gamers, breaking every sales record (at the time) and marking important pages of the video game story between 1998 and 2010.
Consoles like the PlayStation, the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation 3 will remain forever in the memories of those who lived that era, but also those who have tried the PSP portable console, the only one able to worry a bit 'the excessive power of the Nintendo portable consoles.
But if we wanted to play the titles of these now old consoles on a modern PC, what can we use?
In this guide we will show you the best PC PlayStation emulators , to be used free on any PC with the right hardware.
System requirements
In order to play the titles of the past, a very powerful PC is required, since emulation requires a calculation capacity far superior to the original hardware (to understand a 10 times more powerful PC than the PlayStation 2 is needed to emulate the games for the best 'latest).
To correctly emulate the PS1, the PS2 and the PSP are required the following minimum system requirements:
Quad-core or octa-core CPU
4 GB RAM
Hard drive of at least 500 GB
Video card with at least 1 GB of video memory
Support DirectX 9 or OpenGL 2.0
Compatible controller
If our PC has these features, we can easily emulate most of the games released for the old consoles.
We also want to try out the PS3 emulator?
In this case the specifications increase, you need an even more powerful PC for this console:
Intel's recent quad-core CPU (Haswell or higher) or AMD Ryzen octa-core
8 GB RAM
1 TB hard drive
Video card with at least 2 GB of video memory (better if NVIDIA's GTX series)
DirectX 12 or Vulkan support
Blu-ray burner
Compatible controller
Only if we have these features we can think of emulating the PlayStation 3, otherwise it is better to forget and emulate the old consoles ( with decidedly more accessible requirements).
PlayStation 1 emulator
To emulate the PlayStation 1 we can use the ePSXe program, available for free.
Download the right version for our operating system and start the executable directly, since the program does not require installation.
The wizard window will open to help the user in configuring the emulator; we click on Configure to find ourselves in the various plugin configuration windows.
The first is perhaps the most important, because it is that of the original BIOS of the PS1 .
This BIOS is copyrighted and is not available for download, but you can get it from the Internet or by copying the BIOS from a working PS1).
In any case, the program offers a rudimentary BIOS (HLE BIOS) to prove the functionality of the emulator (it is not suitable for games).
We select the right BIOS to use and click on next to configure the various plugins as listed below:
- Video plugin : Pete's OpenGL2 GPU Core
- Audio plugin : ePSXe SPU core
- CD player plug-in: ePSXe WNT / W2K core We
Finally configure the controller in our possession with the dedicated tool and click on Finish to confirm the configuration.
We will meet again on the main screen of the emulator.
To start a game we can use the item File -> Start CDROMif the game is present on an optical support or File -> Start ISO if the game is saved as an ISO image file.
Most games for the PlayStation will start with the default settings; if you notice any graphic problems or glitches you can configure the settings of the graphic plugin in Configure.
We can quickly configure this plugin by using the short-buttons on the bottom left Fast (higher compatibility) or Good (higher quality graphics), so as to get the right configuration for any game.
The list of compatible games with this emulator can be found.
PlayStation 2 emulator
To emulate the games of the PlayStation 2 we can use the PCSX2 program, available for
Once downloaded the right version for our operating system install it and start the program by looking it in the Start menu or between the installed programs.
Also in this case the emulator will start with a configuration wizard, so as to correctly regulate all the program settings.
Click on Next to find us in the plugin configuration screen.
Let's make sure you use the right ones to emulate all the games correctly:
Video plugin: GSdx latest version (AVX)
Audio plugin: SPU2-X
CD Player Plugin: cddvdGigahertz We
Leave the other plugins as we find them and click on Next .
The emulator will now ask for a BIOS of the PS2 to work properly.
As already seen for the PS1 this BIOS is protected by copyright so it can not be downloaded together with the emulator, but we can find it on the Internet or get it from a real working PS2.
Once the BIOS has been selected, it will only be necessary to press Finish to end the configuration.
The emulator start window will now open, with the log file on the right.
We can safely close the window on the right and keep only the active emulator window.
To start a game just click on the CDVD item and select ISO (if the game is in ISO image format) or Disc (if the game is on optical media); made the choice we select the item System -> Start from CDVD (fast) to start the game correctly.
The vast majority of PS2 games will work regularly without further changes or settings.
The chosen game proceeds with clicks, does not work or shows graphic errors?
We can make some adjustments to try to solve by opening the Configuration menu and selecting Video (GS).
The items that we can modify are:
Renderer : we choose OpenGL (hardware) to improve the speed of emulation, Direct3D 11 (hardware) to obtain higher quality.
CRC Hack Level : if we use OpenGL select Partial .
Blending Unit Accuracy: We set None on slower PCs and Medium on all mid-range and high-end PCs.
The list of compatible games with this emulator can be found.
PSP emulator
To emulate the PSP portable console we can use the PPSSPP emulator, available for download here -> PPSSPP .
Once downloaded, simply click on the executable to start the emulator immediately (no installation required).
Compared to other emulators this is ready to use, no special configurations are required.
To start a game, simply use the file manager integrated in the interface to find the ISO file or the CSO file to play with the emulator.
No BIOS download is required, as the operating system is perfectly emulated without the need to recover other system files.
All games currently available for PSP can be emulated with this program, so you do not need to change the settings for running games.
PlayStation 3
Emulator Finally we show you the latest emulator, to emulate the console PlayStation 3 (albeit with many limitations, at least in the current development state).
We can download RPCS3 for free.
Download the executable and start it directly, since the program does not require installation.
At the first start a warning window will warn us of the need to download the firmware of the PS3 to run the emulator; we click on I Have read the Quick Start and finally on Continue .
First of all install the firmware of the PS3 by downloading it from here -> Update Firwmare PS3 , and using the entry File -> Install Firmware in the program .
Once installed the right firmware we can start the PS3 games using the Boot Game button (present in the interface) or by clicking on File -> Boot game .
The emulator is compatible with games in ISO format and allows you to play a fair number of titles, even if the emulation is still quite rudimentary, so the problems can be very numerous (you just have to wait for the development to play more and more titles without problems).
We use this emulator only if we have a real need to play some of the PS3 titles, since now it is still worthwhile to bet on a real console in order to play correctly all the titles.
