# PS3 Emulator Boots First Commercial Game



## WiiGetItDone (Mar 7, 2014)

Earlier this week the developers of RPCS3 became the first to boot a commercial game on a PS3 emulator. This is a major milestone for the team, and for PS3 emulation.

 

A lot has to be done before PS3 games will be playable on a PC, but this is the first step down that road.
Check out the source for notes from one of the developers.

Source


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## GamerzHell9137 (Mar 7, 2014)

Awesome ;o


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## Nathan Drake (Mar 7, 2014)

Another big step towards actual game emulation. Pretty neat stuff. I imagine it will still be at least a couple of years until we a half decent emulator of any sort, and I'd certainly hate to see the specs required to pull off full speed PS3 emulation, but I'm still looking forward to seeing future progress.


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## Gabbynaruto (Mar 7, 2014)

Wow, that's awesome. I might actually be able to play Demon Souls in a few years.

(Honestly, I didn't even know a PS3 emulator was in the works, so, just seeing this thread is awesome news to me.)


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## Foxi4 (Mar 7, 2014)

That's pretty sweet, especially considering how complex the CELL architecture is. Can't help but wonder what kind of a rig is capable of doing this sort of thing.


Gabbynaruto said:


> (Honestly, I didn't even know a PS3 emulator was in the works, so, just seeing this thread is awesome news to me.)


There are PS3 emulators out there, but they were made for homebrew development purposes and they have no backup launching capabilities. This is a first, really.


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## DinohScene (Mar 7, 2014)

High level emulation?


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## GamerSince83 (Mar 7, 2014)

Hopefully with this we can finally play GTA V on PC


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## Pedeadstrian (Mar 7, 2014)

PCSX3 specs: i9 5.0 GHz Decacore, 64 GB RAM, Radeon HD 9999/GeForce GTX 999, and one arm and/or leg.


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## Clarky (Mar 7, 2014)

That happened a lot sooner than I expected, but awesome none the less. Maybe I should have taken that bit about 360 emulation happening sooner rather than later more to heart


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## TimKatheteStadle (Mar 7, 2014)

Nice, definately a step forward, cant wait to see more


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## kristianity77 (Mar 7, 2014)

If anyone thinks we will have an emulator for the PS3 that is mostly working and mostly full speed before about 2020 you need to dream on.


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## trumpet-205 (Mar 8, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> High level emulation?


Yep. RPCS3 is 100% HLE at the moment.

It'll be a long time before it starts using mix of LLE and HLE, like Dolphin and PCSX2.


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## the_randomizer (Mar 8, 2014)

That's pretty bloody impressive


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## Celice (Mar 8, 2014)

Gabbynaruto said:


> Wow, that's awesome. I might actually be able to play Demon Souls in a few years.
> 
> (Honestly, I didn't even know a PS3 emulator was in the works, so, just seeing this thread is awesome news to me.)


And it'll look amazing, too. Demon's Souls is a great game, but having tried it, coming from a PC perspective, everything was a blurry pixelated mess


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## Apache Thunder (Mar 9, 2014)

GamerSince83 said:


> Hopefully with this we can finally play GTA V on PC


 
lol I would happen to bet that the PC version of GTA V comes out before it becomes playable in this emulator.


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## Gahars (Mar 9, 2014)

kristianity77 said:


> If anyone thinks we will have an emulator for the PS3 that is mostly working and mostly full speed before about 2020 you need to dream on.


 

It's a lofty goal, but we've gotta aim high! Shoot for the moon! If you miss, you'll be lost forever in the cold, empty vacuum of space.

...That sounded a lot more inspiring in my head.


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## Solid One (Mar 12, 2014)

Guess you'll need a super computer to run PS3 games through emulation. PCSX2 already requires a fast processor, with four or more cores, to be able to run PS2 games accurately (even with speed hacks).

Quantic computers here we go!


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## shakirmoledina (Mar 12, 2014)

Is it me or do these games always get played first on a ps3 emu as the 'first official game'


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## the_randomizer (Mar 12, 2014)

Solid One said:


> Guess you'll need a super computer to run PS3 games through emulation. PCSX2 already requires a fast processor, with four or more cores, to be able to run PS2 games accurately (even with speed hacks).
> 
> Quantic computers here we go!


 

Not true, PCSX2 doesn't use four cores, it can only use two, but there is an MTVU (muti-threaded vector unit) hack that can use three cores tops. Even then, you don't need a high end CPU to run it. I wish people would look at the specs before making it sound like you need a super fast PC. You need a decent mid-range PC, but not a high-end PC to get full speed in most games.  The Core i5 I have now runs most at full speed; games like MGS2 and MGS3 need an overclock though.  Dual core CPUs are plenty. Quad core CPUs will be fine, as long as the clock speed per core is good enough, but PCSX2 won't use all four cores.


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## Solid One (Mar 12, 2014)

the_randomizer said:


> Not true, PCSX2 doesn't use four cores, it can only use two, but there is an MTVU (muti-threaded vector unit) hack that can use three cores tops. Even then, you don't need a high end CPU to run it. I wish people would look at the specs before making it sound like you need a super fast PC. You need a decent mid-range PC, but not a high-end PC to get full speed in most games.  The Core i5 I have now runs most at full speed; games like MGS2 and MGS3 need an overclock though. Dual core CPUs are plenty. Quad core CPUs will be fine, as long as the clock speed per core is good enough, but PCSX2 won't use all four cores.


 

Thanks for the info. So this means higher clock speeds are the secret for a fast PS2 (and maybe Wii/Gamecube with Dolphin) emulation. Now I know why Hideo Kojima's PS2 games aren't running at full speed on my gaming PC.

On my PC, I have an Asus 3 Formula motherboard, a Geforce 9600GT gpu and an Intel Core i7 processor with approximately 3.2 ~3.5ghz without any overclocking. Using latest PCSX2 version, some games run at full speed by default, but other ones need some tweaking. God of War 2 needs MTVU and frame skipping enabled. But I can't run MGS2 ~3 and ZoE2 at full speed, because they are very CPU intensive. I guess I'll need a faster CPU.


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## Arras (Mar 12, 2014)

Solid One said:


> Thanks for the info. So this means higher clock speeds are the secret for a fast PS2 (and maybe Wii/Gamecube with Dolphin) emulation. Now I know why Hideo Kojima's PS2 games aren't running at full speed on my gaming PC.
> 
> On my PC, I have a Asus 3 Formula motherboard, a Geforce 9600GT and an Intel Core i7 with approximately 3.2 ~3.5ghz without any overclocking. Using latest PCSX2 version, some games run at full speed by default, but other ones need some tweaking. God of War 2 needs MTVU and frame skipping enabled. But I can't run MGS2 ~3 and ZoE2 at full speed, because they are very CPU intensive. I guess I'll need a faster CPU.


Yeah, high CPU clock speed and a video card from the last 5 years or so covers most of your emulating needs.


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## Celice (Mar 12, 2014)

Solid One said:


> Thanks for the info. So this means higher clock speeds are the secret for a fast PS2 (and maybe Wii/Gamecube with Dolphin) emulation. Now I know why Hideo Kojima's PS2 games aren't running at full speed on my gaming PC.
> 
> On my PC, I have an Asus 3 Formula motherboard, a Geforce 9600GT gpu and an Intel Core i7 processor with approximately 3.2 ~3.5ghz without any overclocking. Using latest PCSX2 version, some games run at full speed by default, but other ones need some tweaking. God of War 2 needs MTVU and frame skipping enabled. But I can't run MGS2 ~3 and ZoE2 at full speed, because they are very CPU intensive. I guess I'll need a faster CPU.


The 9600GT can hold back your performance, as your processor is more than enough for anything pretty much, emulation or straight-up gaming. If you are trying to run the game at a non-native resolution (best part about emulation) and with some extra antialiasing, you're probably gonna get a fps hit with your current card. 1360x768 is probably a smooth zone for that card.


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## trumpet-205 (Mar 12, 2014)

9600GT is a very dated GPU. These days I'd say 470/560 Ti is a minimum.


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## Dork (Mar 12, 2014)

Gahars said:


> It's a lofty goal, but we've gotta aim high! Shoot for the moon! If you miss, you'll be lost forever in the cold, empty vacuum of space.
> 
> ...That sounded a lot more inspiring in my head.


 
It's the thought that counts.


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## WiiCube_2013 (Mar 13, 2014)

WiiGetItDone said:


> Earlier this week the developers of RPCS3 became the first to boot a commercial game on a PS3 emulator. This is a major milestone for the team, and for PS3 emulation.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I was kinda hoping it'd be Uncharted 1 but it's a good start nevertheless.


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## GHANMI (Mar 13, 2014)

Well, every emulator always starts with the most basic games on the system or homebrews.
JPCSP (which went on to evolve as a separate C coded branch to become PPSSPP) first commercial game emulated was Bubble Bobble.
Dolphin started with Four Sword Adventures, and it wasn't even completely emulated.
NES emulators didn't have the ability to run games with elaborate mappers, SNES emulators couldn't even run the likes of Star Ocean/Tengai Makyou Zero and much of the Mode 7 stuff, but started with simpler less-complex games.
PCSX2's first exploit was running a game up to the logo.
DS emulators didn't have... touch controls.
Due to a leak, high-compatibility emulators were coded a few months after the GBA's release, even predating the console's official release in some regions! But the multiplayer and Mode-7 handling were atrocious for the early releases.

Just how do you expect this to run Uncharted 1 or other graphical-heavy games? I'd expect 2D games (like that Sonic compilation) and maybe a horribly emulated budget launch title. No sound, no Move support, no DLC, No PSP/Vita connectivity, no multiplayer, no bloom/fog/advanced lightning effects whatsoever at this stage.
You can download Dolphin 2.0 (back when it was closed-source) and see for yourself.


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## lampdemon (Mar 20, 2014)

GHANMI said:


> Just how do you expect this to run Uncharted 1 or other graphical-heavy games? I'd expect 2D games (like that Sonic compilation) and maybe a horribly emulated budget launch title. No sound, no Move support, no DLC, No PSP/Vita connectivity, no multiplayer, no bloom/fog/advanced lightning effects whatsoever at this stage.
> You can download Dolphin 2.0 (back when it was closed-source) and see for yourself.


 
For DLC you'll probably have to patch the game file yourself or wait for a gold edition.

Dolphin 2.0 was actually a big step ahead from its earliest releases, it even had sound from the start and not sure about multiplayer.


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## GHANMI (Mar 20, 2014)

lampdemon said:


> For DLC you'll probably have to patch the game file yourself or wait for a gold edition.
> Dolphin 2.0 was actually a big step ahead from its earliest releases, it even had sound from the start and not sure about multiplayer.


 

The Dolphin version numbering was confusing back then. I recall they made a jump back then? Apologies if I was wrong on that point, I was indeed referring to the early releases you linked to. (So much frustration back then  )
And even after getting open-source, one of the four sound modes, the one used with Nintendo's first party games aka the one which matters, wasn't even emulated until revision 4600 or so (meaning no sound whatsoever on Mario/Zelda/..) They only recently cleaned up the mess which was the HLE sound emulation (with 4.0) and even now they *still* haven't fixed that sound bug with the Mario Galaxy games which makes them impossible to finish on emulators (without the horrendously slow LLE, at least).

Seeing as GC/PS2/Wii emulation is still far from perfect, expecting Uncharted/TLoU/GoW/GTA5 to run from the outset is setting oneself to crushing disappointment, at best.

You mentioned DLC?
No one is going to bother individually hacking each game to insert the DLC, save for rare exceptions.
SMA4's e-Reader levels (until a partially working emulator (still needs external saves from real hardware) got released),
Wi-Fi DLC for the Nintendo DS/Wii (I have however made a save collecting thread here),
Restoring Satellaview games that aren't Zelda (the BS Fire Emblem project got cancelled, btw)
...
Until it's properly emulated, there's no use getting one's hopes up. Most games are simply too obscure for the individual hacking to happen at all, since the interest just isn't there.


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## Kippykip (Mar 20, 2014)

GamerSince83 said:


> Hopefully with this we can finally play GTA V on PC


Damn you beat me to it


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## KaseyClark (Sep 17, 2014)

Solid One said:


> Guess you'll need a super computer to run PS3 games through emulation. PCSX2 already requires a fast processor, with four or more cores, to be able to run PS2 games accurately (even with speed hacks).
> 
> Quantic computers here we go!


 

I agree with the_randomizer:  I have 2 machines with PCSX2 on them.  1) my desktop has a quadcore and 4 GB RAM and I have no issues on it at all.  2) A laptop with a 2.4GHz Dual Core and only 3GB RAM (both Win7Ultimate) and it doesn't have any problems either.....I used to have a single core 2.14 GHz processor and 2GB RAM in it and it played most games pretty well as long as I used a keyboard and mouse instead of a game pad.



Solid One said:


> Thanks for the info. So this means higher clock speeds are the secret for a fast PS2 (and maybe Wii/Gamecube with Dolphin) emulation. Now I know why Hideo Kojima's PS2 games aren't running at full speed on my gaming PC.
> 
> On my PC, I have an Asus 3 Formula motherboard, a Geforce 9600GT gpu and an Intel Core i7 processor with approximately 3.2 ~3.5ghz without any overclocking. Using latest PCSX2 version, some games run at full speed by default, but other ones need some tweaking. God of War 2 needs MTVU and frame skipping enabled. But I can't run MGS2 ~3 and ZoE2 at full speed, because they are very CPU intensive. I guess I'll need a faster CPU.


 

Wii/Gamecube (Dolphin) both run fine on both of the machines I referred to in my last reply.....Wii not as well, I still have issues with the controller scheme but GC games, ABSOLUTELY.....I have an emu for every console except XBox and that's just because I don't really care for it as much as the rest.


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## Bladexdsl (Sep 18, 2014)

yeah but look at the game that would run on a wii try playing a real game and than i'll be impressed! oh yeah you'll need to sli 3 titans though!!


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## Kalker3 (Sep 18, 2014)

Bladexdsl said:


> yeah but look at the game that would run on a wii try playing a real game and than i'll be impressed! oh yeah you'll need to sli 3 titans though!!


That's not how it works. It's not a matter of power, there's a lot of stuff that hasn't been implemented yet. Besides, AFAIK there's no recompiler yet, only an interpreter. Try using the interpreter in Dolphin and PCSX2, there'll be a major FPS hit.


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## Silithas (Oct 6, 2014)

I tried to start it, but it won't even start as i get this message...


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## Pedeadstrian (Oct 7, 2014)

Silithas said:


> I tried to start it, but it won't even start as i get this message...


I don't even know why you tried it, unless out of pure curiosity, because it won't work like Dolphin or PCSX2, but a quick google search led me to this link: https://code.google.com/p/rallyraid/downloads/detail?name=oalinst.zip&can=2&q=


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## Catastrophic (Oct 7, 2014)

Will there be an Android version?


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## Pedeadstrian (Oct 7, 2014)

Catastrophic said:


> Will there be an Android version?


I hope you're joking. There's no way Android will be able to handle PS3 games. At least for a very long time.


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## Catastrophic (Oct 7, 2014)

Pedeadstrian said:


> I hope you're joking. There's no way Android will be able to handle PS3 games. At least for a very long time.


 
You made a bad joke even worse.


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## Silithas (Oct 8, 2014)

Pedeadstrian said:


> I hope you're joking. There's no way Android will be able to handle PS3 games. At least for a very long time.


 

Heh, not even the alpha version of dolphin's emulator can't even run gamecube games properly xD (even my shield tablet can't run it properly)



Pedeadstrian said:


> I don't even know why you tried it, unless out of pure curiosity, because it won't work like Dolphin or PCSX2, but a quick google search led me to this link: https://code.google.com/p/rallyraid/downloads/detail?name=oalinst.zip&can=2&q=


 

I got it to start, but i have no clue how to even launch a small ps3 game on it since it doesnt support iso's nor any of the files in the gamedatas.


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## BORTZ (Oct 10, 2014)

I hope this takes off. Someday Ill have a computer that can handle PCSX2... and maybe even one day, this. What scares me though, are games with DLC... How are we going to retroactively enjoy games with DLC?


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## Pedeadstrian (Oct 10, 2014)

Bortz said:


> I hope this takes off. Someday Ill have a computer that can handle PCSX2... and maybe even one day, this. What scares me though, are games with DLC... How are we going to retroactively enjoy games with DLC?


I'm not sure that's a proper use of the word "retroactively." You mean how is DLC going to work on an emulator? I'm sure, if they can run PS3 games, they can find a way to add DLC.


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## Satangel (Oct 21, 2014)

Holy shit big big big milestone, excellent news! This'll be like PCSX2 all over again in 3-4-5 years, awesome! Congratz to everyone involved.


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