PCSX2 For Linux

PCSX2 is an open source software that provides users with one of the world’s first and most used PlayStation 2 emulator for Linux-based operating systems. It has been designed to mimic the hardware components of the Sony PlayStation 2 (PS2) gaming console.

It has been created by reverse engineering PlayStation 2 demo games. Be aware that in order to use the PCSX2 PlayStation 2 emulator software, you will need to extract the BIOS file from a legitimately owned PlayStation 2 console.

The application supports over 2,000 PS2 game titles, including the highly acclaimed Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry 3, 25 to Life, Aeon Flux, Age of Empires II (The Age of Kings), Alone in the Dark, Madden NFL, Mega Man X, Baldur's Gate, and Final Fight (Streetwise).

Among other supported PlayStation 2 titles, we can mention the Half-Life, Naruto, NASCAR, NHL, Onimusha, Virtua Fighter, Legend of Spyro, Lord of the Rings, Pinball Hall of Fame, and Harry Potter series.

Being designed by the same team that brought us the PCSX Sony PlayStation One emulator software, PCSX2 combines a virtual machine with MIPS CPU interpreters and recompilers in order to manage PlayStation 2’s system memory and hardware states.

The program requires a first time configuration where users can select the default language for the application, as well as to configure plugins, drivers, memory cards, and BIOS. If you don’t have a PlayStation 2 BIOS dump, the application won’t even run.

Recommended system requirements for running this application include an Intel Core 2 Duo 3.2Ghz or better CPU, an 8800GT or better graphics card, 1GB of system memory (RAM), and a modern Linux distribution.

Overall, PCSX2 is a decent PlayStation 2 emulator for the open source ecosystem. It is the only application that supports so many PS2 games and can be easily installed from the default software channels of your Linux distribution.