PS2 Why is PS2 game compatibility such a problem?

Vultix93

Forum Noob
Let me preface this by saying that I own multiple modded consoles. I have a PS1 with Xstation installed, PS3 with CFW, PS4 Pro with Goldhen, Xbox 360 with RGH 3, NDS, 3DS, WII U and Switch all modded. In all of them I have no compatibility issue with any game. If a game is made for that console then it will work without fail.

Now I have a PS2 with PSBBN installed at the moment and before playing a game I have to search if that game works with OPL, what version of OPL, or if it works in Neutrino. If they work, do they need some compatibility mode enable to work perfectly.

This brings me my post question: Is there a reason on why the PS2 needs so much babysitting to just play the games made for that console? What causes such issues?

No throwing anyone under the bus here, just trying to understand.
 
many issues are related to the fact that the game code was built around the DVD drive, and the speed that the drive could stream data to the console.

So for example on PS2, when you try to run games using USB, since the usb data speed is slower than the DVD drive, games have issues with videos and other content because they can't load data fast enough.
Then the other way around, when you run games from a HDD, the speed can be much faster than the DVD, and again some games are not ready for that amount of data in a short time, because developers used that "loading time" from the disc to do other things, like preparing textures, sorting things out in memory, etc. When the game gets all the data instantly, a bunch of tasks are not completed yet, and the game can fail or crash.
 
PS2 using PSX CPU memory for modules storage and executing them. It is slow and very small. Each games needs serious hacking on the fly to work. Some works ok, some fine only with minimal features, some will never work, some only from specific devices. It is hell, I know. But we have not much choice. Alternatively, you can try Neutrino (eg via NHDDL).

Salvation here is real ODDE (not exist today) or loader which utilize sleeping power of Deckard (also not exist, and would be limited to 75K and newer models only).
 
Yes, a real ODE would be the final solution. But also, even ODEs need to be as accurate as possible to the original hardware , speed, and specs, or games can still have issues. (Example, there are many ODEs for Sega Saturn, but some try to maximize speed since they can load data from SD cards, and that can make games fail because the original CD drive was like 1X speed)
 
PS2 using PSX CPU memory for modules storage and executing them. It is slow and very small. Each games needs serious hacking on the fly to work. Some works ok, some fine only with minimal features, some will never work, some only from specific devices. It is hell, I know. But we have not much choice. Alternatively, you can try Neutrino (eg via NHDDL).

Salvation here is real ODDE (not exist today) or loader which utilize sleeping power of Deckard (also not exist, and would be limited to 75K and newer models only).

is this the same reason why some ps2 slim model can't run some legit games? IIRC some later slim models removed some part of the PSX CPU and that made certain games that used that chip for specific task incompatible.
 
Deckard models (SCPH-75K and newer) have not IOP, it has been replaced by different chip which emulating IOP. And that have impact on some PSX and PS2 games.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top