PSX emulator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- The correct title of this article is pSX emulator. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| pSX emulator | |
 pSX emulator configuration screen |
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| Developer: | pSX Author |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | 1.10 / November 4, 2006 |
| OS: | Windows |
| Use: | Emulator |
| License: | Freeware |
| Website: | http://psxemulator.gazaxian.com/ |
pSX emulator, more commonly referred to as pSX (notice the capitalization), is a PlayStation emulator for the Microsoft Windows operating system. Its first public release, 1.0, was on January 29, 2006. pSX is freeware, available for download.
Unlike most modern emulators, pSX doesn't use plugins to emulate the GPU, SPU and CD drive functions of the PlayStation. In other words, it's completely self-contained. pSX has been designed to be as easy and unobtrusive as possible, and in most cases you wont need to configure anything besides your controllers to use it. However, it does need a PlayStation BIOS dump to work. To avoid legal problems pSX doesn't provide a BIOS with its download.
pSX supports running games directly from a CD in addition to several CD image formats (mounted or directly loaded). It also supports both the classic digital controller and the DualShock-type controller. Its compatibility is fairly high at this point, but there are of course many games that have bugs, and some that don't run at all. As the development of pSX is an ongoing process, many expect its compatibility to top that of the more popular emulators in the future.
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[edit] Minimum System Requirements
Although the readme.txt that comes with the emulator doesn't list any system requirements, these are the minimum system requirements based on input from users. Note that these are the requirements to get *some* games running at full speed, provided you appropriately set the options.
- OS: Windows 98 or higher
- CPU: 750 MHz (higher-end Pentium III equivalent)
- Graphics: Nearly any graphics card that is DirectX9-compatible
- Sound: DirectX-compatible sound card
- CD-ROM: 2x read, ASPI-compatible
- Other: Latest release of DirectX9, fully-functional ASPI layer recommended
Notes:
- An integrated video card will require a slightly faster processor.
- Higher quality graphics cards will not improve performance, as graphics are software rendered (relying mostly on the processor).
- While the CD-ROM needs only to read at 2x, one with higher capabilities may be required to actually read PlayStation discs.
[edit] Future Development
- PlayStation graphics enhancements, the use of higher render resolutions, filters, and other GPU technologies. This is a possibility, though only after the development of the PlayStation emulation is completed.
- PS2 emulation has been worked on and has gotten as far as allowing a PS2 BIOS to boot up (using the -2 switch), but pSX Author has paused development until after completing his work on the PlayStation emulation.
[edit] Goal
pSX is made to accurately emulate the PlayStation hardware as much as possible (which includes compatibility). This is contrary to most other emulators, which have the primary goal of enhancing gameplay (mainly through graphics) in addition to accuracy. One of the advantages of focusing only on accuracy and compatibility is that there is little worry about implementing or fixing enhancement options. The emulator gains higher compatibility rather quickly as newer versions are released. The emulator also has lower system requirements than many other PlayStation emulators because there is little else for the computer to do besides the emulation itself, unlike the enhancing emulators for which more RAM and a decent graphics card is required to attain enhanced graphics.
[edit] Localization
Support for localization was added to version 1.10 and initially contains over 10 different translations of the main user interface. The translations are provided mainly by users of the official support forums. While the documentation is currently provided only in English, it's planned that after Author re-writes the documentation, it will also be translated into various languages.
