RPCS3

RPCS3

RPCS3 logo, based on the PlayStation 3 font.
RPCS3 running on Windows 10, showing the main window where games and software are shown, as well as the about box.
Original author(s)	DH, Hykem, AlexAltea, Nekotekina
Developer(s)	RPCS3 Team
Initial release	June 2012 (2012-06)
Stable release	0.0.0.9 / April 2016
Preview release	Latest builds
Development status	Active
Written in	C++, C, Objective-C, Python[1]
Operating system	Windows 7 or later, Linux
Platform	x86-64 (With SSE4 support)
Size	Windows: 31 MB Linux: 28 MB
Available in	English
Type	Video game console emulator
License	GNU General Public License version 2+
Website	rpcs3.net

RPCS3 is a free and open-source in-development video game console emulator and debugger for the Sony PlayStation 3. It was developed in the C++ programming language and features OpenGL, Vulkan and DirectX 12 as its back-end renderers. The emulator currently runs on both Windows and Linux operating systems, allowing PlayStation 3 games and software to be played and debugged on a PC.

As of June 20, 2017 the developer's compatibility list marks 278 games as playable and 588 games being able to go in-game out of a total of 2469 games.^[2]

Development

RPCS3 was initially created on May 23, 2011 by programmers, DH and Hykem.^[3] The developers initially hosted the project on Google Code and eventually moved it to GitHub on August 27, 2013. The emulator was first able to successfully run simple homebrew projects in September 2011^[4] and was then later publicly released in June 2012 as v0.0.0.2,^[5] followed by v0.0.0.4 in August 2013,^[6] v0.0.0.5 in June 2014,^[7] v0.0.0.6 in October 2015^[8] and v0.0.0.9 in April 2016.^[9]

Requirements

The developers have a set of minimum requirements that must be met for the emulator to function properly. As of March 3, 2017, users are required to be running a 64-bit version of either Windows 7 or later, or a modern distro of Linux. A modern processor in the AMD FX series or Intel Sandy Bridge series or later is required; the processor needs to support SSE3. Any modern GPU that supports OpenGL 4.3 or greater can be used, Vulkan and DirectX 12 are also supported. 8GB of RAM or higher. In order to actually run the emulator, the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 redistributable, the PlayStation 3's firmware dump, and games or applications are required. As games and applications can be installed onto the emulated PS3, the storage requirement depends on what is installed.^[10]

Notable implementations

On February 9, 2017, RPCS3 received its first implementation of a PPU Thread Scheduler.^[11] On February 16, 2017, RPCS3 gained the ability to install official PlayStation 3 firmware directly to its core file system.^[12] In May 2017 it was reported that the implementation of the Vulkan graphics API had reported performance increases sometimes nearing 400%, pushing several games into "playable" status.^[13]

Reception

In March 2014, Cinema Blend's William Usher wrote "A lot of gamers originally thought that the complexity of the PlayStation 3's Cell architecture would have prevented it from being emulated".^[14] In March 2014, Eurogamer's Elio Cossu wrote "The emulation, even at such an early stage, was a remarkable achievement, considering the complexity of the hardware of the PS3."^[15]

RPCS3 received significant media attention in April 2017 for its ability to emulate Persona 5, achieving playability prior to the game's Western release date.^{[16][17][18][19]}

See also

• Xenia, the first Xbox 360 emulator
• Cemu, the first Wii U emulator

• List of video game emulators

References