Well, uhh, hello again.
Consider this one a bit of a small bit of life breaking through my window. Basically I was left with a friend's PS2 and two other PS2s with their memory cards for me to use the friend's already Free McBoot'd memory card and tune the other two memcards for the two consoles. And while I haven't dug my head as deep as with the 3DS or Wii, nor I have tried out at least one emulator like with the Xbox 360 and the surprisingly smooth PS1 emulator it has, I thought it would be interesting to drop these few words for the obvious good but also the few caveats and surprising limitations you can stumble with only having an USB and a modded PS2.
A modded PS2's retrocompatibility for PS1 is not perfect?
Yeah, I know its weird, and while I think there's a small handful of games that even have some issues on a stock PS2 when using the original discs, the ol' POPSTARTER to launch PS1 games from the USB or HDD can also have some odd quirks.
For example, Namco's last big hits for the console, Tekken 3 and Ridge Racer Type 4, need unofficial patches to be copied over to the USB in the right place for the loader to use and fix severe visual issues they would have without them. Tekken 3 in particular seems to still have a flickering timer and names issue on the top of the screen, and from what I've seen so far, there was an update to the patch last year that seems to not have been released publicly yet.
Not all games need any patches to run well out of the box though, like Street Fighter EX2 Plus and Bushido Blade 2 which I had got running without a hitch immediately on the ol' reliable, but checking the compat list is something to be mindful depending of what PS1 games you would have planned to play if getting a modded PS2 for yourself.
Defrag that drive and split those games
While I don't know if this has changed recently, at least from what my friend told me about his PS2 and the 64GB USB drive he uses for it, it is necessary to defrag whatever you store your games at while keeping some free space for the defrag to work correctly in order to games to, in the best case, work without a hitch, and in the worst case, boot at all...which tends to be the most common case, or if you have the OPL option to check for fragmented games, is mandatory to have the games without fragmentation.
I point that out because that means you must make sure to run that through Defraggler and that your ISO files come out fragmentation-free to be ran in the console. And the larger the files, the more it can take.
Don't know whether this also applies to games that require USBUtil, but any games that are larger than what the usually required FAT32 format system on a USB support need you to use that tool to transfer the game into the drive and be ran on OPL. I checked and it seems to do that by converting it to some sort of format that is split into multiple files, which explains how it does work- I've also seen a similar thing with WBFS tools for the Wii when it has to handle 8GB games.
Even when everything is running, some if not most or even all games might present stuttering when its playing back videos due to the PS2 USB read speed- and at the moment I'm not qualified to say how to fix those cases or if there's ways to since I haven't looked into that yet.
But don't let all of what I just said deter you from getting interested into one, because....
A modded PS2 can still pack a punch
If you can use an HDD drive with the PS2 to have enough space and not do defrags often to switch around games, use an ethernet cable to run the games from your PC's drive through FTP since it also supports that through OPL, or don't mind the process while having a 32GB/64GB USB...you're still getting a console that can run PS2 games as well as a PS2 can, which if you have a low-end computer, might even be more what your PC can do. It sounds weird, but there's some games that might require more power to run even in the lowest visual settings than other.
I mention that because for some it will be definitely cheaper to get a cheap PS2 to mod if you can find a prepared memory card to go with it or got a friend with one to set up an unused card, over building a whole PC just to run PS2 games (and more so if you want to give them a resolution boost). Not saying that you can't, but just saying that some might not be able to build an emulation machine...but could get their hands on an ol' PS2 for cheap.
The launcher also seems to support Virtual Memory Cards, so if your actual memory card might get full or something, or want to use already completed save files for fighting games (good grief, it will take you a while to unlock everything in Tekken 5 just for some friendlies), then you can use that feature to save and load from the USB.
And if you wonder what you could do with a softmodded PS2...then just imagine yourself replaying your favorite PS2 titles, or trying the games you could never before. Simple as that 馃槑
If you wonder why I've only sent old fighting game screenshots of games on the PS2, that's because that is the mission I was commended my friend PS2 for: Give it some good ol' touch of 3rd Strike, Tekken and Guilty Gear to go for the easily movable console...but as it was, it already had some strong hitters like Metal Gear Solid 3, Burnout 3, Xenogears, Zone of the Enders...you get what I mean. It can be easy to fill it with games you want to play if you have something particular in mind.
That's it for now
Regarding the details of how to do it yourself, if you have a friend that already has done it, then you'll likely need their help not only because of how much easier it is for someone to do the favor with an already modded memory card, but also because of the expertise to know how to tune your own depending of the PS2 model you have, since even that can vary whether you have a Fat, Slim or Super Slim console (as in the case of Super Slim, you can't use the usual Free McBoot method, so it seems to require the Fortuna exploit instead).
While right now I'm not exactly on the race to speedrun stuff on this PS2 while I have it, between some things that have been coming up recently and how if there's something specific I want to try out on the already filled up USB then replacing games would take around a day to defrag for the drive used, it still has been cool to have in my hands at the moment one of these and see how it works.
And of course, huge credits to my friend "Cirno", the owner of the PS2 that had his already full with stuff except for the few things he wanted me to put in for him, because obviously I wouldn't have been able to talk from hands-on experience nor take the photos I took without one.
Thanks for reading!
All screenshots were captured by myself. Written in English and translated by hand by myself to Spanish. Yes, I felt like doing that once again today 馃槃
Espa帽ol
Bueno, uhh, hola de nuevo.
Consideran esto un poco de mi vida entrando por mi ventana. En resumen, me dejaron con la PS2 de un amigo y dos consolas m谩s con sus tarjetas de memorias para utilizar con la memoria ya cargada con Free McBoot de mi amigo y tunear las otras dos memorias para las dos consolas. Y mientras que no he ahondado tanto como con mi 3DS o Wii, ni he probado al menos un emulador como con el caso del Xbox 360 y su sorprendente desempe帽o en su emulador de PS1, pens茅 que ser铆a interesante dejar estas palabras para las cbeneficiso obvios pero tambi茅n algunos detalles y limitaciones sorpresas que puedes tener si solo tienes un USB y una PS2 modificada.
Consider this one a bit of a small bit of life breaking through my window. Basically I was left with a friend's PS2 and two other PS2s with their memory cards for me to use the friend's already Free McBoot'd memory card and tune the other two memcards for the two consoles. And while I haven't dug my head as deep as with the 3DS or Wii, nor I have tried out at least one emulator like with the Xbox 360 and the surprisingly smooth PS1 emulator it has, I thought it would be interesting to drop these few words for the obvious good but also the few caveats and surprising limitations you can stumble with only having an USB and a modded PS2.
驴La retrocompatibilidad de un PS2 modeado para PS1 no es perfecta?
Si, se que suena raro, y mientras que hay unos pocos casos que tienen problemas hasta en un PS2 normal con los discos originales, el viejo POPSTARTER para abrir juegos de PS1 desde el USB o HDD tambi茅n puede tener algunos detallitos.
Yeah, I know its weird, and while I think there's a small handful of games that even have some issues on a stock PS2 when using the original discs, the ol' POPSTARTER to launch PS1 games from the USB or HDD can also have some odd quirks.
Por ejemplo, los 煤ltimos grandes hits de Namco para la consola, Tekken 3 y Ridge Racer Type 4, necesitan parches inoficiales que se copian al USB en el lugar indicado para que el loader lo use y arregle problemas gr谩ficos severos en estos. Tekken 3 en particular aun parece tener parpadeos en el tope de la pantalla, y de lo que he visto hasta ahora, hab铆a un parche actualizado del a帽o pasado que a煤n no parece ser p煤blico.
Pero no todos los juegos requieren parches para funcionar bien de una vez, como Street Fighter EX2 Plus y Bushido Blade 2 que abrieron de una en la vieja confiable, pero revisar la lista de compatibilidad es algo que tener en cuenta dependiendo de que juegos de PS1 planearas en probar si consigues uno de estos
For example, Namco's last big hits for the console, Tekken 3 and Ridge Racer Type 4, need unofficial patches to be copied over to the USB in the right place for the loader to use and fix severe visual issues they would have without them. Tekken 3 in particular seems to still have a flickering timer and names issue on the top of the screen, and from what I've seen so far, there was an update to the patch last year that seems to not have been released publicly yet.
Desfragmenta ese disco y divide esos juegos
No s茅 si esto habr谩 cambiado recientemente, pero al menos de lo que me dijo mi amigo sobre su PS2 y el pendrive de 64GB que usa para este, se necesita desfragmentar lo que uses para tus juegos mientras mantienes espacio libre para que funcione correctamente para que los juegos, en el mejor caso, funcionen sin problemas, y en el peor caso, funcionen en primer lugar...el cual suele ser el caso mas com煤n, o si tienes la opci贸n activada de OPL para revisar si est谩n fragmentados, ser谩 obligatorio que no lo est茅n.
Lo menciono porque debes asegurarte que le pases su defraggler y que los ISOs esten sin una pizca de fragmentaci贸n para funcionar en la consola. Y mientras m谩s grandes los juegos, m谩s tiempo te va a tomar.
Desconozco si tambi茅n aplica a juegos que requieren USBUtil, pero cualquier juego que sea mas grande de lo que soporta el formato FAT32 usualmente utilizado en un pendrive requerir谩 esa herramienta para transferir el juego y usarlo en OPL. Revis茅 y parece hacerlo dividiendo el juego un formato de multiple partes, lo cual explica como funciona- he visto algo similar con herramientas WBFS para juegos de Wii cuando pesaban 8GB.
A煤n cuando todo est谩 en marcha, algunos sino la mayor铆a o hasta todos los juegos podr铆an presentar pegones cuando reproduce videos debido a la velocidad de lectura del puerto USB del PS1, y por el momento no estoy calificado para decir como se puede arreglar o si se puede arreglar ya que no lo he investigado.
Pero que esto no te detenga de interesarte en uno, ya que...
Una PS2 modeada a煤n puede ofrecer bastante
Si puedes usar un disco duro con el PS2 para tener mucho espacio y no tener que desfragmentar tanto para cambiar los juegos, usar un cable ethernet para jugar desde el disco de tu PC mediante FTP ya que OPL tiene soporte para ello, o no te importa el proceso si tienes un pendrive de 32GB o 64GB...a煤n tendr谩s una consola que puede correr juegos de PS2 como deber铆a, lo cual es mucho decir si tienes una computadora de baja gama. Suena extra帽o, pero hay juegos que requieren mas potencia para funcionar a煤n con los gr谩ficos m谩s bajos que otros.
Lo digo ya que para algunos ser铆a mucho m谩s barato conseguir una PS2 para modear y si puedes conseguirle una memoria ya lista o que un amigo te ayude a preparar una sin usar, que armar una computadora entera solo para juegos de PS2 (y a煤n m谩s si quieres darle m谩s resoluci贸n). No digo que no puedas, solo digo que algunos no sean capaces de armarse una m谩quin para emulaci贸n...pero podr铆an poner sus manos en una vieja PS2 por un buen precio.
El launcher tambi茅n parece permitir Memorias Virtuales, as铆 que si tu tarjeta de memoria de verdad se llena o algo, o quieres usar una partida ya completada para juegos de peleas (te lo digo, te tomar谩 un buen tiempo para desbloquear todo en Tekken 5 solo para partidas amistosas), entonces puedes usar eso para cargar y guardar desde el USB.
Y si te preguntas que podr铆as hacer con una PS2 softmodeada...solo piensa de los juegos favoritos de PS2 que quisieras rejugar, o probar los juegos que nunca pudiste probar antes. Tan simple como eso 馃槑
Si te preguntas porqu茅 solo tengo fotos de juegos de peleas viejos en el PS2, es porque es la misi贸n que ten铆a de mi amigo: Darle a su PS2 un toque de 3rd Strike, Tekken y Guilty Gear para llevar en su consola f谩cilmente transportable...pero ya como estaba, ya ten铆a juegazos como Metal Gear Solid 3, Burnout 3, Xenogears, Zone of the Enders...y as铆. Puede ser f谩cil llenarlo con juegos que quieras jugar si se te ocurre algo en particular.
Eso es todo por ahora
Acerca de los detalles de como hacerlo por ti mismo, es probable que necesites la ayuda de un amigo que ya lo haya hecho no solo porque es m谩s f谩cil que alguien que ya tenga eso listo te haga el favor con una memoria modificada, sino tambi茅n por la experiencia necesaria para modificar tu PS2 dependiendo del modelo que tengas, ya que hasta eso puede variar si tienes una consola Fat, Slim o Super Slim (ya que no puedes usar el Free McBoot com煤n en una Super Slim, as铆 que parece necesitar del exploit Fortuna en su lugar)
Mientras que por el momento no estoy en prisa para probar cosas fren茅ticamente en esta PS2 mientras que la tengo, entre cosas que vienen de la universidad y como tardar铆a un d铆a entero sacar y poner alg煤n juego nuevo por la desfragmentaci贸n, a煤n ha sido genial tener uno de estos en mis manos y ver como funciona.
Y por supuesto, grandes saludos a mi amigo "Cirno", el due帽o de este PS2 que ya lo ten铆a repleto de cosas excepto por esas pocas que me pidi贸 que le preparara, ya que obviamente no podr铆a haber hablado por experiencia propia de esto ni tomar las fotos que tom茅 sin uno.
隆Muchas gracias por leer!
Todas las fotos capturadas por m铆. Escrito originalmente en ingl茅s y traducido a mano al espa帽ol por m铆. S铆, me dieron ganas de hacer eso de nuevo hoy, saludos al cocacolas con ron y al arisugaming y al therealflaws y a todos ustedes que ya me conocen en el lado hispanohablante desde un buen tiempo- que nostalgia me da dar estos saludos :,)
Foto sin relaci贸n al post pero con relaci贸n a los saludos akjdakjsd