PS2 emulator ‘PCSX2’ receives major update

With many older titles stuck permanently on physical discs and compatible only with old and outdated hardware, emulators have become essential to allow for people to play previous-gen titles without needing to hook up an old system to an old TV. The most popular PlayStation 2 emulator – PCSX2 – has now received a major overhaul to its UI.

As mentioned, PCSX2 is one of the most popular and stable emulators available, supporting over 98% of the system’s original library. First launched more than 20 years ago, PCSX2 UI has very much felt like a product of the early 2000s, featuring old design elements and a lightweight but boring-looking home page.

When it comes to emulation, the accuracy and speed of the gaming experience is what matters the most. That being said, the program certainly could have done with a facelift – and that is exactly what happened.

Making the announcement, the PCSX2 team detailed the latest update to the development release channel. Focused entirely on enhancing the user experience, this new update comes with:

• a fresh and modern user interface with dark mode available
• per-game settings
• a new and simplified gamepad configuration panel with an auto-mapping feature
• SDL for inputs, meaning native DualShock 4 and 5 support without a need for DS4Windows or Steam
• a game list with two viewing modes: list and grid (latter showing configurable game covers)
• an inbuilt auto-updater

PCSX2 is an amazing piece of technology which is helping to preserve the history of this industry. As such, making it more accessible through an improvement to the UI and UX is much appreciated.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the update? How important is UI to you? Should console manufacturers embrace emulators like PCSX2 more? Let us know your thoughts down below.

Become a Patron!