Hadlee Simons / Android Authority
TL;DR A new tool called PS2Recomp has emerged to create native PC ports of PS2 games.
The project has garnered significant attention from a viral Tweet on Monday.
The tool is not yet finished, but the goal is similar to other projects like N64: Recompiled.
While emulation continues to make baby steps toward better compatibility, game decompilations and recompilations offer a different pathway toward game preservation. Instead of running the original game files, they transform them into code that runs on PCs and other modern hardware. Now, for the first time, it’s looking like a new console is joining the party: the Sony PlayStation 2.
A new tool called PS2Recomp has gained significant attention, mostly thanks to a viral Tweet from yesterday. Although it’s far from being finished, the goal is to statically recompile PS2 games into modern C++. Combined with the right renderer, this code can then be turned into a native PC port with significantly better performance than any traditional emulator can offer.
Recompilated games have many advantages over traditional emulation.
These offer other benefits too, like higher resolutions, more graphical options, new control schemes, and even mods. That’s the case with the most advanced recompilation tool, N64: Recompiled, which the developer behind PS2Recomp lists as an inspiration.
N64: Recompiled, as the name implies, is focused on Nintendo 64 games, and it’s been used to create native PC ports of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Banjo-Kazooie, Star Fox 64, Mystical Ninja: Goemon, and others. Thanks to a major update last year, these ports also offer drag-and-drop mod support, with more than 120 mods already available for Majora’s Mask.
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