GoKawiil
Tech News
After a four-year effort, researcher DiscoStarslayer, working with developer Libby, successfully decapped and optically dumped the firmware of the PS2's MechaCon chip, a feat no one had achieved in the console's 26-year history. The pair used an exploit Libby discovered to extract the firmware and are now documenting metadata and hashes, with a full technical write-up promised soon.
Canadian retro hardware enthusiast DiscoStarslayer has successfully reverse-engineered and dumped the CXP102064 MechaCon chip found in the original 1999 PlayStation 2 console. The process involved chemically decapping the chip to expose its die, then using microscopes and optical dumping techniques before a software exploit finally allowed extraction of its data. The entire effort took four years to complete.
A retrospective analysis compares the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, noting the PS2 sold 160 million units globally versus the GameCube's 21.7 million, even though the GameCube was technically more powerful. The piece attributes PS2's dominance to broader adult-oriented marketing, DVD playback functionality, backward compatibility, and a massive library of nearly 4,500 titles compared to the GameCube's more limited third-party support.
A comparison of the two leading retro emulators finds that Dolphin, which handles GameCube games, is generally considered more accurate and easier to run than PCSX2, the PS2 emulator, despite PCSX2 covering a slightly larger percentage of its console's library. Both are free, open-source tools available on Windows, macOS and Linux, with Dolphin also supporting Android, and neither requires top-end graphics hardware to run games at 4K/60fps.