STARTING HERE

Hi all

At last, the (really) first post for you whom want to know the basics and requirements for doing your own stuff for the PS2 console.

Some notes first :

- Why is it so hard to do something for the PS2 console ?

Well, because Sony made this so. Sony wants to control everything. Everything related to their products, I mean (at least). So, in fact, every game company that develops a game must submit it to Sony's All Mighty Approval. If they don't like it, bad luck.

The only justification I see for this kind of attitude is quality control. This ensures most of the games out there have a minimum of quality and the overall result is the impression that the console performs great!

The negative side of this is that it stops in theory non-comercial development ("homebrewing", done by people at home, like the freeware on computers). And since the SDK required to develop a game is incredibly expensive and the Sony's approval process is a constant, I think this also stops innovation and creativity on game development. A company who finds a lucrative solution (like the FIFA series of games) tend to stick to it and not to risk any other solutions. And it has been proved many times people at home make really innovative games - tetris, worms, are examples. Of course, peolple who made something without the official SDK and registering at Sony will never be allowed to sell it. This disencourage a lot.

- Is homebrewing illegal ?

Of course not. You bought your console you're free to do anything with it, even use it as a paper-weight or turn it into a micro-owen device (I don't see how this would be possible, but who knows :P). But don't knock on Sony's door trying to sell your creation... I don't think they would be very pleased (unless it's a revolutionary one, I think)

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So, cutting the crap and getting into it :


What do I need for starting ?

∙ A Playstation 2 console

Really. At the moment there is an interesting emulator for the PC but they're still very incompatible to be reliably usable. Any PS2 model will do : the older ones (the fat models) or the newer ones (the slim).

∙ Knowing C (and some C++) programming language

Yes, mandatory if you want to make your own programs or change something already done. Unless you're just curious about running existent stuff made by anyone else, like emulators and media players on this blog you'll find information to do that also.

∙ A way to run your software on the console

Yes. Like I said, Sony doesn't want this, so they complicated the life for us. Sony implemented on hardware a scheme to allow only DVDs and CDs burned on a not standard way to be played on the PS2. Basically, these specially "burned" media have more information than those you might burn using DVD/CD drives, being located on special tracks outside the limits of a standard media. This means that if you took a original game and copy it with your DVD burned, the copy will not be recognized by the console since it misses that extra information your DVD burner cannot access.

The solution? Basically I know three :

- Trust you beloved console to a guy to knows to solder a chip to bypass that hardware check, losing the warranty and risking to have a dead console if something wrong happens (and making that smart guy a little more rich with easy money ...)

- Using an excellent product called SwapMagic disks (or similar) which doesn't void any warranty and it's legal. You'll also need the "slide key" or "flip-top case" products.

- Trying the so called Indepence Exploit. Although the nasty name, it's not anything dangerous or illegal. I never tried this but I know it's a way to run any program on the PS2 by booting some Playstation 1 game which take advantage on a security hole on older PS2 models and allows to trigger your executable program. It still requires a original PSX game so the price is similar (sometimes greater) to the SwapMagic option and it only works for older (fat) PS2 models. With the slim PS2 models it will not work (in fact, I think I read about a method for getting it to work on slim models but I'm really not sure... If I find the article here, I'll link it for you)

Personally I choosed the SwapMagic method for several reasons, although the chip solution would be more comfortable, so I'll cover only this.

This step is mandatory for starting. Later you're strongly advised to manage to get a USB compatible pen or external drive, or better, a network adapter for putting your executables on the PS2 - Burning a CD each time you want to run your executable is a waste of time, money and very annoying. Please not that if you have a slim model PS2, you already have a network port, so rejoy!


On the next post I'll assume you already have the items mentioned above and start with a brief tutorial on how to put a PS2 executable on a burned CD. If you opted by the SwapMagic, wait a bit before buying since I'll review its operation (the need for the "slide key" or "flip-top case") and its features and giving some tricks about it, like running your executables directly from a memory card or a USB mass device.