Can the 3ds emulate ps2?

[Naltic]

It's as the title says, can the 3ds emulate ps2? Might be a dumb question, but if it can't emulate it, what can it emulate?

 

[Pearly]

3ds can emulate most older handhelds, bar the psp and vita and most consoles older than the ps1/n64 era.

Even the regular 3ds can emulate SNES games, not sure why Nintendo was claiming only the new 3ds can do it.

 

[AlfajordeFrula]

Short answer: No, and it's impossible.

Not so short answer: The 3DS uses an ARM processor, just like smartphones, and is infinitely less powerful than a device from 2012, the year it was released—even less powerful than a PS Vita, which also couldn't emulate the PS2. Now, if there were a way to decompile PS2 games and port them to other platforms, similar to some N64 or XBOX 360 games, it would probably be possible to get a PS2 game to work, given the screen resolution and processor power should be sufficient.

Edit: But, if you have an smartphone powerful enough, like a mid-tier 2022 o newer, you can emulate PS2 there.

 

[Naltic]

3ds can emulate most older handhelds, bar the psp and vita and most consoles older than the ps1/n64 era.

Even the regular 3ds can emulate SNES games, not sure why Nintendo was claiming only the new 3ds can do it.

I see, I was planning on playing the first Monster Hunter game on the 3ds via emulation, but I guess I won't be doing that now.

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Yesn't

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

the PS2 emulation on 3DS that is impossible because we all know that PS2 emulation requires much more requirements to run it decently. and you have to take into account also because of the CPU of the 3DS which is ARM11 2x 268MHz compared to the PS2 which is EE 295/300 Mhz and also because of the screen because unlike the PS2 the 3DS is unable to display resolutions beyond 240p on both screens (Except in Camera mode which is 480p) compared to the PS2 which is 448i/512i, 480i/576i or 480p and also because of the controls because the 3DS uses a Circle Pad that serves as a kind of lever and also a right analog pad that is the C but it is very small although on the PS2 you have Analog Sticks with L3 & R3 Buttons and among other things but due to the limitations of the 3DS hardware it is impossible for it to emulate the PS2.

 

[Maximecool]

Obviously, it's impossible a 3DS isn't powerful enough to emulate a PS2.

For reference, a 3DS is a bit less powerful than a GameCube, so trying to emulate a PS2 on it is basically a recipe for failure.

Even on a PC, you need a high-end gaming machine just to emulate a PS2, so on a 3DS.

 

[solnK!]

This could be cheating, but they managed to port Dragon Quest VIII and Tales of the Abyss so maybe?

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

You can make 3DS ports of PS2 games theoretically (RE Mercenaries 3D and Relevations both are using the same kind of gameplay as RE4, MGS 3 and DQ8 were also both on the 3DS).

Emulation on the other hand would require more power so no.

I think PSX emulation should run fine on the other hand.

 

[qw90700]

When it comes to emulation of old consoles PS2 is one of the console you shouldn't underestimate next to Saturn and Xbox!!! On the other hand you also shouldn't overestimate a Nintendo handheld console yo lol.

Back in the day I had a shit PC for emulation so I was intentionally playing Gamecube versions of games instead of their PS2 versions because it run better for me, so this logic could be applied if a 3DS could emulate Gamecube ok too and the game you want to play had a Gamecube version lol, but I guess you better use a smartphone or something for it.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This could be cheating, but they managed to port Dragon Quest VIII and Tales of the Abyss so maybe?

Porting and emulating isn't the same thing.

Super Mario 64 DS has been entirely rebuilt to run on a DS which is closer to a remake than running the N64 on the DS.

I think it's easier to natively run something than to run another machine. DKC Returns 3D was a miracle in a way but since it was a 2.5D platformer it may not be a high end Wii game.

this logic could be applied if a 3DS could emulate Gamecube ok too and the game you want to play had a Gamecube version lol, but I guess you better use a smartphone or something for it.

I legit wished Nintendo ported more GC games to the 3DS in the mid-to-late life of the machine. Mario Sunshine 3D would've been a logical sequel to Mario 64 DS.

 

[fake-kun]

No.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

I'd love if the PSX/Saturn emulation worked better on it.