PCSX2 vs PPSSPP

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You can search for "pcsx2" to see previous discussions of this.

Long story short, games are written differently because the hardware is different. This in turn makes them harder to emulate, because of the choices devs made (choices that made sense for the PS2, but wouldn't for a PSP or PC or smartphone.)

I sometimes joke that I would only write a PS2 emulator after I lost what little of my mind I still have left.

One of the big reasons: the PS2 streams drawing through "stages", which goes from CPU -> VU0 -> VU1 -> GPU, all four running concurrently. Most other systems, including the PSP, Android, PCs, etc. just use CPU -> GPU. There are many other complications, this is but one example.

If emulating a PSP properly is like hitting a moving target changing speeds between 40 - 60 km/h, emulating the PS2 correctly is like doing the same for a target moving about the same speed, but ricocheting that shot off two other things before hitting the target.

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