The fine folks over at ARMSX3 have been pumping out updates for their PS3 emulator, so of course, the ARMSX2 team would be hot on their heels with updates of their own for the PS2 emulator. I like to imagine that one person is responsible for ARMSX1, 2, and 3, and that they’ve gone completely mad trying to keep up. In reality, I’m sure there are plenty of contributors behind these projects, but the thought of one poor soul desperately trying to keep all three afloat makes me laugh.
So what is the meat on this latest tasty bone? Performance and graphics improvements are among the highlights, with Vulkan shadow optimizations and further refinements to Automatic Performance Tuning. The developers also report improvements in games such as Shadow of the Colossus, Stuntman, and Spider-Man 3, although the results vary by device and game.
Version 2.9.3 also adds a stereoscopic viewing option for compatible smartphone VR headsets, with adjustments for image size, distance, and height. Congrats to all you VR heads still keeping the flame alive. I’ll take a hard pass on this one, as the mere mention of VR has me bracing for the impending vomit comet.
Lastly, what would an emulator update be without a few fixes and improvements under the hood? Version 2.9.2 introduced more comprehensive bug-report tools, while both updates address hardware compatibility and emulator behavior. Not exactly the stuff that gets your blood pumping, but hey, anytime bugs get squashed, you’ve earned my appreciation.
| Controls & Interface | |
|---|---|
| Touch Controls | New controller-aware visibility options and adjustable virtual stick travel. |
| Save Management | A unified view of game save states, with options to load, import, back up, and delete saves. |
| Library | Release notes now support screenshots, and the library screensaver defaults to five minutes. |
| Compatibility & Fixes | |
| Microphone Support | Built-in and USB microphone support for compatible PS2 games, including SingStar. |
| GPU Compatibility | Expanded driver recommendations and compatibility improvements for select Mali, Adreno, and PowerVR GPUs. |
| Audio & Video | Additional audio fixes, graphics corrections, and improvements to select games. |
| RetroAchievements | Updated achievement support and related compatibility improvements. |
| ARMSX2 2.9.2 | Github |
| ARMSX2 2.9.3 | Github |
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