The Video Game Critic

I was playing Polaris SnoCross on my PS2 when it locked up. So I noted that I'm going to need to put the "bug" icon in the review.
Then I remember I'm playing this PS1 game on a PS2 with software emulation. Is it possible the emulation could be responsible for something like that?

I review almost all of my PS1 games on my PS2, and rarely have any issues.

VideoGameCritic wrote:I was playing Polaris SnoCross on my PS2 when it locked up. So I noted that I'm going to need to put the "bug" icon in the review.
Then I remember I'm playing this PS1 game on a PS2 with software emulation. Is it possible the emulation could be responsible for something like that?

I review almost all of my PS1 games on my PS2, and rarely have any issues.

The PS2 is compatible with PS1 games because it has actual PS1 hardware inside it. The PS1 CPU is used within the PS2 both as an I/O processor and for running PS1 games.

That being said, there is still a small list of PS1 games that don't work on the PS2. Polaris SnoCross is apparently not one of them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_P ... yStation_2

Thanks for that list ptdebate - I actually never realized that there were compatibility issues with any PS1 games on the PS2. But otherwise, I'd agree with ptdebate - since the PS2 has actual PS1 hardware in it, it shouldn't be the cause. If anything, I notice that PS1 games often work better on the PS2. As an example, I once had a PS1 game (Final Fantasy IX) that froze up during one particular CG cutscene, due to a glitch in the game disc (not due to scratches, since it had none). It froze up every time on my PS1 once it hit that cutscene.. this is years back, and I didn't have a PS2 yet, so I finally brought it to a friend's house to try it on his PS2. On the PS2, the glitch happened on screen, but the PS2 was able to push past it and keep going.

One of the things I was always curious about was if a game from a previous generation that physically does not run that well, will it actually run better on the newer system? I had an NFL blitz game that wouldn’t work on my Gamecube, but played fine on my Wii, and I also have a resurfaced Smash Bros Melee that doesn’t always start up on my Gamecube, but also works fine on the Wii. This is why I prefer to play gamecube games on my Wii.

I thought later slimlines went to an emulation solution?

Thanks for the list of games with issues, thankfully I own none of those except for Final Fantasy Anthology, but I can't say that I've seen any sort of glitches or anything on it. (Of course, it says FF5 is fine on it, which is what I mainly play... I prefer SNES FF6 because of load times. Anthology doesn't run as well as Origins.)

That being said, I can't say I've ever had any issues whatsoever playing PS1 games on my PS2. I got rid of my PS1 ages ago, not seeing any more reason for it. Hope you figure it out Critic!

So my current PS2 is one with the one with the modem - a later model of the front loader.
So my question is, does this model have hardware emulation of PS1 or software emulation?
Obviously hardware is preferable.

I gave my original "day 1" Playstation 2 to my nephew. I wonder if that was a mistake.

VideoGameCritic wrote:So my current PS2 is one with the one with the modem - a later model of the front loader.
So my question is, does this model have hardware emulation of PS1 or software emulation?
Obviously hardware is preferable.

Emulation is software. PS1 hardware is PS1 hardware, not emulation. That hardware is built into the PS2, except in slim models made after 2005 - the "SCPH-75001" section on Wikipedia's incompatibility list. The "SCPH-3000X" section refers to the original launch model. Yours is neither, so it does not have any special model-specific incompatibilities.

(As an illustration, calling the PS1 hardware in the PS2 "hardware emulation" is a bit like saying that the Genesis Model 2 uses "hardware emulation" of the Genesis Model 1.)

By hardware emulation I just meant having the PS1 chips on board.

VideoGameCritic wrote:By hardware emulation I just meant having the PS1 chips on board.

I got that; I was just explaining why that's not a good way to conceptualize it, which I thought was a fair point to make in a relatively technical discussion. Didn't mean any offense.