RPCS3
 | |
 RPCS3 running on Windows 10, showing the main window where games and software are shown, as well as the about-box | |
| Original author(s) | DH, Hykem, AlexAltea |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | (RPCS3 TEAM) Nekotekina, kd-11, elad335, jarveson, Megamouse, hcorion, scribam, ruipin, isJuhn, Galciv, Numan[1] |
| Initial release | May 23, 2011 |
| Stable release | None
|
| Preview release | v0.0.22-13795 Alpha
/ June 15, 2022[2] |
| Repository | github |
| Written in | C++ , GLSL and C |
| Operating system | Windows 7 or later, macOS 11.6 or later, Linux, BSD |
| Platform | x86-64 |
| Size | |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Video game console emulator |
| License | GNU General Public License version 2.0 |
| Website | rpcs3 |
RPCS3 is a free and open-source video game console emulator and debugger for the Sony PlayStation 3 that runs on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and macOS operating systems, allowing PlayStation 3 games and software to be played and debugged on a personal computer. It is being developed in the C++ programming language targeting x86-64 CPUs and features OpenGL and Vulkan as its backend renderers.
As of May 24, 2022, the compatibility list marks 2207 games as playable and 924 games being able to go in-game.[3]
Development
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Despite the general idea that the complexity of the PlayStation 3's Cell architecture would prevent it from being emulated,[4] RPCS3 released on May 23, 2011, by programmers DH and Hykem as a working emulator.[5] The developers initially hosted the project on Google Code and eventually moved it to GitHub on August 27, 2013. The emulator was first able to successfully run simple homebrew projects in September 2011[6] and got its first public release in June 2012 as v0.0.0.2.[7]
On February 9, 2017, RPCS3 received its first implementation of a PPU thread scheduler, enhancing its emulation of the many-core Cell microprocessor.[8] On February 16, 2017, RPCS3 gained the ability to install official PlayStation 3 firmware directly to its core file system.[9] In May 2017, it was reported that the implementation of the Vulkan graphics API had shown some performance improvements approaching 400%, pushing several games into "playable" status.[10]
In August 2022, the developers of RPCS3 implemented save states into the emulator. This feature had previously been considered infeasible due to technical limitations.[11]
Requirements
As of August 18, 2022, the emulator requires a 64-bit version of Windows 7 or later, a modern Linux distribution, macOS 11.6 or later, or a modern BSD distribution. The PC must have at least 4 GB of RAM, 8 GB recommended, an x86-64 CPU and a GPU supporting one of the supported graphics APIs: OpenGL 4.3 or greater, or Vulkan, the latter being recommended. Apart from the game itself to be run, the emulator requires the PlayStation 3's firmware, which can be downloaded from Sony's official website.
Atlus DMCA takedown notice
RPCS3 received significant media attention in April 2017 for its ability to emulate Persona 5, achieving playability prior to the game's Western release date.[12][13][14][15] In September 2017, Persona developer Atlus issued a DMCA takedown notice against RPCS3's Patreon page. The action was motivated by the Patreon page making frequent mentions on the emulator's progress on emulating Persona 5. The demand, however, was settled by only removing all Persona 5 references from the page.[16][17]
See also
- Cemu, the first Wii U emulator
- Citra, the first Nintendo 3DS emulator
- List of video game emulators
References
- ^ "Contributors to RPCS3/rpcs3". GitHub.
- ^ "Downloads". rpcs3.net. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ "RPCS3 Compatibility". rpcs3.net. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
- ^ Usher, William (2014-03-08). "PS3 Emulator Can Now Run Commercial Games". CINEMABLEND. Archived from the original on 2014-03-13. Retrieved 2017-03-03.
- ^ "rpcs3 r1 Google Code". 2011-05-23 – via Google Code.
- ^ "rpcs3 r28 on Google Code". 2011-05-23 – via Google Code.
- ^ "rpcs3 tag 0.0.0.2". 2012-06-01 – via Google Code.
- ^ "Pull request #2349 - [WIP] PPU scheduler". Retrieved 2017-03-03 – via GitHub.
- ^ "PS3UPDAT.PUP installer (#2386) · RPCS3/rpcs3@458dbbd". Retrieved 2017-03-03 – via GitHub.
- ^ Donnell, Peter (2017-05-22). "RPCS3 Gets Performance Boost with Vulkan API". Eteknix. Archived from the original on 2019-01-22.
- ^ Bailey, Dustin (2022-08-04). "PS3 emulator RPCS3 finally adds save states". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- ^ Prescott, Shaun (2017-04-03). "Persona 5 is playable on PC with this PS3 emulator". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2017-06-21.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (2017-04-04). "Here's Persona 5 "Running" On A PC". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23.
- ^ Becht, Eli (2017-04-05). "'Persona 5' Running on PC Emulation". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-19.
- ^ Grubb, Jeff (2017-04-03). "Persona 5 is up and running on one of the PC's PlayStation 3 emulators". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2018-06-23.
- ^ Moon, Mariella (2017-09-27). "Atlus tried to take down a PS3 emulator advertising 'Persona 5'". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2017-09-29.
- ^ Orland, Kyle (2017-09-27). "Atlus wants to cut off a PS3 emulator because it runs Persona 5". ArsTechnica. Archived from the original on 2017-09-30.
