Manuals

1. Introduction 2. File Management 3. Lutris Launcher 4. Heroic Launcher 5. PS2 Emulation (PCSX2)

PS2 Emulation (PCSX2)

Steam Deck is infamous for its ability to play and emulate older generation games. That is the beauty of digital preservation, not only to enjoy our childhood games, but to see them as a history piece to art, game design, as well as coding, to get inspired from these old games so we can learn.

While there are several Playstation 2 emulations, we will be focusing on PCSX2, which is a open-source Playstation 2 emulator focusing to deliver PS2 emulations close to its original hardware. This project is going strong for over 20 years.

NOTE: You must have the original PS2 BIOS files as well as the game files, piracy is not condoned in any shape or form. This manual will be focusing on how to setup PCSX2 and install PS2 games only!

PCSX2 logo
PCSX2 page

Setting Up The Files

It is highly advised to make a folder inside of your 'Games' folder (refer to File Management manual) for PCSX2 related only, then create a sub-folder for BIOS, in this case, I named it 'BIOS'. Copy and paste your PS2 BIOS files in this folder.
You can place your PS2 games in the bin folder of your PCSX2.

Step 1

Setting Up PCSX2 and Installing Games

This walkthrough will guide you through how to install Playstation 2 games through PCSX2 step-by-step.
For this, we will be installing 'WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain'

Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9

Making a seperate Memory Save

If you want to manage your saves, or have multiple saves, you can follow this walkthrough.

Step 11 Step 12 Step 13

Changing Graphic Settings

Here you can fine tune your game's graphical settings to get the best experience out of your game whether on Steam Deck's screen or on a monitor/TV.

Step 14

Where can I download PCSX2?

Steam Deck: You can search and install it from the Discovery app.
Alternative: You can download it from their official website: Click here.