Games on your phone

 There are really only two alternative emulators out there for PlayStation 2 emulation. One is Play!, a high-level emulator that doesn't require a BIOS to run, and the other is in violation of the license agreement of PCSX2. While AetherSX2 uses PCSX2 code, the developers of PCSX2 have given AetherSX2 their graces, explaining that, in essence, its core code is LGPLv3-licensed.


To run AetherSX2, you'll need a 64-bit device, and the chipset must have "big" performance cores (the developer recommends at least a Snapdragon 845). You can play games either using Vulkan or OpenGL, depending on which performs best on your device, and you can hot-swap between the two while in-game. There are a lot of great features in AetherSX2, including internal resolution scaling, save states, multiple control schemes, and more. As already mentioned, we tested it while it was still in alpha, so your mileage may vary on performance. For example, Ratchet: Gladiator (known as Ratchet: Deadlocked in the U.S.) wasn't playable on release and would crash after completing the first cutscene before a later update.


For those looking for source code, Tahlreth shared on Reddit that the LGPL portions will be available on request. You will also be able "to relink the combined shared library as required by the license with the provided object file." No Java source code will be made public, according to Tahlreth, and the reason given is to prevent clones from being stuffed full of advertisements and in-app purchases. Given that there are already apps purporting to be AetherSX2 out there, this argument does make sense. AetherSX2 does not have advertisements, and it doesn't even have internet access. The difference between LGPL and GPL is that in the case of LGPL, developers can borrow, modify, and re-distribute that code as part of their own project, so long as that part of the code is relicensed under the LGPL. The rest of the project is permitted to be under another license. In the case of GPL, the entire project would need to be licensed under the GPL.


If you've seen any footage from AetherSX2 as well, you'll have noticed that there's no D-Pad, and there's only one control stick. That can be changed in the middle of a game from accessing the emulator menu to display those extra controls too. The problem is that because of the decreased screen real estate, there's no reason to show those all the time, especially as plenty of games work without them. The only game I had problems with in relation to this was Ratchet: Gladiator since the second control stick is needed to turn the camera around.

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