One of the hottest topics in the emulation scene is the PlayStation 2 emulator for Android AetherSX2. Announced in mid-November, AetherSX2 will launch on Google Play on December 4. The information was revealed by the developer through Discord.
The launch will be in the form of a beta test / early release. Surrounded by mystery, this PlayStation 2 emulator has surprised the gaming community. Some Youtubers who got early access to the emulator are surprised by its capabilities.
To try the emulator firsthand, you'll need to sign up through the developer's Discord. Link to subscribe here.
To avoid scams, we ask that you avoid installing APKs other than directly from the project website, Google Play, or the developer's Discord.
At the end of the article, you will find the Discord and Reddit links.
All about the AetherSX2
AetherSX2 is an Android emulator that is partly based on PCSX2, the best PlayStation emulator for PC. By bringing the foundation of PCSX2 to ARM processors, the developer Tahlreth assured two amazing things: a totally free emulator and compatibility with many games.
According to a post made by the PCSX2 developers, they had a good conversation with the developer of AetherSX2, and the latter in turn was quite receptive to the use of the LGPLv3 licences.
For those who don't know, one of the biggest problems with emulating PlayStation 2 on Android is copying the source code and putting it into a paid app and not citing the original developers. Something that is not allowed by free software licenses.
Fortunately, that's not what happened with the AetherSX2. The developer has agreed to use free software licenses to ensure that the emulator will be free for anyone to download (Note: There may be a paid "leverage" version on Google Play, but you can always download the free version on Github).
Also according to the post, PC emulator developers were surprised by AetherSX2. In his words: "It works better than most of us expected!"
Running various games with ease on relatively old devices like the Galaxy S9 or Pocophone F1 (with Snapdragon 845 processor or higher), the AetherSX2 promises to deliver everything DamonPS2 promised and never did: PlayStation 2 emulation on Android without hacks and weird hacks. . .
But it's too early to say that PS2 emulation on Android is "unlocked", as we can say today with PSP and Game Cube. This is something that we can only confirm over time. Once the emulator is out, we'll run a huge battery of tests.
Until then, check out the games running on the AetherSX2 emulator on a POCO F3 (Snapdragon 870):
See also Jo茫o Batista's channel (narrator of our channel). It will bring you a lot of content about this new PS2 emulator for Android.
REDDIT LINK: https://www.reddit.com/user/Tahlreth/
DISCORD DEVELOPMENT GROUP LINK: https://discord.gg/JZ7BkeEdrJ
project link: https://github.com/Tahlreth/tahlreth.github.io/blob/main/index.md
