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LTTP: PS3 Emulation with RPCS3

Topher

Gold Member
So I ordered a PC blu ray drive from Amazon so I can rip my PS3 games from the disc (legally) and play the games on my PC with RPCS3. I have a PS3, but would rather not go down the custom firmware route and since it seems these drives are widely available, decided to give it at shot.

This what the one I ordered:


The rpcs3 quick start guide has a list of drives that will work.


First up on my list will be Metal Gear Solid Legendary Collection as well as well as the Resistance trilogy. Should be fun. Anyone else doing this sort of thing? Interested to hear what experiences you've had.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
So I ordered a PC blu ray drive from Amazon so I can rip my PS3 games from the disc (legally) and play the games on my PC with RPCS3. I have a PS3, but would rather not go down the custom firmware route and since it seems these drives are widely available, decided to give it at shot.

This what the one I ordered:


The rpcs3 quick start guide has a list of drives that will work.


First up on my list will be Metal Gear Solid Legendary Collection as well as well as the Resistance trilogy. Should be fun. Anyone else doing this sort of thing? Interested to hear what experiences you've had.

If your PC is somewhat modern you'll be able to push 4k60 on a lot of games.

With that said I still have my BC PS3 and there's a charm to it lol
 

Sentenza

Member
...if you got a blu-ray drive why aren't you just using the original disc rather than ripping it off? Collection purposes?

Anyway, I always used the PAK files with this emulator and rarely bothered with a disc, even WHEN I had the drive (which isn't even the case anymore).
 

BryceNobody

Member
First up on my list will be Metal Gear Solid Legendary Collection as well as well as the Resistance trilogy. Should be fun. Anyone else doing this sort of thing? Interested to hear what experiences you've had.
If you have a decent PC, why not just get the Master Collection off Steam? You’ll probably get better performance from that than RPCS3.

Emulation seems more practical for playing something like MGS4.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I've done this too, and I've found that most games work great. Only issue I've experienced is that sometimes after a battle, Eternal Sonata will crash. Makes the game pretty hit-and-miss, as it's got a lot of battles between save points typically. Still very playable though.

Other games look and run fantastic in 4K.
 

Topher

Gold Member
...if you got a blu-ray drive why aren't you just using the original disc rather than ripping it off? Collection purposes?

Anyway, I always used the PAK files with this emulator and rarely bothered with a disc, even WHEN I had the drive (which isn't even the case anymore).

I'm ripping so I can quickly/easily switch from one game to the other. Provides the best of both physical and digital in that regard.

If you have a decent PC, why not just get the Master Collection off Steam? You’ll probably get better performance from that than RPCS3.

Emulation seems more practical for playing something like MGS4.

MGS Legendary Collection includes MGS4. Makes more sense to try emulation of what I already own rather than rebuy it.
 

GHG

Member
If you have a decent PC, why not just get the Master Collection off Steam? You’ll probably get better performance from that than RPCS3.

Emulation seems more practical for playing something like MGS4.

Those games are better emulated than they are natively because of Konami's shoddy ports.
 

Antwix

Member
I did this with Demon's Souls a year or two ago. I should give it another go since I upgraded my PC since then.

Regardless though, I recommend anyone with a PS3 to delve into CFW. It unlocks some cool features and it's super easy and stable. I suppose unless people still playing something online. Not sure what would even be active still though. PC/RPCS3 would usually give better performance though if the emulation is stable.
 

Holammer

Member
If you want rip yourself, cool beans. But it's no big secret that the entire PS3 library of games, updates and DLC are on the Internet Archive.

Many years ago I ripped 200'ish PS1 games. Named them meticulously and included the game-ID serial in the file name. Compressed them into 20MB RAR split archives (which was the style at the time). I was very pleased with myself and then the HD gave up the ghost, dead as a door nail.
 

Topher

Gold Member
If you want rip yourself, cool beans. But it's no big secret that the entire PS3 library of games, updates and DLC are on the Internet Archive.

Many years ago I ripped 200'ish PS1 games. Named them meticulously and included the game-ID serial in the file name. Compressed them into 20MB RAR split archives (which was the style at the time). I was very pleased with myself and then the HD gave up the ghost, dead as a door nail.

What "internet archive" are you referring to?
 

peronmls

Member
Great emulator. I've beat many games on it with little to no graphical issues. Drakengard 3, Folklore, Siren Blood Curse, ICO, R&C HD Collection, and random DLCs from games like Dantes Inferno and Dead Space 2.

Only games I'm trying to play and having issues with is Zone of the Enders HD Collection, Silent Hill Downpour and RE:CVX HD.
 
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Holammer

Member
I still play Skate Series on the RPCS3 emulator. Are there any other good PS3 games to emulate?
There are surprisingly few PS3 only exclusive games. I would recommend Sly Collection & Super Stardust.
I haven't tried 3D Dot Game Heroes, but people recommend it all the time as a classic. Same with Dragon's Crown.

What "internet archive" are you referring to?
Internet Archive (that's what it's called).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive
 

StereoVsn

Member
So I ordered a PC blu ray drive from Amazon so I can rip my PS3 games from the disc (legally) and play the games on my PC with RPCS3. I have a PS3, but would rather not go down the custom firmware route and since it seems these drives are widely available, decided to give it at shot.

This what the one I ordered:


The rpcs3 quick start guide has a list of drives that will work.


First up on my list will be Metal Gear Solid Legendary Collection as well as well as the Resistance trilogy. Should be fun. Anyone else doing this sort of thing? Interested to hear what experiences you've had.
Ooh, that’s a great idea. My blu-ray drive went belly up a few years back and I never bothered replacing.

Going to take a look. I have ripped bunch of games before, from Folklore to P5 (vanilla) to bunch of Tales games.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Ooh, that’s a great idea. My blu-ray drive went belly up a few years back and I never bothered replacing.

Going to take a look. I have ripped bunch of games before, from Folklore to P5 (vanilla) to bunch of Tales games.

This is the first time I've actually looked into it. I had no idea you could do this without an actual PS3. Late to the party, indeed.
 

Holammer

Member
Hmm, I know that site, but I didn't realize they archived software. Is this legal?
I'm leaning no, but it's a legal grey-zone and Sony haven't done anything.
PSN for PS3 was cracked open like an egg years ago and amusingly date stamps on most files are from the time they announced the closure (which never happened).

i-dont-know.gif
 

Mr Hyde

Member
RPSC3 has been very hit and miss for me. Some game work great but a lot of others don't. Been having a difficult time getting 60 fps without the game breaking. I've been following guides for settings but it's not been working all that good. Some games like Infamous 2 and Silent Hill Downpour have been almost unplayable with bad framerates and graphical issues. Dead Space 2 didn't even start. But other games such as Demon's Souls, God of War, Sly and Majin have worked pretty well. Overall, when it comes to PS3, I prefer original hardware in this case.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Probably not exactly but I don’t mind downloading things I already paid for

Even if you don’t use the archive for that you should still check it out, it’s an amazing resource

I'm leaning no, but it's a legal grey-zone and Sony haven't done anything.
PSN for PS3 was cracked open like an egg years ago and amusingly date stamps on most files are from the time they announced the closure (which never happened).

i-dont-know.gif

Ah....I hear ya. So my sons were doing a lot of bit torrent downloads a couple of years ago and my ISP notified me of what was going on. I told them no more illegal downloads so need to practice what I preach. Interesting that Sony (and others) don't make a big deal about that though.
 

Papa_Wisdom

Member
How well would my pc do at RPSC3?

I7 6700 4ghz
16gb ram
1660 super?

Been thinking about giving it a try but never got round to it?

Thanks
 

Holammer

Member
How well would my pc do at RPSC3?

I7 6700 4ghz
16gb ram
1660 super?

Been thinking about giving it a try but never got round to it?

Thanks
Depends, I could play Demon's souls at a pretty stable 1440/60 and Sly Collection on my old computer with similar specs.
The problem is games pushing the Cell like Naughty Dog's games and Ratchet & Clank games.

Check the RPCS3 wiki for individual games to see if they work and if they need any particular workarounds.
 

Papa_Wisdom

Member
Depends, I could play Demon's souls at a pretty stable 1440/60 and Sly Collection on my old computer with similar specs.
The problem is games pushing the Cell like Naughty Dog's games and Ratchet & Clank games.

Check the RPCS3 wiki for individual games to see if they work and if they need any particular workarounds.
Will look at this, there’s only a handful of games that’s exclusive to the ps3 still that I’d like to go through.

When I set Xenia up I realised there was only like 5-6 games I was actually interested in so this will prob be the same!
 

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
It's having a hard time with first party games(I didn't try them, but read a lot about this situation) and EA sports games(especially NHL games). I tried Armored Core 4? and it crashed at cutscenes too. Other than that, it's ok. I played a little bit of Demon's Souls and it was awesome. Dragon's Crown runs perfectly too. However, I don't trust this emulator as I trust other emulators. I always feel like it could crash at any moment because of my bad past experiences with it. But it's better than ever atm. It's incredible that they've managed to achieve something that Sony couldn't.
 

amigastar

Member
I love emulation. It's one of the reasons why i'm a PC user.
A little off topic but i'm gonna try the PS 2 Sly Cooper on PS2 emulator since the PS3 Sly Cooper got lower score.
 
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violence

Member
Playing resistance 3 right now. It’s great seeing it at 4K 60 but it sucks we have to deal with shader compilation.

I forgot how most shooters used the shoulder buttons to shoot because the triggers sucked on the PS3 controller. You can swap them in the menu so it changes the button prompts on screen as well. This is a PS4 game now

I’m going to eventually play Killzone 2 with the Duke controller. It’s worthy

edit: Playing at 1440 now. Wow can this game chug.
 
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Shakka43

Member
I play the Motorstorm games on RPCS3 often and it is how I completed Silent Hill Downpour as it runs like crap on original hardware. Hopefully this year we get some good progress with the Killzone, inFAMOUS and Resistance series.
 
I use this to play college hoops 2k8. Still the greatest College Hoops game ever made 15 years later. My PS3 has been retired but I still love to play this game in legacy mode with this emulator.
 

HL3.exe

Member
OP, what's your CPU?

It probably the most important aspect when using this Emu. It's heavily CPU dependent and prefers Intel over AMD.
 

RagnarokIV

Member
If you have a 12400 or higher, you'll destroy most games with RPCS3. It's awesome.

I use it daily and even for online games (MGO mainly). The GPU side of it is nothing, so even with a pretty basic GPU you can scale up to 4k.

Stuff like Heavenly Sword, Resistance 1 and a lot of forgotten PS3 games that had shit performance are genuinely transformed into modern day remasters.

My specs for reference are 13600k, 4070 and 32GB
 

DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
The last time I used my PS3 was to play 3D Dot Game Heroes. It still works but not sure i would trust it lol.

I need to play MGS2.
 

Hugare

Member
Funny, I've just downloaded RPCS3 recently

Been playing games that are now abandoned on the PS3: Puppeteer, Fight Night Champion and Killzone 2

Being able to emulate PS3 games is amazing (including trophies!). And the emulator has so many options, updates automatically, has game patches and the interface is excellent. Really well done job by the devs.

Results are awesome so far. I'm playing Puppeteer and Fight Night at 1440p flawlesly. Killzone 2 tho, I had to cap at 1080p. Still too heavy, but looks great.

This is a good time to jump into PS3 emulation, 'cause its in a good shape right now. Xenia is ok, but the interface is almost non existent, and a pain in the ass to configure. So I would rather play multiplatform games on RPCS3.
 
Let me give you that short but fire list:
Shadows of The Damned
Wrath of Asura
Demon's Souls
Silent Hill: Downpour
Silent Hill: Homecoming
MGS4
Lolipop Chainsaw
Among many others! Resogun is a notable mention.. looks phenomenal!
 

Topher

Gold Member
Funny, I've just downloaded RPCS3 recently

Been playing games that are now abandoned on the PS3: Puppeteer, Fight Night Champion and Killzone 2

Being able to emulate PS3 games is amazing (including trophies!). And the emulator has so many options, updates automatically, has game patches and the interface is excellent. Really well done job by the devs.

Results are awesome so far. I'm playing Puppeteer and Fight Night at 1440p flawlesly. Killzone 2 tho, I had to cap at 1080p. Still too heavy, but looks great.

This is a good time to jump into PS3 emulation, 'cause its in a good shape right now. Xenia is ok, but the interface is almost non existent, and a pain in the ass to configure. So I would rather play multiplatform games on RPCS3.

Including trophies? How does that work?
 

Killer8

Member
It's amazing at this point:



It's a shame that like on real hardware the framerate absolutely tanks when the sightjacking is used. I guess dipping from 60fps to 28fps is a lot better than 15fps on real hardware. It almost seems like it's hard-coded to do this.
 

Hugare

Member
Including trophies? How does that work?
I believe they simulate a default profile

Dont know much about it. I just know that they pop up just be playing the game on a default emulator.

I have them disabled so not sure what stage they're at with it, but it's mainly for RPCSN - an emulated version of original PSN. For online games and trophies.

Seriously? They pop up to me even when I'm offline on the default emulator
 

Bojji

Member
It's a shame that like on real hardware the framerate absolutely tanks when the sightjacking is used. I guess dipping from 60fps to 28fps is a lot better than 15fps on real hardware. It almost seems like it's hard-coded to do this.

Yeah it's 15 fps (or worse) on PS3 so it's always half the framerate. Maybe running game in 120FPS would solve this (if it's possible) :pie_thinking:
 
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