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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Sony launched the PlayStation PS2 in 2000 to massive hype and promises. One promise was the brand-new Emotion Engine ( EE ) , the main SoC that powered the PS2. Developed in conjunction with Sony and Toshiba. It was the next generation of processor after the PS1. But the Emotion Engine was more than just a CPU. It housed other additional co-processors known as Vector Units and also came with powerful DMA Controller that could move data around the bus very quickly. However, was this all worth it? The Xbox, GameCube and in some scenarios, Dreamcast showed off many games that easily match the power and performance of the PS2 and in many cases, exceeded it. In today's episode we deep dive and take a closer look at the Emotion Engine and its use cases. After a slow start, developers got the very best from the chip and developed some unique and interesting post processing effects that really showed off the power of the PlayStation 2 hardware. Please Enjoy!

 

[mansoor1980]

no , it delivered in the end

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

Don't really need a video to tell me it delivered. Not like it's a secret the PS2 had some stunning games, and had some struggles early on until people came to terms with it.

 

[winjer]

I still remember being very impressed with the first tech demos for the PS2.
As time went on, it just kept getting better and better, as devs leaned to extract all the performance from that machine.
It might just be the biggest jump generation over generation, of all time.

 

[Erebus]

It was a beast in the right hands.
I wonder if we will ever see such a graphical leap.

 

[consoul]

In retrospect, I think the PS2 was under-hyped.
It's ridiculous how good it was, and we'll never see another generational leap like it.

 

[SHA]

Secret Sauce should exist if we reached the limit of the silicon, it's obvious we're running out of choices.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

EE fulfilled its role. It's a shame the PS2 was so underused

PS2 (contrary to popular belief) was the console that had the least correctly used hardware in history

yes it is true, only Shadow of the Colossus, MGS3 and Hitman made decent use of the console, all those 60fps games you know could have been even better at 25~30fps all them. There are many factors, whether related to planning or causality. The initial dev kits were broken, generating games...

www.neogaf.com

 

[RoboFu]

No, it could push transparencies like they were nothing.

 

[E-Cat]

Sigh, I really miss the days of the crazy Kutaragi hype cycle. Even PS3 with the Cell processor, though it may have been overhyped, delivered some good times e.g. the crazy E3 2005 meta concepts like Cyber Society. "The world we live in is full of information....here we have a world just like reality. Look at it more closely." They were talking about the Metaverse in 2005 -- a real Metaverse, and not Zuckerberg's dystopian Miiverse.

 

[AGRacing]

Anyone who was there knows the answer. No.

GT3 in 2001… there was no bigger leap from generation to generation.

 

[Drew1440]

Anyone who was there knows the answer. No.

GT3 in 2001… there was no bigger leap from generation to generation.

Dreamcast could have done GTA III, San Andreas is where the PS2 comes to shine.

 

[Gaiff]

I still remember being very impressed with the first tech demos for the PS2.
As time went on, it just kept getting better and better, as devs leaned to extract all the performance from that machine.
It might just be the biggest jump generation over generation, of all time.

Anyone who was there knows the answer. No.

GT3 in 2001… there was no bigger leap from generation to generation.

How can you guys look at ALTTP and Super Mario World against OOT and Super Mario 64 and conclude that GT2 to GT3 was a bigger jump?

The shift from 2D to 3D by default is the biggest generational jump and this won't be topped until there's another major jump like say from 3D to full-on VR.

 

[SSfox]

MGS2 Tekken 4 FFX. I was blown away man.

The Tanker section in MGS2 was so insane bro even 5 years later it was still the most technically impressive thing ever, not only visually but also in AI and cinematics and gameplay

Today we have Concord. Sony standards really gone downhill

 

[E-Cat]

How can you guys look at ALTTP and Super Mario World against OOT and Super Mario 64 and conclude that GT2 to GT3 was a bigger jump?

The shift from 2D to 3D by default is the biggest generational jump and this won't be topped until there's another major jump like say from 3D to full-on VR.

The size of the shift from 2D to 3D can't be quantified, so only 3d-to-3d is a sensible comparison.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

Of course it was, always remember
Kim Jong-il will daisy chain a number of PS2s together and nuke the west or some kind of shit drivel coming out of his dick licker.

Listen, it was a great machine and I still have my functioning day 1 console hooked to my Trinitron.

The lack of shaders was instantly noticeable once the GameCube and Xbox came along.

 

[RagnarokIV]

One of the greatest consoles ever. From PlayStation to PS2... Absolutely impossible to truly appreciate it.

 

[angelgs90]

I remember trying the PS2 in a Toys'R'Us for the first time. Unforgettable moment.

A bunch of kids staring at the monitor with their jaws on the floor.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

It did amazing given the silicone budget. Xbox launched on a newer and much upgraded node, so 1:1 comparison does not make sense.

 

[SlimySnake]

I was more impressed by the Gamecube, Xbox and Dreamcast before it. But GC and Xbox had an extra 18 months of new tech to put in their systems to make them more powerful. By the end of the gen, the PS2 just couldnt keep up with the xbox. No doom 3, half life 2 ports, and RE4 looked rough compared to the sublime GC original.

Those early gen games like Tekken Tag, Dead or Alive 2, SSX, MGS2, DmC, and Madden were just awe-inspiring. The rest of the gen felt like it was on life support. Simply wasnt able to keep up with larger more ambitious games. SOTC was running at like 15 fps. San Andreas looked like dog shit. MGS3 was a big downgrade from MGS2 and groznigrad ran at 15 fps too. I ended that gen being thoroughly disappointed by the performance especially since my friend was playing some games at like 720p on his xbox.

 

[cireza]

Certainly felt overhyped to me, just like the CELL. Gamecube and Xbox displayed much more impressive games, and with a much better picture quality on top of it.

 

[solidus12]

Devil May Cry
Gran Turimo 4
Metal Gear Solid 2
Silent Hill 3
God of War 2
Shadow of the Colossus

These games looked too good for PS2.

 

[AGRacing]

Dreamcast could have done GTA III, San Andreas is where the PS2 comes to shine.

Gran Turismo 3

 

[diffusionx]

I was more impressed by the Gamecube, Xbox and Dreamcast before it. But GC and Xbox had an extra 18 months of new tech to put in their systems to make them more powerful. By the end of the gen, the PS2 just couldnt keep up with the xbox. No doom 3, half life 2 ports, and RE4 looked rough compared to the sublime GC original.

Those early gen games like Tekken Tag, Dead or Alive 2, SSX, MGS2, DmC, and Madden were just awe-inspiring. The rest of the gen felt like it was on life support. Simply wasnt able to keep up with larger more ambitious games. SOTC was running at like 15 fps. San Andreas looked like dog shit. MGS3 was a big downgrade from MGS2 and groznigrad ran at 15 fps too. I ended that gen being thoroughly disappointed by the performance especially since my friend was playing some games at like 720p on his xbox.

I know it does not matter from the point of view of gamers, but remember MS had to kill the Xbox early because it cost so much to make and they couldn't drop the price. The PS2 gave people a powerful piece of hardware and flexibility to the point where it was costing like $150 in a couple of years. Hardware design is always a holistic thing that takes in all these elements.

 

[Robb]

Was the PS2 "Emotion Engine" over hyped?

 

[bender]

Better than the Celery in Xbox and Tuna in the Cube.

 

[Lysandros]

Obviously not, that is the CPU which gave the widest range of emotions to developers of that generation. Even a few attempted suicides i heard.

 

[MadchesterManc]

Was a beast in the right hands when games were done specifically for it. Painful in the early days tho as the VU's were barely used, if at all.

 

[MacReady13]

God I miss these days when Sony took chances on these types of things with hardware to try push the boundaries of tech at the time. Now they are just low powered PC's with zero differences between consoles (Nintendo excluded).

 

[Fat Frog]

Yeah, Sega delivered with the Dreamcast but overall the words EMOTION ENGINE are pure marketing like the BLAST PROCESSING...

Shenmue cutscene intro (99/Dreamcast)

Of course, Playstation 2 games cannot match the high poly beautiful models of the Dreamcast but look at Yuna... Sure, the hair are a little rough but the model is not that far from Shenhua (Shenmue/Dreamcast)

FFX cutscene intro (2001/PS2)

PS2 is not that bad,seriously...

 

[Melfice7]

when used correctly, it punched way way way above its weight, so no, it was hyped but it also delivered

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

xbox and gcn were also released almost 2 years after the ps2, which was a big ass gap back in those days, so cut it a little slack.

i never loved the ps2, but onimusha as a launch title was sooo good.
esp. when coming from the n64 and dreamcast.

 

[Esppiral]

It was a marketing buzz, still is.

 

[diffusionx]

It was a marketing buzz, still is.

It was an actual, custom designed CPU.

 

[Urban]

It was a beast in the right hands.
I wonder if we will ever see such a graphical leap.

The Jump from Gran Turismo was insane. I dont think there is another game that had such a leap.

just press play

 

[AGRacing]

People talk how it took a WHOLE YEAR to get one of the most incredible console lineups ever. That is called a “launch window” in 2024.

The PS2 architecture was a damn miracle in 2000/2001.

And as much as I loved it … no… Dreamcast was not close. It would NOT have been able to touch Gran Turismo
3 OR Grand theft auto 3 and the idea it would is ridiculous.

 

[64bitmodels]

It was an actual, custom designed CPU.

That fell behind in performance compared to the gc and Xbox off the shelf pc cpus.

Yeah no. It was just a marketing gimmick no different from blast processing. You guys are conflating regular tech advancements with marketing speak.

Was the ps2 an astronomical jump from ps1?
Yeah!

Was it because of the "emotion engine"?
No.

 

[64bitmodels]

And as much as I loved it … no… Dreamcast was not close. It would NOT have been able to touch Gran Turismo
3 OR Grand theft auto 3 and the idea it would is ridiculous.

Dreamcast would first have to be able to store all the data those games contained on its measly gdr before we even talk about performance and what cutbacks would need to be made.

Dreamcast is late 90s hardware, ps2 is Y2K hardware. There's a difference, and it's a significant one.

 

[diffusionx]

That fell behind in performance compared to the gc and Xbox off the shelf pc cpus.

Yeah no. It was just a marketing gimmick no different from blast processing. You guys are conflating regular tech advancements with marketing speak.

Was the ps2 an astronomical jump from ps1?
Yeah!

Was it because of the "emotion engine"?
No.

This is semantics. The PS2 CPU was, in fact, a real thing. It actually existed. It was named "Emotion Engine" because companies name stuff. Whether or not it is what people claim it should have been is a different question.

It is not the same thing as, for example, "blast processing", because blast processing was an entirely fake, made-up term that had absolutely no relevance to the Genesis hardware or the tools or anything else.

 

[Connxtion]

Dreamcast would first have to be able to store all the data those games contained on its measly cdr before we even talk about performance and what cutbacks would need to be made.

Dreamcast is late 90s hardware, ps2 is Y2K hardware. There's a difference, and it's a significant one.

GDR (gigabyte disc rom) nearly double of a CDR, but yeah they would have struggled to fit GTAIII on a GDR.

Only pirates (homebrew) and mil-cds uses CDRs

 

[64bitmodels]

This is semantics. The PS2 CPU was, in fact, a real thing. It actually existed. It was named "Emotion Engine" because companies name stuff. Whether or not it is what people claim it should have been is a different question.

Ok I stand corrected. The "emotion engine" quite literally made the PS2 what it is.

Still though it doesn't seem like anything special as opposed to other desktop CPUs of the time to warrant all this praise and hype over the arcitecture

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

And as much as I loved it … no… Dreamcast was not close. It would NOT have been able to touch Gran Turismo
3 OR Grand theft auto 3 and the idea it would is ridiculous.

For a long time, Sega fans said it was possible to run MGS2 because the textures were palletized or 'recv looked better'. In short a homebrew programmer made a demo of MGS2 for the Dreamcast only for everyone to realize that it's not possible run it on DC's hardware , hell, even Twin Snakes (2004) was inferior.

 

[Futaleufu]

Very overhyped as it promised to do things they were showing in CGI trailers, then when it released was about on par with the Dreamcast

 

[KellyNole]

I don't think it was over hyped. It did a good job. It didn't look as good as the Gamecube or Xbox, but it did come out a year earlier than either of those two, so it gets somewhat of a pass.

 

[coffinbirth]

xbox and gcn were also released almost 2 years after the ps2, which was a big ass gap back in those days, so cut it a little slack.

i never loved the ps2, but onimusha as a launch title was sooo good.
esp. when coming from the n64 and dreamcast.

Onimusha wasn't a launch title. I had already beaten all of my PS2 launch titles by the time that came out...was under a year after launch though, if memory serves.

 

[SolidQ]

I'm remember, when was blown away with FFX and MGS2 graphics, gameplay, even PC graphic until Crysis wasn't impressive for me. Now we have X86 and there no hidden potential, all same and boring

 

[Team Andromeda]

Of course it was ... OG Xbox was so much better. I found the original PS1 console to be one of the few consoles to actually live up to the hype.

 

[Kacho]

No. But we don’t need to humor marketing nonsense years later when the PS2 was stacked with banger after banger after banger. Wish we could go back to those days when consoles were irresistible.

 

[Griffon]

One year later the Gamecube was capable of doing much of the same things without having to do rocket-science on the CPU cores.

The PS2 was an over-engineered POS to work on. It had an amazing fill-rate, but it was nothing but a tech dead-end and everyone knew it.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

Onimusha wasn't a launch title. I had already beaten all of my PS2 launch titles by the time that came out...was under a year after launch though, if memory serves.

At that time the release was double, although Onimusha was 1 year old compared to Japan, in North America it was only 4 months after the release.