The PlayStation 2 Can Now Pretend It Is a Game Boy Advance, Because Apparently It Wasn't Busy Enough

Developer andymcca releases TempGBA-PS2, bringing Game Boy Advance emulation to modified PlayStation 2 consoles with audio patcher support and HDD loading.

The PlayStation 2 already has one of the largest game libraries ever assembled, but community developers have decided that several thousand games were insufficient. Developer andymcca has released TempGBA-PS2, bringing Game Boy Advance emulation to modified PS2 hardware, accompanied by the Ipatix Audio Patcher intended to improve sound behaviour.

The project allows compatible GBA software to run directly on Sony's 2000-era console through the established PS2 homebrew environment. An internal hard drive is recommended over USB storage, particularly for larger ROMs and smoother performance, reflecting one of the PlayStation 2's more charming technical oddities: its USB ports belong firmly to the era when broadband itself still sounded futuristic. Demonstrations have shown software including Pokémon projects operating through the emulator.

As with any emulation setup, users should supply legitimately obtained game data rather than treating the existence of an emulator as a complimentary ROM buffet. Technically, however, the release is another example of vintage systems becoming unexpectedly useful emulation platforms themselves. Most retro preservation discussions involve using modern PCs, FPGA devices or Android handhelds to recreate older consoles. TempGBA-PS2 instead asks whether a twenty-six-year-old console can preserve a twenty-five-year-old handheld, which is a wonderfully circular solution to technological ageing. Somewhere, a PlayStation 2 memory card is presumably wondering how this became its responsibility.