Introduction
Welcome to our page dedicated to PS2 reverse engineering! The PlayStation 2 was a gaming console released by Sony in 2000, and has since become a beloved classic of the gaming world. If you’re interested in learning more about the technical aspects of this console and how it works, you’ve come to the right place.
On this page, we’ve compiled a list of links to other pages that cover various topics related to PS2 reverse engineering. Whether you’re interested in understanding the hardware architecture of the console, analyzing game code, or exploring the many mods and hacks that have been created by enthusiasts over the years, you’ll find a wealth of resources and information on the pages we’ve linked to.
So grab your DualShock controller, and get ready to dive into the exciting world of PS2 reverse engineering!
Game Software Development for the Sony Playstation 2
How long did it take to develop PS2 games back in the day?
In Postmortems from Game Developer, one LucasArts PlayStation 2 production released in February 2001 is described as taking 30 months to complete 1. At the height of production, the team had approximately 40 full-time developers 1.
The postmortem also provides a useful snapshot of a relatively large early-PS2 production:
- Schedule - 30 months of development
- Team size - Approximately 40 full-time developers at peak production
- Project scale - 301,000 lines of code, including internal tools
- Development hardware - 700MHz Pentium III PCs with 256MB of RAM, GeForce 256 graphics cards, and dedicated PS2 tools
- Software stack - Windows 2000, Microsoft Visual C++, Metrowerks for PS2, 3D Studio Max, Softimage, Photoshop, Bryce, Visual SourceSafe, Perl, AfterEffects, and Premiere
- Specialized technology - The Eve level design tool, Miles Sound System, ObjectSpace STL, Macromedia/Secret Level Flash, and Planet Blue’s Tulip for prerendered cut-scene lip-syncing
Hardware
Similar to the original PlayStation the PS2 used a MIPS processor but this time it was 64 bit and codenamed the Emotion Engine, along with 2 custom vector processors. Although the PS2 has a much more modern GPU design compared to the PS1, the actual transformation of the vertices were still being process by the CPU core rather than the GPU 2.
The main components of the PS2 hardware were:
- Emotion Engine (EE) - (64 bit MIPS processor + 2 vector processors)
- Graphics Synthesiser (GS) - 4MB with features such as Z-buffer, trilinear texturing and Gourard shading 2
- Sound Processor (SPU2) - 48-Channel sound chip
- Image processing Unit (IPU) - Decodes MPEG2 streams
Console security
Modern Vintage Gamer explains how PlayStation 2 security was defeated. It is a platform-specific introduction to the protection mechanisms that homebrew and research tools had to work around.
Retail Hardware
For an in-depth look at the PlayStation 2 Retail hardware architecture check out the excellent post by Copetti.org:
What were the specs of the PS2?
Display Specs:
- Supports 480p progressive
- MPEG-2 Full Motion Video (FMV)
Sound Specs:
- Dolby pro logic 2 (5.1 Surround sound)
- DTS
- Streaming Audio
Max Game Specs Per frame:
- 120,000 and 6,000 tris
- 3Mb of Textures
- Frame rate of 30 or 60fps
Emotion Engine
The Emotion Engine was used for Game Logic and had the following:
- 32MB RAM
- MIPS 59k CPU
Graphic Synthesiser (GS)
Used for rendering and vertex transformation:
- 4MB RAM
- 2.4 GPixel/sec
- Support for Mip-mapping and alpha blending
- Texture formats: 32/24/16/8/4
I/O Processor (IOP)
Used for Interaction with peripherals (Memory cards, usb devices, Networking, Audio, DVD etc)
- 2MB RAM (8MB on a devkit)
- Playstation 1 on a chip (used for playing PS1 games)
- 36.9 Mhz
Serial Interface (SIF)
The Serial Interface (SIF) is used to Interface between the Emotion Engine (EE) and the I/O processor (IOP)
- SIFDMA - transfer memory to other processor
- CIFCMD - run a command on the other processor such as setting flags
- SIFRPC - run remote operations on the other processor, includes a return value
Example of SIF in action
An example of using the SIF to communicate between both processors is the controller pad libraries. We want to communicate between libpad.a which runs on the Emotion Engine and padman.irx which runs on the I/O Processor. So during the VBlank period the IOP Padman.irx uses SIFDMA to send controller information (such as which buttons are pressed) to the Emotion Engine. The Emotion Engine can then request this information by calling the API scePadRead
Development Hardware
The hardware used to develop PlayStation 2 games was similar but had an increase in memory along with a few debugging features. The details are covered in a separate post:
Later in the PS2’s lifetime SN Systems released a specific development kit for developing online multiplayer PS2 games compatible with the PS2 Modem called the Network Development Kit (NDK).
Third Party Hardware
PlayStation 2 Olympus Eye-Trek FMD-20
Olympus managed to get an official license for “VR goggles” specifically for the PS2 which were supposed to simulate a 52 inch tv floating in front of your eyes. Sounds like a great idea for a cheaper large screen tv without taking all the space, however prolonged use did cause headaches due to only having 180k pixels per eye, much lower than modern VR headsets.
Review from PSi2 magazine issue 18:
Games
What would the Sony Playstation 2 be without its excellent line-up of games? It was huge line up of third party games that attracted many people away from the Nintendo Gamecube and Microsoft Xbox.
Playstation 2 Games with Debug Symbols
An excellent way to start reverse engineering is to find games where the developers accidentally left the Debug symbols in the retail release of the game. This was surprisingly common in early PS2 games as the SDK didn’t remove them when building the final executables. These gives you access to all the original function and variables names that were used in the retail source code so are very valuable for reversers!
Playstation 2 Demos with Debug Symbols
Playstation 2 Exclusives
The most valuable reverse engineering projects tend to be the platform exclusives that have never been re-released as these are the games that can benefit the most from enhancements on modern hardware.
Wikipedia maintains a list of games exclusive to the Playstation 2 - PlayStation 2-only games - Wikipedia
Matching Decompilation Research
The Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 project reconstructs readable source for the USA PS2 executables and checks rebuilt executables against retail SHA-1 hashes. Unfinished functions use assembly extracted from the original executable, so a matching build is not evidence that all code has been recovered. The project explicitly describes itself as research, not a playable port, and requires the user’s own game files 3.
ChronicleTwo reconstructs Dark Chronicle, also known as Dark Cloud 2. Its documented PAL build checks the rebuilt executable against retail and supports objdiff comparisons; a separate native-port target is also provided. These build targets should not be confused with an independently verified completion or full-game compatibility claim. The build requires the user’s own PAL disc image 4.
Static Recompilation Projects
Static recompilation translates game code ahead of time for a different host processor. It does not by itself establish a completed matching decompilation or remove the need to reproduce console hardware behavior.
God Hand
LasVola’s God Hand Recompiled uses PS2Recomp to translate the main executable to C++, with function names and boundaries from LucasPicoli’s god-hand-decomp project.
Its README reports side-by-side testing with a real PS2 through stage 2 and part of stage 3. Later stages, final bosses and the ending remain untested in the documented progress report.
The project requires the user’s own USA disc image and includes no game data 5.
Gran Turismo 4
The moesuito GT4Recomp fork, forked from Kaezzey’s project, documents ahead-of-time translation of Emotion Engine code and VU0/VU1 microprograms to native code. Graphics use the PCSX2 GSdx renderer in a separate process, while other PS2 hardware behavior is reproduced in software. This is a hybrid recompilation, not a claim of zero emulation 6.
The maintainers report full-speed 60 FPS in their tested scenes, but long sessions, some graphics features and broader GPU coverage remain incompletely tested. Setup requires the user’s own Gran Turismo 4 USA v2.00 disc image (SCUS-97328); the repository does not provide game files 6.
Software Development Kits
Official Software development kit
The Official Software development kit was developed by a partnership between SN Systems who are known for excellent 3rd party development kits and the Game Studio Psygnosis who are known for excellent quality games.
Emotion Engine Static Libraries
The Playstation 2 Software Development kit included various statically compiled libraries that could be optionally included in your games, these ranged from vital (gcc runtime) to optional such as Multi-tap support.
Emotion Engine Relocatable Executable (.ERX) Files
This was a newer format introduced by Sony which can be used to provide patches for online PS2 games according to a GDC advert from Metrowerks Codewarrior 7.
IOP Relocatable Executable Executable (.IRX) Files
Consumer Development Kits
Playstation 2 Linux
Similar to how the PS1 had Net Yaroze for consumers to develop small games for the Playstation, the PS2 had special software that ran a build of Linux. The software ran on consumer PS2 models and came with a PS2 hard-drive.
Homebrew PS2 Software Development Kits
Athena - Javascript on the PS2
Athena is an environment that acts as a native PS2 program (written in C) which embeds a modified version of the QuickJS engine to interpret and run JavaScript code on the console.
JSLegendDev has a good video covering the basic of the engine, showing how to show a 2D Sonic sprite, move it around with the controller and text rendering:
Creative Software used to create PS2 Games
3D Studio Max
3D Studio Max and Character Studio was used by Runecraft software to develop games such as Premier manager on the PS28.
We have a separate post on 3D Studio Max which you can find below:
Photoshop - industry standard for PS2 Texturing
Photoshop was used by Runecraft software to develop games such as Premier manager on the PS2. In issue 20 of PSi2 magazine there is an interview with Mark Edwards from Runecraft where he talks about using Photoshop for Premier manager on the PS2 along with a low-resolution screenshot you can see below 8:
Game Engines for the PS2
Before Unity and the modern Unreal Engine dominated the scene it was common for developers to create their own in-house game engine, or license a third party engine such as Renderware.
Brainstorm by BeyondGames (in-house)
In issue 20 of PSi2 an interview with Clark Stacey revealed that they have an in-house game engine called Brainstorm which was used for racing games such as Motor Mayhem and Hot Wheels 8. It also mentioned that it in theory has support for other genres of games such as platformers and that it has built in networking support.
Merkury engine by Krome Studios (in-house)
Krome Studios used the Merkury Engine for many of its own titles, particularly on the PS2 and other last-generation systems:
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (2002) - The first in the franchise and a flagship Merkury title.
- Sunny Garcia Surfing (2001) - Credited engine programmers in the manual.
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Jet Fusion (2003) - Confirmed via file analysis.
- King Arthur (2004)
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue (2004)
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan (2005)
- The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (2006) - Developed by Krome for the PS2, Xbox, GameCube, and GBA.
- The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007) - Developed by Krome for the PS2 and Wii.
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008) - The PS2, PSP, and Wii versions were custom-built by Krome using Merkury.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes (2009) - Included a PS2 version.
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) - The PS2 and Wii versions were developed by Krome Studios.
If you are interested in learning more we have a specific post about the Merkury engine:
Static Recompilation for the Browser
PS2 Web Recomp translates a game’s Emotion Engine executable into C++ ahead of time, then compiles it to WebAssembly. Its browser runtime handles the remaining PS2 operating system and hardware services, including graphics through WebGPU. The project documents Gran Turismo 4 and God of War II as working examples, with users supplying their own disc images.
The repository’s How it works section explains how the recompiler handles R5900 instructions and how the runtime handles the I/O processor and vector units. This is a toolkit and runtime for game-specific browser builds rather than a matching decompilation of either example game.
Executable Overlays and Loadable Segments
A disc file containing code may be a separate executable or a raw overlay rather than part of the boot program. The decomp.wtf PS2 importer reads executable ELF program headers to obtain the file offsets and virtual addresses of executable loadable segments 9.
Prefer those declared mappings over a guessed base, then verify how the game loads them. The importer excludes relocatable I/O processor modules from this path; these need the IRX module workflow rather than being treated as an Emotion Engine executable. For headerless code, the raw-overlay example explains how call targets can suggest a base and why loader verification is still needed.
All Posts
On 1st November 2020 CAPCOM was targeted by known hacker group RagnarLeaks and some source code and private data was leaked to the dark web.
This post will only cover source code that was found in the leak, we only...
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This post will cover the programming libraries that were provided by the Official PS2 SDK for the Emotion Engine (the main processor for the PS2).
Main Emotion Engine SDK libraries These are the essential libraries that games could not function...
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This page is dedicated to listing Playstation 2 Demo Discs that contain developer debug symbols, either embedded inside the executable or as separate .map or .sym files.
It was much more common for PS2 debug symbols to be leaked on...
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PS2 Official Software development Kit by Sony Last known version: 3.1.0 1 First known version: 0.3.0 2 Updates were provided to licenced PlayStation developers on ps2-pro.com, where the update contained just the files that have changed and could be dropped... ...
This post covers the hardware used to develop Playstation 2 games by major studios back in the day, for the software side see the post on the Official PS2 SDK.
{% include_cached link-to-other-post.html post=”/ps2-official-sdk” description=”For the software side of the...
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Debug symbols are normally a rare treasure sought by reverse engineers from prototypes and beta versions of games, however in the early years of the PS2 it was common for debug symbols to be left in the retail version of... ...
History of the SN Systems NDK for PS2 First mentioned on the official SN Systems website on the 10th November 2000 the PS2 Network Development Kit (NDK) was a software development tool that allowed developers to add online networking features... ...
Introduction On the 21st August 2021 the full source code to the classic GTA clone staring The Simpsons was released online.
This included both the C++ source code plus the editable asset files in Maya format!
This post will cover...
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Introduction If you are interested in the Playstation 2, especially reversing or developing games for it, you will eventually come across files with the .IRX extension.
What are IRX Files?
IOP Relocatable eXecutable (IRX) are the library files that you...
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Magazine Interviews
The magazine index collects developer interviews tagged for this system across all indexed magazines.
| Magazine | Issue | Pages | Developer | Platforms | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retro Gamer | 2 | p. 91 | BigBoy | Sega Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 | The emulator author discusses DreamSpec and DC64, including hardware differences that affect emulator development. |
| Retro Gamer | 30 | pp. 72-75 | Steve Ellis | Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2 | The Desert Island Disks profile covers Ellis’s GoldenEye multiplayer work and Free Radical Design. |
| Retro Gamer | 48 | pp. 38-43 | Keith Ramsdale and other EA staff | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii | Interview about Electronic Arts in the 2000s, part three. |
| Retro Gamer | 108 | pp. 44-45 | Akira Yamaoka | PlayStation 2 | The composer discusses the sound and music of Silent Hill 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 115 | p. 32 | Stuart Ross | Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2 | The composer discusses music for Body Harvest and Grand Theft Auto. |
| Retro Gamer | 117 | pp. 66-71 | Andy Gavin | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | The Naughty Dog co-founder recounts the studio’s early games and development. |
| Retro Gamer | 122 | pp. 58-63 | Brian Baglow and Alan Campbell | PlayStation 2, PC | The DMA Design contributors revisit the development of Grand Theft Auto III. |
| Retro Gamer | 129 | pp. 70-77 | Martin Edmondson | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | Edmondson discusses the development of the Driver series. |
| Retro Gamer | 142 | pp. 80-87 | David Jaffe and Michael Riccio | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | The developers discuss the making and evolution of Twisted Metal. |
| Retro Gamer | 144 | p. 72 | Matthew Rhoades | PlayStation 2 | The writer and designer discusses the open-world design of Spider-Man 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 156 | pp. 20-29 | Yu Suzuki, Steve Lycett and Out Run developers | Arcade, Master System, Mega Drive, PlayStation 2 | Developers discuss the creation and evolution of the Out Run series. |
| Retro Gamer | 165 | pp. 86-89 | Alex Ward | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Ward explains Criterion’s development of Black. |
| Retro Gamer | 170 | pp. 20-25 | Hiroaki Kato | PlayStation 2 | Kato discusses the design and development of Final Fantasy XII. |
| Retro Gamer | 172 | pp. 76-83 | Chris Cross | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | The lead designer discusses the making and legacy of the Medal of Honor series. |
| Retro Gamer | 177 | p. 50 | Andreas Axelsson | PlayStation 2 | Axelsson discusses programming games for the PlayStation 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 178 | pp. 76-81 | Paul Hughes | PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube | Hughes recalls founding Warthog Games and developing its varied catalogue. |
| Retro Gamer | 182 | pp. 80-85 | Ron Festejo, Pete Marshall and Eric Matthews | PlayStation 2 | The original team recalls developing EyeToy: Play. |
| Retro Gamer | 185 | pp. 78-83 | Richard Ham | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSP | The designer recalls the development and growth of the Syphon Filter series. |
| Retro Gamer | 185 | pp. 86-89 | Sohei Niikawa | PlayStation 2 | Niikawa explains the creation of Disgaea. |
| Retro Gamer | 187 | pp. 68-71 | Jason Falcus and Darren Falcus | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PC | The brothers discuss founding Atomic Planet and developing its games. |
| Retro Gamer | 187 | pp. 84-89 | Chun Wah Kong and The Getaway developers | PlayStation 2 | The lead designer and team revisit the development of The Getaway. |
| Retro Gamer | 190 | pp. 84-87 | Jonny Watts and Frontier developers | PlayStation 2 | The team recalls developing Dog’s Life. |
| Retro Gamer | 192 | pp. 88-89 | Cord Smith and Ted Kim | PlayStation 2 | The producer and artist discuss Pseudo Interactive’s cancelled Vectorman reboot. |
| Retro Gamer | 193 | pp. 84-87 | Scott Pease | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Pease recalls Neversoft’s development of the western action game Gun. |
| Retro Gamer | 194 | pp. 18-27 | Alex Ward and Burnout developers | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Criterion developers revisit the creation of Burnout 3: Takedown. |
| Retro Gamer | 194 | pp. 84-87 | Michael Field and John Botti | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Black Ops Entertainment staff recall developing The X-Files: Resist or Serve. |
| Retro Gamer | 198 | pp. 78-83 | Elisabeth Pellen and Nathalie Moschetti-Nogard | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube | The writer and art director discuss adapting the comic XIII into a shooter. |
| Retro Gamer | 199 | pp. 90-95 | François Coulon | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox | Coulon recalls developing the original Splinter Cell. |
| Retro Gamer | 203 | pp. 80-83 | Paul Ranson | PC, PlayStation 2 | Ranson reflects on Aqua Pacific and its game development work. |
| Retro Gamer | 206 | pp. 66-67 | Justin Leeper | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 | Leeper explains how he wrote storylines for the WWE SmackDown vs Raw games. |
| Retro Gamer | 206 | pp. 70-75 | Kazuma Kujo | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 | The creator discusses the development of the Disaster Report series. |
| Retro Gamer | 209 | pp. 76-79 | Kaname Fujioka | PlayStation 2 | Fujioka explains how Capcom created the original Monster Hunter. |
| Retro Gamer | 210 | pp. 18-27 | Mick West, Joel Jewett, Alan Flores and Barry Morales | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | Neversoft staff revisit the design and production of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games. |
| Retro Gamer | 212 | pp. 74-77 | Greg LoPiccolo and Eric Brosius | PlayStation 2 | Harmonix developers recall the songs, controller and game design of the first Guitar Hero. |
| Retro Gamer | 213 | pp. 18-27 | Jordan Mechner and Patrice Désilets | PlayStation 2, PC | The designers revisit Ubisoft’s reboot Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. |
| Retro Gamer | 214 | pp. 82-87 | Sam Barlow | PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii | The Climax writer and designer recounts reinventing Silent Hill for Origins and Shattered Memories. |
| Retro Gamer | 214 | pp. 90-97 | Mike Archer | PlayStation 2, Xbox | Archer reflects on his work overseeing wrestling videogames at Acclaim and WWE. |
| Retro Gamer | 215 | pp. 82-85 | David Perry | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC | Perry revisits Shiny Entertainment’s ambitious film tie-in Enter the Matrix. |
| Retro Gamer | 216 | pp. 18-27 | Mark Cerny, Jez San, David Reeves and David Lau-Kee | PlayStation 2 | Engineers and developers revisit the PlayStation 2’s hardware and software development. |
| Retro Gamer | 216 | pp. 46-53 | Tim Schafer | PC, PlayStation 2 | Schafer discusses the design and development of his LucasArts and Double Fine games. |
| Retro Gamer | 216 | pp. 78-85 | Makoto Shibata and Keisuke Kikuchi | PlayStation 2 | Tecmo’s creators revisit the first three Project Zero games. |
| Retro Gamer | 218 | pp. 88-95 | David Doak and Free Radical Design developers | PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox | The team revisits the creation and evolution of the TimeSplitters series. |
| Retro Gamer | 220 | pp. 86-89 | Patrick Lipo and Tom Odell | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox | Raven designers recall making the action role-playing game X-Men Legends. |
| Retro Gamer | 221 | pp. 78-83 | Craig Hubbard and Jeff Orkin | PC, PlayStation 2 | Monolith staff revisit the design and AI of No One Lives Forever and its sequel. |
| Retro Gamer | 222 | pp. 84-89 | Richard Rouse III | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox | Rouse discusses the design and development of The Suffering games. |
| Retro Gamer | 223 | pp. 20-29 | Chris Foster, Matt Omernick and other Star Wars game developers | PC, Xbox, PlayStation 2 | Developers revisit the design of Star Wars games including Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Outcast and Battlefront. |
| Retro Gamer | 223 | pp. 90-97 | Jason Wiggin, Eric DeMilt, David Maldonado and Jon Hales | PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube | Black Isle and Snowblind veterans discuss developing the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games. |
| Retro Gamer | 224 | pp. 86-89 | James Shephard and Julian Rex | PlayStation 2 | The creators discuss developing the horror adventure Ghosthunter. |
| Retro Gamer | 225 | p. 24 | Paul Gardner | GameCube, PlayStation 2, PSP | Gardner answers questions about developing Super Monkey Ball Adventure. |
| Retro Gamer | 225 | pp. 82-89 | Greg LoPiccolo, Marc Flury, Simon Flesser and Ryan Clark | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PC | Developers trace the creation and evolution of rhythm-action games. |
| Retro Gamer | 227 | pp. 78-83 | Tetsuya Mizuguchi and Jake Kazdal | Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 | The developers explain the design, visuals and music of Rez. |
| Retro Gamer | 227 | pp. 86-89 | Emmanuel Valdez, Chris Ulm, Paul O'Connor and Farzad Varahramyan | PlayStation 2, Xbox | High Moon staff revisit creating the supernatural shooter Darkwatch. |
| Retro Gamer | 228 | pp. 86-89 | Hudson Piehl, Jason Epps and Scott Evans | PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox | Developers revisit The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. |
| Retro Gamer | 228 | pp. 92-97 | Tim Schafer | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox | Schafer discusses creating Psychonauts and returning to its world for the sequel. |
| Retro Gamer | 229 | pp. 90-95 | Bret Robbins and Arcadia Kim | PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, PC | EA developers explain how they adapted The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. |
| Retro Gamer | 230 | pp. 68-73 | Scott Henshaw | PlayStation 2 | Henshaw recounts the design and development of SSX. |
| Retro Gamer | 231 | pp. 62-67 | Tim Schafer, Scott Campbell and James Spafford | PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 4 | Double Fine staff reflect on the studio’s games and development history. |
| Retro Gamer | 231 | pp. 80-85 | David Jaffe, Terry Smith and Steve Caterson | PlayStation 2 | Santa Monica Studio developers revisit the creation of the first God of War. |
| Retro Gamer | 232 | pp. 48-55 | Ed Annunziata and Mihály Sáránszki | Mega Drive, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2 | Developers trace the design and evolution of the Ecco The Dolphin games. |
| Retro Gamer | 232 | pp. 86-91 | Christopher Mitchell, Nigel Brooke and Steve Bocska | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC | The Radical Entertainment team revisits The Simpsons: Hit & Run. |
| Retro Gamer | 233 | pp. 18-29 | Nicky Place, Rob Francis, David Jefferies, Karl Jones and Nick Roberts | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation Vita | Developers and artists trace the evolution of the WipEout series. |
| Retro Gamer | 233 | pp. 78-81 | Alan Lawrance | PC, PlayStation 2 | The Volition designer explains Red Faction and its destructible environments. |
| Retro Gamer | 234 | pp. 64-71 | Martin Edmondson | PlayStation, PlayStation 2 | Edmondson traces the design and technical development of the Driver series. |
| Retro Gamer | 240 | pp. 66-73 | Jason Epps, Scott Krotz, Sam Barlow and Robert Atkins | PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PC | Former developers trace the design and troubled production of the Legacy Of Kain games. |
| Retro Gamer | 240 | pp. 84-91 | Takuma Endo | PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii | Acquire’s president reflects on the studio’s game catalogue and development history. |
| Retro Gamer | 241 | pp. 86-91 | John Hodskinson | PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC | The lead programmer recounts creating Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. |
| Retro Gamer | 244 | pp. 78-83 | Hiroyuki Kawano, Yoshiyuki Tanaka and Masaharu Oomori | Arcade, PlayStation 2 | Dimps developers revisit the art, combat system and production of The Rumble Fish games. |
| Retro Gamer | 247 | pp. 20-29 | Steve Lycett, Phil Rankin and Pete Ellacott | Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, PC | Sumo Digital developers recount porting and extending Sega’s OutRun 2. |
| Retro Gamer | 248 | pp. 86-91 | Katsuyuki Kanetaka | PlayStation 2 | Kanetaka discusses developing Sony’s fireworks puzzle game Fantavision. |
| Retro Gamer | 249 | pp. 86-91 | Darren Chisum and Jeff Pidsadny | PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox | The designers chart the evolution of Rockstar’s Midnight Club racing games. |
| Retro Gamer | 250 | pp. 80-85 | Obbe Vermeij | PlayStation 2, PC, Xbox | Vermeij explains how Grand Theft Auto: Vice City grew from a planned GTA III add-on. |
| Retro Gamer | 251 | pp. 30-35 | Tim Longo | PlayStation 2, PC | The designer discusses developing Star Wars: Starfighter and Jedi Starfighter. |
References
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Postmortems from Game Developer (Austin Grossman, 2003) Page 299 ↩ ↩2
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20 Years of PlayStation®. Console development past and future - Unite Europe 2015 - YouTube ↩ ↩2
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Megami-Decomps, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 README, matching-build scope and assembly fallbacks, consulted 24 October 2026. ↩
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TheMoonPeople, ChronicleTwo README, PAL build, objdiff and native-port targets, consulted 24 October 2026. ↩
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LasVola, God Hand Recompiled README, progress, implementation and credits, consulted 24 October 2026. ↩
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moesuito, GT4Recomp README, implementation, performance, known issues and requirements, consulted 24 October 2026. ↩ ↩2