Crap! This post is so like many posts that I've made over the last half year! Oh well, the question still exists because no one has given me a decent answer.

Early PS3 models were backwards compatible with the PS2. Most PS3's aren't. PS4's aren't.
None of them are compatible with homebrew games unless you mod them.

The PS2 uses very quirky hardware - programing for it is extremely hard even for experts. It's an interesting learning exercise if you want to add "embedded programming on obscure hardware" to your resume... But it's not the best use of your time if your goal is to actually make games.

Not to mention that as a hobbyist, you wont have access to the official tools and documentation -- your job will be made harder by having to get by with whatever tools/docs the homebrew hacking scene have built for themselves.


Source code to EXE compilation is a one way process. If you don't have the source, you'll be starting from scratch.
If you're targetting the PS2 you'd probably be forced to start from scratch anyway due to how different it is, so maybe that's a good thing...

Why didn't you make a backup of your code back then?

The game itself looks like a version of Asteroids; this is a simple game that can be programmed over a week (or even a weekend) if you know your way around the target platform.

PS2 is very exotic for most of the indie programmers, since the official devkit required that you be a registered developer (and that required that you have a trackrecord of several games as well as a stable financed company).

If you want the maximum amount of people to be able to run your stuff, Win32 is still a very good platform. You can compile executables that run without any modifications from Windows 2000 (and even earlier) to the yet unreleased Windows 10, although supporting the old stuff limits you to old, now unsupported and/or deprecated features and runtimes. Windows 7 is a good legacy target nowadays.

platform specific code is nowadays very limited, most can be cross platform.

write your game on windows, linux or osx and once it's (nearly) done, you can for sure find ways to get a console's publishers attention. Sony has pub fund, MS has universal binaries, nintendo has also some indie support. it's easier nowadays than ever, but in all cases, make a game first.

If you want to proceed, you may find these tools helpful and can probably find some good resources by searching for "ps2/playstation 2 homebrew".

I would echo some of what has been said above though in that programming for ps2 may not get you get outcome you're hoping for -- it's unlikely ps3 or ps4 users would also be able to play your games.

What programming language(s) are you experienced with? We may be able to recommend some good alternatives for you that more closely suit your goal.

It's an interesting learning exercise if you want to add "embedded programming on obscure hardware" to your resume...

ooh! i've got that one on my resume! <g>

and yes, its largely a waste of time, unless you want to program for a chip company.

Unity and monogame support a much wider array of devices..

I argue you will be much better off deploying to mobile and losing ps2 support.

..unless ps2 is a goal for irrational reasons. And then i say, good luck.

To get things running on the PS2 you needed to get several different processors -- either four or six of them, it has been too many years -- to all run nicely together. Only one of them had a reasonable debugger.

Many professional studios were sent the dev kits, were sent the documentation, and then proceeded to spend several development months before being able to display simple graphics primitives. That is when they start with tutorials, with sample tools, with all the available documentation, and with support.

I'm curious; how come you don't want to work on the Dreamcast anymore?