Backwards Compatibility

The original Sony Playstation was a huge hit across the globe and has an extensive library of quality game titles to choose from. When Sony released the Playstation 2 game console, it became one of the first in history to introduce backwards compatibility to prior generation game software.

The Playstation 2 is a much more powerful gaming machine than the original Playstation. In addition to backwards compatibility, Sony also included the ability to make improvements in performance on original Playstation software. The performance enhancing features are not enabled by default; they have to be manually selected in the menu before inserting your Playstation game. However, no need to worry, as these performance enhancing features will not have any effect on Playstation 2 software.

Changing the Settings

Sony made two improvements to the Playstation driver (the program responsible for loading original Playstation software). To access the menu where these enhancements can be enabled, perform the following steps:

1. Power on your Playstation 2 console without a game title loaded. When completed, the Playstation 2 menu will appear.
2. Press the triangle button on your Playstation 2 controller.
3. Highlight "Playstation Driver" using the directional buttons on your controller.
4. Once highlighted, press the triangle button on your controller.
   

Once inside the menu, the two options that you can modify are shown

- disc speed and texture mapping.

Disc Speed

The DVD-ROM drive in your Playstation 2 can read discs much faster than the original Playstation CD-ROM drive. Selecting the "fast" setting shortens the load times in many Playstation titles. In some games, the wait times are reduced by more than 50%.

On occasion, this setting could cause certain titles to lock up during game play. If this is the case with the game you're playing, change this back to the "standard" setting. Remember, save often to avoid losing your place in the game!

Texture Mapping

The graphics processing in the Playstation 2 is also much faster the original Playstation's graphics processing capability. Selecting the "smooth" setting will alleviate much of the blocky and rough appearance of many original Playstations 3D titles. Note that not all games will appear different with this setting enabled.

This setting should not make game titles lock up during game play, but if you experience difficulty with a particular game title return this setting to "standard."

Values Are Not Saved!

Playstation 2 resets the above values to the default settings anytime the reset switch is pressed, or the console is powered off. If you want the enhancements, unfortunately you have to modify these settings each time you wish to play a Playstation title.

The enhancements can be slight for some titles, while extreme for others. Experiment with your game titles to discover which ones really benefit by these enhancements.