PlayStation 2 game development on any console?

Question

I'm interested in creating software/games for Sony PlayStation 2 consoles since they contain powerful processors for graphics (GPUs), floating-point calculations and general CPU.

I have acquired a PS2 console and its PS2 SDK v3.07 which, supposedly came with the PS2 Dev Kit (which costs $8,000). I don't have the PS2 Dev Kit console though.

Can I use my ordinary PS2 console, to develop native programs and games? Will I require that special PS2 which comes with the PS2 Dev Kit or can I re-program my PS2 to behave that way? I don't mind lack of debugging features as long as I can write code and get it to run on the PS2!

Also, is the PS2 supplied with the PS2 Dev Kit a special one with extra/different hardware? Or just a different OS in order to have debugging facilities etc?

Here's whats I got in the PS2 SDK:

• PlayStation 2 Programmer Tool Tool Chain EE 3.2-ee-030926
• PlayStation 2 Programmer Tool Runtime Library Release 3.0.2
• PlayStation 2 Programmer Tool Runtime Library NTGUI package Release 3.0
• PlayStation 2 CD/DVD-Rom Generator 1.5
• PlayStation 2 CD/DVD-Rom Generator 2.0
• ProDG for PlayStation 2
• License for ProDG tools (PlayStation 2)
• License for ProDG Target Manager & ProDG NDK Analyzer
• GCC ee 3.2 ee Cygwin
• Hardware Docs (eg. Instruction Set Manual, User Guide, etc)

Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

Install Linux on your PS2 and then target PS2 Linux, similar to Red Hat Linux 6.

The documentation with this Linux kit will give all the same information about the PS2 hardware that Sony provides its licensed game developers, full details on the PS2's proprietary Emotion Engine core instruction set, the Graphic Synthesizer, and the Vector Processing Units. ~ Opening Up the PlayStation 2 with Linux

Begin at the PlayStation 2 Developer Network by Sony.

Answer 2

I think that this article on linuxdevcenter.com covers everything you are asking about and more.

Good Luck!