PS3 backwards compatibity promise
p2pnet.net news:- Backward compatibility with the PlayStation 2 was a major selling feature in the PS3 available in the US and Japan.
But, says Associated Press, “packing the machine with two expensive computer chips to play both PS2 and PS3 games has contributed to higher costs”.
And that, in turn, means European gamers will be playing second cousins to their North American and Japanese counterparts.
However, according to Phil Harrison, president of Sony worldwide studios, quoted on the company’s ThreeSpeech blog, “The situation is changing every day, but on March 23, we expect the list to include over 1,000 PS2 titles.”
The European PS3, slated to go on sale on March 23, won’t carry the chip for the PS2 and, “will rely on software to run PS2 games, saving money and making mass production easier by reducing the number of parts, Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Daisuke Nakata said Wednesday,” says AP. “She refused to say how much money will be saved.
“It’s still undecided whether future PS3 machines for Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere will be sold without the PS2 chip. The option is being considered, Nakata said.”
Meanwhile, “Yet again, a seemingly innocent press release from Sony – detailing the specification of the PAL territory PlayStation 3 – has been met with the reception you’d expect if the sky started falling in,” says ThreeSpeech.
“That, as we all know, is because it revealed that PAL (why is Sony still calling them PAL, since HDMI renders the whole concept of PAL, NTSC and Secam redundant?) PS3s will have had the Emotion Engine chips surgically removed from their motherboards, so backwards compatibility with PS2 games will be achieved via software emulation,” he says, going on:
“Sony’s decision to point consumers towards a website detailing which PS2 games will be playable on the PS3, but which won’t go live until March 23 also hardly made PlayStation enthusiasts feel any less unloved.”
But, “Almost as soon as the PS3 went on sale in Japan and the U.S., Sony acknowledged complaints that it wasn’t properly playing thousands of PS2 games. In some cases, the games didn’t work at all,” says AP. “In others, scenes froze or music wouldn’t play.
“Sony has been offering downloads to fix the problem, but not everything has been fixed, the company said. The decision to forgo the PS2 chip in the European model is yet another blow to the PS3, which has been plagued by production delays.”
AP observes Nintendo’s Wii is out of stock while the PS3 can still be found , adding, “One drawback to the PS3 is that at $499 and $599, it costs about twice as much as the Wii.”
Also See:
Associated Press – Sony limits PS3 compatibility in Europe, February 28, 2007
blog – Phil Harrison on backwards compatibility, March 1, 2007
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March 1st, 2007 at 10:27 am
You buy a PS3 to play PS3 games and bd movies not to play ps2 and ps1 games thats is they whole point of a New console and i will be getting mine on the 23rd of marh
March 1st, 2007 at 10:54 am
Only problem with your theory is that some people want to put away their old system to adopt the new. Also… it is a problem because Sony needs to stop lieing. They got on Microsoft for the 360 not being 100% compatible… now look at them. The PS3 in Europe might not even be able to support as much as what the 360 has now! Im not a fanboy for Microsoft… just tired of all the crap Sony kept on telling everyone about the PS3. Dual HDMI… 100% PS2 Compatibility… Exclusive Titles. So far… all of those have went up in smoke. If I bought the PS3 right away, and at least new about the compatibility and the exclusives… id be pissed right now for shelling out 200 more bucks than the 360. Sony is on a downhill spiral that is sending them into 3rd place. There are tons of PS3 available right now around me, and no one wants them. Trust me Europe… you may buy the PS3’s right away…. but in a year… you will wish you wouldnt had spent that money on it.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Some people might not own a PS2 and and to play PS2 titles, but don’t see the PS2s out now as a worthy investment seeing as PS2 games will be phased out soon. Backward compatibility lets the machine tap an existing market while the next one is building up. besides, I’m sure that there is still a big used market for PS1 titles, but the defective nature of the PlayStation consoles makes an optimal console less likely to be seen in the used market.