March 2, 2007
Europe can't be happy. And with good reason. Less than a month before the release of the PlayStation 3 across the Atlantic, Sony has announced that Europeans will be getting a watered-down version of the PS3.
The PS3-Euro (that's not the official name, by the way) will be missing the Emotion Engine, the chip behind the PlayStation 2. Experts anticipate that this move will help Sony cut prices in the long term. Of course, this means that backward compatibility will be suckier on these machines than on the PS3s sold in the US and Japan because it will have to be done through software emulation.
According to Sony, more than 1,000 PS2 titles will be playable at launch, and the company will be releasing regular PS3 firmware updates that will consistently add to that number. Unfortunately, there's no mention of what those 1,000 titles will be, and the site that will be listing those games doesn't go live till March 23. Which, of course, is the day the console will be releasing.
Posted by: Cathy Lu
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Comments
Posted by Sniper on March 2, 2007 :
You're an idiot. People are not buying a PS3 for old games anyway.
"this means that backward compatibility will be suckier on these machines than on the PS3s sold in the US and Japan" You're making it sound like the PS3-US version is just as bad.
Posted by Magoo on March 2, 2007 :
If I want to play PS2 games I'll switch on my PS2. Who really cares? I mean is it really that important?
Posted by james on March 2, 2007 :
why do you need backward compatibility though? and xbox 360 has hardly any backward compatibility, so stop giving the ps3 a hard time!
Posted by Matt on March 2, 2007 :
Dispite the above comments, backwards compatibility is huge. Look at Playstation 2 for example... it benefitted largely due to backwards compatibility. Plus, it was probably a much easier sell for kids to convince their parents, who spent loads of money on PS1 stuff to get a new console.
Not to mention the library of games that the average PS2 owner has would really like an easy transition to a new system. Not having 20 wires to switch for each new game.
Granted, my examples are extreme, but real. Nintendo is an example of a company who suffered from lack of compatibilty....look at them now after making it an option.
Consumer confidence in Sony is probably at an all time low. Playstation 3's are sitting on shelves unsold. Now is not the time to irritate one of their larger markets.
Posted by Phil on March 2, 2007 :
Phil Harrison on backwards compatibility
“Backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices — PSOne, PS2, and now PS3.”
Posted by roger mellie on March 2, 2007 :
This is a very expensive and albeit very advanced console, but people were led to believe they could still run the best the PS2 can offer. I know Ico, SOTC, Okami, RE4, FFXII, etc are last-gen, but it’s going to be a while before anything on the PS3 matches these titles. I’ve been playing HD games on the PC for years and I still play these low-res games. And no, I don’t want a pile of consoles and cables under my television thank you. That’s why Sony championed the whole idea of backwards compatibility in the first place and raised expectations for people like myself.
For early adopters and the huge amount of cash they’re asking, it’s not unreasonable to know if you’re old favourites are still going to work before making a purchase. People have reacted badly to the vague press release due to the perception of getting inferior backwards compatibility. This is compounded with issue of the other countries receiving a better version that costs less.
And for the record, Sony seems to
Posted by roger mellie on March 2, 2007 :
Sony have changed their stance on backwards compatibility:-
“[The PS3 will have] almost perfect backwards compatibility. There will be some exceptions, but we believe those will be even less than we saw from PSOne to PS2.”
Posted by Woody on March 2, 2007 :
wow the person who wrote that article isn't too bright..........It is really amazing how far out of the loop some people are when it comes to gaming, but they write articles like they what they are talking about.
Posted by billytech on March 2, 2007 :
In a nutshell...It was advertised to be backwards compatible. It was built and sold as backwards compatible - (For less money) - In other parts of the world. AFTER accepting preorders for the unit advertised - They took out necessary parts to make it LESS than they had offered elsewhere, at a substantially HIGHER PRICE.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE BUYING.People in the states can buy PS2 games and play them dirt cheap, since the available titles for the PS3 are so limited. You don't have that choice.It may be wise to wait for some decent titles. I wouldn't have got one for the current game lineup.SEND A MESSAGE TO SONY...AFTER ALL...YOUR PAYING FOR THE EXTRAS INSTALLED IN THE US AND JAPANESE CONSOLES.
Posted by billytech on March 2, 2007 :
In a nutshell...It was advertised to be backwards compatible. It was built and sold as backwards compatible - (For less money) - In other parts of the world. AFTER accepting preorders for the unit advertised - They took out necessary parts to make it LESS than they had offered elsewhere, at a substantially HIGHER PRICE.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE BUYING.People in the states can buy PS2 games and play them dirt cheap, since the available titles for the PS3 are so limited. You don't have that choice.It may be wise to wait for some decent titles. I wouldn't have got one for the current game lineup.SEND A MESSAGE TO SONY...AFTER ALL...YOUR PAYING FOR THE EXTRAS INSTALLED IN THE US AND JAPANESE CONSOLES.
Posted by PS3 on March 2, 2007 :
I have preordered a PS3 and although the problem may seem annoying, what's wrong with having a PS3 AND a PS2 under the TV - Just play all your PS2 games on the PS2 and you will be able to play with vibration then as well!
Ok, it is annoying having 2 consoles under your TV, but I assure you I would much rather play a PS2 game on a PS2 as the PS3 has no vibration!!!
Robbie
Posted by Nate on March 3, 2007 :
Its always funny to read forms like this cause have the people love the article and the other half hate it. Then you all try to aurgue your points like your going to change someones mind..... hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
Posted by David Knowles on March 3, 2007 :
Not really a problem sony emulation software will mean most if not all the games will be playable by the end of the year.
And most of the major games will probably be playable the start off.
Really not a big problem, but at the moment it bash Sony time.
What worst is not that they are removing the emotion, but that they are still charging us Europeans more generally than Americans and Japanese, in effect we are subsidizing American and Japanese gamers, which unfair.
Posted by James H. on March 4, 2007 :
As an owner of an American PS3 I've got to tell you that most PS2 games I own look terrible on the PS3.. and I mean absolutely awful. I've had no problem with compatibility but visually there is something horribly wrong with the way PS3 displays a PS2 image. This new rev may be a good thing, as with emulation you could make the games look better and I doubt it will have the same display issues the the American one has. And no, it's not the cables, tv or any other hardware issue and is easily reproduced on other PS3s.
Posted by Sil on March 4, 2007 :
I was worried at first but then I thought, 'so bleedin what, who cares'!!
If it plays Final Fantasy 12, Buzz, Guitar Hero then I'll be happy. If not, there's a bunch of excellent games for the PS3 with more on the way. Give us a break and stop whining on about the 'crazy, evil, out of touch Sony'
psplaytime.blogspot.com/
Posted by Joseph Smith on March 7, 2007 :
Obviously, they're only going to release the list of compatible games at launch day, so that people aren't aware of it during the pre-orders period...
Sony marketing department really knows how to fuck their potential customers.
Posted by Joseph Smith on March 7, 2007 :
David Knowles said:
> Not really a problem sony emulation software will mean most if not all the games will be playable by the end of the year.
Well, according to what sony said, backwards compatibility won't be something they'll work much on. Read this:
www.arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070223-8912.html
Posted by sonic on March 14, 2007 :
Damn Sony to hell! Bring back Sega
Posted by PS3 MASTER on March 21, 2007 :
Just so all you idiots out there who think the ps3 backwards compatibility games list site isnt open your wrong i went on it just now. It has a huge list of games that the ps3 can play and it tells you if thier will be anyh glitches with the game. Most of them have no glitches.
The creative stuff we come across that we've just got to share (rather than simply getting on with creating Digital Arts magazine)
