Europe gets new PS3 hardware News

Backward compatibility: the great Red Herring of videogames.

HUUUULK SMAAAAASH!

This is what I was talking about in the Greek PS3 thread.. Geez, Sony. Shoot yourself in the face, why don't you.

BOYCOTT THE PS3!

Holy shit, this is exactly the sort of the story that'll ignite even more Sony backlash. If I saw this on a forum, I would have assumed it was made up!

I wonder if this makes my Jap PS3 that little bit more valuable :)

Well thats yet another string from their bow. Backwards compat isnt a red herring at all - I've played through and thoroughly enjoyed Knights of the Old Republic, Black and Halo 2 on my 360. I played PS1 games on my PS2.

Why Sony think it is a good idea to give us less than the US and Japan, for more money, is beyond me.

Donkeys.

I seriously doubt that the launch PS3 hardware in Europe will be different than the USA/JAP model.

Sony PS3' European launch is now:

The latest
The most expensive
Least Features

I hope the PS3 sinks Sony, I really do.

why?! is it cheaper to produce? i don't get it at all!

OMG! First it was the euro-delay, then came the euro-overpricing trend in some countries and now a euro stripped-down PS3?!!?!?! *explodes*

from GI.biz:

"The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as in the US and Japanese models," a Sony spokesperson told Reuters.

Although Sony has yet to detail the new specification fully, analyst Datamonitor suggests that a new PS3 model will feature a "new chassis" designed to bring manufacturing costs of the console down.

"By launching the PS3 in Europe with the new chassis, Sony has at a stroke removed one of the barriers to future price reductions"

So it's coming in a new, cheaper chassis (tho not a cheaper price point), and because of this, the back cat compatibility will be worse than the rest of the world?

I don't normally like to join the Sony bashing but that's a pretty fucked up move.

so to reduce cost sony has removed the ps2 chip from the ps3, now they will have to build a software solution emulator just like the 360, witch will suck. the fact that sony only announced this AFTER pre-orders have started is a VERY bad thing. people will not get what they have ordered. furthermore the fact that europe doens't get a cheaper ps3 than asia or the us, is also kind of a ripoff. i suspect the us and asian ps3 will get a hardware revision pretty soon to level the difference, way to go sony...

Everyone is seeing this as less features, if you thinbk about it, it probabkly means the games which are compatible, will have scaling, and look better. As long as the newer, or more popular, or best games are compatible, this is a better deal. Of course, that's a big if.

What is the extra hardware - a credit card reader so you get to pay extra each time you use the console?

/ rolls eyes.

@dadrester sony chose a hardware soluion for backward compatibility. basically a ps3 haD a ps2 build inside just for this purpose

ROTFPMSL Ha Ha The only plus I could put in the PS3 column was that'd it had guaranteed BC with my PS2 games now I thats on a equal footing I think the 360 is outright logical winner.

Then again I said to my brother "I can't decide over Wii or 360" his reply was "I want a PS3" my natural respose was "why?" ... "because it's Sony!" was the reply...

"BOYCOTT THE PS3!"

Get a life?

"By launching the PS3 in Europe with the new chassis, Sony has at a stroke removed one of the barriers to future price reductions, and providing it can make enough units available"

well that's me decided then... if it's not going to play all my PS2 games i'll just save my money and import a jap one for half the price... i'm planning a holiday there anyway so fuck it!

How can they even try justifying this! It's stupid! If Sony want people to be loyal to them, then they should be to us too! By removing full backwards compatibility they're giving PS2 owners another reason not to continue supporting Sony, they might as well buy a cheaper 360. Even worse is that they're announcing this now! People put down a deposit for pre-ordering a PS3 with full backwards compatibility, and at the last minute, they do this! How can they?!!

JMM, just let it go. ;)

Has no one even thought that a new chassis could mean less hardware problems too.

Something isn't right here. I await more factual information.

More money for less hardware and worse performance. Perfect.

/shakes head

Oh my God... Talk about shooting yourself on the foot.

If these news came with a hefty price reduction, then they would be welcome... but now???

Nice one Sony... you're doing M$'s and Nintendo's work for them!

More factual information. Emotion Engine removed, PS2 games running under software emulation.

I've made my comment, if anyone wants to take it on board they are happy to, or not. :)

/leaves the thread to Xerx3s
/shudders

;)

Derblington: Get a life?

No, I've heard they're almost as expensive as a European Playstation 3. Just. Not Worth. It.

@Weezer

Yes, BC IS the great red herring. Most consumers say they demand it, and most only rarely use it.

Although Sony often stated that BC through software emulation was their ultimate aim, I wasn't expecting removal of the emotion engine hardware from PS3 for maybe another couple of years.

"... will enable the PS3 to be compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation titles, and a limited range of PS2 titles".

Its that limited range of PS2 titles that is the real killer. How limited is limited? This is gonna be 360 BC all over again.

Sounds like sony financially is ina lot of trouble, they speced that thing to price reduce they are now re engineering it after a few months to save more money....and screw PS2 compatability

"This is living"
i.e PlayStation 3 - life's a bitch - get over it.

@ Blerk

Thanks for that. It is an interesting read.

Same as the xbox 360 then?

@Blerk

Ta.

Thats kind of crap.

I do actually believe that backward compatability is over rated and that it is actually quite a small minority that really care seriously about it. But given the fuss that was made about the 360 not having "true" bc, this is a bit of a political hiccup to say the least.

That said, people will forget over time and I don't think it will be a deal breaker for most potential purchasers. Especially as the current PS2 is so tiny.

I suspect limited means very few. If it was more than 50% Sony would have worded the press release as "The PS3 will be compatible with the vast Majority of PS2 games"

Sony used ths xbox360's lack of backwards compatability as a biger selling point for the ps3, why not take out the bluray drive that wiull cut a good 20% off the price its not needed for gaming anyway

Am I right in thinking that the Jap and US PS3s are region protected for PS1 and PS2 games?

That's to say even if I get an imported console I won't be able to play PAL PS1 and PS2 games on it?

Further note from Blerks handy link.

"Usability of all storage media types is not guaranteed."

What the hell does that mean? That the SD reader won't read all SD cards (for example)?

I have heard of that being the case with some GPS devices, tends to be the cheaper cards that don't work with everything. Hopefully it is more a caveat for legal safety rather than a general warning of widespread incompatability.

I think it's a bit strange, a hardware redesign this early in the console's life, and so soon before the euro launch. It's hard to resist painting this a "rush job"...

But hey, maybe the new chassis won't look as fugly as the original one. Anyway, I'd wait at least one more hardware revision, along with a price drop, before considering buying one...

backwards compatibility very handy, if you still have games to complete and you don't want two consoles plugged in. sony are causing global warming!

this sucks big time. i expect all my playstation games to run on the newest playstation. easy as that. sony made me expect this with PS2 and the NTSC PS3. now it looks like the same shit as on the xbox 360. i was thinking about selling my PS2 and invest the money in the PS3. damn....

Idiots! Now they give me one more reason not to want one. At least not until PS3 becomes heavily discounted. Xbox360, you are looking sexier than ever to me!

I guess i will just have to rush finishing the last few ps2 games then before march 23rd , was keeping ffxii till next month . It is not a major problem for me i never used my ps2 for psx games anyway despite the ability to do so .So no harm done after all its new games im after not older ones .

"Backward compatibility: the great Red Herring of videogames."

It may be, but Sony themselves keep going on about it, so they only have themselves to blame if people are shocked by problems in the backwards compatibility.


""By launching the PS3 in Europe with the new chassis, Sony has at a stroke removed one of the barriers to future price reductions, and providing it can make enough units available" "

What a load of rubbish, the PS3 20GB with the old chassis costs £200 in Japan.

And if Sony really wanted to offer a cheaper PS3 in Europe, they'd be launching with the 20GB one.

Am I right in thinking that the Jap and US PS3s are region protected for PS1 and PS2 games?

That's to say even if I get an imported console I won't be able to play PAL PS1 and PS2 games on it?

Yes, that is correct.

Furthermore, I would expect 'future' shipments of US/JP machines to have exactly the same configuration as the European model. Anyone wanting a PS3 with proper BC had better buy one quickly.

I never bought a PS2 (but I have 'obtained' one) and there are loads of games I want to play or finish nt mention ones still to be released like GoW2, so i'd be quite interested in BC, just so I can unplug the shitty old PS2 I have.

Most people may not use it very often, but it's a great feature to be able to stick an old game in you've been meaning to finish, without having to dig out your old console and cable it up. Not to mention the fact that I imagine many people would like to offset the cost of a PS3 by selling their PS2 hardware on.

plus there aren't any good PS3 games so it'd be nice to be able to play something good on it, am i rite???!

@cannabinemsi

You saw that article about £50 PS2s at Asda right? You would be lucky to get £30 for second hand PS2 these days.

Switching to software emulation is a BIG difference and another broken promise on Sony's side. They said that they're going for full and real backwards comp. but suddenly decided not to. Quoting Kurt Russel from "The Thing" here: "Cheating bitch!".
It will take years until this software emulation "solution" reaches the same compatibility level as the US and JP consoles! No positive side to it at all! Just another reason to go for a cheap PS2 and let Sony's overprized Titanic sink...

I have absolutely no idea exactly how many PS2 games will be bc on PS3 and I've absolutely no idea what possible advantage having this feature in software rather than hardware could mean but I'm going to froth and bark, howl at the moon and demand sony pay me money for the injury they've probably caused me when I find out some tangible information on this 'news'.

you guys is funny.

My god, do Sony just not give a flying fuck or what?!

It's just one kick-in-the-bollocks after another with these guys!

You just couldn't make this stuff up, you really couldn't.

It's also pretty crass after they dissed MS for releasing two specs of the 360 (which were at least available to everybody to choose!) then they decide to force a cut-down version of the PS3 only on Europe that is so cut down that it'll actually play less games than the Yanks & Japs get and at a higher cost to us to boot!!!

Shambolic is the only word I can think to describe Sony's PS3 antics - heads will roll in very high places (if they haven't already) at Sony this year ...

Oh and BTW, if they're willing to do this sort of thing now (before even the launch FFS!!!) you can expect to get less of whatever the Yanks & Japs are getting throughout the PS3's lifetime ...

Is the Euro PS3 now the new 'tardpack' as the Core 360 was/is?

Another huge, smoking hole in Sony's foot.

I've been a big supporter of Sony, but this is becoming too much. Even if someone has a PS2 and a large collection of games they still wanted to play, it now makes more sense for them to get an Xbox 360 and simply keep the PS2.

Very, Very slack.

They're running scared if they're cutting functions to cut costs.

The problem is that BC is actually quite useful at launch. There is a dearth of decent titles and I have a pile of quality PS2 games that I wanted to finish. I was thinking of getting a US one to avoid the premium price we pay here but then I realise this won't allow me to play old games.

Arse.