No backwards compatibility for PS3 Slim

It was a forlorn hope, really, but some were clinging on to the idea that Sony might be able to reinstate PS2 backwards compatibility in the new PS3 Slim, after removing it from the original machine. It won't.

"Backwards compatibility is off the table," Sony America marketing man John Koller told Kotaku.

People buy PS3s to play PS3 games, he went on to argue. "Now that we're at a point where we're three years into the lifecycle of the PS3, there are so many PS3 disc-based games that are available that we think - and noticed this from our research - that most consumers that are purchasing the PS3 cite PS3 games as a primary [reason].

"And it's not just like 50 or 60 percent. It's well into the 80 or 90 percentile range... Most of those are consumers who have not utilized their PS2 for a little while and they're ready to jump into the PlayStation 3."

Koller also told Kotaku that he expects the Slim PS3 to replace the fat one - no longer in production - at retail in fairly short order. 80GB units would disappear next month, he said, although 160GB PS3s might stay on shop shelves a little longer.

He also revealed that the PS3 Slim no longer has a rear power switch, so environmentally-conscious gamers not wanting to leave it on standby all the time - which would pretty much negate its reduced power consumption - will need to turn it off at the mains.