While the PS3 Slim has attracted a lot of compliments for its design, it's also drawn questions about the various functions of its hardware. Ars Technica spoke with SCE's director of hardware marketing John Koller about everything from the presence (or lack) of a power brick to the ability to swap out hard-drives.
Despite the mostly positive reaction to the PS3 Slim and new cheaper price, the primary question a lot of gamers have was about backwards compatibility, which was present in early models of the PS3 but has been absent in the console's configuration since 2007. While certain fans desire backwards compatibility greatly, Koller shot down the possibility of it returning either in the form of new hardware or downloaded software.
"It's not coming back, so let me put that on the table," said Koller. "It's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing. We've got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They've buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies. [It] won't be returning."
That sounds pretty definitive to us. If backwards compatibility is important to you, the earlier models of the PS3 are your best bet, or just hold on to your PS2.
5 Comments
6 months ago
And with that, I definitively bow out from the Sony race this generation. I don't have any room in my cabinet for another game system and there just aren't enough RPGs (the genre I play most) on the PS3 over the PS2. I'd have to stop playing (. . . quick dash into the living room to count 1,2,3 . . .) 29 RPGs just to play Heavy Rain? (I would have placed Valkyria Chronicles on here also, but the 2nd one is PSP bound and, also, I'm not sold on White Knight Chronicles either). Of those 29 RPGs, there are some heavy duty classics in there: Rogue Galaxy, Suikoden III, Suikoden IV, Suikoden V (ask me how upset I am that we didn't get a Suikoden this gen [no Suikoden Tierkreis doesn't count because it doesn't have 1-on-1 battles), Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, Dragonquest VIII and Star Ocean III. I'll just wait for PS4 to put the backwards compatibility back in.
6 months ago
I Bought a 60GB so i'm fine.
I doubt it won't come back. If the slims sells extremely well and there's a sharp drop off from ps2 they'll do that firmware thing. They're planning for a long life cycle and would like to keep something for people to look forward to i guess.
6 months ago
Guess what? The "new" PS3 is backward compatible with PSone games, just not PS2. SO if you already have a 2, then don't get rid of it. Also, Sony patented a PS2 emulator for use with the PS3. Why would they do that?
6 months ago
The Emotion Engine patent on Cell (which I linked in this article) is intriguing, but there's a couple caveats. 1) Just because there's a patent out there doesn't mean that SCE will do anything with it. 2) The patent could be used for downloadable PS2 games rather than disc based titles.
They could always reintroduce it later, but Koller seems pretty decisive here; instead of leaving the door open a crack, he slams it shut. Of course, they could always waffle later, but with Microsoft also having shifted its focus away from BC, I wouldn't count on it.
4 months ago
This is such a huge loss for Sony. I suppose they are doing it to cut production costs, but this will kill their customer's brand loyalty. Being able to play all your PS1 and PS2 games on ONE system that isn't 10 years old, with wireless controllers, 720p upscaling and smoothing is HUGE. Who has room for 3 game consoles on their entertainment center? I don't. Are they asking their customers to basically just throw away all their old games?
Maybe they think they can generate more sales of new games if people aren't playing old stuff.
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