Sony could clean up with backwards compatibility

A brief article posted by ExiledGames.com listing reasons why backwards compatibility would be a success on the PS3.

[Fishy Fingers]

Personally I believe that Sony could implement BC through a firmware update. Reason they dont, continued PS2 sales. My guess would be Sony announcing BC coming to the PS3 around they same time they announce the end of PS2 manufacturing.

[The Matrix]

I would play my PS3 again if they enable backwards capability. Otherwise, I'm loving the 360 exclusives and better multiplatform versions of games.

[ultimolu]

I think so too. That would be a great idea.

Though I hope my 60gb BC doesn't crap out on me. :[

[ActionBastard]

Dude really is in some sort of delusional Matrix if he even remotely believes that statement. Check the date on your clock...it's not 07.

[GWAVE]

I don't see why it would help them. It didn't make the PS3 sales skyrocket when it DID have b/c, so why would implementing it again suddenly alter sales?

This article smells heavily of complaining fanboys. Fanboy complaints do not equal the general public's complaints.

[Dread]

well i do not know about you guys but i am not buying a playstation 3 without backwards c... i have over 300 playstaiton2 games and i am not goin to keep the playstation 2 next to the playstation 3 and 360 in my game room connected at the same time.

So perhaps u people, who think Sony cant do not wrong, do not see the importance of bc, but trust me there are many poeple like me who are still waiting for bc (o and a price cut)

i am not hating on Sony. So back of sackboys (u know who u are) i simply believe that bc is important.
peace

[ActionBastard]

I'm not trying to downplay your legitimate "want" of BC, but you're not in a situation where you can't play your PS2 games. Your refusal to play them on a PS2 is the problem. I want The Warriors to be BC on my 360, but since it isn't guess what I do?

[rhood022]

I think it's appropriate that poster 1.1 is called "The Matrix"--what with the living in a fantasy world and all.

[Dread]

At action bastard

first Ms never promised to have full bc.

second this has nothing to do with 360.

i am simply stating that there a probably many other gamers like me who are willing to wait for bc. Which means that Sony is not making as many sales as they could in part because of this issue.

but at the end if u guys need to defend sony always then keep your non bc $400 console.

o and the problem is not my refusal to play them , it is sony's greed. they are simply milking the playstation 2 still. I can't say i blame them but they will not get my money until they add bc (and price cut)

[uie4rhig]

don't worry if it busts out on you.. im in uk and my launch 60GB crapped out on me, got it replaced for free with another 60GB eventho im outside the warranty lol .. i aint complaining :)

[caliman87]

The hardware one that was in in the ealier models which I own a 60gb one did not do BC for all playstation games well. Some still looked better on the PS2-ps1 games like Resident Evil. God of War 1 and 2 and Robotech looked good though. They may be able to do it with a firmware update for the older games. Hopefully, allowing more titles to be playable on the PS3.

[gaminoz]

@ OP
You cynic! I agree with you! I'm so pissed they took it out of my 40 gig PS3.... I like backwards compatibility.

[pain777pas]

The PS2 won't stop selling that's why their is no BC its simple and unbelievable at the same time. seriously were two or three into the next gen and its still selling. Impressive to say the least but sad for those who don't have a BC PS3.

[Helghast Slayer]

Until the ps2 sales largely decline don't expect Sony to lay it to rest just yet. I mean it's still on par with the 360 (a supposedly next gen console) in japan. Software is also killing it.

[ps3andxbox360fan]

why is this a big deal? almost every gamer has a few ps2s laying around so why do you need to play them on PS3? I would rather they take some really great games like god of war, devil may cry, some atlus rpgs like nocturne and make them higher res and wide screen. Maybe even add some sixaxis to them and release them as downloadable titles on the PSN. But if you really want BC that bad can't you just buy an old used one from gamestop or amazon and just put a bigger HDD in it when you run out of space?

[CBaoth]

I know I'm in the minority, but all Sony needs to do is put both PS1($5.99) and PS2($9.99) games on the PSN - like MS does w/ XB1 titles. Just give me the opportunity to to play them legally on my PS3 via the HDD and the PSP via a memory stick. It'd be nice if PS1/PS2 titles were re-coded for HD resolutions and widescreen support, but not necessary.

[Gorgon]

" I would rather they take some really great games like god of war, devil may cry, some atlus rpgs like nocturne and make them higher res and wide screen"

Those games are from third parties (except God of War), not Sony. Sony can only put them on PSN IF the original publishers want them to.

[dantesparda]

See that would be sensible. But fanboys aint about sensibility. They are all about the hate, and pettiness, and divide.

[KrazyFace]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but when the PS3 came out with it's (boo-hoo my wallet's not big enough) huge price tag, Sony asked US what they should do to reduce the cost. And WE told them that we didn't want BC, so they removed it. Now it's come down in price, and more people have one they want it back!!!

God, it's like babysitting.

[nos4speed]

Yeah you cant win with stuff like this, I was perfectly happy paying the full price when it came out as IMO its worth every penny, even if the only only thing i use backwards compatibility for is Shadow of the colossus =D

[Death]

Nobody asked Sony to remove backwards compatabilty. After 6 months of being gone from retail, the b/c 80 gig sold out almost instantly when it was released around the time MGS came out. The demand is there, Sony simply wanted to prolong PS2 sales which make a profit.

-Death

[mint royale]

Sony needed to save on costs and cutting BC achieved 2 things - a cheaper ps3 and a longer life of the profitable to sell ps2. WIN for sony. LOSE if you wanted to play ps2 games without having to have 2 consoles set up. I belive it was Jack Tretton who claimed a year before BC was removed that BC was actually a core part of the playstation model that gives the complete experience to players. Its easy to tell that Sony did not have a long term plan to rid BC but instead they simply couldn't afford to include it as they expected the ps3 to sell at its launch price which it did not.

[SprayandPreycom]

im not so sure it would be as easy as just makind a firmware update to make the ps2 game compatible... i keep an eye on 360 titles and its funny because it seems like they randomly add 5-6 games a month to the backwards compatible list dont know what qualifies them all of the sudden makin the list.. i would recommend a game called The Thing for 360 backwards compatible game. bottome line it dosent come down to what gamers want it comes down to how much money greedy companies can make .. and yes at least the 360 moved on from xbox and yes i think that because sony is holding on to ps2 so much it is hurting ps3 sales ....

[Kain81]

cause there are more than 2000 games on PS2 and its difficult to run all of them on ps3. If you had the PS2 chips than you could play them all, but a Firmware Update cant do that so some games would have some issues, like framedrops or other things.

[Doomster1971]

if sony want to sell ps2 games on psn (they'd be daft not to) then they will need a ps2 emulator for the ps3 (just like the ps1 emulator for the ps3). They can't be making much off games for the ps2 anymore (just the hardware). There is only 19 games listed here for coming out this year. http://www.vgreleases.com/p...

[Ju]

PSN... yes, I think this is the main idea, why PS2 emu makes sense.

Its not that a SW emu can't run PS2 games. The challenge with the SW emu is, that you actually re-implement the PS2 HW in SW. Now, you can't just take the old HW chip doc and implement that in SW (I mean, well, a chip level simulator could do that, probably - reading VHDL code and create a virtual chip - hey, I should patent that idea; won't be fast enough, though), but you need to redesign the new "virtual" chip from scratch. Even if you could emulate on the chip level, it does not take into account, that manufacturing could possibly introduce bugs into the physical chip, which design didn't even foresee - but SW later added work-arounds to make it work properly. You'd have to emulate these bugs, too.

Currently, there is no easy verification process, which could guarantee, that a SW emulated piece of HW runs 100% accurate to what the chip was/is doing. The only way you can achieve this, is to take every single code which runs on that chip, and run it thru your "virtual" implementation. And then, you need to execute every portion of that code (sometimes, code gets executed very rarely, or not at all). A lot of trial and error.

Now, in case of a game, that means, you need to run every single game thru that emulator. And you need to make sure, you run thru every possible scenario within that game. This can take forever. Mostly, you can never guarantee 100% bug free emulation. Some bugs are found later, when about a couple of thousand people get their hands on (and thus, execute so many test cases, even the biggest test department couldn't handle).

Putting a physical chip in there, simply removes this verification. It is guaranteed to work. That's also, why MS has a "white list" of games they can emulate.

For PS2 emu, it seams, the EE is well documented, and fairly easy to emulate (see PS3s without EE which reach close to 90% compatibility), but doing the same for the GS might be a bit more tricky.

We've all seen the videos showing the 40GB PS3 (without EE nor GS) running the PS2 F1GP. So, I am sure there is some sort of emu available. If somebody is working on that, sooner or later it'll be available thru a firmware update, I am sure. But I also think, this is neither a promise nor a high priority for Sony. Not as long as they haven't worked out any details for PS2 games on PSN and the PS2 sells well.

[y0haN]

They said they won't do it. It's not a viable use of their time to implement software emulation for PS2 titles, they'd rather be working on _PS3_ titles. If you want to play PS2 so badly get a god damn PS2, or a 60GB PS3.

[Strife Lives]

My new slim (2005) just stoppd working(blame KZ1),do I buy a new one?I have a 80gig PS3 without BC,and. . .I have my old ps2 with the disc read error,I threw the other 2 out. So. . .Idk. .having 70+ ps2 games without a ps2 sucks. ,sony will implement bc later,guarentee it.Spu1 -emotion engine emulation, and nother for the cpu. And the existing ram.for now. .I got nothing.just asking,anybody got a link for me on how to fix up the disc read error problem?I read theres a way to fix it up.

[y0haN]

If your PC was made in the last 5 years, get a PS2 emulator for your PC and PS2 to USB converter and put your PS2 disc in the drive and play away.

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

Ken Kutaragi(the Real 1!!!)made the PS3 with FULL PS1 + PS2 playback on the Original PS3.
Bring it back + Bring GOD Ken Kutaragi back to!!!;)
I love having one PS3(60GB one)that can play my PS1+PS2 games;)

Back to playing 'KillZone 2' Demo...AGAIN... ;-P

[Jerk120]

Demo again? Nothing else to play huh?

[Roper316]

If they ever want to sell PS2 games on the PSN they will need to make all PS3's B/C. Won't they? Otherwise they are limiting the amount of sales the PS2 games can generate and we all know that the PS2 library is a cash cow for the PSN waiting to be tapped into.

[SknArt]

I have a launch PS3, so I have it. Used it at first, but with all the great PS3 games, don't need to anymore. I think it wasn't a great move on Sony's part to take it out, but they removed it to help lower the cost. There was sooo much complaining that it cost sooooo much, and now complaining features had to be removed to lower the cost... makes it a lose/lose situation for them. With all the great features the PS3 has, it was and is the best bang for the buck.

[enviable27]

Good for you, but if it was that big of a deal for you and you really wanted one then you would of known that you can get a 60g off of Ebay or amazon

[NaotaChannel]

In Dec., I decided to treat myself, and withdrew $500 from the bank. I was originally planning to use it for a PS3, but with a 40 game PS2 backlog (out of 90), I ended up upgrading my video card, and my PSU. I also bought The Witcher, and Oblivion, AND a new 90001 PS2. . . It was the lack of BC that made me decide against the PS3. Sony needs new management.

[InItForTheGames]

It will be great when it does singstar has proved its possible. But i dont think that it will be the massive hit people are claiming it will just be handy. I could be absolutley wrong though.

[xaviertooth]

Sleipner: it's called gaming nirvana.. killzone 2 that is

[cindythemilf]

Sony could clean up with bc?

then why did they remove it from the ps3?

[no-spin]

love playing GT4 on the big screen. GoW both look sensational.
BC is a big deal for me

[bakagaijin78]

I'm so glad I picked up my 60gig when I did. I've never had a problem playing any PS2 or PS1 games on it and I do play older games often.

It does suck that Sony says they needed to remove BC in order to make the system more affordable, but wouldn't it be nice if they could at least offer a PS3 model at a slightly higher cost that does still have BC available for people who are willing to shell the money out for it? I know there are still some BC systems available, but there wont be for much longer as stock runs out.

But then again, it would eat into their PS2 sales...

[BoneMagnus]

I actually traded in my PS2 towards the purchase - I don't want 5 consoles stacked under my TV - there's 3 there now - PS3, 360 and a GameCube.

B/C is big for me - the GoW games are ones I'll always want to replay as are the PS2 Metal Gear games, plus I still haven't finished FFX and XII. I also picked up the Devil May Cry trilogy as part of my collection after buying the PS3.

I think as consoles become more like PCs, B/C is going to be more and more important. If I buy a brand new gaming PC, I can still play Half-Life, Deus Ex or Red Alert on it.

I was very diappointed when about 15 of my XBox games did not make the B/C cut, and I'd already given the system to a buddy of mine. I guess I could pick up a used one for 50 bucks at Gamestop, but I probably won't.

[Karum]

If these people had ever read one of the many david Reeves interviews they'd know it isn't strange.

PS3 was (maybe still is I honestly don't know) losing money on hardware and sales of the PS2 and PSP make profit on hardware sales which was/is used to subsidise the loss made on each PS3 sold.

If Backwards Compatibility was still offered then people would have little reason to buy a PS2, Sony would then make more of a loss due to PS3 manufacture cost vs retail price with less PS2's sold meaning when they do start to make money on the PS3 it takes longer to come back into the black and either break even or become profitable which in turn prolongs a price drop which is a great way to increase your install base (360 sales says hi - that's not a bad thing btw, just an example!) and make more profit.

When the PS3 is profitable enough to justify dropping the PS2 and the PS2 loses steam (lets face it that console is selling well for it's age) then BC will be introduced.

There's a lot of money to be made from old PS2 game sales from the PS Store when the time is right, Sony would be mad to not exploit (that's a harsh word but hope people get the point) that avenue for revenue and at the same time offering a good service so I'd say it'll be available in future but not until the PS2 is gone.

[iistuii]

Explain to me why a lovely new powerful console that plays the likes of K2, why the hell would you wanna play a ps2 or even ps1 game on it?. I had a go on GT4 and god it's awful now.If you wanna play old games keep a ps2 of which you can get for a tenner now.

[Godmars290]

There are 120+ million PS2 owners. If BC only meant that 1/4 of them would automatically jump to the PS3, that 30 million.

It would also, if Sony had thought of this, given tons of small 3rd party devs a cheap backdoor into the PS3 market with PS2 games.

[THE TRUTH]

My take on BC is how many gamers with BC equipped on their PS3's use it? I have a BC PS3 and I have only played one PS2 game on my PS3 (Marvel Vs. Capcom 2). I have no plans of buying a PSone or PS2 game unless it's on PSN so it really isn't a huge deal.

We as gamers had this disscusion about BC alittle more than a year ago and back then we voted (by words and dollars spent) that BC is something we could do without. Some of the Veterans on this site know exactly what I'm talking about!

If you want BC better check ebay for a launch model PS3, buy a PS2 or wait until Sony puts your favorite game on PSN.

[anubis12]

they should have fix the way they do with your friends like 2 years ago before anything else.

[AliC]

I am happy I bought my EU PS3 on release day, so I can enjoy all my old PS2 games.

I agree however it would be a good move to open this option to all.

[The40Watt]

I have never played any of the God of War series so I would like the chance to play one of them on my PS3 before the third one comes out.

[The40Watt]

The reason Sony gave for removing BC was to save money as they were using a hardware solution. Perhaps though they have big plans in the future for a download service that would make them more money.

[GreatTeacherOnizuka]

Only real gamers would find the BC very useful.
In the other hand, the PS2 itself has a great price tag on it which is suitable everybody.

The BC is not needed, it is just a bonus in my eyes.

[jhani]

Require a hell of a hardwork from Sony. I mean they have literary striped the newly ps3 of the hardware necessary to run ps2 games.

The only "solution" i can come up with is to make the few titles they will be offering from psn store to be playable. And then make and promote cheap hdd for ps3.

[Guardian Hope]

I don't know why people say it would be hard to bring back Backwards Compatibility, it would not be and it doesn't have to cost a dime to the consumers. Its called Software Emulation, let me repeat that if Sony is reading, Software Emulation. The beauty of Software Emulation is it allows you to use the existing hardware to play the older games. I can download a Playstation title from PSN, why can't I just insert the damn disc?

The fact that I can play older games downloaded from PSN proves that the Playstation 3 is in fact, still capable of backwards compatibility, it's just locked down if you would. The Playstation 3 has all the necessary hardware for Software emulation, the Blu-Ray drive is a CD/DVD drive as well which Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 discs were.

I can give you a reason as to why they haven't: they are too damn stubborn or stupid.

[Cajun Chicken]

PS3 did have BC but nobody bought it so they chopped it out.

Bringing back BC would be very wise, people who claim 'BC is no big deal' are not looking at the big picture, I have said over and over again as a proud EU 60gb owner that everyone deserves BC due to the fact at the moment the grand vision of the PS3 has failed a little due to the PS3 only being TWO Playstation consoles now, instead of THREE. But the sacrifice had to be made due to the ridiculously low sales, its a shame, but it was the right thing to do.

I keep on saying that every PS3 owner deserves that second Playstation console in the PS3. People are missing out on the full experience. Especially if they never owned a PS2.
Bringing back BC is a VERY WISE move.

[pcz]

would've could've should've

[SlimShady]

The PS2 platform has LOADS of great games. Some maybe not graphically satisfying anymore but will still give us something to do while PS3 games are still a bit scares. And so we walk on to emulators...

[NaotaChannel]

EnViAbLe27 said - "Good for you, but if it was that big of a deal for you and you really wanted one then you would of known that you can get a 60g off of Ebay or amazon". . . . . . That's the same kind of attitude Sony has shown to their customers, which is why they are in 3rd place now. . . . I don't want to buy one off the internet, and I don't want a used one.. I want a new one from a physical location that I can drive to in less than 10 minutes, that has BC. If Sony can't provide that - I'm NOT buying one. What is so hard to understand about that?.

[AKNAA]

I didn't pay $500.00 for a next gen console to play a few PS2 games on it, but rather the latest in high definition gaming...
Hell, if I wanted to play PS2 games, I'll just start up my PS2 console which I might add is right next to my PS3.

So if your crying about PS3 having no backwards compatibility, then don't buy it! just get a freakin' PS2! simple as that.
Another thing, my 80g has backwards compati. But after playing uncharted, MGS 4, R2, and Dead space... I find it really hard to enjoy my PS2 games again.