Full compatibility to play PS1 and PS2 games is going away with the August release of the 80GB PS3.
I've been away for a bit, but it seems fitting I return with news directly related to my last piece on the European PS3 launching without hardware backward compatibility for PS1 and PS2 games, and my concerns about it happening in other territories around the world as well.…
Article comments
26 - Mikael W.
Alright, seriously, this article is totally misleading and clearly anti-sony. get your facts straight before you talk shit about a product.
i have a EU PS3, without the EE. it plays every game i've tried on it perfectly, true it's only around 20 games, but IMO that gets me a 100% BC factor.
AND, something you've obviously missed, if you use the AA or upscaling features that came in FW 1.8 then your PS3 with EE bypasses the emotion engine and runs the game on software emulation instead since the EE chip is incapable of running AA or upscaling.
software emulation BC is increasing with every firmware update and right now it's somewhere around 90% on PS1/PS2 PAL titles. AND they run AA in 1920P resolution on those titles.
how is that inferior to the emotion engine?
the emotion engine should have been left out of the machine to begin with.
27 - Matt Paprocki
Mikael,
To go and shred someone like that claiming they don't know what they're talking about and toss something out there like 1920p doesn't exactly make your point.
And this statement:
"true it's only around 20 games, but IMO that gets me a 100% BC factor."
So because it plays the 20 games YOU own it's perfect? What if the 20 games I own don't play at all? Should I start spouting off that it's not BC at all?
It's amazing to me how people only think of themselves sometimes.
28 - brandon
It's a shame that this is the first thing that pops up when you google "playstation 3" and it has the original title. You need to be more responsible as a journalist. Many people just look at headlines. They don't go in and read the articles themselves and 80 percent don't go in and read the comments to see all the counter points.
29 - Mark Buckingham
Brandon...
First of all, I just Googled "playstation 3" and BlogCritics isn't even in the first 30 results, let alone topping the chart. Bzzt, wrong. Even if it did, blame Google's search heuristics.
Second, what's "irresponsible journalism" about this? The title tells exactly what the article's about, and reading comments and counterpoints isn't required to get the gist of what the piece is about.
Think before you comment.
30 - Ken Edwards
I know, who reads the words under the headline anymore. Its so overrated. Maybe The Washington Post should only write headlines from now on.
And Mark, he was talking of Google News, of which it is at the top, with the original headline.
And Brandon, it was an honest mistake, headline fubars happen all the time (even in The Washington Post!) so lay off (not just you) this "irresponsible journalism" and the "anti-Sony" crap.
The FACT is that Sony has taken out hardware emulation. If you read the article, you would have known that is what this article was about.
Now on earth is it anti-PS3 to complain about not having full hardware backwards compatibility? Am I being anti-360 when I bitch that I can't play all the original Xbox games on the 360? I am I being anti-Wii if I write a news piece about the latest firmware upgrade disabling the Freeloader disc, and complaining about it?
No, I would not be anti-anything. Mark owns a PS3, and you think he is hating on the PS3 because it is losing hardware emulation in N. A.
I just do not get your logic, and am not going to try and figure it out.
Oh, one more thing, I love the commenter who used the Xbox 360's large power brick as a "valid" reason in his/her argument. Really, that made me laugh, thanks for that one. The power brick INSIDE the PS3 is tiny, isn't it.
31 - Mikael Wedlund
Matt,
it's interesting that you choose to only dispute 2 things of what i wrote, 1. 1920P, seeing as the PS3 is highly capable of it i think it's a legitimate remark, the fact that the emotion engine is not capable of it is also legit.
running a PS2 game in high resolution makes it a hell of a lot nicer, maybe you should try it.
2. i mentioned that all games i've tried on it works perfectly and for me that give ME a 100% bc. i didn't say it did for everyone else, in the writing moment the EU PAL software BC percentage is the same as the US NTSC hardware BC percentage, if not higher since each firmware update adds to the BC, while the hardware stays the same.
everything in this article is trying to point to how negative it is with software emulation, no one running software emulation for PS2/1 titles on the PS3 is complaining about it because it is working more or less flawless, so what's so bad about it.
i'm sorry matt but i'm not buying your point in this.
the emotion engine does NOT support "full backwards compatibility" and software emulation is probably the only way they can ever reach a "full compatibility" which you seem to be so interested in.
and my point being, if you own a US PS3 and decide to push the button to enable either upscaling or smoothing on your PS2 game, then you ARE NOT using the emotion engine anymore, so why even try to make it a point that the lack of the emotion engin is so bad? the point is obselete. the Emotion engine is obselete. why try to tell people how negative it is when software emulation is working at least as good as the EE, if not better.
you may not agree with me but i have a valid point here. sure, the they're cutting the chip because of cost reductions, they are still loosing money on it so your point is flawed.
32 - Mark Buckingham
The negativity comes from Sony going back on their word, sniping Microsoft for doing things they ended up doing themselves, and their holier-than-thou attitude towards their consumer base.
There is a whole paragraph in the piece about how software emu could be a very good thing for whatever games they do it for. The downside is, as of this writing, there's no full list for what US releases are going to be supported, but it will almost surely be less than the list supported by having the EE under the hood.
And if your PS3 hard drive fails, needs replaced, etc., you lose your emulation files and have to redownload. This was a FYI for people if they wanted to get the hassle-free emulation, or take their chances with the unknowns later.
33 - Ken Edwards
Last I checked the PS3 displayed 1920x1080, and that the HD standard was called 1080p. That would be 1080 lines of vertical resolution.
34 - brandon
Brandon...
"First of all, I just Googled "playstation 3" and BlogCritics isn't even in the first 30 results"
Google NEWS. You were #1. Not you're number 5. It would not be bad if you were in the regular list but you are in the NEWS group so more people are going to think this is real news.
Google is not to blame. You should thank god that this happened because soo many people who would "have no idea this page existed are redirected here. You should not be so ignorant to web technology esp. since you are a blogger.
"Second, what's "irresponsible journalism" about this? The title tells exactly what the article's about"
It's true mark. The PS3 is not losing backwards com. It's a big lie. It was irresponsible of you to use that title to begin with and now everyone who googles ps3 news is going to see it. Blame google? That's weak.
"Think before you comment."
Think before you write.
35 - brandon
*it's not true. maybe i should proof read before I write.
36 - brandon
Ken is correct.
NTSC SD format is 720 by 480 (vertical bars by horizontal bars) hence "480i"
That is a 4:3 ratio though. HD is 16:9.
16/9 = x/1080 x=1920
You end up at 1920 x 1080
The reason they use the horizontal number as the name of the resolution is because they are the lines that are interlaced when the signal is on the move.
37 - Mikael W.
and of course i meant 1080p. it's a typo for you people who didn't understand. point moot.
38 - Ken Edwards
Yea we all make typos, don't we ;)
39 - Justin McGuirk
@Mark Buckingham
Just to curb your misinformed understanding of 'backwards compatibility', being a software developer and a businessman myself, these decisions that Sony made are simply 'transitionary'issues which can be rectified in a short period of time.
The Sony Playstation 3 is machine that:
-has full software upgradability (you can install other OS as well as patch up defects through regular system updates). Software emulation would consistently be upgraded in cumulative patches until 100% backwards compatibility is achieved as if it has an Emotion chip installed again. In fact, DVD/PS1/PS2 upscaling is one of the sweet features of the PS3 which is a big bonus not present with previous generation consoles.
-partial hardware upgradability (HDD only but in a generous way because Sony actually makes the user choose his/her preferred compatible hardware component to replace the one that comes with the machine). On the 360, the user would have to buy a 'Microsoft only' hard drive as an add on to their diminutive disc space provided at a hefty price.
-Backwards compatibility is not determined by the sales quantity of the games but rather on the technical specifications and complexity within the timeline previous generation games were released. Some higher selling games have the same probability of not being supported by PS3's software emulation when compared with lower selling games. Then again, this is completely rectifiable through cumulative or even single system updates.
-Another point you misunderstand, if Sony didn't care about PS1/PS2 gamers, they would have killed off the production of PS2 hardware. But as you know, that is not the case and they are still actually releasing some games for the previous generation system. Your assumption that Sony is killing off backwards compatibility because it wants to force people to accept only PS3 games and PSN titles is completely baseless. You have no proof, and this is basically your accusation of the matter. Mircosoft already killed the original XBOX. So did Nintendo with the Gamecube. Only Sony is still producing and supporting previous generation and 'current' generation systems completely.
"If you're on the fence about getting a PS3 and really want FULL compatibility with your PS1 and PS2 libraries, you'd better get moving. Go figure, Ken Kutaragi retires, and they do away with his promise to keep universal PlayStation brand compatibility. Coincidence? I think not. Factor in Sony's unsavory PSP graffiti scheme and viral blog campaign, and it almost seems like Sony wants to alienate and insult its fan base."
- quoting from your own statements, your writing seems to be more of a product of rumor mongering, technical incapacity and lastly, malicious ignorance on your part to opinionate about an issue that you don't fully understand
A lot of people already understand the implications of this issue so what you're doing now by writing this so called article/blog dated August 10, 2007 is just beating on a dead horse. It's gotten old. It stinks.
40 - ShooPoo
BC will be a lesser problem as newer firmware updates are posted. It's just a matter of time.