Sony has a fix for $400 PS3's Lack of BackCompat

[JKTrix]

For you latecomers/sane people who may have been waiting for a PS3 price drop but are bummed out by the $400 40GB PS3's lack of Backwards Compatibility (BC), Sony has a solution for you.

Buy a Playstation 2.

Clearly if you already have a PS2 you have an advantage. You can already play a higher percentage of PS2 and PS1 games than the current 80GB model (and all PAL versions), and the new 40GB model will not have any BC at all.

According to Sony, this is better than the initial NTSC PS3s. Where the launch PS3 was $600, you can buy the new $400 PS3 and a brand spanking new $130 PS2 for the combined price of $530! That's $70 less than what everybody paid 10+ months ago for the same functionality.
-- Based on an interview about the new 40GB PS3

The above was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but I do understand Sony's logic (though I don't agree with it). You can buy a new PS3 with a new PS2 and get 100% compatibility, there's no arguing that, and it's cheaper than $600. There are some features that the PS3 uses with its BC, but in all cases you should keep your PS2 if you already have one.

I don't agree with them taking out the BC for this model because it is more important than Sony is giving it credit for. Sure, they needed to cut costs in order to have a nice price drop, but I would think BC--particularly now that they've switched to Software emulation--would be something that was set in stone for the PS3. Even if BC isn't a priority for them to continue fixing, it's part of the PlayStation Legacy that they've been building up. I understand that one can keep their PS2 (or buy one) to play the games, but I don't agree with that being the only option available to one who will be stuck with this new setup.

[Nifleheim7]

Heh,i'll still be waiting (at least one year) for my 80GB and bc PS3.By then i would also have an HDTV,and from what i hear PS3 plays PS2 games much smoother in HDTV's.
I have 2 PS2's (one is half broken that plays only PSX and old PS2 games,the other is a quite new slim one) but i still want my next-gen sony console to have bc.
If i was very excited with the current PS3 library,i might have considered the 40GB model but right now the only game that intrigues me is Folklore and it's not enough to make me rush to buy the system.
In a year from now the 80GB model will have at least another price drop,so i guess i'll take my time.

[Dragonsoul]

Good stuff. Anyways, I'll buy a PS 3 when Final Fantasy XIII comes out. I probably won't get one specifically for White Knight Story or Disgaea 3 also. I hope that there is a price drop and a great version out with full backwards compatibility.

[Bolivar]

I think that's a huge dissapointment and a major insult to the fans that have made the playstation the money it has over the years. That was one thing I always believed Sony to have over its competitors, that when I upgrade to the next system, I can bring all of my older games that brought me to the brand along with it.

Once FFXIII, GTA4 and MGS4 are all out I'll probably be getting one, or sooner, and I seriously hope that they have the BC back in. If not then I'm not sure how long I would wait to get a PS3, honestly I'd rather play the classics I haven't tried yet.

[escobert]

apart form MGS4 aren't the other two comming out on 360 also?

[Ouch!]

apart form MGS4 aren't the other two comming out on 360 also?

Not FFXIII last I checked.

[escobert]

Hmmm, I thought I heard it was.

[Ouch!]

There were rumors which were debunked.

[escobert]

Oh ok. that's too bad.

[XxSephirothxX]

It wouldn't be so bad if, when the PS3 originally came out, they said "Hey guys, sorry, no backwards compatibility, keep your PS2." But they didn't--they said backwards compatibility was very important and went so far as to stuff a PS2 into the PS3 casing.

Now they're so vary obviously cutting corners in a desperate attempt to stay competitive that it's just pathetic.

[JKTrix]

Ok, so it appears the ditched BC wasn't to save costs. Which makes EVEN LESS SENSE.

Again, I can understand their logic in wanting to focus attention on PS3-only content, but I do not agree with it. Regardless, there will be a PS3 with mostly-working BC for the forseeable future (they've already ceased production on the PS3 model with fully working BC).

[Rostum]

Just like the random crashes in Maya, all I can say is...

WTF SONY, WTF!

[XxSephirothxX]

Ok, so it appears the ditched BC wasn't to save costs. Which makes EVEN LESS SENSE.

Again, I can understand their logic in wanting to focus attention on PS3-only content, but I do not agree with it. Regardless, there will be a PS3 with mostly-working BC for the forseeable future (they've already ceased production on the PS3 model with fully working BC).

This is what we call bull. PR Spin for "We don't know what the smurf we're doing" or "The PS3 is worth $800, but we're giving it to you for $400 because we're awesome like that."

[Nifleheim7]

they've already ceased production on the PS3 model with fully working BC

Ok,this IS bad news.

[Slothy]

Honestly, I think you're all making a bigger deal about BC than most people would. There are more PS2's out there than Catholics in North America. Pretty much everyone and there brother has one. Honestly, people bitch about the price, then they bitch about losing full BC when Sony cuts costs to give them a more reasonable price. The fact is, Sony offered full BC once, and it might help sell a few consoles early one, but it's not going to help in the overall big picture, and PS2's aren't going to disappear from the shelves anytime soon, so if you want to play PS2 & PSX games, buy one. I didn't buy my PS3 so I could play older Playstation games on it. Even if they hadn't had full BC I still would have picked it up. At best I see it as a nice extra, but certainly not a major selling point.

That said, I don't see why they left out PS2 support with the 40GB model. It's all software emulation now so that doesn't really make sense. Maybe if people demand it enough though, they'll be able to add it through a future firmware update.