I had a chance to sit down and speak with Phil Harrison during GDC and found him to be a sharp, perhaps occasionally caustic, but otherwise affable guy.

We, and more importantly the Playstation 3, needs to hear more from Harrison. He's obviously very passionate about his console, in a good way and that's always a great thing for gamers.

Recently Harrison met with Sony-backed ThreeSpeech and a gaggle of gamers in the UK to run them through what he showed off at the conference.

Among some of the gems that came out of the event:

* Phil said Sony are looking at ways for people to sell items to one another, however they do not want to become a bank and take on the responsibility and regulations that entails.

* Phil did confirm that the PAL/Euro version of the Playstation 3 currently has over 1200 compatible PS2 titles, with more to be added to the list by the time the console launches. This will be via a necessary firmware upgrade to 1.6 (the consoles were shipped over 4 weeks ago.)

* The Sony PR man said that a new HD camera and mic. with spatial awareness will be coming later in the year. Also downloaded PS1 games playable on the PS3 will happen- but later this year.

I think that EyeToy was very much a missed opportunity for the PS2, or perhaps you could make the case for the device just being ahead of its time. But now, with HD and more robust consoles, I think it's time Sony allows this interface device to spread its wings. Brian Crecente

European PS3 has over 1200 compatible PS2 titles (and rising) [PlayThree]

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