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Kotaku
Apparantly David Reeves of SCEE says this about the soon-to-be-released PAL PS3:
The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models.
Oh nos. What, a four month delay has led to things on the PAL PS3 being worse than the NTSC version? HOW, SONY?
Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models which play 98 percent of old games.
That's from a "Sony statement" regarding the gimping.
This info is turning up on proper news sites, including the Washington Post and Yahoo News. Problem is, it smells like complete BS. I mean, come on.
Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3.
This is just too much of a kick in the nuts to be credible. Insert random conspiracy theories below if you wish, but unless Sony have fucked themselves royally, this just seems too wild to be true.
We'll still check with Sony to get this confirmed. Just in case. Stay tuned.
[UPDATE] - OK, this....this might be for realz. Wow. Just got a press release from SCEE, and it says:
The European PS3 will feature the Cell Broadband Engine , 60 GB hard disc drive, Blu-ray Disc player, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, SIXAXIS wireless controller. It also embodies a new combination of hardware and software emulation which will enable PS3 to be compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation (PS) titles and a limited range of PlayStation 2 (PS2) titles.
Hoo-boy. Guess we won't know for sure how royally PAL gamers have been fucked until after the list of PS2 titles is actually released, but that word "limited" doesn't look very encouraging. Just...wow.
Full press release after the jump.
Press Releases
23/02/2007 10:00
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Announces Hardware Specification of PLAYSTATION 3 for Europe
London, 23 February 2007 - Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today announced that PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3 ) to be launched in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australasia on 23rd March 2007 would utilise a new hardware specification.
The European PS3 will feature the Cell Broadband Engine , 60 GB hard disc drive, Blu-ray Disc player, built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, SIXAXIS wireless controller. It also embodies a new combination of hardware and software emulation which will enable PS3 to be compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation (PS) titles and a limited range of PlayStation 2 (PS2) titles.
"PS3 is first and foremost a system that excels in playing games specifically designed to exploit the power and potential of the PS3 system," said David Reeves, President of SCEE. "Games designed for PS3 offer incredible graphics quality, stunning gameplay and massively improved audio and video fidelity that is simply not achievable with PS and PS2 games. Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology."
Some additional PS2 titles will become compatible on the PS3 system through regular downloadable firmware updates, which will be made available through the PLAYSTATION Network, from http://www.playstation.com or via PS3 game discs, with the first update planned for the launch date of the 23rd March 2007.
Users will be able to check whether their titles are compatible with PS3 at http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc. This site will be available on 23rd March to meet launch day.
1. A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch is required to output 7.1 ch audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector.
2. This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.
3. Usability of all storage media types is not guaranteed.
4. Certain PlayStation 2 format software titles may not perform properly on this system. Visit faq.eu.playstation.com/bc for the latest information regarding compatible titles
