The new 80GB PS3 just announced today has a catch: it has ditched the Emotion Engine chips for software emulation, just like we've seen in the PAL-version PS3s. Yes, software emulation is coming stateside, and it looks to be only a matter of time until the Emotion Engine chips are kicked out of our 60GB models, too.

Anyone else remember when SCEE's David Reeves said this about PAL models:

The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models...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.

Let us translate that for you: avoid the 80GB bundle and pick up a PS3 right after the price drop. Because 98% is looking a lot better than :(%. New 80GB PS3 Eliminates... [gamesindustrybiz]