Sony PlayStation 3 Backwards Compatibility: Is it coming back?
Filed under: Gaming, Sony Playstation 3 | By: Alan Ng
Posted on: March 9, 2009 | 31 Comments
There is a great article over at PS3Extreme which debates the ongoing issue surrounding backwards compatibility on the PS3. At the moment, Sony have removed B/C from consoles, which means old PS1 and PS2 classics are only available to those who own an older PS3 SKU.
The article, which can be read in full here explains the possibilities of B/C returning to the PS3 in some time in the future. At the moment, the Playstation 2 is continuing to sell well around the world, so Sony believe that it would not be a great business move to bring B/C back, thus reducing sales of the PS2.
On the other hand, B/C could be a gamer’s prime factor in their decision to pick up a PS3 for the current price. For gamers who picked up a 60GB model on launch, this story is irrelevant to you, but for those of you with a newer model, is backwards compatibility still a feature you would like to have?
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Just as an FYI, please fact check before you go to print.
All models of the PS3 are PS1 B/C. The original 20g, 60g and Motorstorm 80g and Metal Gear 80g are PS1 & PS2 B/C. It’s only the new ones that don’t play PS2 games. They will ALL still play PS1 games.
Sony removed the possibility of reinstating BC in PS3 with the 65 nm RSX revision which removed GS(PS2 GPU required for BC as RSX is not powerful enough to emulate it due to its greater bandwidth and multipass rendering performance) interface.
Anyone who speak of PS2 BC are totally clueless.
wow, pwned by Jon. Still, PSXExtreme got it right.
Jon has his head up his butt and doesn\’t know what he\’s talking about. The 60 and 20GB versions of the PS3 are the ONLY versions of the PS3 that are FULLY backwards compatible with few to no issues when playing PS1 and PS2 games. The 80GB versions had LIMITED backwards compatibility and could NOT play all PS2 games. And the games that it could play ran higher chances of having issues. Many games that play fine on the 20 and 60 GB PS3\’s, had problems on the 80GB PS3\’s. Look it up on Sony\’s site for proof.
Basically, the 20 and 60 GB versions are the only ones you would want for full backwards compatibility with fewer problems.
Well Jon has a point. No need to bash. The writter of the article did not include any of that information. Maybe it was to have people go to PS3Xtreme’s site.
But to answer the question. The people that want Backwards compability are the nastalgic group and cheap people.
I got a PS3 because I wanted to play Next Gen games. There is nothing next gen about the PS2. So Sony should not focus on bringing back BWC. No Need.
Isn’t that funny, cheap or nastalgic. LOL.
Is it cheap or nastalgic to play a cd you bought 10 years ago on a new ps3? Is it considererd cheap or nastalgic to play Monopoly on a board? Fun games are just that fun.
I still think Tetris is wonderful. I think Super Mario 3 is still great. And Barbers Adagio still plays great. And I still want to play Final Fantasy XII on my new PS3.
You did not really think this all the way through.
yes, yes it is.
sony should bring back bwc, because when you think about it, there are a large amount of college students that love playstation, and they most likely dont have a lot of money, because its being spent on more important things like tuition and books, so when they need to make the decision to upgrade or not, they’re most likely not going to because they cant afford to be buying all new games for $50 ea.
PS2 BC was one of the deciding factors of getting a 60 GB PS3 and selling my PS2… if it ever messes up, I’ll be mad… cause I won’t have anything to play my PS2 games on any more… BRING BC BACK!
Enjoy that thing,while it lasts.I had a 60GB model,and loved it.I have only 7 PS3 games and can’t afford to go out buying new ones everyother day.When my original PS3 kicked the bucket,I had to dedicate a paycheck to get a new 120 GB slim,as I also use it for it’s web browser.Now,I’m sitting on 30+ PS2 games I can’t do anything with.I’d kill to play Armored Core 3,Ace Combat 5 or Devil May Cry 3:SE.
Backwards compatibility would be lovely but I own the 40GB edition so PS2 games are a no-no. Shame but there we go. I’ve kept my slimline PS2 for the PS2 games I never got around to finishing. God of War I, MGS3 plus a few others. Will I ever get around to them? I really couldn’t tell you but having BC as an option is a lovely incentive for any new/potential customers of the PS3.
well “Booger” your head seems to be pretty far up your ass too by that logic.
The 20 and 60 were not FULLY BC, they had about a 98% sucess rate
and jon did not say Fully BC, all he was doing was pointing out the Platforms that had BC. dont be so quick to judge
“The 20 and 60 were not FULLY BC, they had about a 98% success rate” how can you say his head is up his arse, by that logic? your logic in that sentience is the problem. eg not fully compatible they had 98% success rate. if you had a 98$ success rate with woman would you say you were not fully compatible with woman? if you got 98% in an exam would you say you knew your stuff and performed the task excellent or not compatible with that subject?
I gave my ps1 and ps2 to the neighbor kids that did not have game consoles before I bought my ps3. What a crock of SH$# to find out I cant go back and play some of my favorites.
you are both idiots stop being so technical not everyone knows the exact specs of everything, all they want is to know what the damn thing does nothing els,and 98% to you is not fully BC .well man then man you just too technical i bet the ps3 only plays 99% of the ps3 games that are made for it
i think this whole thing is 50% novice and 50% ignorant leading to a 100% fact that all of you have issues with a subject debated LAST YEAR! stop debating over stuff from 08 were almost in the year 2010. get some more current news to debate on.
Well, as the regular man-on-the-street with a tight budget (and to answer the original question), yes I would buy if BC came back.
I sold my PS2 sometime ago, thinking that I would buy a PS3 when the price dropped (I believe it was $599 at the time) and be able to play the not inconsiderable number of new, quality titles that, until recently, were still coming out for PS2.
I foolishly thought that BC was here to stay and missed my window. Much like my other plan to wait a year after launch to buy a 360 so they’d have plenty of time work the bugs out.
I’d be happy with the current price-point and buy right *now* if I could have 100% (I’ll settle 98% haha) backwards compatibility.
One of the big issues that always comes up is the smaller library compared to the 360. Having access to the PS2’s many fine, cheap games would make PS3 the ideal bargain gaming/multimedia machine, IMO. Just what gamers need now.
Failing that, I’d accept a $100 price drop. (Oh yes, I’m holding my breath.)