European PS3 Backwards Compatibility = 1/12!
Posted by Ray @ 1:08 pmA German shop got their hands on a European PAL PS3, and decided to test its backwards compatibility with 12 PS2 games:
God of War
MGS 2: Sons of Liberty
MGS 3: Snake Eater
Shadow of the Colossus
Guitar Hero 2
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Okami
GTA: Liberty City Stories
Eragon
Final Fantasy X-2
Ratchet & Clank 3
Lumines Plus
As you can see, the list is made up of some rather prominent titles, including MGS2 and MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus, and the original God of War. Guess how many games worked?
One.
Eragon.
Now, let’s be charitable here and assume that Sony will release firmware updates that will allow for some titles to be backwards compatible. Let’s also be charitable and note that these are just twelve games. Even then, to not have Metal Gear Solid and God of War work out of the box… that’s criminal.
Even importation will not help, backwards-compatibility is region locked. If you want your backwards-compatibility, you have to mod your PS3, which is illegal. How many ways can Sony screw its customers? The PS3 needs its PS2 library to sell, the games that will make the PS3 a mainstay in itself are still a long, long way away.
So tell me, Sony… why should anybody in Europe buy a PS3?
Now a question for Singapore readers: does anyone have a PS3 yet? Can you report on its backwards compatibility? Drop us a line, we want to know!
6 Comments »
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://www.squarebrain.net/2007-03/european-ps3-backwards-compatibility-112/trackback/
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
The Singapore PS3s are the same as the ones available in US, HK and Japan so no backward compatibility issues there. Also, I dont think I’d buy a PS3 to play my PS2 games. A lot of people planning to buy a PS3 in Europe probably already have a PS2 to play their games considering PS2 has been most successful in that region.
Finally, the site that claimed this backward compatibility problem probably didnt have the latest firmware update which is supposedly supports atleast 1000 ps2 titles. So dont worry, wait for the good titles such as Heavenly Sword & MGS4 to come out, then you can get yourself one :)
Comment by Adeeb — Wednesday, March 14 2007 @ 7:17 pm
And oh yeah, I almost forgot… you should post a new topic in your blog about Little Big Planet or PS Home if you were gonna talk about PS3…haha! ;)
Comment by Adeeb — Wednesday, March 14 2007 @ 7:19 pm
Thanks Adeeb! It’s good to know that the Singapore PS3s are still okay.
Ah, PS2 backward compatibility is very important to me because my PS2 has reached its limit. I now have to open the whole box adjust the laser on a game-by-game basis just to play anything, so I was really banking on the PS3 having full backward compatibility.
I know it’s a firmware issue, but no amount of emulation can beat having a mini PS2 right inside the console. If I’m not mistaken, the PS2 itself got its backward compatibility by having the original PS chip embedded in its IO chip or something, which is why almost every title on the PS plays flawlessly on the PS2.
Also, I did have a post on the Sony showing off LittleBigPlanet and PS Home, it was worked into the GDC post here. Thing is both MGS4 and Heavenly Sword are still some time away. So European customers don’t have any reason to buy a PS3 now!
Comment by Ray — Thursday, March 15 2007 @ 3:06 am
Not many games out for the console yet, but Resistance, Motorstorm, Virtua Fighter 5, NBA home court, Rainbow 6 Vegas are not bad to start with for European gamers. Not to mention some of the good downloadable games.
Btw, I was wondering.. if those 12 games mentioned in that site are supposed to be some of the top PS2 games of all time, then what the hell is “eragon” doing there??? Makes me wonder whether the site was doing sensible journalism or just pure fanboism.lol!
Do add me in your friends list if you get a PS3 in future. My ID is “HairyAsHell” :P
Comment by Adeeb — Thursday, March 15 2007 @ 11:11 am
Sure thing, though I think Zeng will get a PS3 first. He’s working, he has the funds for this sort of thing =).
Comment by Ray — Thursday, March 15 2007 @ 7:40 pm
Just ask Zeng “Do you know Adeeb?” Haha!
Comment by Adeeb — Saturday, March 17 2007 @ 1:21 am