Morning Discussion

ATTN: PS3 MENZ

I've seen alot of threads lately talking about searching to the ends of the Earth for a 60GB PS3 just because "it has PS2 functionality."

Let's summarize the backwards compatibility of the PS3 lineup.

20GB model (discontinued): Hardware PS2 support
40GB model: MINIMIAL PS2 support (allegedly can be done via future system updates but probably not worth the wait)
60GB model (discontinued): Hardware PS2 support
80GB model (probably discontinued now): Software PS2 support
120GB model (TBD): Software PS2 support? (Not entirely sure of all the details of this model)

Apparently, all models do PS1 games.

So, as you can see, the "previous generation" PS3s, the 20GB and 60GB, offer "full" PS2 emulation using actual embedded PS2 hardware. The 80GB has some PS2 hardware but does the rest of it with software stand-in. However, don't take "software emulation" to mean "crappy emulation." The software emulation can be updated over time through system updates, and will likely be more frequently updated than the emulation on the 40GB, because the 40GB has no PS2 hardware in it whatsoever.

I haven't had any problems with PS2 games yet on the 80GB model, and in fact the games I've played have run on the whole better than they've run on the PS2. Less/no slowdown, and some games look great resampled. If you are concerned about game compatibility or whether your games will work well, check out http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/CompatibleStatus and find out from the source!

The 20GB and 60GB models are discontinued so unless you really want to hunt one down, I'd suggest just going for at least the 80GB model. Unfortunately, the 80GB was recently abandoned by Best Buy (and might be discontinued) so even that is getting a bit rare. I haven't tuned into the features of the 120GB but I think it will have the 80GB's emulation capabilities. If anyone can elaborate or confirm this, that might be helpful to our PS3-searching souls.

In conclusion, the PS3 is a land of contrast, but hunting down the last 60GB models in existence is probably not worth the effort if your main concern is PS2 emulation.