PS2 Compatibility 'Not Coming Back' to PlayStation 3

by Chris Faylor, Aug 20, 2009 8:41am PDT
Related Topics – PlayStation 3, Sony, PlayStation 2

The ability to play PlayStation 2 games on a PlayStation 3--supported in the first iterations of the hardware but removed in later revisions--will not be coming back, Sony hardware marketing director John Koller has definitively stated.

"[Backwards compatibility] won't be returning," Koller told Ars Technica while discussing the PlayStation 3 hardware, which just received a lower price point and a redesigned, slimmer aesthetic. "It's not coming back, so let me put that on the table."

"It's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing," he explained. "We've got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They've buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies."

In a separate chat with Kotaku, Koller added that "most consumers that are purchasing the PS3 cite PS3 games as a primary [reason]...it's well into the 80 or 90 percentile range who are purchasing it for PS3 [games]. We do know that there are next gen consumers wanting to come over the the PS3. Most of those are consumers who have not utilized their PS2 for a little while and they're ready to jump into the PlayStation 3."

However, those with an early model of the PlayStation 3 can breathe a sigh of relief, as Sony has previously said that it will not retroactively remove or revoke the backwards compatibility functionality from those models with a firmware or system update.


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Comments

26 Threads | 107 Comments
  • #53
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    By: xeropulse x
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    It's coming, no matter what this guy says. They're probably more devoting resources to PS3/PSN related things than B/C. On the priority scale, I'd be surprised if it's even at 5-10% of their resources. These things take time, energy, and money incentive. The draw for Sony would be them bragging about "your ps3 library just increased by thousands of titles, readily available." I feel bad for those w/out a B/C ps3 still stuck with the ps2. Games look a lot "cleaner" on the ps3.

    Other reasons it's coming, PSN re-releases. It's too much work to re-do things from scratch or even to "port" things over. Once Sony has the B/C in-place, the 3rd party companies will gladly devote some resources to PSN porting of their ps2 libraries. It's almost "free" money to re-sell games.
    Aug 20, 2009 10:50am PDT
  • #44
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    By: matrixneo42 x
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    Another fail moment brought to you by Sony!


    I wonder if the surveys really are informative enough or even asking the question correctly. For instance, does it ask things like "would you have bought the ps3 sooner if it still had ps2 compatibility?" . And what about people like me or others who won't ever show up on the survey because they aren't buying one (perhaps because it doesn't have ps2 compatiblity).

    The thing has been too expensive so far for me to consider it. The slim is starting to be affordable though, especially for including blu-ray. Maybe in two years I'll get one and pick up Little Big Planet. :) Though, I would find it incredibly annoying to have to keep my old ps2 around. Honestly, I only have so much room on my console shelf. I figure that in two years Blu-Ray might be even more dominant and the ps3 will be cheaper and I probably won't care to play the ps2 games anymore (so the ps2 would be boxed away).

    Aug 20, 2009 10:39am PDT