Following PlayStation’s recent announcement regarding backward compatibility, Three Speech is endeavouring to get as many of your questions answered as possible.
Appreciate that this doesn’t exactly get to the bottom of some of your more pressing questions, but this is all the information that we have been able to get our hands on. We’ll continue to push for more information throughout the day.
Here are the first of the responses, following a conversation Three Speech had with Sony:
People weren’t expecting this announcement. Surely we have the right to know the number of PAL supported games before the launch?
We have been assessing the extent of backward compatibility, and will continue to do so right up until launch. It is therefore not possible to provide a specific number of backwards compatible titles at this stage, but close to launch consumers will be able to check whether their titles are compatible with PS3 by looking at the list of compatible titles at http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc. This site will be available on 23rd March to meet launch day.
Does this mean that the PS2 hardware chips have been removed completely and replaced with software-only emulation?
The original PS3 used the Emotion Engine/Graphics Synthesiser to emulate PS2 titles. With the latest European specification we have removed the Emotion Engine, retaining the graphics chip. This has an impact on the number of PS2 titles that will be backwards compatible.
If this is a business decision to save cost, why are users left to bear the burden, having to purchase a system inferior to those sold in the US and Japan at a higher price?
The PS3 launching in Europe is every bit as powerful as the PS3s available currently in North America and Japan. PS3 is defined by key features such as the CELL broadband engine, its Blu-ray drive, the SIXAXIS Controller and its ability to output full 1080P HD game content which makes it an entertainment system for the future, without equal.
PS one titles remain backwards compatible and we will continue to assess the compatibility of PS2 titles right up until launch We will continue to offer firmware upgrades to increase the number of titles that are compatible, but rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology.
How will consumers be able to tell the difference between the fully compatible launch model available in America and Japan and the new degraded model?
On the external packaging of the PS3 there will be a small ‘PAL’ logo to denote that the PS3 is built for the European market (North American and Japanese models have a ‘NTSC’ logo). The model number will also appear on the label stuck to the top flap of the PS3 packaging (beginning CECHC followed by two digits – see below).
In addition, each PS3 carries a barcode and serial number on the back of the system. At the end of the unique serial number for each console is the model number. In the SCEE territories there are four model numbers:
Europe: CECHC04
UK and Ireland: CECHC03
Australia/New Zealand: CECHC02
Russia/India: CECHC08
Will the new updated hardware version improve the quality of the images of PS2 games on the PS3, as the current crop have been highly criticised?
This has already been achieved by a firmware upgrade, which will be incorporated in European launch models
It seems clear now more than ever that sony are unable to deliver the concole experience they envisioned and that their vision was grossly unrealistic…
Very disappointing indeed, they’re going to have to pull their socks up if they want to retain a decent share of the market in future.
As someone who’s been charged full whack for the inferior EU model I’m going to be very interested to see how they compensate for such inadequacies.
Comment by Xeauron — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:19 am
You’ve not actually managed to get any more relevant information than we had on Friday.
In fact, this is nothing more than the extended press release. More words, no info!
“but close to launch consumers will be able to check whether their titles are compatible with PS3 by looking at the list of compatible titles at http://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc. This site will be available on 23rd March to meet launch day”
How do you check titles close to launch day if the site isnt up until launch day?
I dont know how you keep your food down with the obvious fecal stench of BS hanging in the air!
Comment by Kabelo Segwai — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:24 am
This was a great question Three Speech!
“If this is a business decision to save cost, why are users left to bear the burden, having to purchase a system inferior to those sold in the US and Japan at a higher price?”
Such a shame that Sony decided to sidestep it in their ‘answer’
Comment by Maj. Adama — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:25 am
@1. have you actually USED a PAL PS3? Do you KNOW whether you are going to have such a shockingly bad experience that your life is over?
What will you say when you receive your console and you find that the old PS2 games that you wanted to play DO actually work? It could happen. And if the games are relatively recent, then it probably WILL happen.
Will you come back on here and retract your statement?
Nobody is forcing you to buy a PS3. Nobody has taken all your money yet. You are perfectly at liberty to cancel your order.
Comment by TheGuyNextDoor — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:27 am
Thanks for the effort, good questions but the answers were so useless.Typical public relations marketing crap.
Comment by Alex — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:28 am
That is sucks, I am thinking seriously to cancel my PS3 pre-order
Comment by Max — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:33 am
No answers at all! Just marketing, marketing, marketing! Sorry SONY and THREESPEECH, but this is lame, for sure.
Comment by Dario Mancuso — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:37 am
I will now cancel my preorders. On launch day I’ll check the backwards compatability list and then decide whether or not to purchase a PS3 based on the contents of that list!
The fact that Sony are not publishing the bc list until day of launch feels like a con!
Comment by reakt — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Number 4. — TheGuyNextDoor
I know what you’re saying, and I will not be cancelling my pre-order, the only game I will be playing form the PS2 ear may be MGS3 thats all.
I am not that bothered about BC at all!
But couple things together:
1. Europe Delay
2. Higher Price ******
3. Stripped down console (Slightly)
4. Having to rush online to register for Casino Royale
All the above points were mentioned by sony from the very start and they have failed to deliver that which they say they would, I mean come on. It’s getting harder and harder to defend their blatant disregard for the EU fans, they seem to only really care about JAP/US customers.
I still remain an avid sony fan, always will. But it’s disappointing to see that they have upset EU fans the way they have.
Don’t get upset because all I did was tell it like it is, if you don’t like it I suggest you don’t read the internet and lock youself away from the world in a darkened room mate…
Comment by Xeauron — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:48 am
That was useless.
Most revealing was the last question. That tells us that there are NO advantages whatsoever to the consumer in this change. If the new emulation was able to add AA and/or output in HD, then we’d have something to cheer about.
I understand that Sony are testing games at present, but why not post a list of games you’ve tested so far? Maybe do updates every couple of days? I won’t be happy on launch day to find out that my games don’t work. If I knew before hand, at least I’d be prepared, and it wouldn’t be a letdown.
Comment by Silent_Shark — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Agree with the above, the answers are utterly atrocious. Updating a website with a list of compatible games *on* launch day does not cut it as releasing information sufficiently in advance to allow potential buyers to judge whether the backwards compatibility is “sufficient” for their needs. Whilst PS3 games are naturally a priority, Sony’s rep’s attitude towards the BC in the future has been sincerely at odds to their attitude when they were boasting about how infinitely better the PS3’s BC was than the 360s’.
Comment by Nathan Wong — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:08 pm
Appreciate that this doesn’t exactly get to the bottom of some of your more pressing questions, but this is all the information that we have been able to get our hands on. We’ll continue to push for more information throughout the day.
Comment by Three Speech — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:12 pm
This response still doesn’t help much. What consumers really want to know is:
1. Are we talking tens, hundreds or thousands of supported titles?
2. What % of mainstream titles are likely to be supported.
3. What titles already work through emulation.
4. Did the existing 1.5.1 firmware fix actually use emulation to fix the problem some games were having?
5. What enhancements / benefits does software emulation provide?
6. What is Sony’s committment to providing robust emulation?
7. Does the PAL PS3 also include the 65nm Cell?
8. Will US & Japanese PS3s also follow PAL in using emulation.
9. Will owners of EE/GS enabled PS3s be able to choose to use hardware or software emulation? Is there any benefit from choosing either?
Comment by DrXym — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
Uhm removing EE but leaving GS in?!! Whats the hell, Sony was not producing separate GS chips for ages, US PS3 is using combined EE&GS chip from PS2. Do they going to manufacture it again?! Thats not cost-saving for sure. I would suggest that PR Sony person to double check his info, cause like it is this decision makes no sense, especially because PS1 is so much easier to emulate in software than PS2.
Comment by Kinan — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:17 pm
What an absolute joke of a response. They just recycled their earlier press release and put more faff in it. They don’t seem to have any clue whatsoever as to why people are p@£$ed off and no concerns whatsoever about trying to put them at ease. Sony’s PR department is useless and should be sacked. I could of handled it better.
Comment by Sean — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:37 pm
Those are Sony’s replies? WHERE’S THE BEEF?
These ‘answers’ reveal NOTHING. They are just words without substance.
P.R. spindoctoring.
Comment by Joel — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:47 pm
As British gamer who has been patiently awaiting the release of Sony’s console I’m simply pissed. There is no excuse for this considering we pay more than Japan and America and yet the damn thing is cheaper to produce. I’ve lodged a complait with Watchdog and I recommend posters here do the same: [email protected]
Comment by Rash' — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:52 pm
Appreciate Three Speach website efforts and look forward to what else has to be said. Must say tho that I have cancelled my pre-order with Argos today.
Comment by appmacguy — Feb 26, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
How difficult is it for Sony to let us know what PS2 stuff works NOW!!! I got rid of my PS2 ages ago but recent releases have me pining for it again, I pre-ordered a PS3 not just for its PS3 titles (as theres bugger all there at the mo bar 1 or two titles that I don’t have on X360/PC really) but for FFXII, God of War II, Okami plus one or two old faves I’d still play like GT4, Soul caliber etc. Since this announcement I have cancelled my order, if there was a list of what works I may have kept it assuming a handful of stuff I was interested in was functional.
I don’t want to keep old consoles, I don’t have the room, fortunately this annouced feature cut coincided with £50 PS2 from Asda so I picked one up for the PS2 games but I won’t have both consoles alongside each other. If I can’t trade the PS2 and use my games on PS3 I won’t buy a PS3 until the price reflects the feature cut (e.g lessens buy £70)
How hard is it to update a list on the web, not very, stop being crap Sony.
Sandy
Comment by Sandy — Feb 26, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
I’ve cancelled my preorder on saterday. This was the last straw. These answers also reflect the disrespect that Sony handles for their European customers !
Comment by Silence — Feb 26, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
I have also loged a complaint with [email protected] AND the New Zealand commerace commision AND Fair Go, TV 3 news TV One News, 3 of the main New Zealand News papers. I also might be going on TV next week to talk about how Sony is ripping off New Zealand and Aussie gamers.
All you need to do is release a god dam list aweek before launch so I can decide if I want one or not.
Comment by Carl — Feb 26, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
I’ll admit that Sony not releasing any info on the BC before 23rd March, is very underhand, and to be honest, almost sounds like they don’t want to release the details, because they know it will be bad, and would expect even more people to cancel there Pre-Orders.
SOny, if that is the case, then bloody get your act together and start being sensible about your PR. You are seriously spinning everything the wrong way, and causing more issues for EU members, and it just sounds like more and more you couldn’t give two figs about us, because we will take it up the rear end, no matter what you do.
Come on Sony, stop being so arrogant, and start acting smart. I somehow doubt you have this generation in the bag, being how good the 360 is at the moment, and with the PC also having a comeback for decent gaming.
It’s not just 3 sides you are competing against, but 4, 360, Wii and PC and maybe more if companies like Apple start up a decent gaming division(Pigs could fly as well, but you get the drift).
Yes, Playstation is a strong brand, but that doesn’t mean it’s invincible.
Threespeech, you need to get more beef, than just this PR BS, and Sony needs to start coming clean. People are getting fed up with how Sony hare playing this, and to be honest, it almost sounds like they really couldn’t give two figs about the whole PS3 system at the moment.
Comment by Cape — Feb 26, 2007 @ 2:26 pm
“…the PS3 will feature backwards compatibility with PS and PS2 games from day one. I’m emphasizing this because, from what I hear, there are some platforms that haven’t been able to completely do this. It’s costly in terms of hardware, but we’d rather [invest] firmly on compatibility from the beginning, rather than to have issues later on.” - Krazy Ken
Comment by Carl — Feb 26, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
no still happy. im still getting the system, but i have to say sony shoould planned this all before hand. dissapointed. we get the system late, and a gimped system at that. wheres the love?????
Comment by thedirector — Feb 26, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
Uh, why all the bitching about the PS3. Didn’t we already know it sucked next to the 360 which you can go pick up at the store for over a year now? (and play more games)?
Comment by Locke — Feb 26, 2007 @ 3:16 pm
Are they saving any big announcements for the GDC next week I wonder…?
Comment by Mick — Feb 26, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
It’s Twisted Metal: Black I’m worried about! Quite an old game, but it rocks and might not be supported! Also, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, might not be seen as a priority, but it is awesome! Sony why the faff and bad publicity AGAIN! Why didn’t you just keep hardware compatibility for the short term (a year)? It would have avoided more bad press!!!
Comment by Dave B — Feb 26, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
[…] SCEE RESPOND TO BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY QUESTIONS [Three Speech] […]
Pingback by SCEE Responds to Backward Compatability | Find it online at findfastonline.com — Feb 26, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
I can’t see why there’s such a brouhaha about this - I for one will be buying the PS3 for P S THREE games!
Don’t forget that BC hasn’t been completely dropped - it’s just gone from hardware emulation to software emulation.. which we all knew was going to happen at some stage anyway. For people who want 100% PS2 BC - they can easily just hang on to their PS2s, or buy a second hand one for about 20 quid.
While I appreciate it would have been nice to have 100% BC with the PS2, and there is dissapointment that it’s not - it really isn’t the end of the world some people are trying to make out. And I do not know one single person who has cancelled their pre-order because of this: http://www.gamesey.com/page.php?t=243
Comment by Timeless — Feb 26, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
It’s not so much about the BC but rather the way Sony are (seemingly slyly) going about it.
Most Euro’s seem paranoid enough already regarding Sony’s treatment of the PAL territories, especially as we have had to wait for a more expensive system. Now the spec has changed after most pre-orders have been made.
Read the quote by Ken, above - Sony should be reassuring us that they are sticking to the original plan.
Comment by Obli — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
look, i am okay with Sony doing Software emulation, as long as i don’t have to stick in my ps2 then download an individual driver, and i doubt there going to do that like my crappy 360, becuase it seems whole groups of games will work, and yea i agree with you timeless, i am not cancelling my pre-order
Comment by hater_aid — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:14 pm
Wonder what this will do to the US PS3 market? Will more people be buying the US and JPN PS3 because of this, until Sony gets their OS to fully realize 100% BC for PS2 games? One good thing about the respec. of the Euro hardware is.. I am willing to be that the Euro PS3 has the smaller 60nm Cell chip. If it were up to me, I’d want a smaller, more efficient processor but I also would want my 100% BC now, not possibly 6 months or 1 year from now.
Comment by nmc75 — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
i am going to wait till march 5 at gdc i think something will be shown there that will explain this fully, and also if this gets sony more ps3 games then i am with them
Comment by creepy — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:17 pm
I’m not pissed i just want better ps3 games i hope they Finaly show Killzone at gdc, and i want to see the new interface when the updates come march23
Comment by torro — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
I want to see KiLLZoNe also but i really don’t like shooter after shooter, thats all their is on the 360 so i want more IP’s like heavenly sword and motorstorm, i like the tekken series and plan to download dark ressurection day one! ON bc it’s not good news ,but it’s not horrible, i think there are alot of fanboys who come in here and make big deal out of things, They Keep Saying the same stuff over and bloody over. look 360 is nice I just don’t like bloody M$ he already making us pay 399 for vista Ultimate i mean say what?
Comment by norman the great — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
This is completely rubish!!!! I have pre-order my PS3 and now the hardware as been changed! and my point is that we are paying more that the others and get less hardware inside!!!! this is a total lack of respect! I’m in Portugal and i have already payed for my pre-order! I’m totally p**** off!!!!!!
I’m going to canceled my pre-order!!! Sony isn’t geeting my hard earned money!!!
I’m paying more for less hardware (no matter if in a long term is better or not!!!!) is the principle behind it!!!!!!
and the situation that sony only will reveal the BC list on the day of the launch shows completly lack of repect for those (like myself) have made a pre-order and helped (once again) Sony to anounce that it was the biggest pre-order launch of any console!!!!
I’m complettly pi**** off!!!!!!
Comment by ricardo — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:39 pm
#26, don’t tell me we’re back to the ‘wait until the next conference’ BS we had last year.?!?
Comment by sylvaing — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:56 pm
#2, I was wondering the same thing. The site should be up several days BEFORE the launch day, not ON the launch day.
Comment by sylvaing — Feb 26, 2007 @ 5:58 pm
As I don’t own a PS2 my decision to pre-order a PS3 was swayed by BC (rather than wait a year for a price drop)
I accept it the PS3 will not be fully BC, but I believe that by Sony not publishing the list to date ahead of launch they are trying to hide something
What currently works?
Thats all I need to know
Please treat the consumer with some respect
Comment by Sean — Feb 26, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
To me he gimped backward compatibility is bad, I have a lot of PS2 games that I still want to play. Now there no real reason for me to buy a Playstation 3 instead of a Wii or 360. I have cancelled my pre-order.
Comment by Björn — Feb 26, 2007 @ 6:11 pm
ONLY way for Sony to make up for this is to give us europeans a price cut come launch day. In my country (Sweden) a PS3 will cost €700. I am not paying that…
Comment by Mr Bergman — Feb 26, 2007 @ 6:39 pm
They would have been better saying nothing at all to this rather than this marketing / pr sidestep.
Good questions from Three Speech - awful answers from Sony.
Comment by shinesevens — Feb 26, 2007 @ 7:32 pm
To all ppl that say why sony is yet to publish BC catalog, Sony is still working on backward compability firmware and there are over 1000 list of games to test. Sony is still working on the list and the firmware. Light up will ya.
@40, I’m glad u cancelled ur pre-order, so other can have it.
Comment by [-Z-] — Feb 26, 2007 @ 7:37 pm
I had a pre-order placed for the European PS3, but the whole BC debacle has made me cancel it. Sure BC isnt everything, but for £425 (a lot more than the US and Japanese PS3s) I dont expect an inferior box, with inferior capability.
If you want to pitch something as a premium product with an associated high price, you better be able to deliver.
Comment by Krishna — Feb 26, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
A complete disaster of a press release. Couldn’t Sony have eased the pain a bit by talking about the HD up-scaling of the emulated games? How will this work on US PS3s? Will be be able to choose between the up-scaling software emulator or the more compatible hardware PS2 emulation?
Comment by GrangerFX — Feb 26, 2007 @ 8:53 pm
They are still cheating on Austarlian buyers here :
http://www.playstation.com.au/ps3/hw/ps3faq.jhtml
Read this:
Can I still play my PlayStation®2 games, DVD movie, and CD music collection on PLAYSTATION®3?
Yes, you can play PlayStation® and PlayStation®2 software titles as well as your DVD and CD collection on PLAYSTATION®3.
Comment by JaG — Feb 26, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
This is interesting news to me. Emulating the CPU and Vector Units is certainly a lot easier than trying to emulate the CPU and Graphics Synthesizer.
So that means the compatibility list will grow quicker than I thought would be possible if they had removed the Graphics Synthesizer (GS) as well.
But.
To do this for one region of the world while the solution isn’t perfect, that is truly a terrible way to treat your customers and something that will surely drive even more away from the platform. And you’ve already driven so many away from it. It’s almost like Sony have been trying to drive away as many customers as possible in the last year.
And also, I had been looking forward to seeing a well implemented solution for emulating the PS2 so that I might play certain games with higher resolution or nice filters applied.
But since they are not emulating the GS any such nice features would not be possible.
I realize why they won’t be emulating the GS and that is because it has a bandwidth to its video memory that is much higher than any of the memory available to the Cell and the RSX of the PS3.
Comment by Joakim Hagdahl — Feb 26, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
Clue: What we are looking for:
“The compatability list currently has X working titles on it, with more being added in the run up to launch.”
The only reason I can think that sony have not made a simple statement like this, is X is too low…
I really hope I am wrong…
Comment by Mark — Feb 26, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
I’d really be interested in seeing Sony’s reaction to the point that backwards compatibility was also touted as one of the defining features of PS3 by Phil Harrison. Why has that suddenly dropped off their list? Clearly because they’re no longer providing it at the level previously advertised.
As for the garbage about the BC list, it’s either an admission that the compatibility rate is dire or the most incompetent piece of marketing I’ve seen in a long while.
Comment by iapetus — Feb 26, 2007 @ 10:59 pm
Why was this article even put on here it answers none of the questions, its simply towing the line with sony PR
Comment by mike — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:16 pm
Hmm, sad news once again about what should be great times for gamers in europe what makes this even harder to swallow is the BC is going the way of the 360 BC. Which according to Phil H and I quote: “I don’t believe that was backwards compatibility.”
Considering that my wife own over 20 PSone titles and 30 PSTwo titles I’ll be intrested to see how many will be playable on the PS3.
ref:http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=55108
Comment by Piranacon — Feb 26, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
ppl are over reacting about this
what ya gonna do play ya PS2 games on a Wii or 360?
its not just european PS3’s that will be getting software emulation
Sony planned on doing this from the start(Threespeech please confirm this)
And when Sony say limited that could be thousands(there are loads of PS2 games remember)
plus you can’t edit hardware, but software you can so maybe this will enable us to play them with enhanced graphics + HD
And for ppl who say they ain’t buying the PS3 now because of this!
Comment by TGO — Feb 27, 2007 @ 3:35 am
This is crazy, this was a feature that set apart SOny from the other manufacturers and now they have blown it to save a few pennies!
Lets look at that few dollars saving effect:
1) If people have to keep their PS2’s then they wont be able to trade it in or sell it to help raise finance for the PS3 purchase = Less PS3 Sales
2) If people have to keep their PS2’s anyway then why not try the 360? = less PS3 Sales
3) Lots of pissed off European PS3 owners = Less PS3 Sales
Smart move Sony dont you think??
Comment by James O'Rourke — Feb 27, 2007 @ 3:35 am
And yes I do think its bad news
I’ve got over 250 PSone/PS2 games
but really all new games should be supported and by time I’ve finish all my PS3 launch games and do decide to put a PS2 game in for old times sake
Chances are it will work because I’d had already downloaded the update
I do feel ppl pain about this but some of you are just way over reacting
plus an EE chip is worth what $22
Sony is saving $22 out of $250 they are losing per console
would you pass on the savings?
Comment by TGO — Feb 27, 2007 @ 3:45 am
TGO: So you think it is acceptable for you to pay much more for a lesser device?
The PS3 was released in North America and Japan in November and in Japan the price was massively reduced. The North American and Japanese/Asian PS3 also had the EE+GS chip in it and ensured a high compatibility with PS1 and PS2 games.
And you cannot just ‘edit’ software to enhance the graphics, Sony are keeping the GS which was the chip that handled the rendering on the PS2. The reason being most likely the very high bandwidth that the chip has to its video memory.
Saving $22 on this sounds like bullshit as well, sure a GS only chip should be cheaper than a EE+GS chip but it still has to be there and surely it is the Embedded Dram that is the expensive part of that chip anyway.
Might save $1 but $22 is a damn reach.
The question is why they haven’t reduced the price in Europe to match this cost reduction.
Comment by Joakim Hagdahl — Feb 27, 2007 @ 5:44 am
well, i sure do hope that was the last system that sony is releasing, especially in europe. sony obviously doesnt like europe all too much. release delayed, by FAR the highest retail prices in the whole world, etc, etc.
i just hope microsoft wins this round, as for their support for europe was rather excellent, and prices are not THAT far off of the rest of the world…
Comment by sonic — Feb 27, 2007 @ 6:20 am
You don’t believe that Sony is just removing the EE chip in PAL machines do you?
America & Japan will get them models too and pay the same price they did for the other model
as for our price well its better then when we had to pay £300 for a PS2 and the US paid $300/£140
yeah it sucks to be european
Comment by TGO — Feb 27, 2007 @ 7:07 am
Well, I have been very saddened by this whole approach and have cancelled my PS3 pre-order. I will be moving to the Microsoft XBox camp this weekend and possibly also invest in a Wii. For me, the excessively higher price and differentiation between European and US/Japanese models is a step too far. After being a loyal Sony consumer for years - PS1 through PS2, through PSP - I feel very disappointed to have to leave them behind. Goodbye Sony, it was fun for a while.
Comment by Rick CB — Feb 27, 2007 @ 8:06 am
Actually, the only company to have a good launch (well almost) throughout the world is Nintendo with the Wii.
It was relatively cheap, compared to the other new systems and it was sold with a game included that full captured what the system was about. Of course in Japan they had to buy Wii Sports separately so it was a bit unfair to them.
But still, they released it worldwide and in great numbers.
Comment by Joakim Hagdahl — Feb 27, 2007 @ 8:09 am
NO next-gen console is 100% BC - get over it folks, wait to see the list before bagging Sony. Sony always planned to replace the hardware with emulator stuff - it’s not that much of a surprise - i’d rather the PAL version.
Comment by maikii — Feb 27, 2007 @ 8:15 am
[…] Läs hela intervjun här. […]
Pingback by Konsolkoll.se » Sony: Bakåtkompabilitet är inte det viktigaste! — Feb 27, 2007 @ 8:38 am
Hmm, £425 to play mainly cross platform games. At the moment , Sony’s PS2 back catalogue is its the most important asset until the first party exclusives start receiving rave reviews. And looking at the titles released so far, that’s a long way off.
The XBox 360 is just £280 and it has rumble support and more exclusive titles at the moment. Yes, it’s noisy and has poor backward compatibility. It may be slightly behind the curve on the CPU side, but it will takes years to notice any difference in the games (if at all).
The upshot? I will now be buying an Xbox 360 rather than the PS3 as first hoped.
Comment by rogerb — Feb 27, 2007 @ 10:56 am
EXCELLENT NEWS!
My PS2 games will quite rightly be sold or gathering dust when I get my UK PS3.
The fact that they are dropping most of their hardware BC is the best news we’ve had in ages.
Bravo!!!
Dave.
Comment by Dave — Feb 27, 2007 @ 11:01 am
[…] Der semi-offizielle Blog zur PS3,Three Speech, hat ein Interview mit Sony veröffentlicht: […]
Pingback by Sony reagiert auf die Artikel zur geänderten Hardware - ViGamEx - PS3 News — Feb 27, 2007 @ 12:30 pm
Dave is a retard
Comment by meddow — Feb 27, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
The issue is NOT a better quality with software emulation!!!!!
The issue is:
WE ARE GOING TO PAY MORE FOR LESS HARDWARE INSIDE
I don’t care if the funcionality is mantained with software emulation the issue is that sony showed complet lack of respect by changing the hardware configuration and mantained the higher price for us Europeans. We are the ones that will carry this cost!!!!!! It’s totally unfair!!!!!!
Comment by ricardo — Feb 27, 2007 @ 1:32 pm
I know many have already said this, but i have to reitterate how disappointed I am with Sony.
Like many others out there I was planning on trading in my PS2 when the PS3 comes out (as I did with the Xbox to the 360), ,now I know it would not have gone a long way towards the new machine, but it was going somewhere. Now i do not have that option, or at least do not know if I do as sony has not published a list.
And come on Sony, own up, stop spinning more than Tony Blair and admit that the European market is getting a short deal.
Let’s summise:
1. Most expensive console price over all the PS3 regions, (over a £100 more than the US) and we get the worse spec.
2. Launch Four Months later than the rest of the world
3. No rumble pad feature. This will be a big deal to many, and I think Sony have again really underestimated this. Having read the 360 preview for Assasins Creed and how it is using the rumble feature on the 360, i know which system I will buy it for.
4. Worse specifications (officially), and spin it all you will, but no hardware backwards compatability is a BIG Deal
5. Sony unable to answer a question straight.
6. Sony only announce this two/three weeks after the official pre-orders have already began, and therefore most of us have already paid our deposits (£50 from Game), yet they must have known about this for months, as production on the Euro Spec machines has been going for ages. As the PS3 was always spec’d and stated as being FULLY backward compatible, surely this is breaking some sort of advertising standards.
The more you look at it, the more dishonest it appears, and at the very best just shows Sony’s complete lack of respect for European owners and the market place.
They are rapidly coming like Nintendo was in the 80’s and early 90’s. Completely wrapped up in their own arrogance that customers will just take it.
For one I will not, I have just been to Game, and they have cancelled my pre-order and given me back my £50. Apparantly they have had quite a few cancel their pre-orders at my local store alone.
This will be the first Sony console I have not purchased on launch day, and although i am under no illusion that my paultry sum of money is nothing to them, if a hundred thousand people thought like me then i am sure they would sit up and take notice.
Don’t get me wrong, i most likely will still buy a PS3 this year, but as a 360 and Wii owner (as well as PS2) and the lack of PS3 exclusives I may just keep my money in the bank a little longer.
Come on Sony, lets have some real answers as to why you treat Europe and the UK so badly.
Comment by Mark — Feb 27, 2007 @ 1:52 pm
better image quality…
better then the Japanese and American PS3 for PS2 games…
Comment by mark2 — Feb 27, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
I have been a massive playstation fan ever since the playstation1 hit the shelves and am looking for forwards to the new console.But as much as I love playstation it is becoming increasingly frustrating at how things are taking shape.We get the console late,have to pay more money for it and when we finally do get it, it’ll be inferior!I know a few xbox fanboys that are always belittling the PS with the usual rubbish,but when sony start “tripping with the ball” so to speak and having heard opinions from games developers that have stated that they themselves believe the 360 to be a more powerful console I find it hard to think why I am going to buy the ps3.Sony need to sort themselves out, and fast.
Comment by playstation what? — Feb 27, 2007 @ 4:39 pm
#29: Are there three now? They really are picking up momentum.
Comment by Abdomen — Feb 27, 2007 @ 4:45 pm
[…] The Emotion Engine and the Reality Synthesizer are the heart of both the PS2 and the NTSC PS3 backwards compatibility. The EE however will not be making the journey accross the pond. Backwards compatibility will be handled through software emulation, like the 360s. Sadly there will be less games that work. While for a few days rumors of this have been flying around, the situation was confermed by SCEE’s blog Three Speech https://threespeech.com/blog/?p=293 […]
Pingback by RotPod Blog » Blog Archive » PAL PS3 EE Removal — Feb 27, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
mark2: No. Not better image quality.
They are still using the Graphics Synthesizer from the PS2. Because of that they are extremely limited in what they can do to improve image quality.
The only improved image quality that they are talking about is a BUG fix that they implemented for interlace resolutions.
Comment by Joakim Hagdahl — Feb 27, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
[…] Thankfully, Sony are at least playing ball with bloggers on this one, and they’ve given Three Speech, a self-described semi-official Playstation blog, a response to the public outcry. […]
Pingback by The Machiavellian Nerd The Great PS3 Back-Compatibility Debarcle « — Feb 27, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
well thats nice. looks like sony screwed over europe AGAIN!
looks like the only way PS3 will sell now is if its an “Impulse” buy huh. theres nothing exactly stellar or must have on the ps3 that i can see. maybe people will be buying more Xboxes or Wii’s instead
Comment by Bex — Feb 27, 2007 @ 11:01 pm
[…] respond to backward compatibility questions (Three Speech) Enlace Permanente | Enviar por email a un amigo Más anotaciones de:PC […]
Pingback by Ecetia » Sony «responde» dudas de la retro-compatibilidad en el PS3 — Feb 28, 2007 @ 12:44 am
[…] SCEE RESPOND TO BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY QUESTIONS [Three Speech] [via VE3D] […]
Pingback by PS3 Game Geek » Sony Tries To Make Euro PS3 Gimp Sound Fun! — Feb 28, 2007 @ 1:41 am
[…] SCEE RESPOND TO BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY QUESTIONS [Three Speech] [via VE3D] […]
Pingback by Sony Tries To Make Euro PS3 Gimp Sound Fun! » PS3 Game Players — Feb 28, 2007 @ 1:42 am
It’s simple, as the emotion engine (chips) have been removed how about Sony lowering the price of the PS3 on launch in Europe?
Either bundle an extra controller, HDMI lead or a Full PS3 game etc.
TBH Sony, give us Euro gamers a price reduction or a good freebie and we really wont care about this. Charge us europeans 20% extra for a machine that IS inferior to the US/Asian version and we feel very angry and hurt.
In fact today, after some deliberation I cancelled my PS3 pre-order and purchased a second Nividia 8800 GTX card for my PC which was rougly the same price with a new 1000w PSU.
Screw me? No screw you!
Comment by Max Black — Feb 28, 2007 @ 2:47 am
[…] See the interview here. […]
Pingback by The World According to Boso » European PS3: Sony Responds — Feb 28, 2007 @ 8:00 am
Higher price tag, inferior hardware, no rumble, run of the mill online service, plus no HDMI cable supplied with the system. No thanks.
Sony have zero respect for the European consumer. If this was the other side of the pond, the company would have been ripped to bits.
Comment by Nick Drake — Feb 28, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
I too have put forward my complaint to [email protected].
THIS IS NOT ON.
Comment by Nick Drake — Feb 28, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Dave is a retard
Comment by meddow — February 27, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
_________
Agrees with meddow.
//How anyone can say dumping BC is the best news in ages is b3yond me.
Comment by Nick Drake — Feb 28, 2007 @ 1:46 pm
Talk about over-reacting. Everybody keeps going on about the “inferior European spec” machine - but it’s been clearly stated that the change will affect future stock in the US / Japan also.
I also respect Sony for delaying the European launch until there was sufficient stock. If it had been released with very small initial stock, there would have been more outrage.
Sony clearly want our money, so delaying the launch is hardly a choice they would’ve been happy to make.
Comment by Pete — Feb 28, 2007 @ 6:43 pm
My only question: why are you guys (pre)ordering this rip-off of a console? For €700 you can get a Wii, couple of games and still have money to upgrade your PC (which has full BC
)
Comment by Baka_toroi — Feb 28, 2007 @ 9:13 pm
it`s the word DEGRADED i`m not into and i`m putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5:- 15th Feb 07
In some rather unexpected news, the head of Sony’s sales department, Kevin Jowett, has resigned from the company, just weeks before the launch the PlayStation 3 in Europe.
Jowett, who has been sales director for almost 19 years, resigned to pursue interests “outside of gaming”. Interestingly, his resignation was immediate, with “confidentiality issues” cited as the reason for the speed of his resignation.
Comment by @889 — Feb 28, 2007 @ 9:39 pm
SONY IS DELIVERING BACKWARD CAPATIBILITY AS PROMISED!!! DESPITE THE SPIN EVERYONE IS PUTTING ON THIS ISSUE. BESIDES THE AVERAGE PERSON WHO BUYS THIS CONSOLE WILL NOT BE PLAYING OLD TITLES AWAY. CONSIDER THE VALUE OF THE MANY OTHER FEATURES THE PS3 HAS TO OFFER NOW AND YEARS TO COME… ISN’T IT EXCITED KNOWNING THAT THIS IS AN EVOLVING CONSOLE. WOW, JUST THAT ALONE MAKES MY PURCHASE OF THE PS3 ON LAUNCH WORTH IT. I AM TOTALLY SATISFIED. REGARDLESS OF ALL THE NEGATIVE PRESS ABOUT SONY. I WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT SONY AND THE PS3. AMEN…
Comment by ERIC MEADOWS — Feb 28, 2007 @ 9:42 pm
I will not be buying a PS3. I’m a big fan of Sony, but this console becomes a bigger disaster by the day. You can’t expect anyone to pay that much money for something that doesn’t work properly!
Comment by Clint — Feb 28, 2007 @ 9:48 pm
I own all, a Xbox360 a Wii and Playstation 3 and I purchased both (360, PS3) of them during their launch. I am on my 2nd 360 console and the Wii well lets just face it, It’s a novelty console with a short life span. Yes the Wii goes good with my décor and yea it was fun to play around Christmas time with the family, But I haven’t touched it since. I find most of the “Playstation 3 bashing” is done by Xbox360 fanboys and it is starting to get real annoying to everyone. Sure the Playstation 3 has some issues, but so did the Xbox360…
So lets the facts straight…
The Playstation 3 runs hot!!!. Yes the Playstation 3 run hot, but so does the Xbox360! A recent comparison on the web measured the temperatures around the both consoles and found the air around the Xbox360 is hotter than the air around the Playstation 3. It also states in your PS3 owners manual that it’s normal to run hot!!!
The Playstation 3 has no upscaler chip!!!!
Wrong, with the latest release of the Playstation 3 SDK for game developers, the upscaler chip was revealed. Only Sony knows why they did not reveal this chip to designers sooner.
The Playstation 3 has a failure rate. Sure all systems have “failure rates”. I’m not saying the Playstation 3 is higher or lower than the Xbox360 but can anyone here remember the “RED RING OF DEATH” for the XBOX360?
The Playstation 3 cannot background download. True for now, but with the 1.60 firmware update due out in March, the Playstation 3will be able to do that. It took Mircosoft almost 9 months to implement that feature on the Xbox360 while it only took Sony 5 months.
The Playstation 3 has bad selection of games. True for now (except for Resistance: Fall of Man), but Perfect Dark Zero was a real piece of crap for the Xbox360 launch. Everyone has to give any console at least 1 year for the games to really start coming out. (Motorstorm, Heavenly sword, Lair, killzone 2, Virtura Fighter 5, Resident Evil 5, Tekken 6 and so on…)
The Playstation 3 is over-priced!!!
That depends, feature for feature the Playstation 3 it the best value for your buck. If you compare the 60gig version to the Xbox360 premium console and add the extras to the Xbox360 (Wifi $100, HD-DVD $200, Plug N Charge $30.00, 60 gig HD $$???) you will find that you are paying more for the Xbox360 than the Playstation 3. I did not add that $60/year for Xbox-Live where as the Playstation Network is Free.
The Playstation Network stinks!!!
Right now the Playstation Network has nowhere near the features that Xbox-Live has. However, Sony has stated that it is committed to have the best service for free. For online play, it is excellent…. Playing Resistance: Fall of Man with 40 players an no lag is awesome.
And it keeps getting better, check out this link:www.playb3yond.com
Comment by ERIC MEADOWS — Feb 28, 2007 @ 10:20 pm
Phil Harrison on PS3
“[The PS3 will have] almost perfect backwards compatibility. There will be some exceptions, but we believe those will be even less than we saw from PSOne to PS2.”
“Backwards compatibility, as you know from PlayStation One and PlayStation 2, is a core value of what we believe we should offer. And access to the library of content people have created, bought for themselves, and accumulated over the years is necessary to create a format. PlayStation is a format meaning that it transcends many devices — PSOne, PS2, and now PS3.”
Comment by phil — Feb 28, 2007 @ 10:49 pm
I’m so glad I got a 1st gen PS3!!
Even thoughI only bought it for MGS4 which won’t be out till 08, I’m glad I won’t be dealing with some buggy software em. So far I’ve got only 2 games. Blast Factor, and Linux. The second one is by far the best. Online strategy, puzzle solving, multiplayer through linux forums… and limitless gameplay possibilities!
Comment by Dan you know who — Feb 28, 2007 @ 11:52 pm
Sony wins Flog of The Year 2007, they swept the award two years in a row now!
Comment by dpcough — Mar 1, 2007 @ 12:51 am
No Emotion Enginge, no backwards compatibility.
Period.
Sony to focus on new games?
SO WHAT?
So i just toss my old ones in garbage?
Now Sony says next gen EVEN in america&japan
will have no Emotion Engine!
No one will be able to play older games
in super high def!
that was one of the main reasons!
I cancelled my pre-order today.
Think ill buy a Wii !!
Comment by Necro Electro — Mar 1, 2007 @ 2:23 am
It’s not like the PS3 is better than the PS2 anyway. Just keep your PS2 and don’t buy a PS3. Get a 360.
Comment by Matt — Mar 1, 2007 @ 7:56 am
“With the latest European specification we have removed the Emotion Engine, retaining the graphics chip.”
Retaining the graphics chip…of the PS2… mmmmhhh…
“This has an impact on the number of PS2 titles that will be backwards compatible.”
“8,000 games for the PS2 weren’t compatible with the PS3 ” … thus, because of the new Cell technology, an emulator can be written that superiorly emulates the game as just dumping in a “old” chip with new technology…
As far as I can tell Sony never said that BC will be reduced… it said BC will be affected… we assumed it will be worse…
I love PR work 
Comment by Dawie Joubert — Mar 1, 2007 @ 8:14 am
Post Scrip tum: Do you know how many PS1 and PS2 open source emulators are on the net? Go check it out… don’t think Sony will have a problem with the software emulation for both platforms….
Comment by Dawie Joubert — Mar 1, 2007 @ 9:59 am
At last! Why release such a damaging press release in the first place?
This is a very expensive and albeit very advanced console, but people were led to believe they could still run the best the PS2 can offer. I know Ico, SOTC, Okami, GOW2, FFXII, etc are last-gen, but it’s going to be a while before anything on the PS3 matches these titles. I’ve been playing HD games on the PC for years and I still play these low-res games. And no, I don’t want a pile of consoles and cables under my television thanks. That’s why Sony championed the whole idea of backwards compatibility in the first place and raised expectations for people like myself.
For the huge amount of cash they’re asking, it’s not unreasonable to know if you’re old favourites are still going to work.
And for the record, Phil seems to have changed his stance on backwards compatibility:-
“[The PS3 will have] almost perfect backwards compatibility. There will be some exceptions, but we believe those will be even less than we saw from PSOne to PS2.”
Comment by roger mellie — Mar 1, 2007 @ 11:25 am
Wow, what a rip off, this is one more excamble of Sony doing the customer over yet again, this is why my PS3 was brought back and replaced by an Xbox360 Much better console, much better customer!!!! service, Sony you should be embarrest and I hope that you suffer for screwing over the consumer yet again, charging more money for a system that dosent come close to the US Model, and then you go on saying its the same as the US model, how the hell is it?? are you saying the EU consumer dosent care or that we are stupid???
Comment by Mick — Mar 1, 2007 @ 12:09 pm
This is the INTERNET a list of compatible games could easily be published and ammended as and when required. They DARE NOT publish such a list because many people would probably cancel due to the lists paultry size. I smell BS.
Comment by Matt — Mar 1, 2007 @ 1:45 pm
I LOVE IT WHEN XBOX FANBOYS USE THIS OPENING LINE “I LOVE SONY, BUT…” OR “I’M A BIG SONY FAN, HOWEVER…” THEY LEAD YOU IN WITH THESE OPENING LINES, THEN THEY SUCKER PUNCH YOU WITH SOMETHING NEGATIVE TO SAY ABOUT THE PS3! BEWARE OF THESE OPENING LINES!!! THESE ARE JUST WOLVES IN SHEEPS CLOTHING. IN FACT THESE ARE PROBABLY SAME PEOPLE THAT TELL BLACK PEOPLE “MY BEST FRIEND IS BLACK”.
YOU KNOW WHAT X-BOX HEADS, IF YOU LOVE YOUR FREAKIN 360 SO MUCH THAN PLAY IT AND QUIT BAD MOUTHING SOMETHING THAT YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT.
FROM A PROUD PS3 OWNER!
Comment by ERIC MEADOWS — Mar 1, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
[…] 自索尼宣布欧版PS3更少地兼容PS2游戏后，清洁工发现工作量成倍提高，每天都要清理来历不明的转头、烂番茄、臭鸡蛋。ThreeSpeech就这一问题采访了索尼（欧洲）的官员。 […]
Pingback by Play Beyond - Playstation 3 游戏机全方位报道 » 博客存档 » 索尼回答欧版PS3兼容问题 — Mar 4, 2007 @ 6:00 am
Im sitting in the UK wondering why Sony seems to think Europeans are stupid. We pay alot more for the console, even with a hardware chip removed and have to wait until March for the release. Im not waitng anymore im off to buy a wii and 360 (still cheaper than PS3 together)
Comment by Steve — Mar 4, 2007 @ 9:05 pm
[…] Full Story: next-gen.biz and threespeech.com […]
Pingback by Sony Europe Responds to BC Issues « PS3 News Info — Mar 5, 2007 @ 9:36 am
Oh well buying a xbox now then. Hopefully MS can make the most of the opportunity and to a price reduction or repackage themselves on the PS3 release.
Comment by One more lost PS3 customer — Mar 6, 2007 @ 9:51 am
Well I’ve got to say I’m quite pissed with Sony! I didn’t have a PS3 on order, however I was looking to buy it for some of the PS2 games that I’m after for the kids. And as Sony can’t guarantee the games I’m after will run on the PS3 guess what? I’m now buying one, I’ll buy the PS2 or perhaps look at the XBox 360 which I was trying to avoid as I don’t like funding the likes of MS$ but at least I know what I’m getting with them, with Sony we just have no idea. And we’re paying more for it, come on Sony, sort it out! You’ve lost a sale here! Might have to look at the WII again then
Comment by Davin George — Mar 6, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
-)
Comment by derby — May 10, 2007 @ 11:40 pm
http://blog.wangyou.com/id/2695391
Comment by google������� — Jul 21, 2007 @ 6:01 pm
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