AfterDawn: News

PlayStation 3 will be compatible with PS2 & PSOne titles

Sony has today laid out an announcement that should please the existing Sony game console owners. The PS3 will continue the trend started by PS2 and will be backwards compatible with the older PlayStation generations.

Sony spokesman confirms that the backwards compatibility of PS2 vs. PSOne was one of the keys to the console’s success, as expectable. This also means that the PSOne game titles will have a product life cycle unseen before in the gaming industry. It is now confirmed that you can still enjoy the PSOne classics in the years to come, without the need of the original game console.

"PSone runs on the PlayStation 2 through emulation rather than actual hardware. PlayStation 3 will offer the same compatibility for PS2 software and the format will continue forever," he explained.

As it seems that the so called 2nd generation consoles (PS2, Xbox, GameCube) will have a shorter life cycle than the original Playstation, also similar compatibility support is expected and hoped from Microsoft Xbox 2. Microsoft however is replacing the NVidia graphics hardware with ones manufactured by ATI and some believe this can be a problem.

"ATI's hardware runs the same sort of pixel shaders and so on that the NVIDIA chipset does," one graphics programmer working on Xbox games explained to us, "but getting the hardware to exactly mimic the behaviour of an NVIDIA part could be very tricky...

The Register

Written by: Lasse Penttinen @ 3 Sep 2003 9:49

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• 9 comments

• Toiletman

  Nice! I wasn't sure whether the PS3 would run PS1 titles.
  

  When you are on your deathbed, you will wonder, "Did I waste my life? Was it worth spending all that time on that?" Do not despair, no one has wasted their life. After all, you can only waste something if you throw it away. And you can't throw life away.

  3.9.2003 11:40 #1

• Toiletman

  Nice! I wasn't sure whether the PS3 would run PS1 titles.
  

  When you are on your deathbed, you will wonder, "Did I waste my life? Was it worth spending all that time on that?" Do not despair, no one has wasted their life. After all, you can only waste something if you throw it away. And you can't throw life away.

  3.9.2003 11:40 #2

• BlkPnthr

  Where do I buy mine? They are probably going to want and arm, a leg and my firt-born too boot. Huge selling point though, the backwards compatibility issue. Should be interesting to say the least.
  

  ~ What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger, or just hurt ~

  4.9.2003 03:34 #3

• acidod

  Well its very nice to see the compat. issue answered.
  Who is the prime target of the PS3 do you think?
  How many people will buy the PS3 as their first console and not care about PS1 or even PS2 compatability?
  Take me for example, I'm 23 and had an 8 bit NES when I was around 6. I've played most every major console released since then. How many like me are growing up but not out of the video game scene? Are people like me the prime focus now? Who in reality has the money to buy this new stuff? I can still remember saving up like $100 and my parents paid the other $100 to get a SNES when it first dropped. Now days what did the PS2 come out at $300 or so? More at first because you couldn't find them?? It's crazy. Well good luck to the game industry when we all die. Hopefully for them our kids will pick up the pace right??? :o)

  24.1.2004 05:15 #4

• jonss

  It'll probably be like the backwards compatibility issue with PS2. Sure you could play the games but from my understanding you could'nt save your progress if it was a PS1 game.

  24.1.2004 14:46 #5

• Dazgan

  jonss - Not sure if this is true or not but my understanding is that you could save a PS1 game played on your PS2 providing you used a PS1 memory card and not a PS2 memory cary...

  25.1.2004 14:30 #6

• pcshateme

  you can save ps1 games on a ps2- you just need a ps1 memory card.
  
  anyway, the ps3 will use emmulation to play the old games, which means greatly improved graphics on old games. The ps2 basicaly just has the ps1s hardware (only totaly overhaulled to modern specs) with a dvd drive. the ps3 will come with a 5GB hd and a LAN adapter. it will also have a dvd player with its own type of media player that will play dvds,(S)VCDs, divx files, and mp3s. it comes with one controller the dual shock three witch is the same only has an X and Y triggers underneath. its gonna come out in US november 2005- there target launch price is between $300 and $350. ( i got this from sony )
  

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  1.2.2004 14:43 #7

• gameman78

  SOLD !!!

  4.8.2004 07:37 #8

• clark10

  Quote:you can save ps1 games on a ps2- you just need a ps1 memory card.
  
  anyway, the ps3 will use emmulation to play the old games, which means greatly improved graphics on old games. The ps2 basicaly just has the ps1s hardware (only totaly overhaulled to modern specs) with a dvd drive. the ps3 will come with a 5GB hd and a LAN adapter. it will also have a dvd player with its own type of media player that will play dvds,(S)VCDs, divx files, and mp3s. it comes with one controller the dual shock three witch is the same only has an X and Y triggers underneath. its gonna come out in US november 2005- there target launch price is between $300 and $350. ( i got this from sony ) PS2 was suppose to improve PSX games it didn't and who cares what the thing does I'll be happy if the xbox 2 doesnt embaress ps3 graphic wise again
  

  4.8.2004 08:14 #9