AfterDawn: News

Sony to drop PS2 emotion engine from NTSC PS3s soon?

According to a newspaper report by Nikkei, and Reuters, while Europe is the first territory to get PlayStation 3 (PS3) units with less support for backwards compatibility with PS2 games, Sony will begin shipping the version of the machine without the PS2 hardware to Japan and North America later on this year. The move to switch to a software emulation solution, like that seen on an Xbox 360, is to cut production costs.

The PS2 emotion engine provided the PlayStation 3 with graphics and data processing functions for old PlayStation 2 games. Removing the hardware and instead using a solution to emulate it, means that more support for specific titles will added gradually. At least 1,000 games will be working on the console by the European launch date, according to Sony.



Sony loses money for every single PlayStation 3 unit that is sold, due to its inclusion of expensive hardware such as the Cell processor, referred to as a supercomputer on a chip, and the included Blu-ray Disc drive. This business year, Sony estimates its game unit will have lost over 200 billion yen but aims to break even on games for the year starting April 1st.

Sources:
Reg Hardware
Reuters

Written by: James Delahunty @ 9 Mar 2007 10:22

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• 27 comments

• BigDK

  Console pre-order canceled due to this.
  It shows to view Sony has of use Europeans.

  9.3.2007 10:34 #1

• kev2611

  looks like i wont be trading in my ps2 now!

  9.3.2007 10:41 #2

• veyron

  Damn, how disappointing. I was waiting to buy one because I assumed they would improve the design. Not make it worse!
  I have a 360 and it sucks having to search and download the emu software for the games. Plus lots of games won't work.

  9.3.2007 10:56 #3

• eatsushi

  janrocks said in another thread:
  
  Quote:Anyway, why should you want to play last gen games on a state of the art machine.. just buy an old cheap real console.http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/477374
  
  Like the article says the reason for this is to cut costs and to improve backward compatibility thru software emulation that can be updated.
  
  Still, it will be amusing to see the anti Sony crowd pounce on this like sharks that have just gotten a whiff of new blood in the water.

  9.3.2007 10:56 #4

• Moomoo2

  Why didn't they do this in the first place? The machine certainly can handle the emulation.
  
  Hopefully cutting down on prices means cutting the consumer price too...

  9.3.2007 11:36 #5

• Joshewah

  They just keep digging their grave further and further. *waves goodbye to Sony*

  9.3.2007 11:59 #6

• handsom

  Honestly, I'm pretty anti-sony in the last year or so, because they make a lot of dumb decisions. But this isn't one of those 'dumb decisions'.
  
  When I buy a new system, backwards compatibility doesn't really mean anything to me. When the SNES came out, people didn't care that the NES carts didn't work in it. BC seems like a 'fun novelty' but really, once you're running the new system, who cares about the old ones. I have played about three good hours of PSone games in my PS2... And I liked the original a lot more than the PS2. It's just not something that most people do.
  
  I applaud Sony for recognizing the need to lower costs; hopefully they'll pass this along to the consumers soon.

  9.3.2007 12:12 #7

• BigDK

  They aren't dropping the prices though, well definately not because of this.
  Consumer prices will only come down when the consoles sold, don't generate enough game sales.
  They already make a loss on the consoles fair enough, but why choose one market as the suckers who don't get the hardware at launch.
  We already had a release date of before xmas binned, so they could kep the main to markets (for sony) happy, and now we get stuffed with this little bombshell just before our launch.
  They must have made this decision months ago whilst pre-orders were being taken, but have left it to the last minute until making it known.
  As for backward compatibility, if different form the snes situation, as apart from some releases, games will still be played on the same media (dvd) its not a factor of incompatible media, its purely a cost cutting exercise at our expense.
  that leaves users here with 2 choices, have two seperate consoles by the tv, or just forget half the games they already own fopr ps2.
  I presume people that don't see this as a problem are in the US and have the engine already built in.
  The US cut down will only happen 'sime time in the future' if that actually happens. Meanwhile they hope it'll drive up sales for those that want to ensure they get the pre-cut down versions.

  9.3.2007 12:58 #8

• limelight

  April 1st, huh?
  
  APRIL FOOLS!!!

  9.3.2007 13:03 #9

• SProdigy

  This is so they can make the same decision MS just made, probably a year from now: "We're dropping all backward compatibility support due the the large amount of titles now available." Though one can argue, that the original Xbox is a dead console, unlike the PS2...

  9.3.2007 14:34 #10

• dazila

  It can handle teh emulation but it isnt the point games will drop fram rate to an amzingly slow pace for no common reason the games wont load as fast, More "Lag",things can stuff up like Sound may go and come back,some games will not work.
  Emulation sucks it will set teh console price maybe 100au back so a relive there no where else.
  Emualtions dont work correctly because you need that hardware for that Product to make iot work 100% correct.
  Even Nintendo 64 emulators dont work correctly on mad PC's because the never will because you need the actual R4000I cpu in teh N64 to make it run corerectly same goes for Ps3 a good example is Microsoft 360 running Xbox games that or worse will happend to Ps3.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  9.3.2007 15:48 #11

• hughjars

  Anyone who sees a lowering of the price in this is just fooling themselves.
  
  Here in Europe they dropped the PS2 hardware and we still ended up with the highest price-tags in the world.

  9.3.2007 16:00 #12

• club42

  I'm not anti sony and I don't care about backward compatibility but why did they have all the hype (and the man hours with firmware updates) just to drop it in a couple of months.

  9.3.2007 16:16 #13

• dazila

  Then I was wrong so its the other one.
  The other one is;
  Sony losses money of every ps3 sold whihc means if they take the engines out it will be about 100au cheaper for them meaning they might not lose any money or even gain some.

  10.3.2007 00:24 #14

• ZippyDSM

  isnt the price of the chip 50$?
  
  anyway the prices are not going to come down till Xmas even then only by 50,sadly I dont see them letting up on the price for 2 or 3 years its still costs 500$ without the blu ray in it....
  
  
  SProdigy
  got any links about MS dropping Xbox support on the 360?
  
  
  handsom
  In this day and age BWC is a must,I refuse to easily spend 500$ on a new system that can't play my 500$ worth of games,I am still catching up on my library,because BWC was dropped in the 360 I have yet to touch it I am avoiding the PS3 for 2 years I want to save some shelf space,having all these systems is becoming a annoyance...
  
  Altho MS and Sony have a reason to not support BWC their selling at a loss if they sold 10k new systems and only 1k new games they would be hurting alot more than what they are by people ignoring them for the time being.

  10.3.2007 03:21 #15

• jetyi83

  wow these are actually legitimate posts.. crazy

  10.3.2007 14:46 #16

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by jetyi83:wow these are actually legitimate posts.. crazyIf we lay off the drink we can be smart...sometimes ^_~
  
  
  BWC and control is important to me,both the 360 and PS3 completely diss both and the WII is lost in the last generation so its kinda a kick in the balls no matter who you pick,the PS3 proby has the best future as long as they can keep their arrogance in check and that goes double for Nintendo they need to man up and start polishing their control scheme if they don't bring the WII to its potential ASAP devs are going to walk away because they don't want to down convert games to it becsue tis seen as a medicore in sales kids console,the 360 will always float in the number 2-3 spot so no matter what they do it will not go away,the PS3 has the brightest future but their arrogance is costing them greatly in the short run...

  10.3.2007 15:06 #17

• dazila

  Sales wise
  Wii is outselling the Ps3 4-1 in hardware terms and 2-1 in software terms.
  I seroisly doubt that Nintendo wont win the 7th gen Wii has a lot more potential then the ps3.
  Nintendo and 360 all the way in this generation Ps3 will pick up a few scarps that the 360 and wii leave behind.
  Sony fans think because its done in the past that the future will be the same that is wrong Currently sony's future in gaming looks pretty glum.
  I went to Eb yesterday they had a showcase Ps3 and 4 out of the 5 people that talked to the guy said they will buy a nintendo Wii instead.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  10.3.2007 16:29 #18

• hade

  Quote:Sales wise
  Wii is outselling the Ps3 4-1 in hardware terms and 2-1 in software terms.
  lets try not to forget that the ps3 has still yet to launch in an ENTIRE REGION.
  
  just for kicks, if we look at your nextgenwars gamerbar in your sig (accurate or not), and round everything off, we'd get
  wii = 5,000,000
  ps3 = 1,600,000
  
  now add (roughly) another 2million to the ps3 total, as it is expected to more than likely sell out in europe. now 3,600,000 looks a lot better when compared to 5,000,000. sure the wii is still outselling and all, but given ALL the criticism of sony including the "High Price Tag," in terms of competition or sales the wii isn't necessarily leaps and bounds over the ps3.
  
  the wii's relatively low pricetag makes it a much more affordable commodity and possibly an impulse buy. neither is really bad, but im not sure if those ratios you put up earlier are global or regional. i believe i seen on another site that after the release of a Gundam game, japan weekly sales for the ps3 were somewhere around 40k while the wii was 50k. yeah the wii still outsells but they are also targeting totally different markets here. the reality of it is the ps3 hasn't done all that bad. if i remember correct i think that game mentioned above also sold some 100k copies in the first few days or week.
  
  again not all that bad for what some argue to be an over priced forcefeeding console without any real killer apps.

  10.3.2007 17:19 #19

• dazila

  Wii is outselling Ps3 in all the regions that have the Ps3 and wii already like in japan its outselling Ps3 by 4-1 in America Wii is selling 2x more and demand is so high you still have to ut your name down in some stores and wait 2 weeks for the Wii's to come in
  while there are about 5 Ps3's on the shelves.
  I just dont think Ps3 will be succesfull im not really a fanboy of any console in the 6th gen I was more towrads sony's side I have 300 Ps2 games and 50 gamecube games and now I have seen that Ps3 has no chnace of doing what the Ps2 did.
  What I think will happend:
  
  Wii will become the Ps2 of the 7th gen high succes
  360 will keep its predescesors succes and may go a bit better
  Ps3 will be 7th gen Gamecube.

  10.3.2007 17:35 #20

• dazila

  who wants a 1,000au console that wont play 80% of their old Ps2 and Psone games?

  10.3.2007 17:36 #21

• BobbyBlu

  GDC: Xbox 360 backwards compatibility soon to be forgotten
  
  http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=105410
  
  Its looks like Microsoft is totally dropping the issue so where are the Boo Birds now? Lets not forget Sony said they was going to make another Hardware solution to cut cost not drop BCW.

  10.3.2007 17:37 #22

• hade

  wii sales in japan has been on the decline, but it still outsells the ps3. according to this and as i said above:
  
  Quote:Software Sales (Feb 26 - March 4)
  
  01. PS3 - Gundam Musou - 170,725 / NEW
  02. NDS - Super Robot Wars W - 139,311 / NEW
  03. PSP - Monster Hunter Portable 2nd - 137,851 / 843,132
  04. Wii - Wii Sports - 39,639 / 1,130,376
  05. NDS - Prof. Layton and the Mysterious Village - 33,957 / 220,673
  06. Wii - Wii Play - 31,702 / 976,288
  07. NDS - Iron Left Brain: Mistake Museum 2 - 28,495 / NEW
  08. NDS - Dragon Quest Monsters Joker - 27,236 / 1,201,812
  09. NDS - New Super Mario Bros. - 24,545 / 4,193,532
  10. NDS - Brain Training 2 - 22,854 / 4,039,850
  ...........
  Quote:Hardware Sales (Feb 26 - March 4)
  
  
  DSL 111,814
  PSP 66,156
  Wii 57,972
  PS3 44,000
  PS2 15,364
  Xbox360 3,379
  GBM 805
  GBASP 738
  GC 303
  DS 112
  GBA 25
  where i went to school the ratio doesn't come out to be 4 to 1 ;)
  
  i should also note i think sony had a bundle with gundam, but the game itself put up pretty impressive sales numbers. content does have an impact on games. MGS is to playstation what Zelda is for nintendo. im sure we'll see another larger spike in sales once MGS4 is released over there along with other exclussive titles.

  10.3.2007 17:57 #23

• ZippyDSM

  Hade
  http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/17/height...-ps3-exclusive/
  60/40 (40 to ps3 only) chance MGS is not PS3 only anymore.
  
  
  BobbyBlu
  they have also said HOME and other projects are much more important than BWC thus BWC will be clung to for acoupel years then dropped because it wont make them a profit.
  
  Oh BTW that link says that they are going to not focus on it like they did,much like what sony said FIRST.......

  10.3.2007 21:04 #24

• dazila

  Wii Sales will also rocket you have forgotten only 1 Nintendo FLagship tittle has arrived comming this year:
  Super Mario Glaxy
  SSBB
  mario Party 8
  Mario Kart Wii
  Super Mario Strikers charged.
  that will certinaly make sales fly
  they are still flying Wii is selling at aprx 800,000 conso0les a month worldwide.
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  10.3.2007 23:07 #25

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by dazila:Wii Sales will also rocket you have forgotten only 1 Nintendo FLagship tittle has arrived comming this year:
  Super Mario Glaxy
  SSBB
  mario Party 8
  Mario Kart Wii
  Super Mario Strikers charged.
  that will certinaly make sales fly
  they are still flying Wii is selling at aprx 800,000 conso0les a month worldwide.I want Metorid prime 3 nao! :P
  

  
  
  FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A.
  Sony has declared war on importers the consumer will be next with CD's,Videos/Games not far behind that....boycott SONY!
  http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8062.cfm

  10.3.2007 23:11 #26

• crof27

  the console giants need to realise that people like their old games as much as new ones and dont want to keep changin between consoles for games that could very easily be played on a newer version of a console. if they are makin things better they need to remember how they got their new console to where it is ( because of past performance of the previous one ) so y should we need to get emu's from a site when the bloody console should just do it in the first place.

  22.3.2007 06:27 #27