This move as a whole would completely dismiss backwards compatibility for future PS3 owners from ever being achieved. As known in the past, the 40GB model saved money by going with a different motherboard which did not include the architecture needed for backwards compatibility for PS2 games. Of course, PS1 games are still playable via the digital download service they offer. If this memo serves as a direction that Sony wishes to take with future sales, it would mean that Sony has given up on supplying backwards compatibility to its customers.
To further substantiate this, North America is the only region that still a multi-system lineup. Japan and the UK have already dropped the higher capacity models in favor of the cheaper 40GB model. Earlier last year, Sony had dropped the 20GB and the 60GB model from their lineup, leaving only the 40GB and 80GB respectively.
Written by: Dave Horvath @ 25 Jan 2008 11:43