I’d almost forgotten that the PS3 was yet to launch here in Europe but a story from the BBC today brought this oversight to its knees.
Sony have today announced that the European version of their Playstation 3 console will play fewer old games than its US and Japanese counterparts.
By old games, I’m referring to PS1 and PS2 games that gamers might already have.
So what does this mean? Well if you’re going to buy a PS3 and say you want to play all the Final Fantasy games, you might find yourself having to plug in your PSX or PS2 for some of the versions. If you don’t have a PS2 anymore, you might find yourself having to buy one just to play the game.
Sony have said they are doing this for technical reasons. A Sony representative also told the BBC:
We’re disappointed not to be able to deliver what we originally aspired to, which was full backwards compatibility
The PR manager of Sony Computer Entertainment for Europe (SCEE) added that the new system would recieve firmware updates and:
It’s changing on an almost daily basis as to how many games will be supported