Full PS2 Backwards Compatibility To Return To PlayStation 3?

See Full Image

Everyone is talking about the need for a PlayStation 3 price cut, but let's not forget that Sony loyalists have been craving another feature for the past few years...

It was included in the original 60GB PS3 machine that launched back in late 2006 in North America, but it was the last console to boast the graphics synthesizer chip that emulated 99% of all PS2 software. The next PS3 switched to emulation and only handled a certain percentage of PS2 software and as it stands now, the standard 80GB PS3 doesn't support PS2 games at all. However, Sony just got finished saying at their E3 press conference that they'll continue to produce their last-generation machine and according titles as long as its relevant in the marketplace, so the call for PS3s to play PS2 games hasn't died. So with all this talk of a potential slimming of the PS3, might they also re-institute what that lacking Emotion Engine did? What if the cell processor could finally support the latter? Well, according to a US patent filed by Sony, this may no longer be a dream. The schematics you find via that link represent the evidence: Figure 4 is "an example of a host system based on a cell processor that may be configured to emulate the target system." The target system in this case is Figure 3B; the Emotion Engine.

So, what do you think? Has Sony finally decided to listen to all the fan demand for the re-implementation of backwards compatibility for PS2 software? Will the new PS3s - slim or not - have the capability the very first systems had? It now seems likely. We'll definitely keep an eye on this and keep you up-to-date...

6/29/2009 Ben Dutka

Put this on your webpage or blog:
Email this to a friend
Subscribe to Ben Dutka on Twitter