Sony has announced that its European version of the PS3 console will "utilize" a new "hardware specification", according to Sony this new design will allow for the, "...PS3 to be compatible with a broad range of original PlayStation (PS) titles and a limited range of PlayStation2 (PS2) titles."
The mention of limited PS2 backwards compatibility seems to suggest that the European hardware specs may support fewer PS2 titles than the U.S./Japan version of the console. Sony has not made clear its intentions although the release of the statement suggests that Sony is looking forward and plans to gradually drop PS2 support.
PS3 is first and foremost a system that excels in playing games specifically designed to exploit the power and potential of the PS3 system, said David Reeves, President of SCEE. Games designed for PS3 offer incredible graphics quality, stunning gameplay and massively improved audio and video fidelity that is simply not achievable with PS and PS2 games. Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology.
Some additional PS2 titles will become compatible on the PS3 system through regular downloadable firmware updates, which will be made available through the PLAYSTATION Network, from https://www.playstation.com or via PS3 game discs, with the first update planned for the launch date of the 23rd March 2007.
Users will be able to check whether their titles are compatible with PS3 at https://faq.eu.playstation.com/bc . This site will be available on 23rd March to meet launch day.
1. A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch is required to output 7.1 ch audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector.
2. This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.
3. Usability of all storage media types is not guaranteed.
4. Certain PlayStation 2 format software titles may not perform properly on this system. Visit faq.eu.playstation.com/bc for the latest information regarding compatible titles.
