New US PS3 model lacks hardware backwards compatibility

New US PS3 model lacks hardware backwards compatibility

Sony is introducing a new 80 GB model PlayStation 3 in the US, at $600. Accordingly, the 60 GB model, formerly that price, is being lowered to $500. (There was originally a 20 GB model for $500, which has been dropped entirely.)

The kicker is that the 80 GB model will lack the original PlayStation 2 hardware, called the ‘Emotion Engine’, which provided backwards compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games on all US PS3 models to date. The 80 GB model will instead use software emulation, which will result in many PS2 games not working as well, or simply not working at all; this does not compare favourably to the hardware-based solution, which is near-perfect.

Yet in a bizarre twist of fate, the 60 GB model (for now) still contains the EE. So that extra $100 for an 80 GB model will get you a hard drive that costs almost exactly the same, a game that costs essentially nothing to manufacture, and less hardware resulting in lower compatibility. Good job as always, Sony.