February 28, 2007 - The European version of Sony's PlayStation 3 will run only some of the games designed for the previous generation of the video game machine _ a move designed to cut costs and speed up production.

Backward compatibility with the PlayStation 2 was a highly touted feature in PS3s that went on sale late last year in the U.S. and Japan.

But packing the machine with two expensive computer chips to play both PS2 and PS3 games has contributed to higher costs.

The European PlayStation 3, set to go on sale March 23, won't carry the chip for PlayStation 2 and will rely on software to run PS2 games, saving money and making mass production easier by reducing the number of parts, Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Daisuke Nakata said Wednesday. She refused to say how much money will be saved.

It's still undecided whether future PS3 machines for Japan, the U.S. and elsewhere will be sold without the PS2 chip. The option is being considered, Nakata said.

The U.S. and Japanese consoles also failed to deliver full compatibility with games designed for the older system.

Almost as soon as the PS3 went on sale in Japan and the U.S., Sony acknowledged complaints that it wasn't properly playing thousands of PS2 games. In some cases, the games didn't work at all. In others, scenes froze or music wouldn't play.

Sony has been offering downloads to fix the problem, but not everything has been fixed, the company said.

The decision to forgo the PS2 chip in the European model is yet another blow to the PS3, which has been plagued by production delays. The European launch was postponed until March from the initially promised holiday season.

Skeptics have noted Nintendo Co.'s rival Wii console is out of stock while the PS3 can be found on some store shelves. One drawback to the PS3 is that at $499 and $599, it costs about twice as much as the Wii.

Although backward compatibility with the PS2 would seem a small issue for its cutting-edge successor, there still aren't that many PS3 games available.

Sony is losing money on each PlayStation 3 that's sold at a time the electronics and entertainment company is trying to turn itself around by shedding unprofitable divisions and selling assets.

Sony's October-December profit slipped 5 percent to 160 billion yen ($1.3 billion), largely because of PS3 startup costs. The company has fallen behind rivals in recent years in key gadgets such as flat-panel TVs and portable music players, but it has been gradually boosting profits in its electronics operations.

Sony has sold 1.8 million PS3, while Nintendo sold 3.2 million Wii machines worldwide by the end of last year.

Source: The Associated Press

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What a load of crap. Anything else they are going to take out of it? Before long they will release one that doesn't even play BR discs to save money.

^ As stupid as it sounds though, I would buy that if they did that.

I have always wished that Sony released two models of this console, one with the Blu-Ray player and one without it but could be upgraded at a later date.

As much as this may or may not be confusing for general consumers, I think in this instance it would have worked so that those who want the next big-thing (apparently) in entertainment mediums could have their wish and get Blu-Ray, while the rest of us can still enjoy the new games that the PS3 have to offer while not having to worry or care for Blu-Ray until we're darn well ready to. Personally I think it's too early to update to a new medium again (although I do recognise the benefits at the same time), so yeah something like that happening would be ideal. It isn't happening however and that's fair enough.

This news on the other hand, well as much as it sucks I'm not too concerned because I will be keeping my PS2 and will just play any of my games on that if I have the desire to.

But the games are on BluRay discs anyway, so would removing the movie playback feature make much difference?

Well that's it isn't it, there is no need for blu-ray this generation, dvd-9 is more than sufficient. But Sony had to go with the glitz and glamour and in turn they are taking a loss on every console even with a horrendous price tag.

Apparantly the emulation solution supports over 1,000 games which is much better than what we have on the 360, in which case there might not be a big deal about the lack of emotion engine in PAL PS3's.

As long as they keep updating the emulator to support more games it's not such a major issue.

I wasn't planning on getting rid of my PS2 anyway but I'd prefer the convenience of using a console already hooked up to the TV with a wireless controller

Well, yes but I wasn't referring to the real world was I? I was referring to my own personal world and what I'd like to happen in it. ;)

Just another reason I can't justify handing over 1000 beans for this console.