I can see were removing the BC compatibility on the PS3 harmed it in Japan. I bought the PS3 sooner than I really wanted to because of them dropping the 60GB. The reason why I wanted full BC is that I live in a college apartment and I really don't have that much room for a lot of video game consoles. Having a BC PS3 allowed me to leave the PS2 at my home and still play great games like Suikoden 5, Wild Arms 5, and Star Ocean 3 at School.
Systems I own (Games)
Sega: Dreamcast (40) , Saturn (25), Genesis (50), Masters System (10), Game Gear (20)
Sony: PS1 (8), PS2 (60) , PS3 (5), PSP (12)
Atari: 2600 (18) , 7800 (10), Lynx (10)