While it doesn't replace the need for complete research, what a number of people are going to do is ask a sales clerk (as a previous post mentioned as a common question) if the PS3 is BC.  How many sales clerks will know the correct answer is: 'It depends', and then be able to explain it correctly?

And FishyJoe, sorry.  Messing up your research is just a bad as not doing it at all.  You're banned from all video games systems for a month!  And just lucky we don't make you return them all.

 Hmmmm...  How bad would the console sales be if you needed to take a test and pass it before you could buy the console?

BC to return:

http://gamer.tm/news.php?id=1961

Sony isn’t ready to turn its back on backward compatability just yet, according to a job ad put out by the company.

So Gamefront.de is reporting, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is currently advertising for a software engineer to deal with backward compatability for both the PS3 and an unspecified next-gen console – which sounds an awful lot like the PlayStation 4 to us.

Specifically, the engineer will be required to implement and optimise emulation software for PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games on both formats.

Not only would it suggest that PS4 development is now at the point where Sony can start thinking about specific software such as emulators, the fact the PS3 is mentioned as part of the job brief is also of note.

Although Sony has enjoyed considerably more PS3 success since it introduced the 40GB model last year (going so far as to drop all other versions of the PS3 in Europe and Japan), the fact it’s not backwardly compatible with the PS2 hasn’t gone down well with some gamers.

With many gamers still owning large numbers of PS2 games, reintroducing PS2 compatability would only help strengthen the PS3’s improving image.

Or on the other hand, it could all just be wishful thinking. Either way, we should find out soon enough.

I hope you're right.  BC is important to a lot of people. 

Nope not me. I just got my Xbox 360 and my Playstation 3. I knew it was not BC but I wanted a new model and wanted it cheap.