I think Sony should implement this at some stage. Not anytime soon however, because the unit is still too pricey relative to the competition. In a few years time, once costs are reduced further, it may become a viable option.

Compatability with a vast catalogue of games from two very successful generations is a significant advantage that its opponents simply can't match, not even the old veteran Nintendo. In fact, I think backwards compatibility would have done more for the PS3's fortunes than BluRay. It's BluRay that has kept the cost of the unit so high, not backwards compatibility.

Maybe they thought they could, but the cell isn't as fast as they expected and can't handle emulating the PS2 fully in software.

@xponent

exactly ,,,,Blu ray is the reason for the high price tag,,,but Sony thinks ahead of time (they wanted to win the format war ),maybe push some more HDtv in houses,..


BTW,,,all PS3 sku's play PS1 games.

I have a PS2 but I don't want to have it attached to my TV anymore, I want that space to be free and my PS3 to handle every PS1/2/3 gaming activity!

Maybe Sony could sell the PS2 memory card to USB converter with a CD that comes with an upgrade that allows the PS3 to play PS2 games!!

Damn I'm going crazy with theories...

Well, assuming they stick with the cell architecture in the PS4, then any development they make in full software BC will be carried over to the PS4. So I am confident that if it can be done, then they are indeed working on it.

I guess it's not their top priority right now. Surely they can do it but they need to focus on getting more profitable. Besides, at the current price it's mostly core gamers who that are interested in PS3. Casual gamers are probably more interested in bacwards compatibility so once the price drops to a maximum of $300/€300 we can possibly expect backwards compatibility. Not any time soon then. What a pity, I'd like it even now. Luckily I have the 60 GB model with limited backwards compatibility.

Nothing to do with "allowing", they just won't redesign the 40Gb with PS2 parts anymore so they would have to do it with software emulation. And I really doubt that its easy to get this to work for most games without severe problems. Would be great if they could do it though.

There might never be a firmware that allows the 40gb PS3s to run PS2 disks, but I believe down the road Sony will release downoadable PS2 games via PSN. The things keeping them from doing it now are focused PS3 development, and retailer relations.

I would be very interested to see if they stick with the Cell's architecture.  All next-gen systems are guaranteed to be multicore (short of some other technology appearing tomorrow to blue them out of the water).  I think that had the PS3 had multiple GPUs and not just one with SPUs around it, it would have been a much more robust and flexible system to develop for.

I don't think they will ever do it, but i would get the model with BC anyday.
It's good not to have it because it makes it more affordable but i remember going to my local Gamestation and there were some kids complaining to the manager that their PS3 wasn't playing ps2 games as they didn't know.

Maybe ps3 will offer emulation which eliminates the need for a ps2 chip.