I don't know, I could be wrong but I suspect that removing backwards compatibility entirely was a very bad move; even having 25% backwards compatibility with the promise of improvements down the road would be much better.

I don't have a perfect picture into people's minds so I don't have a full understanding of their purchasing habits but I do know that backwards compatibility became a huge deal for many consumers after it first started being introduced; the PS2 and Gameboy Advance were bought by a lot of people who were very interested in playing their old games on their new systems.

I really believe that less people would be disapointed if they dropped the ability for the $400 PS3 to play Blu-Ray movies than for it to be unable to play PS2 games.

What PS2 games does everyone want to play cuz I'm not understanding the seriousness of this. The last game worth playing on my PS2 was God of War 2. So what games are people playing on their PS2? Also, how often does anyone here play their PS2 and how often do you think you will when you have a next gen system? mr marc, all PS2 games are not ugly but 95% of them are. I can really only call GoW 1 and 2, FF ten and eleven, Shadow of the Colossus, DMC, and that's about it. There may be some other gems I have forgotten but that's the gist of it. The rest are ugly or look better on the original XBOX (Such is the case with any multiplatform title such as Madden or NBA Live or most games released on both platforms) or Gamecube (Such is the case with RE4)

@mrmarc

WHICH ps2 games that are being made now will be decent

God of War 2 was the last one

& if PS2 backwards compatibility is so important, don't WHINE about the price of the ps3

SONY can only do so much, they are not God's

Let's see, I played my PS2 yesterday. There are still great games releasing on PS2, and you don't want to play any games because you love graphics more than gameplay.

Check my post Gamingdevil ;)

Since many people buy LCD TV's these days, with even a simple version PS2 is not really worth playing anymore on a LCD TV, period. You need upscale upgrades for that, something which the WII provides as well and the Gamecube did for European area. And no... a Component Cable wouldn't improve much, without the progressive scan option.

You indeed remove jaggies with upscale upgrade but most of all... the hazy, dancing image of the graphics when moving around in the game. Of course not a graphical upgrade... you need a full remake of a game to do that.

um did the article say 60 gig only while stocks last is the 60 gig being dropped in europe now too?

Since there are over 100 million PS2's sold world wide, I don't see how no BC would be a majority problem. Yes it is more convenient, but they are targeting that market now, not the "I don't have a PS2" market. There will be plenty of games for the PS3 over the holidays.

You have a perspective which prevents you from seeing the big picture ...

When you walk into any big-box retailer you will always see a crowd of people who are pawing through the budget PS2/XBox/Gamecube/GBA games and are looking for an interesting game to play; most of them have not played a quarter of the worthwhile PS2 games and for them $14.99 to $19.99 is the correct price to pay for a game. These people can be convinced to buy a next-generation console if it is inexpensive enough and if it has an interesting library but they will continue to buy these inexpensive games as the staple of their gaming diet.

These are the unwashed masses ... The "gamesr" which make up the largest and most important segment of the videogame market. So far Sony has ignored them by pricing the PS3 way out of their reach, now it is only somewhat out of their reach and one of the biggest features (to them) has been stripped away.

very nice! very...

KH, KH2, Shadow Of The Colossus, FF10, FF12, RE4, DMC3, ICO, GT4, Persona 3... are these enough?

@darthdevidem, wait so the 360 can fully software-emulate XBOX titles and the PS3 can't emulate PS2 titles? B-But "teh power of teh CELL!!!one!11!"???