Everyone is focusing on the BC side of the interview, but I thought that this part was much more interesting:

But the consumer is going to see that the machines are priced similar and that there are multiformat games on the market, so how are you communicating to consumers the difference between the consoles?

The feature that every single PlayStation 3 has always had right from the start is that not only is it a high definition games machine, but that it's a high definition movie player as well. We're in a world, whether you like it or not, that is moving from standard definition to high definition. People are expecting a high-definition world. Again, the adoption rate is all proportional to price and prices in all areas are coming down, which is great news for all consumers. What we're dong is that right from day one we are a part of that world and we always went with the Blu-ray disc for two reasons. One, because it's essential in giving great gaming that you have the capacity it offers, and secondly, because people will want access to high definition movies and Blu-ray is the best format for that.

So according to him, consumers should see the PS3's advantage over the competition as being the Blu-Ray movies? Oh my god, I hope not every executive in SCEE is as blind as this guy appears to be...

Darthdevidem last year when the PS3 launched it was Sony and PS3 fans that harped on the importance of backwards compatibility. Now that Sony is removing the  feature its suddenly unimportant. It has been the modus operandi of a good deal of the Sony faithful over the past year. Sony says one thing, its fans back them 100%. A few months later, Sony says the opposite and then Sony fans suddenly forget what they were saying before and back Sony's new stance 100%. Whether it be the loss of exclusive titles, the lack of rumble, the flip flop stance on motion controls, etc., it is becoming readily apparent that some Sony posters are incapable of independent thought and just parrot whatever Sony is spoon feeding them at the present time.

QFT Darc Requiem.

And when Sony says that they have a lot of research which backs their decision to go with the "no PS2 BC" solution, I have to wonder if that research has the same quality as that which backed all their previous PS3 related decisions... Seeing these declarations from SCEE executives doesn't give me one tiny bit of trust that this research actually happened in any meaningful way. But time will tell I guess.

The 60 gig pack seems awesome.

I expect sales to atleast double in the OTHERS. I really think its goin gto hit 5 million this week. I hope it starts to sell well, se we can get those games in.

My prob with alot of those claims of people saying it was important then and it isn't now is that they havent abbandoned BC, they simply stated that if you want it buy the better version o.O. Its not like their going to stop selling the 80. So hell I can STILL chime that BC is very important (because it is for me) And ya know what? I can pick up a ps3 thats entirely backwards compatible. I CANT do that with an Xbox 360 :/

ChronotriggerJM, the problem is that at least in Europe gamers will soon have no choice. Sony by their own admission is discontinuing the 60GB PS3 in Europe. So if Euro gamers don't snatch those units up before they run out they'll have no alternative but the 40GB PS3 with no PS2 BC feature.

And you've reduced the price of the higher spec model...

We also realised that going into this Christmas that there will be people who don't want two devices hanging off their PlayStation 3 – a hub and a memory card converter – and who do want backwards compatibility. For those people what we've done is we've reconfigured what is the Starter Pack right now. The Starter Pack as we have it at the moment right now – two games and an extra controller – will cease. We will produce the 60GB machine with all the features, including the backwards compatibility, plus two games and the one controller for GBP 349.

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Might just be me, but that sounds like they aren't discontinuing the 60GB in Europe.  Really, it's amazing how people can read things the way they please and ignore the fact that something to the contrary is right in front of them.  Not that Sony is reliable, or anything, because they are constantly saying two different, contradictory things, but there's nothing to say that even if they stop making the 60GB model they can't replace it with another SKU.  I mean, that has been their modus operandi.  If there is an actual demand for it, they'll find a way to put it on the market.

to summarize

- people who want a ps3 but are not concerned with ps2 games are now able to buy a ps3 for cheaper than they were able to before. Still plays PS1 games.

-people who value ps2 backwards compatibility and/or the other additional features cut from the 40gig will be able to purchase a higher-spec console (60gig with 2 games).

so in conclusion, the ps3 is a better value than before (the higher spec model is also cheaper) and those who simply want to play ps3 games (and/or blu-ray movies) are able to own a HD console without sacrificing things like Wi-fi, a hard drive, hdmi input, etc (vs. core x360).

it seems to me that sony is not "abandoning" BC like some people want to believe.

BullS**t