European Playstation 3 would initially play fewer PlayStation 2 video games

European Playstation 3 would initially play fewer PlayStation 2 video games

Japanese videogame console maker Sony has said that the European model of the Playstation 3 gaming console would play fewer PlayStation 2 video games when it launches on March 23. This is in comparison to the console units already sold in the Japanese and American market.

A Sony spokesperson stated in this disappointing note: “The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models.”

The company clarified that the European model of the PS3 has been designed differently. This means that the company is moving some of the hardware based functionality of the original PS3 to software. This would result in a situation that far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models.

Alex Kwiatowski at British market research group Vertical Market Technologies spoke about this Sony’s announcement: “Sony is managing expectations by saying now that the new console will play fewer of the old games, and that’s a good thing.”

Kwiatowski added: “I’m as disappointed as the next game player about the reduced backward compatibility, but even the most nostalgic, misty-eyed gamers will have their steely hearts impressed by the new features that PS3 games provide.”