ps3 backwards compat whacked for uk and australia

Sony has revealed that its PlayStation 3 consoles to be released in UK, Europe, Australia and other countries this Spring will no longer have the Emotion Engine chip on board. This reduces the cost to produce the console, and also will kill much of the PlayStation 2 backwards compatibility found in US and Japanese systems.

While some may see this as a move which could bring the cost of the PS3 down in the future, the fact of the matter is that the console has so few worthwhile titles at present, that just about the only thing worth playing on it are last-gen games. I’ve clocked way more time playing Okami and God of War (and playing Blu-Ray movies) on my PS3 than I’ve spent playing PS3 games.

Word is that the system will still be compatible with select PS2 titles and will retain compatibility with PS1 games through software emulation, but I think this is just one more reason NOT to pick up a PlayStation 3, and a serious backwards step. If Sony wanted to remove the hardware-based compatibility in 2 or 3 years, AFTER there are plenty of quality PS3 titles, that would be a different story, but frankly, this just smells like a cost-cutting measure due to the poor launch results for the console. Unsurprisingly, Sony has made no announcements to pass on the cost reduction to consumers.

Boo, Sony.

[via Gamesblog]