PS3 costs forced drop in backwards compatibility

Sony has confirmed that the new model PlayStation 3 for Europe has had its backwards compatibility reduced due to costs.

Sony released the final specifications for the Euro PS3 last week, revealing that the machine would only play a 'limited range' of PlayStation 2 titles.

Speaking to GameSpot, Sony Australia MD Michael Ephraim stated that PAL PS3's will not contain the 'emotion engine' chip — the PS2's CPU. Instead, the technology will be emulated.

"Clearly costs is one of the [reasons]. If software is cheaper than the cost of the chip, then why not do that?," said Ephraim.

Sony intends to release a full list of PS2 titles that are compatible with the PlayStation 3 on the day the console launches in Europe, March 23.

Ephraim downplayed the importance of backwards compatibility, even though the publisher is happy to support more original PlayStation titles than PS2 games.

"I think backwards compatibility is important, but when you look at what the PS3's doing with new games, digital content and so on, that specific functionality may not be as important as previously felt," he said.