Sony to seek help for PS2 BC? - Blu-ray Forum

xtop · 01-09-2009, 05:06 PM

http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/4421.html

Quote:

Some of you with large PS2 libraries are very disappointed that Sony opted to remove backwards compatibility for PS2 software from the new PlayStation 3. The original 60GB model had it, but Sony immediately began to cut back; the ensuing model only had partial b/c (and it was emulation; they got rid of the graphics synthesizer chip), and now, the PS3 doesn't support PS2 software at all. It does, however, support most PS1 software.

Sony got rid of PS2 b/c in the PS3 mostly to help cut the cost of the console, but once they've dropped the manufacturing costs enough, might they reconsider? According to a rumor started at NeoGAF, one Sony representative claims that the company may be looking into a PS2 emulator for the PS3 in the near future. He first said that with only about a year left in the PS2's lifespan, you can't expect Sony to put PS2 b/c high on its priority list for the PS3, but at the same time, an emulator isn't out of the realm of possibility. This rep apparently said that "Sony may be willing to potentially buy a PS2 emulator to put in future consoles." And furthermore, this could include anyone who wants to try making one, as Sony may be looking around for options from both companies and independent coders. Of course, none of this is anything but speculation and rumor - hence, Sony will never issue an official comment on it - but they have cut the production costs of the PS3 significantly over the past couple of years. With those costs down, and with enough consumer demand, it would seem logical to pursue PS2 emulation...if they can get it cheap, that is.

The question is, as we leave the previous generation further and further behind, does PS2 emulation become less important or more important? Are people tossing their PS2s when they buy a PS3? They didn't do that earlier, when there were still plenty of PS2 games coming out and not a whole lot on shelves for the PS3. But these days, there's very little to entice a new consumer to keep the PS2 hooked up. Then again, even with no new games, someone may have a very large PS2 library, and may only realize at a later date that the PS3 doesn't support any one of those games. It's an interesting conundrum, to be sure.

well this is a new rumor anyways.

un4gvn94538 · 01-09-2009, 05:15 PM

b/c will always be important to me. if all ps3s can do psone games, then the next gen should always have psone and ps2 b/c. if my launch 606gig ever failed on me i always said i would pay to have it fixed rather than ebuy a new one because of the b/c

Marine Mike · 01-09-2009, 05:19 PM

As long as Playstations can read DVDs and Blu-rays, I think they should be able to play PS1/2/3/+ games.

Now if they switch the actual media (like just a USB stick) games are distributed on then they should offer to download the previous games for a price.

ckent22 · 01-09-2009, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marine Mike

As long as Playstations can read DVDs and Blu-rays, I think they should be able to play PS1/2/3/+ games.

Now if they switch the actual media (like just a USB stick) games are distributed on then they should offer to download the previous games for a price.

This is interesting because I don't have a 60GB model but it plays PS2 Games.

bdadhat · 01-09-2009, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckent22

This is interesting because I don't have a 60GB model but it plays PS2 Games.

Do you have a 20gb or one of the early 80gb?

Simplayer · 01-09-2009, 05:33 PM

Eh, seems rather dubious.

xtop · 01-09-2009, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckent22

This is interesting because I don't have a 60GB model but it plays PS2 Games.

you have the 20gb, which is the 60gb with less features

Marine Mike · 01-09-2009, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ckent22

This is interesting because I don't have a 60GB model but it plays PS2 Games.

I don't either as I have the 80GB rollout.

york weir · 01-09-2009, 06:31 PM

Just look how many PS2's are still being sold. I'm sure some are to replace broken units but surely Sony would like all of those sales to go to the PS3. I would imagine if someone was replacing a broken ps2 they would consider a ps3 instead if it still supported their games.

CptGreedle · 01-09-2009, 06:36 PM

I can picture them adding a pay-for download to the PSN to give people PS2 b/c. It might be free, but I would expect it to cost something, probably around the $5-$10 range. But in the end, they could also put some PS2 titles on the PSN Store if they want. The challenge here is teaching people who have a PS3 if they need it or not... Not everyone who has b/c uses it, and probably doesn't realize they can play it.

DC_Street · 01-09-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdadhat

Do you have a 20gb or one of the early 80gb?

says he has a 20gb in his sig

ussrelativity · 01-10-2009, 10:22 AM

I should get a brand new CECHA01 60GB PS3 soon. I weighed my options, and decided to go through with it, especially for the price I'm getting it for.

Hopefully I should get it within the week.

bajor27 · 01-10-2009, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by york weir

Just look how many PS2's are still being sold. I'm sure some are to replace broken units but surely Sony would like all of those sales to go to the PS3. I would imagine if someone was replacing a broken ps2 they would consider a ps3 instead if it still supported their games.

I completely agree. Removing BC for PS2 games was not a very smart move.

ussrelativity · 01-10-2009, 12:01 PM

No, it wasn't. But from a financial perspective, it was necessary, but they should have had a full software solution to put in when it was phased out.

I almost landed an 80GB MGS4 pack last month, but had trouble with my order, and now I've got a CECHA01 60GB model coming for the same price, and this time the order worked.

FendersRule · 01-10-2009, 12:33 PM

No thank you very much, I'll stick to my modded PS2 with a 400 GB HDD

xtop · 01-10-2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FendersRule

No thank you very much, I'll stick to my modded PS2 with a 400 GB HDD

you can keep your pirated ps2 game collection, but we still want the ps2 in our ps3's

FendersRule · 01-10-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xtop

you can keep your pirated ps2 game collection, but we still want the ps2 in our ps3's

Ill take the hardware mode instead the the crappy emulation thank you very much

I'll also take the faster HDD loading times, than waiting on disk reads. Not to mention, The PS2 has decent console emulation (GEN, SNES, etc), and I'm still waiting on this to occur on the new generation consoles (might never happen).

If the PS3 can run 100% of PS2 games and upscale them in a hardware fashion (no "emulation") then I might consider getting my hopes up! As we all know, emulation is never 100% the same. Just look at the Xbox 360 (not sure if the 360 emulates or not) or hell, fire up any PS or N64 emulator on your PC. You'll notice two main problems with emulation that can really bug the piss out of you. The first is sound and video glitches here and there. Most of the time with a good quality emulator, you won't notice it. However, I've been bothered many times depending on the quality of the emulating software. Some great examples are some PSone emulation software on the PC, and classic mode with Mac OSX. I still can NEVER get RE2 or Pokemon Snap to work correctly with any N64 emulator, Mac or PC. Again, this is only depending on the quality put into the emulator itself, and it takes ALOT of work to alleviate this problem, to an almost impossible level. Sony is in no way shape or form to make it 100% from of glitches. The Xbox 360 suffers the same thing in certain games. The second problem is that not ALL games will run. Way to fix this, build the damn thing in the PS3 already, and toss out the "emulation" crap.

My point is, I don't believe the PS3 will ever replace the PS2. You can mark my words though and beat me up in 4-5 years when it might happen! I'm always going to need both systems hooked up to my TV. What good does it do to have the PS3 with a built in emulator, especially if it's in anyway shape or form worse than the real thing?

radagast · 01-10-2009, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bajor27

I completely agree. Removing BC for PS2 games was not a very smart move.

It was done during the format war to help the PS3 to compete.

xtop · 01-10-2009, 01:37 PM

fenders..trust me. i had a modded ps2 back in the day, having almost zero load time is freaking awesome. but thats what we can expect when sony starts selling ps2 games on the psn

as for crappy emulation, you bring up 2 systems that are harder to emulate. they haven't been around long enough to get a good emulation going. give it time and they'll be just like genesis/snes.

i'd say it remains to be seen if sony can get the emulation high enough to actually replace the ps2, but thats what we're all hoping for

richieb1971 · 01-11-2009, 06:38 AM

I have 2 60GB machines and they are loud and I never use PS2 games on them. I think the 1080p upscaling was a waste of time since the 480p games work better using 480p.

Therefore I just use my ps2. There are obviously some benefits to having ps2 B/C but i'm not that bothered about it. I'd not give up SACD though.

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01-09-2009, 05:15 PM	#2
un4gvn94538 Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Limbo (Bakersfield, Ca.) 4K collection:143 Blu-ray collection:811 DVD collection:54 Digital collection:1494 Trading Score:277	b/c will always be important to me. if all ps3s can do psone games, then the next gen should always have psone and ps2 b/c. if my launch 606gig ever failed on me i always said i would pay to have it fixed rather than ebuy a new one because of the b/c

01-09-2009, 05:19 PM	#3
Marine Mike The Busey Member since:Apr 2008 Location:Ohio Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray collection:120 Blu-ray reviews:4 Trading Score:4	As long as Playstations can read DVDs and Blu-rays, I think they should be able to play PS1/2/3/+ games. Now if they switch the actual media (like just a USB stick) games are distributed on then they should offer to download the previous games for a price.

01-09-2009, 05:33 PM	#6
Simplayer Special Member Member since:Jan 2008 Location:Windsor, Ontario	Eh, seems rather dubious.

01-09-2009, 06:31 PM	#9
york weir Special Member Member since:Nov 2007	Just look how many PS2's are still being sold. I'm sure some are to replace broken units but surely Sony would like all of those sales to go to the PS3. I would imagine if someone was replacing a broken ps2 they would consider a ps3 instead if it still supported their games.

01-09-2009, 06:36 PM	#10
CptGreedle Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Jul 2007 Location:Sworn super-hero now services Atlanta (and suburbs). Blu-ray collection:128 Blu-ray reviews:5	I can picture them adding a pay-for download to the PSN to give people PS2 b/c. It might be free, but I would expect it to cost something, probably around the $5-$10 range. But in the end, they could also put some PS2 titles on the PSN Store if they want. The challenge here is teaching people who have a PS3 if they need it or not... Not everyone who has b/c uses it, and probably doesn't realize they can play it.

01-10-2009, 10:22 AM	#12
ussrelativity Expert Member Member since:Jun 2007	I should get a brand new CECHA01 60GB PS3 soon. I weighed my options, and decided to go through with it, especially for the price I'm getting it for. Hopefully I should get it within the week.

01-10-2009, 12:01 PM	#14
ussrelativity Expert Member Member since:Jun 2007	No, it wasn't. But from a financial perspective, it was necessary, but they should have had a full software solution to put in when it was phased out. I almost landed an 80GB MGS4 pack last month, but had trouble with my order, and now I've got a CECHA01 60GB model coming for the same price, and this time the order worked.

01-10-2009, 12:33 PM	#15
FendersRule Special Member Member since:Oct 2008 Location:ID Home Theater Gallery:16 Blu-ray collection:81 Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:15	No thank you very much, I'll stick to my modded PS2 with a 400 GB HDD

01-10-2009, 01:37 PM	#19
xtop Blu-ray Count Member since:Oct 2007 Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- Trading Score:3	fenders..trust me. i had a modded ps2 back in the day, having almost zero load time is freaking awesome. but thats what we can expect when sony starts selling ps2 games on the psn as for crappy emulation, you bring up 2 systems that are harder to emulate. they haven't been around long enough to get a good emulation going. give it time and they'll be just like genesis/snes. i'd say it remains to be seen if sony can get the emulation high enough to actually replace the ps2, but thats what we're all hoping for

01-11-2009, 06:38 AM	#20
richieb1971 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 4K collection:89 Blu-ray collection:706 Trading Score:16	I have 2 60GB machines and they are loud and I never use PS2 games on them. I think the 1080p upscaling was a waste of time since the 480p games work better using 480p. Therefore I just use my ps2. There are obviously some benefits to having ps2 B/C but i'm not that bothered about it. I'd not give up SACD though.

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