From the start of the PS3, Sony has always said that they were committed to their customers, and wanted an easy PS2 to PS3 transition, but SCEA Marketing boss John Koller has said that backward compatibility was off the table due to the fact the majority of the market were buying PS3’s to play PS3 games.
But an 'anonymous source' from Sony’s Computer Entertainment commented at a recent press event has given some information on the issue. Pre the launch of the MGS4 bundle, released in June ’08, Sony had removed backwards compatibility, but once that bundle run was over the PS2 playback no longer existed on the PS3 with the launch of the 40 GB PS3. The reason, the cost outweighed the benefit but to include the system in later models.
The MGS 4 bundle marked Sony’s first attempt at keeping PS2 Playback at a lower cost with the use of PS2 emulation software. Although the bundle had pulled the PS3 out of the console red zone, the choice was made to remove backwards compatibility from PS3 Altogether.
Here’s why “We had a number of Ideas on the table at the time, but only a few were sticking. It was important for us to find ways to make get profitable again, and it was clear the PlayStation 3’s road to success was going to be a long one. We couldn’t afforded to add features just because gamers were use to them on our past systems, we needed to look at things from a business perspective first”
When the 40GB PS3 was released Sony was convinced that backwards compatibility was pointless, with no financial value and, only counted for loyalty, most of which was lost on the 360. It was clear from what was said that Sony likes the idea but not an easy conclusion with how to implement it. When asked about firmware options this was said:
“The idea of updating every Non-backwards compatible PS3 was one of the first to be considered. It also happens to be the one idea that cost the most to do. Almost every game needs specific emulation software, and in most cases that software needs to be update and tweaked just to get close to its original quality on the PS2. Not to mention no one makes money off a firmware updates”
The MGS 4 bundle, which used emulation software, needed lots of updates to improve quality. Some PS2 games, though few in numbers, still have visually problems when played on the 80GB PlayStation 3.
one of the best PS2 games ever“One of the ideas that almost made it to market, but is still in play, was to gradually place every PlayStation 2 game on the PSN for download, pricing most games at or around 9.99. This would be done much like what’s happing with the PS1 classics right now on the PSN. “
This option is still talked about at Sony’s HQ, and will likely be use for some of the lower market titles, which could start as early as Q3 of next year. The decision Sony finally came to is the one already in play, HD ReMastering.
“Re Mastering didn’t come up until about two years ago. For a developer, ReMastering in HD took a moderate amount of time and effort to achieve, and with the right title it could be very successful. Once we noticed the benefits of HD ReMastering, the decision was made to use God of War 1 & 2 as the test for the market, and they delivered.”
The God of war Collection has sold almost 2 million copies to date.
“The God of War Collection had reached almost a million copies sold just after the holiday. Shortly after that Activision, EA , UbiSoft, Konami, and SquareEnix were all on board to issue ReMastered Edition of their best Playstation 2 Games. The industry’s best developers are ReMastering their best games. Prince of Persia, Shadow of Colossus, and ICO are just the beginning. When fans see what Konami’s doing to the Metal Gear series, and what Square’s doing with Final Fantasy, they’re going to be very happy.”
-Fren
