Tuesday 6 June 2006

PlayStation 3 will launch with the crucial components of a PS2 embedded into its architecture, enabling owners to play every PS2 game ever released.

Both PS2's Emotion Engine and graphics chip will be included in PS3's hardware - in a similar way to how PS2 contains parts from PSone - claims Japanese tech magazine Ultra One. But the benefits of next-gen, plus PS3's ability to go online to download new software, means that every old game should work - unlike with PS2, which was unable to read a number of PSone games.

But this isn't a permanent fix. The inclusion of PS2 bits is a temporary measure to bridge the gap between PS3's release and Sony's tech-guys building a robust PS2 emulator for the next-gen console. Hopefully, this wouldn't be in the same style as Xbox 360's, which is only compatible with a fraction of Xbox games.

Sony has replied to these reports by stating: "We are not in a position to comment on details at the moment," perhaps suggesting that the final word on going for hardware add-ons or emulation has yet to be decided. Whatever the final decision, it's clear that backwards compatibility is still a very important element of any next-gen console. Are you listening, Mr Moore?