Sony's website detailing which PS2 games will play on the PS3 has launched. Over 70% of European-released PS3 games will be playable. This comes three days earlier than expected, with Sony having said the site would be available on launch day - March 23rd.
The list applies to PlayStation 3s that are upgraded using a firmware upgrade to system software version 1.60 - which is now to be made available on the day of launch for download.
The list boasts an impressive 1,782 of the 2,451 available PS2 titles to be available from launch. Included on there are games that will be playable upon download of the latest firmware, available on launch.
The list does show, however, that certain games will run with 'minor' or 'noticeable' issues. Included amongst those are some triple A titles such as
Metal Gear Solid 3,
Final Fantasy XII,
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Included on the page are some caveats to be aware of in order to make sure your PS2 game plays.
1. You avoid connecting any non-essential USB peripherals to your PS3
2. You avoid the use of "60Hz" and network modes (which may experience noticeable graphical corruption not present in the main game)
3. You should skip optional FMV sequences (a small number of games have graphical corruption in one or more video sequences).
4. A maximum of seven players can play (non-network) multiplayer PS2 games.
Sony has seemed keen, recently, to let us Europeans know it's serious about backwards compatibility. Last week it announced that an
additional 200 games to those expected will be playable on the PS3.
It's priorities will be changing shortly, however, as SCEE's president, David Reeves, comments in the press release accompanying the news, “We will be adding additional titles to this list in future firmware upgrades, but as we have made clear before, in the future our resources will be increasingly focused on developing new services and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, rather than on delivering PS2 backwards compatibility.”
Sony has already cast doubts on its commitment to those owning hordes of PS2 games with the announced
removal of the Emotion Engine that enabled PS2 game compatibility in the States.
You can access the full list
right here.Is Sony succeeding in impressing you with the PS3's backwards compatibility? Answers below please.