Sony Corp. Tuesday moved to head off a public relations disaster by announcing which older PlayStation 2 games will work on the European version of the PlayStation 3 console due out on Friday.
Sony said last month that the PS3 model to be launched in Europe would lack a chip used in the earlier models introduced in Japan and North America in November last year.
The function of the chip would be replaced by software, making the console cheaper to produce but taking away the almost full backward compatibility enabling PS2 games to play on PS3.
Sony’s Web site lists games that should work. “If your game is not listed here, emulation is not yet supported on PlayStation 3,” it says.
The acceptance of the new PS3, with reduced compatibility, will have a big impact on Sony’s earnings. Sony loses money on selling the consoles but has said it hopes to reach break even toward the second half of the next business year through cost savings in areas like chip production.
Over the last 18 months Sony has had a series of public relations disasters, including a recall of nearly 10 million computer batteries, PS3 delays and a software program on Sony Entertainment music CDs that breached computer security.
More than 115 million PlayStation 2 consoles have been shipped worldwide, and almost two million of its successor PS3 were shipped between its launch and end-December. One million PS3 are available for the European launch.
In order to play the old games, the new PlayStation 3 owners will first need to install software, called firmware, on their new device. The software can be downloaded from the Internet or obtained on a disc from the customer service unit.
“We will be adding additional titles to this list in future firmware upgrades,” said David Reeves, President of Sony Computer Entertainment.
But Reeves reiterated that Sony will not put much effort in making old PS2 titles available on PS3, but rather focus on developing new services and entertainment features exclusively for PS3.
The new firmware for the PS3 enables several other features on the PS3, including a program to use the PS3’s powerful Cell processor to participate in a protein research project from Stanford University, as well as support for Bluetooth wireless keyboards and mice and an optional full on-screen keyboard.
