Friday, February 23, 2007

Sony to Europe: **** YOU!
















You've got to give credit to Sony, they've done everything in their power to make sure that Microsoft is in a better position with the 360, in every way imaginable. They gave Microsoft a year head start in the next-gen race and then topped that off with a $600 price tag for the PS3. They went out of their way to make sure that only certain HDTV owners would be enjoying PS3 games in HD while the 360 displays perfectly on all sets.

Their online service is pretty much nonexistent, with developers confused as to how to even go about providing online content.

They gave up exclusives on Assassin's Creed and GTAIV because Ken Kutaragi couldn't bother to return some phone calls.

But there was one thing that was bothering Sony, that got them to thinking that maybe they hadn't done everything to hand Microsoft the next-gen crown on a silver platter. What was that itch they just had to scratch? Backwards compatibility.

You see, the PS3's ability to play classic PS and PS2 titles was just too...comprehensive, compared to the 360's patchwork quilt of compatible titles. The system supports 98% of past titles in the US and Japan and that's just way too many games. Damn near 7000 if I remember correctly.

While it was too late to screw over PS3 early adopters in Japan and America, Sony realized that they still had an opportunity to come to Microsoft's aid in Europe. How, you say?

By providing Europe with new and deproved PS3's that lack some of the internal hardware that makes full backwards compatibility possible. Instead, the PS3 will now achieve it's backwards compatibility just like the 360, through software emulation. At least now we really know why the system was delayed for 4 months.

Even better, there's no reason to think this new hardware, which is the result of cost cutting measures, will be a Euro exclusive. It would seem kind of odd to screw over Europe exclusively, not that it hasn't been done before. No, I'd expect that just as Microsoft is gearing up to release it's upgraded 360 with HDMI and a 120GB HDD, Sony will start sneaking these castrated PS3's into stores worldwide.

My take? I think Sony must have lost a bet with Microsoft and the result is Sony having to do whatever Microsoft tells them. Seriously. Nothing else could possibly explain the complete and utter mishandling of this console right from the get-go.

Sony was on top of the industry and yet here they are, well on their way to making Nintendo's decision to stick with cartridges for the N64 look like a brilliant idea.

Source: PAL PS3 Backwards Compatability Gimped -Kotaku

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