PS3 games begin. PS2 plays PS2 games.

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/427/427173p1.html

IGN has the scoop on this. Developers have been given the spec range to create games for. Also mentions PS3 will play PS2 games but not PS1.

I agree, hey look at it this way though the PS2 wasn't originally supposed to be backwards compatible even though it conatined and still does contian the PS1 CPU for it's I/O chip, Sony chaged their minds after seeing the consumer response to the idea. Now it's looks as though Sony see's the virtues of backwards compatibility hence PS2 playback on the PS3, lets hope they realize that if it is at all feasible for it to be PS1 compatible that they take advantage of that.

Perhaps if we all start emailing Sony suggesting emulation through software they'll include it, just a thought.

Fall 2005

Most of my library is made up of 16 bit titles, I just keep the original system to play them all.

Then don't, you don't need a new system to play them, you've already got one that does.

Well, i guess it will be only a mater of time before someone releases a 'emulator' for the PS3.

I still don't feel like throwing out all my PS1 games, some are real gems, and a lot of people probably feel the same way.

Well with so much power under the hood. Some company, Sony, should be able to release some type of software that allows the PS3 to emulate a PS1.

somehow I totally agree with you, but personally I believe that it's not that they can't, it's more that they don't want.. Why I dunno.

Going along with the software compatibility option, this would naturally mean that there would be some issues with a tiny minority of the games. Not a big deal, but it would be a big deal if your favorite game happened to be included. Some developers wouldn't like it, especially if they followed
Sony's developing rules...

Assuming that the software was designed as well as possible, it would be true that games that would be affected negatively would be kept to a minimum. I would honestly love to know what percentage of PS2 users still buy PS1 games on a regular basis. All of the Gamestops and trade in shops in town have had the same small group of PS1 games for almost a year now, it doesn't look like they're moving any games at all, even if they package them in buy 1 get 1 free deals. I think by and large that the public tends to forget an older system even existed once a new one takes hold of the market.

There are only two ways to make the PS3 backwards compatable, the one way is to have the former system's hardware built into the new system as well. This is a costly method that is definitely not guaranteed to work on all games, and is practically guaranteed to hold back the new system in some area, but would also potentially have a greater compatibility rate with the older games than the alternative.
Doing this in the PS2 to allow for PS1 play made sense since the PS1's processors were off the shelf and relatively old when the original system launched, so they were very cheap to manufacture at the point of the PS2's release. Including the PS2's processors, which were custom designed and first used in the PS2 in 2000, in the PS3 in 2005 seems like it would be a lot more sloppy and expensive than what was done in the PS2 for PS1 playback.
Which brings me to the other option, software compatibility. If Sony has forced every developer to use their development software, and designed their development software accordingly, then they would only need to make sure that PS3 development software supports games designed for earlier, PS2, versions of the software.
This is Microsoft's plan with Xbox 2 backward compatibility. Direct X is designed so that you can play the same game on different, supported, architecture. So, In the same way, the PS3 could simply be designed to support older versions of Sony's development software, this would be the cheaper solution, would not hold back the system in any way, but would very likely introduce compatibility issues in games with less common effects.
So in the end, I predict that Sony will have problems with including one system to be backward compatible with in the PS3, much less two systems, because they did not plan on future compatibility from the start.

Any clue when PS3 will be out in US?

True, but there are some classic games that you just can't afford to get rid of... I've got 10 or so PSOne games left in my collection - I hardly ever touch them anymore, but it's comforting you know, knowing that they are there...

Games like Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Kurushi Final, R-Type Delta, Silent Hill and Vagrant Story... all great games that I can't imagine myself getting rid of, ever!

I'm not sure whether the info we've got it correct. Why would Sony want me to abandon some of my classic PS1 games like Rage Racer, Gran
Turimso 2, or any of the others? I love those games. I don't want to have to keep the PS2 around to play them. If I have to, I'll end up putting it on the TV upstairs and the Genesis will finally get packed away (I don't play it, but it's still hooked up).

This is probably generally true, but the best games always sell. I bought
Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario World about a year ago for my SNES. I bought Conker's Bad Fur Day about six months ago for my N64. I miss Gran
Turismo 2, and I've considered buying it for play on my PS2, but I don't really feel like buying a PS1 memory card too... Package a PS1 memory card with GT2 for $10-15, and I might buy it. As always, it depends on the game.