I got a call yesterday by someone at my store who was severely disappointed in the fact that the 80 gig PS3 which he had just purchased at another location was NOT backwards compatible. I also received quite a few of what I thought to be MGS 80 Gigs, upon pulling them out of the box they were an interesting cross between old and MGS bundle package design. “What were these random blu-ray playing devices in a black and white box, and what were they doing here?” I wondered ever so eagerly.

Let me tell you, they are in fact the new 80gig PS3’s recently promised by Sony. They are priced at $399, so people who think they are getting a deal on an 80 gig for backwards compatability is sorely mistaken. What is going on around here? Well as far as I can tell Sony keeps releasing different systems with different compatabilities and everyone is getting more confused and frustrated than ever before. I’m going to try and explain to you, to the best of my knowledge the difference between the systems, what to be on the lookout for and try to put an end to the confusion. Keep in mind this caters to ONLY the Sony America and not Europe versions of these products. For those in Europe, I have no answers for you, sorry about that.

Let’s start with the packaging and product.

We all know what the 40 and 60 gig packages look like, just like the original 80 gig ones with a different number of gigs on each box. These packages usually included the game Motorstorm or Spider-man 3 on Blu-Ray with a Six-Axis Controller. The original 80 gigs were discontinued shortly after the 60 gig’s in around August through December of last year (if I remember correctly). They can be purchased on ebay or as refurbed/used systems and no longer in stores. This 80gb bundle was fully backwards compatible with the PS2 and PS1 software.

When Metal Gear Solid 4 was released on June 12th so was another 80gb bundle. This time the packaging was white with Solid Snake on the front of it, it included the MGS4 game with the new dualshock 3 controller. The bundle was VERY limited on qualities on the first day of it’s release and stores received more shipments of this system throughout July. Some of these can still be found in stores, but as far as I know they are discontinued and will continue shipping very limited quantities until they run out. This was the exact SAME system that was released at launch only with different things bundled with it. Therefore it is fully backwards compatible with the PS2 and PS1 software.

Currently (as in 2 days ago), Sony has released (which was supposed to be Sept 1st) the new 80 gig PS3 package that looks like the box shown on the left. It is a combination of both a black and white package design complete with the new dualshock 3 controller. It does not come with any games. The 80GB model costs $399 and replaces the 40GB model — neither model features backwards compatibility.

The New 160GB PS3 which is not yet released, planned release is sometime in November, will come bundled with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a voucher for Pain (expires March 30, 2009) and a DualShock 3 controller, for the price of $499.99. it looks like the 160GB PS3 offers only 2 USB ports and no flash card readers, leading us to believe its functionally identical to the 40GB (now 80GB) low-end model. It appears the 160GB model will not have backwards compatibility for PS2 games.

What does Backwards Compatibility Mean?

Backwards compatibility for those who don’t speak geek is the function to read old Playstation original and Playstation 2 game software via emulation. The 80GB’s have what is known as “limited backward compatibility with PlayStation and PlayStation 2 format software”, they use the less expensive software emulation program instead of the PS2 native hardware which is in the 60GB model.

Sony’s answer to this problem is provide you with a compatibility database with detailed descriptions on all of it’s compatible PS2 games and their issues. I have provided an example with a quick search of the database with some random titles. You can find the backward compatibility status page via Sony’s support site here: http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/CompatibleStatus

60GB: God of War - Description: No major problems for this title.
80GB: God of War - Description: During various FMV sequences throughout the title, the audio plays overlapped by static audio distortion.

60GB: Katamari Damacy - Description: No major problems for this title.
80GB: Katamari Damacy - Description: No major problems for this title.

60GB: Okami - Description: The following conditions have been confirmed on PS3 System Software Version 1.00: At random points throughout the title, when an FMA plays, the audio stutters at a random point during playback, and continues to stutter throughout the duration of the FMA. All conditions have been resolved on PS3 System Software Version 1.10.
80GB: Okami - Description: No major problems for this title.

60GB: Blood Omen 2- Description: No major problems for this title.
80GB: Blood Omen 2 - Description: The following conditions have been confirmed on PS3 System Software Version 2.10: Throughout gameplay, various sound effects may loop indefinitely. All conditions have been resolved on PS3 System Software Version 2.20.

As far as I know the 60GB PS3 IS STILL the best bet for you to have if you want a completely functional PS2 gameplay experiance on your PS3. If you were looking forward to playing ALL of your PS2 titles on your 80GB PS3, you might want to rethink your options and just breakdown and get another PS2 (or hunt for a 60GB PS3 on the internet).

I hope this answers some of your questions and sheds some light onto the confusion you might be having while shopping for a shiny new PS3. We can only hope that Sony doesn’t want to release more console variations to add to the mayhem.

Related Posts:

• Moment of Geek Zen - Dec 31, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Oct 13, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Dec 29, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Sept 23, 2008
• Moment of Geek Zen - Sept 23, 2008