For the launch of the PlayStation 3 in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australasia on the 23rd of March, it will receive a special hardware update. This update will allow for some PS2 games to be compatible with the PlayStation 3, right off the bat. The only downside is that there won’t be much more compatibility for the PS2 on the PS3, because Sony wants to move forward.

“PS3 is first and foremost a system that excels in playing games specifically designed to exploit the power and potential of the PS3 system,” said David Reeves, President of SCEE.

 “Games designed for PS3 offer incredible graphics quality, stunning gameplay and massively improved audio and video fidelity that is simply not achievable with PS and PS2 games. Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, truly taking advantage of this exciting technology.”

Um, I’m sure that would make all the sense in the world if the PS3 at least had 100 decent games on the market. The major problem is that everything cool you can get on the PS3 is something you can also get on the Xbox 360 and Wii...and Xbox, and PS2. Resistance: Fall of Man and Virtua Fighter 5 are the only saving graces for the PS3, right now. Compatibility would actually be a huge push in the right direction for a system that struggles in software (and hardware) sales. But then again, maybe the PAL territories will take differently to Sony’s new console.

For further information regarding the available compatible titles from the PSOne and PS2, or titles that will soon be compatible with the PlayStation 3, you can visit the Official PlayStation Website, or the PAL FAQ For PS3 Compatibility Website. Below are the requirements, restrictions and features of the PS3 and its compatibility with PS2 and PSOne games.

Compatibility Features For PS3:

1. A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch is required to output 7.1 ch audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector.

2. This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.

3. Usability of all storage media types is not guaranteed.

4. Certain PlayStation 2 format software titles may not perform properly on this system. Visit faq.eu.playstation.com/bc for the latest information regarding compatible titles