PS3 massive back 'pat prospects

The PlayStation 3 could be backwardly compatible with pretty much every original PS2 and PSone game according to IBM's Tom Reeves, the man who's in charge of semiconductor and technology services at IBM.

Speaking to Electronic News, Reeves, who was discussing the intricacies of PS3 chip design and manufacture, said, "Sony are very concerned about quality and backward compatibility. They want to get this right. They tested game after game after game. When there were about 40 Playstation One games that didn't work properly, that didn't pass their criteria for quality."

So we could be in for a massive list of back 'pat titles on PS3 encompassing pretty much every original release, providing Sony of course wants to go that route. Recent indications are that a mass of original PSone games may be heading for the PSP, a more likely and indeed suitable platform for the now rather aged PSone catalogue. By comparison, Microsoft's Xbox 360 emulates original Xbox titles, with just over 200 currently available for play on your 360.

Reeves also explored the (remote) possibility of a slightly dumbed down budget PlayStation 3 which could be powered by fewer Cell processing cores, making for a much cheaper machine. Reeves admitted it could happen but, "I don't think Sony has thought about offering that."