Siliconera has posted schematics submitted by Sony to the Japanese Patent Office that details a device that will allow Playstation 2 games to run on Playstation 3. According to Siliconera who translated the documents, the device–if released to market as described–will be a single unit device consisting of the following:
▪ Processor
▪ DVD decoder/emulator
▪ Sound processor
▪ Graphics processor
I highly suggest you read Gamespot.com’s reporting on Siliconera’s article for additional info of the proposed device. Now, I’m no electronics engineer by any stretch of the imagination, nor am I a gaming industry expert–but allow me to play industry pro for a second:
This device kind of sounds like a Playstation 2 minus the DVD drive, power brick, and memory card ports. I think this device might possibly be a final skew of the Playstation 2 before the console is finally put out to pasture. PS2 sales according to August NPDs were under 105K (which is still kind of impressive when you take into consideration how long the system has been in production), and there really isn’t much coming out for it as we move into the Christmas shopping season. It could be a good way to send that tech out on a high note, satisfy the Sony hardcore who have been clamoring for a long time for PS2 functionality to return to PS3–and, in my case–without having to re-purchase my favorite games via digital download (*cough* Nintendo *cough).
I’d love to be able to play my copies of Godhand, and Viewtiful Joe on PS3, but I can’t help but ask the question–Why did Sony cut PS2 computability out of the PS3 in the first place?
