The popular Japanese magazine “Ultra One” has indicated that the forthcoming PlayStation 3 (PS3) console will feature PlayStation 2 (PS2) hardware to render games on the PS2 and PSOne playable on the new console (to begin with, at least), after speaking with Izumi Kawanishi, who is head of Sony’s Software Platform Development Division.
What this means is that the already incredibly high cost of production of the PS3 will be increased further by having to add an addition chipset to the console. Sony insist that this is a short-term solution to their need to generate backward compatability, while the long term aim is to add a sufficient PS2 emulator to later consoles.
As well as adding the emulator, Kawanishi has hinted that future consoles may offer different specifications in terms hard disk and network capabilities. One could almost take this to mean that first generation PlayStation 3 consoles should be avoided, in favour of waiting for less a BETA-staged console.
Source: GameDaily.com
I kind of think I would prefer to have the first gen version despite it’s problems, for it’s benefits. Any time you impliment an emulator you run into the possibility, that certain games just won’t work, or that they will be considerably inferior. With the PS2 chipset this won’t be such a problem.