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Backwards Compatibilty Returning To PS3?

Will Prusik — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:54:33 +0000

In the days of catridge gaming playing games from a previous system meant you had to hook that system back up to your TV and slot the game in to achieve the appropriate tinglings of reminiscence. When storage formats were universalized via the adoption of CDs as the medium of choice the question of backwards compability began, even before it became an industry/gamer buzzword.

The PS2 was the first to feature it, allowing gamers to still play their old favorites. The Xbox 360 followed suit somewhat, with a few hundred original Xbox games playable. The Wii can handle any Gamecube title, though there likely aren’t too many people go back to. The PS3 offered backwards compatibility as well, but only on certain SKUs and only for a limited period of time.

If you didn’t buy one of the 60 gigabyte models you were out of luck as your system didn’t have the necessary hardware to play PS2 games. It seems that all might change though as Sony filed an application for a patent that would allow backwards compatability to be integrated into existing systems via a software update. According to the patent Sony has figured out a way to get the PS3’s cell processor to emulate the PS2’s emotion engine.

I admit that after trying to read through the garbled nonsense of patent filing I have no clue whether or not IGN has interpreted this correctly, so this could be for something else entirely, but it seems logical. Now whether this would be available for everyone is the question. They could hold it back for release with the PS3 Slim, offering it at a later date as a paid download to anyone with a non-slim PS3, or they could simply show they’re nice guys and release it for free.

Hindu Leader Calling For Sony Boycott

Will Prusik — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:14:16 +0000

With the exception of the Grand Theft Auto series it seems that usually whatever game is raising the most hackles is generally pretty poorly made. Manhunt 2 stirred whole anthills of controversy before it was released followed by a poor performance in terms of both sales and critical acclaim. Most recently Hindus took offense to Hanuman: Boy Warrior, the first game developed entirely by an Indian studio. In it you control Hanuman, one of the deities of the Hindu religion.

As you might imagine Hindu leaders weren’t happy about this and after voicing their displeasure to the folks at Sony sought to get the game recalled from shelves. Sony of course wasn’t interested in recalling a game aimed at a single market because a subsection of people in that market objected to it. Sony finally made it clear to the Hindu leaders that they really had no desire to comply with their demands.

The Hindu leaders have called for a worldwide boycott of Sony products as they had threatened to previously. The overall impact of such a boycott is unknown and it could potentially be terrible given the large Indian market. Yet I somehow doubt that it will be more than a blip on the radar, since there’s probably not much overlap between conservative Hindus and gamers.

Sony Cuts PS2 Price

Rajiv Ashrafi — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Starting tomorrow, the PS2 will cost only $99.99 in the US, down from its current price of $129.99.

The console is the longest-running in its category, having been launched back in 2000. Industry analyst EEDAR believes the price cut will help sustain PS2 software sales, which they peg at 21% of all home console software sales last quarter.

Meanwhile, Sony boasted the PS2’s game library to have over 1900 titles this year, with big titles like Guitar Hero: Metallica, MotorStorm and others scheduled for release.

No Madden in next Madden

Gibran Nawaz — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:33:05 +0000

Electronic Arts is looking to make a big change in the upcoming Madden game; John Madden won’t be the announcer for the game. Instead, Tom Hammond of NBC Sports and Cris Collinsworth of NFL Network and NBC Sports will be taking his place in Madden ‘09. We all knew that it would happen sooner or later, as the football legend is in his seventies.

Keep in mind that this is the 20th installment of the series, so it just wouldn’t be complete without the main man himself. The game is titled after him, so why not include him? Maybe at least a cameo would do justice.

Read (AOL Sports)