60Gb PS3 to be discontinued - 40Gb and no backwards compatibility as standard
By Dave Parrack
Sony officially announced the new cut down lower spec PS3 a few days ago, but what they didn’t say at the time was that this new 40Gb version with less features is designed to replace the 60Gb version altogether.
It is now being reported that the 60Gb fully specced up version of the PS3 is only going to be available until existing stocks run out, and then it’ll be 40Gig all the way for the lifespan of the console.
From Wednesday 10 October, UK gamers will have two choices: the new slimmed down 40Gb console for £299 ($600) or the 60Gb value pack for £349 ($700). That deal will continue until the 60Gb version PS3s sell out and then that’s it, no more, nada, go home, we have no more for sale.
For those people who may have been living under a rock for the past week, the differences which make the 40Gb PS3 cheaper to produce are: no backwards compatibility for PS2 games, two USBs instead of four, no card/stick reader, and the obvious smaller hard drive. Sony’s statement regarding the new stripped down PS3 reads as follows:
“The only functionality that is being removed is backwards compatibility, and this is because we believe this less important now than when we launched, as there will be 65 PS3 games available by Christmas. Furthermore we believe we should now be devoting our resources to the future of Playstation gaming and delivering next generation experiences”.
That’s all well and good but some people love the backwards compatibility, me included. I reject that it’s only an important feature at a console’s launch, as proven by the fact I still play many PS1 games on my PS2 to this day. Unless Sony wants consumers to start having whole rooms dedicated to console after console bearing their name, then this seems like a backward step.
So the question is has Sony dropped backwards compatibility as standard from now on? There may well be a newer, even more kick ass PS3 released in time, but I very much doubt they’ll bring backwards compatibility back even if it a new model is on the agenda.
Will this harm Sony’s fight for supremacy, or will the lower priced version as standard mean sales rise as a result?
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October 8th, 2007
The reason they dropped backward compatibility is every simple one. Most people couldn’t care less about it. Only a compete ‘tard would refuse to buy a console because it doesn’t play your old games. Some people might want it but if they say this is a deal breaker they are lying, probably own a 360 and never had any intention of getting a PS3 in the first place.
October 8th, 2007
David, you’re rather stupid. It is not just people who owned a Playstation 2 or 1 which may be interested in owning a Playstation 3, there are some people who bought a Wii, and then bought what were considered the best GameCube games, even though they did not own a GameCube.
You should think before posting.
October 8th, 2007
I used to think that Backwards compatability was important, and I used it quite a bit for the first few months I owned a PS3, but now since there are more and more PS3 games coming out, the PS2 games are gathering dust.
I can see how this will look bad for Sony when the press put their spin on it, but it’s not that big of a deal. Considering, if you really want to keep playing PS2 games you can buy a PS2 for chips at any games trader… I sold mine to a mate for a case of beer.
Also, do people forget that the 360 is just about useless for playing the majority of Xbox games? It doesn’t seem to be hurting their sales any… people buy these machines to play new games, not to replace their old hardware.
October 9th, 2007
The PS3 fanboys were really quick to ridicule the X360s partial back compatability when the PS3 was promising full back compatability. Now that they’ve pulled it from their upcoming model, they’re really quick to play the “it doesn’t really matter to me” card.
You can’t have it both ways.
October 16th, 2007
[...] or not. The new 40gb model of the PS3 launched in the UK last week along with a new bundle of the (soon to be discontinued) 60gb [...]
October 18th, 2007
[...] is a hardware price to pay for all this though, with the 40gb model losing its PS2 backwards compatibility and 2 USB ports. It comes down to a straight choice for consumers now between whether backwards compatibility is a [...]
January 19th, 2008
[...] over seven years old. Through a combination of reducing the price to bargain bucket levels, and removing the backwards compatibility from some models of the PS3, Sony have managed to make the PS2 a must buy, even this late in its [...]
August 3rd, 2008
Actually purchased a 40Gb model, as the 20’s were unavailable, and the 60’s were priced hopelessly beyond my means this year, I really didn’t want to wait for the PS4 before getting a PS3. When I discovered the BC for the PS2 games was nixed, I was annoyed. Were it not for the Blu-Ray player, and the potential capacity to install Linux on the thing, (I use Linux on my PC) it might’ve been a deal breaker for me. PSOne BC is largely a non issue, I run those in emulation on the PC, anyway. Software emulation of PS2 titles on Linux could make the investment worthwhile, just have to see.
October 16th, 2008
[...] main reason why I bought a PS2, and also chose the 60Gb PS3 above the other models. While Sony now doesn’t seem to like the concept any more (because it harms sales of the PS2), Microsoft seems to be all in [...]