PS3 to loose backward capability (JPN)

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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=31993


Sony Japan to discontinue 20GB and 60GB

PlayStation 3

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Matt Martin 08:40 (BST) 10/01/2008
Limited stock following final shipments in January
Sony Japan has announced that it is to discontinue the 20GB and 60GB PlayStation 3 skus after a final shipment in January.
The company said that it now intends to concentrate on the 40GB model in the region as it "vigorously promotes" the home console during 2008.
Both 20GB and 60GB models were launched in Japan in November 2006, with the 40GB model launching in November last year.
Sony has continuously changed prices and introduced new models of the PlayStation 3 across Europe, the US and Japan since launching the console in each region.
Last October Sony Europe dropped the price of the 60GB console and introduced a 40GB model, before revealing it would phase out the 60GB sku all together.
In North America Sony launched a 80GB PlayStation 3 last August, and slashed the price of the 60GB model.
The 40GB PS3 has a few less features than the higher-spec models, most notably the loss of backwards compatibility with PlayStation 2 titles.
The 40GB model is known to be cheaper to produce for Sony. Kaz Hirai noted earlier this week that he hopes the company's PlayStation business will become profitable in the next fiscal year, now that costs are being reduced at a manufacturing level.



Can the US market be far behind. I can't imagine Sony not doing this in the US as well. Just remember that if/when you send in your PS3 under warranty, they can easily replace your backward compatible unit with one of the new 40GB units. Pretty much when I went shopping for a PS3 right after Christmas I was told by a Best Buy employee that I should not worry about backward compatabilty, Sony would always keep the playstations backward compatible. Glad I was paying attention last week. If and when I do pick up a PS3, there better be some awesome games available at the time, my PS2 is staying with me no matter what, too many great ps1/ps2 games to give those up.

http://spong.com/article/14537/Sony_Eyeing_Fiscal_2008_for_PS3_Profit/?d=200801071225&cb=483
 
[quote name='blackdog60']Can the US market be far behind. I can't imagine Sony not doing this in the US as well.[/quote]

Where have you been? The 20 and 60gb models were discontinued here last year, the 80gb is only partially backwards compatible, and the 40gb isn't BC at all. This has already been done to the US market.
 
Can the US be far behind? Our 20 and 60GB units are ALREADY gone. The 20 was phased out a year ago, and the 60 completely disappeared from stores almost 4 months ago. The 40GB came out in October and has no BC. The only place Sony's been more agressively eliminating BC than in the US is Europe.

But all the same, I don't see the complete elimination of BC. There will always be (limited) demand for a premium SKU that can play (most) PS2 games, and Sony will always be there with some iteration of the current 80GB platform to sell to those people at a premium price.
 
I can't see this helping Sony any. Maybe just in the costs department, but nowhere else and definitely not in consumer confidence in the system. It's nice that they are trying to limit SKUs, but they should at least keep the model(s) people want. Here they cut the 20GB too soon, and kept the 60GB too high for too long. I'll be shocked if Kaz pulls the gaming division into a profit this year.
 
How loose is it going to be? Loose like chacrana's mom, or his sister?
 
PS3 is going to loose its Backwards Compatibility upon the great nation of Japan? Oh no!

[quote name='mykevermin']A rather misleading thread title, given that the 80GB is still BC.[/QUOTE]
The 80GB PS3 has been discontinued... or haven't you heard?
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']The 80GB PS3 has been discontinued... or haven't you heard?[/quote]
:bs:
The 80GB special edition BUNDLE (with Motorstorm) has been discontinued. The system on its own is very much alive and well.
 
[quote name='daschrier']Sony botched the PS3 so much. People are going to be very skeptical of the PS4 when it's time rolls around.[/QUOTE]

Heh.

[quote name='PyroGamer']The 80GB PS3 has been discontinued... or haven't you heard?[/QUOTE]

Are you being serious, or are you just taking the piss as usual?
 
This had me thinking - do PS1 games play on any SKU of NTSC PS3?

I'll happily wait until Sony drops the PS3 unit below $150, even if it's 2012 or so. I have my fat and slim PS2 units to last me for a good while.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']PS3 is going to loose its Backwards Compatibility upon the great nation of Japan? Oh no![/QUOTE]

I say it will be more destructive than Mothra but not quite as bad as Godzilla.
 
[quote name='Caliburn']This had me thinking - do PS1 games play on any SKU of NTSC PS3?[/quote] Yes. PS1 emulation has always been done in software--its processor is so anemic by modern standards that it could probably be emulated on the PS3's memory controller or USB Host chip. :)

My mom plays Tetris Plus for the PS1 on her 40GB PS3 all day long. :)
 
What I find funny is that, among friends that aren't "die hard gamers" (meaning gamers that don't surf forums that often, but will play games a few hours here and there), backwards compatibility is a huge issue. They want to be able to play their older games on their new system (so they can get rid of their older systems). (I have some backup for this. My brother in law is in his 30's and fits this mold. He bought a PS3 and brought it back to the house. He comes over to my place to tell me how he got it. He then tells me how he's planning to play his PS2 games on it. I tell him it isn't BC, he took it back for a 20GB model that plays PS2 games).

I really wonder if this is such a sound move for Sony, needing to cut costs on the system, but they added the Blu-Ray player that is adding a fortune to it.
 
[quote name='Kendal']Does anyone have hard clear evidance of how much the PS2 chips cost for the 80 GB models?[/quote] Not exactly what you're looking for, but the GS+EE chip used in the 20/60GB models costs $27, plus requires 32MB of RDRAM, bringing the total materials cost for full BC to the $30-32 range.

One can guess that the EE is somewhere in the neighborhood of half the cost of the full chip, and emulating it would further eliminate the RDRAM requirement. I would personally guess that the GS on its own is somewhere in the $12-15 range. But I have no proof to back that up.
 
[quote name='geko29']Not exactly what you're looking for, but the GS+EE chip used in the 20/60GB models costs $27, plus requires 32MB of RDRAM, bringing the total materials cost for full BC to the $30-32 range.

One can guess that the EE is somewhere in the neighborhood of half the cost of the full chip, and emulating it would further eliminate the RDRAM requirement. I would personally guess that the GS on its own is somewhere in the $12-15 range. But I have no proof to back that up.[/QUOTE]

Why not sell the $500 at $50 more with the EE? Luckily I found a 20 gb. Japanese PS3 for a reasonable price so I don't have to pay too much for it.
Would it really kill Sony to do this? Or just take the slight hit and include it in the 80 gb. model.
Before you say it's good enough Myke it's not. Shadow Hearts or #2 or both play with some issues on the software emulation side and I remember reading one or more of the Atlus SMT titles has issues as well.
 
[quote name='wubb']I say it will be more destructive than Mothra but not quite as bad as Godzilla.[/quote]

So, somewhere in the range of Rodan or quite possibly Gamera?
 
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