Newest PS2 not 100% backwards compatible
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Oct 21st 2005 at 1:45AM }
The newest PS2 to go on sale in Japan will have trouble playing seven PS2 games and nearly
40 PS1 games, according to IGN. The satin silver model is scheduled to go on sale in Japan on 11/23 (about two
weeks before the Xbox 360 launches there), but the system sometimes freezes when playing Gauntlet Dark Legacy, The
Stylish Mahjong F1 2001, F1 2002, and Tekken 5. It also has issues with a few other titles.
Sometimes it seems that the only way to reliably play older games is to spend lots of time hunting down reliable emulators. Even CDs, DVDs and ROM cartridges eventually stop working. The only guaranteed storage is a hard drive that's backed up regularly to multiple locations.
The real question is this, though: if the latest PS2 can't claim to be 100% backwards compatible, how the heck is the PS3 going to achieve it?
(By the way, Sony has not yet announced whether the satin silver PS2 will be made available to North American consumers.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vrf @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Why would they change more than the color?
Or is this to reduce component costs or something...
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
If you play one of those games, then just stick with your old PS2. Nuff' said.
Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
the normal(black) slimline 2 has the same issues. Might be different games, but still doesn't work with some games for PS2/PS1
SetupWeasel @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
"The newest PS2 to go on sale in Japan will have trouble playing seven PS2 games"
Do you know what "backwards-compatible" means?
This is not "not backwards-compatible." This is broken. It cannot play **current generation games.**
What the hell is this? Next you'll be saying Iraq is a success.
Norante @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Usually Sony changes the layout of the motherboard to reduce productin costs and increase the difficulty of installing modchips.
getluv @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
This coming from IGN, which owns Joystiq, who supports MicroSoft and Co. The same people that said DOOM is the best video game turned movie.
burninhell @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
for Sony to release a new PS2 model that won't play Tekken 5 reliably is basically like them shitting on consumers...what would be said if Microsoft just now released a slightly different XBox 1 that won't play Forza Motorsport?
Nico @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Yeah seriously,this is ridicilus.
Oh wait this must mean that the PS3 isnt backwards compatible at all! The 360 owns!
vrf @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
yeah, Tekken 5 is sort of a big deal here. Don't really know if people'll care bout the others. Sony'll have to do something... firmware update or something... to fix this.
Silverblade @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
WHAT?! Backwards compatible? How BACKWARD is Tekken 5? I am not a Sony hater or anything, but this is a bad mistake. B-A-D. BAD. Tekken is a trademark title for the PS2. I agree with SetupWeasel only that I would replace Forza with Halo. IMO that is how important the game is to the PS2.
Cem @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
This is plain stupid. No support for Tekken 5?!
soco @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
haha. it's funny to see all the people hating joystiq now that there's a bad sony posting on here.
this really shouldn't come as a surprise though, even with hardware emulation it's hard to do it 100%. game programmers love to work around standards and gotchas in order to improve performance or save space. even the PS2 wasn't 100% backwards compatible with the PS1. the same problem happened with the old SMS adapater for the MegaDrive/Genesis.
it sucks, but i don't think it's such a big deal. 99% of the people who would care, already have a PS2. Nintendo simply says the GBA is backwards compatible with "virtually all" gameboy color and gameboy classic games.
i suspect this is some minor change where some timing has changed or something, and they'll probalby repair it in the next revision.
tehsoul @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Man, most of you guys really have some issues. the title says it's not 100% backwards compatible. well, it isn't. what're you retards whining about. "OMGBBQ YUO ARE BIASED BECOZ MICRO$OFT SPONSORS YOU". give it a rest, jeesh. all i read on joystiq these days is stupid fanboy banter. can't you utter a sentence about video games without trying to degrade another system then your own favorite?
you're not going to change anyone else's opinion by hating... get over it
SergeZ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
are you people idiots or something? the problem isn't so much that it isn't BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE, but that it isn't CURRENT COMPATIBLE. that's just stupid. even stupider are:
soco. "haha. it's funny to see all the people hating joystiq now that there's a bad sony posting on here. this really shouldn't come as a surprise though, even with hardware emulation it's hard to do it 100%." you're an idiot for not understanding the issue at hand.
tehsoul: "the title says it's not 100% backwards compatible. well, it isn't. what're you retards whining about." you're an idiot. did you miss the part where it says this new **PS2** won't play 7 **PS2** games?
i swear, people online can be such idiots. then they have to call other people idiots, making them look ever stupider. which is what i'm doing right now, except i don't think i've made any particularly obvious oversights, like those schmucks above.
Alex K. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
not being able to play tekken 5 is kind of a big thing for the japanese market, i would think.
it's incredible how big of a stick sony has shoved up their asses. Why would they have to cahnge the hardware to change the freaking color??
soco @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
sergez, read the article. backwards compatibility with the PS1 is part of the problem.
soco @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
for the people trying to make others look like idiots, i'll spell things out for you from the "READ" link, which is an ps2.ign link:
"The PS2 list isn't too long, but the PlayStation list, in comparison, includes nearly forty titles. Most of these are smaller games, but Resident Evil 2 apparently has some sound problems during movies."
thirty3baboons @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
The reason this is relevant to PS3 is because Sony ripped shreds off Xbox360 when Microsoft were honest enough to say it would be "backward compatible with the most popular titles" rather than Sony's sweeping statement that PS3 was 100% backward compatible. Funny that Sony have not yet managed to produce that in their other machines.....
Shawn @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
This is nothing new. When the PS2 first released it was known that some titles would have issues playing on this. Over time compatibility issues are known to come forward. It's also issues like this which keep q/a guys working. People are complaining about SEVEN current gen titles and 40 titles from a system they aren't even playing anymore while the fate of backwards-compat with the Xbox 360 is currently up in the air.
Irony indeed.
tehsoul @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
i give up. jeez.
Nossy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Why is this a big deal? Why do we need another version of the PS2? People complain all the time about MS re-release an Xbox 360 with HD-DVD. Why don't people complain about Sony coming out with more PS2 versions that skimp out on features? Such as Hard Drive compatible, and now even some games? Honestly you guys are hypocrites. Sony is busy cashing in a new low-cost PS2s while they make people wait for the PS3. Don't most people already have a PS2 already?
Osiris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
The PS2 has got to be the most poorly made console of the three.
It constantly has hardware changes in new builds so that they can be manufactured more cheaply, but they pay by not being able to support the games designed on the older hardware.
I hate the PS2 hardware, badly designed.
Software is another issue.
djSyndrome @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Speculation here, but Sony constantly changes mobo revs to thwart pirates and chippers. You would think that this late in the game, they would just give up and accept the fact that their console's been cracked. And, you know, put some work into the PS3 (or god forbid, the PSP).
And good luck getting a 'firmware' update, because the PS2 doesn't have any kind of writable firmware.
Fab @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Everyone is making a big fuss around Tekken 5 problem but if you had looked at Sony's page concerning the issue, it's clearly stated that the only problem with Namco's game is not being able to play Tekken 3 in the Arcade History mode. Way to go...
http://www.playstation.jp/news/2005/051020_scph75000.html
soco @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
all of the consoles get their mobos changed and it's not always to thwart pirates and chippers. i think it's usually to reduce costs by removing components or replacing components, sometimes it's to remove minor problems, such as some minor electrical interference.
Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Microsoft gave Sony the opportunity to dump BC.
They will say: It'll be BC for top selling titles. Just like Microsoft did.
That's how it goes in a competitive market.
Kamalot @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Didn't Sony make a huge stink recently about how the 360 isn't backwards compatible? Damn they have some nerve opening their mouth the then crapping on consumers.
Guillermo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Now, let's forget about us and think about the publishers, specially NAMCO. Namco has been a major supporter of the playstation since the beginning. Now they have to patch future copies of Tekken 5 to be compatible with the new PS2. I now they are not going to be too happy about it.
Babu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Sony should drop out of the console industry and start making games for nintendo.
It just seems like sony has been making too many mistakes as of late.
- PsP pricing
- PsP battery lasts 4 hours
- New Ps2 not 100% backwards compatible nor compatible with its own games.
- PsP shipment numbers released rather than total sales
- Ps3 uses blu ray which will increase costs of games *this is not concrete*
among many other problems
I mean, sony is pretty much operating at a loss, my first mp3 player was sony, Ipod has taken over that market completely now.
The substance that is Sony seems to be cracking under the pressure of competing companies. How are they going to survive?
BXJoseff @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
They're going to survive because they're rich. And people, this is Sony we're talking about. A company that has OWNED Japan since America came and blew it to hell. If Sony drops out of the hardware race after PS5 comes out boohoo, it's the cycle of things to come. Lord knows I was trying to prove to people that the N64 and the Saturn were better when the Playstation came out and look at what happened to the latter, ASS KICKED. One day Sony will fail, but now isn't that time. The only thing that could completely destroy PS3 right now is if Hideo Kojima made an announcement and said Metal Gear Solid 4 will be exclusively made for Nintendo's Rev...cuz yanno he ain't going exclusive with Microsoft.
Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Babu,
"Sony should drop out of the console industry and start making games for nintendo."
---I think you have this backwards. Sony can't make games, and nintendo can't get sales(on it's consoles). I think it'd be better if nintendo just went third party and concentrated on games, since that's their strong point.
"- PsP pricing"
---I'm sorry, if yuo were running a company, would you sell a system for $100 that costs you like $300 to make? That's hardly something to nail them for (especially since the system sells damn well considering its lack of software and it's going up against nintendo in the handheld realm)
"- PsP battery lasts 4 hours"
---You must not have a PSP... I get around 7 hours. Almost double of what you suggest.... Which is perfectly acceptable for a handheld. Yes, SP and DS are longer, but does it really matter? There is a thing called "overkill". How long does the iPod battery last? and people love that thing.
"- New Ps2 not 100% backwards compatible nor compatible with its own games."
---I think you mean the new PS2 isn't COMPATABLE with its own games. Backwards compatable means it plays last gen games. Anywhoo, they play, just not 100%. Big whoop. Out of a library of like 700+ games, 0.1% is not a big number.
"- PsP shipment numbers released rather than total sales"
---Why would they do this? It's good practice to not release your numbers to protect yourself from the competition. They have no right to know what's selling, and it's good information for them to have. Like EverQuest used to list the ammount of players on the server when you logged on. When DAoC was going to ship, it's first real competetor, they dropped that. To this day I don't know an MMO that lists an actual player count now.
"- Ps3 uses blu ray which will increase costs of games *this is not concrete*"
---Actually blu ray isn't increasing the cost of games. Games on the 360 is going up too. It's DEVELOPMENT costs that are increasing prices. As in, the system requires more programming, more skinners, mappers, voice actors, sound engineers, etc, in order to look next gen. To reflect that(so they don't lose out on their paycheck), they up the cost of games.
Research my friend.
"The substance that is Sony seems to be cracking under the pressure of competing companies. How are they going to survive?"
---something tells me they're going to survive JUST fine. They seem to be delivering the same way they did with the PS1 and PS2. Lots of hype, lots of titles. Seems to work well for them.
I do find it funny and ironic that the only reason sony is in this business is because Nintendo fucked them over when they were developing the PSX. They undercut them and went with Phillips(?) to make their CD-ROM based system at the last minute, so sony just finished up their product and released it themselves. Its funny, especially since Nintendo didn't even use optical discs in the next Gen(N64). Now they're stealing market on consoles and handhelds from Nintendo(I know if the PSP didn't exist, I'd probably be buying a lot more GBA/DS titles for a lack of options). Talk about karmic payback.
b @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
{Posted Oct 21, 2005, 2:41 PM ET by Christopher7xii
Babu,
"Sony should drop out of the console industry and start making games for nintendo."
---I think you have this backwards. Sony can't make games, and nintendo can't get sales(on it's consoles). I think it'd be better if nintendo just went third party and concentrated on games, since that's their strong point.}
Babu, sony is not as great as sega or Nintendo to survive alone on software. Its only (relatively) good at hardware, and getting support. LOL, Chris, Im impressed on your crusade to defend Sonys flaws. But anyway, Nintendo is great the way it is, they are not losing any money, and they are still selling. Theyve been practically on par with Xbox, so I guess Xbox is a failure too, if not worse.
{"- PsP pricing"
---I'm sorry, if yuo were running a company, would you sell a system for $100 that costs you like $300 to make? That's hardly something to nail them for (especially since the system sells damn well considering its lack of software and it's going up against nintendo in the handheld realm)}
Umm, it doesnt cost them 300 dollars despite the fact that it is the retailing price (unless they are making a loss in each PSP sold). The fact that you see it for 300 means that there is a prime factor you are paying to the retailer. If it
{"- PsP battery lasts 4 hours"
---You must not have a PSP... I get around 7 hours. Almost double of what you suggest.... Which is perfectly acceptable for a handheld. Yes, SP and DS are longer, but does it really matter? There is a thing called "overkill". How long does the iPod battery last? and people love that thing.}
It is perfectly acceptable for whom? I doubt you are counting gaming time only (which includes disc reading), but even giving you the benefit of the doubt, I recall playing much better games on any gameboy ever for 30 hours (if not more), and we all know that nintendos consoles are for gaming only. I guess you still think that Nintendo sucks at selling consoles despite the fact that if you sum up all Nintendo Homebased and Portable consoles sold that have been out since 2001 (including the GBA) compared to PS2 and PSP, Nintendo wins. And on a side note thats not even counting the fact that profit margin for Nintendo is huge.
{"- New Ps2 not 100% backwards compatible nor compatible with its own games."
---I think you mean the new PS2 isn't COMPATABLE with its own games. Backwards compatable means it plays last gen games. Anywhoo, they play, just not 100%. Big whoop. Out of a library of like 700+ games, 0.1% is not a big number.}
Dude, why are you correcting him when it is compatible, not compatable? Thats like the most retarded correction ever, if you are going to correct, make sure you get it right. And Tekken 5 IS enough of a big number of games for the silver PS2mini to be considered a failure.
{"- PsP shipment numbers released rather than total sales"
---Why would they do this? It's good practice to not release your numbers to protect yourself from the competition. They have no right to know what's selling, and it's good information for them to have. Like EverQuest used to list the ammount of players on the server when you logged on. When DAoC was going to ship, it's first real competetor, they dropped that. To this day I don't know an MMO that lists an actual player count now. }
Then why bother inflating them? It doesnt help them to get sales anyway, and still the actual numbers are known, lol. Everyone knows the DS is outselling PSP. Which is funny, because the DS has plenty of more highly expected upcoming games than PSP. Both systems lack games, but at least DS has nintendogs, brain training, Mario 64 DS, new mario, gba compatibility (not COMPATABILITY lol), soon Mario Kart, and lets not forget the huge list of highly expected DS games. I want FF3 DS, not FF7:Pseudo-prequel, because it looks more like an interactive cartoon than anything.
{"- Ps3 uses blu ray which will increase costs of games *this is not concrete*"
---Actually blu ray isn't increasing the cost of games. Games on the 360 is going up too. It's DEVELOPMENT costs that are increasing prices. As in, the system requires more programming, more skinners, mappers, voice actors, sound engineers, etc, in order to look next gen. To reflect that(so they don't lose out on their paycheck), they up the cost of games.}
Did you know that blu-ray discs do cost more to manufacture than DVDs? At least for now, it is. They may get cheaper, but I wouldnt be surprised if the first PS3 games cost 70 dollars.
Dude, stop passing your opinions or half researched (if) info as facts.
Gareth @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
If Chris is getting 7 hours of gameplay out of his PSP, then something is seriously fucked up here. Me and all my friends get like 3 1/2, 4 on a good day. When we go online, it's very much on the low end.
7 hours on Luminees... maybe. Personally, I think he's "stretching" the truth a little here for the rest of the games.
Babu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Christopher7xii... Nah bra, you got it all wrong.
"- PsP battery lasts 4 hours"
it does not lost more than 5 hours unless you are using it for homebrew with flash card memory or something, playing psp games, it lasts 4 hours, playing their crap umds, it lasts 4 hours. So... Figure it out kid.
{"- New Ps2 not 100% backwards compatible nor compatible with its own games."
It is not compatibale with many ps1 games, hence the 'backwards compatible' please son, who do you think you are?
{"- PsP pricing"
Yea, the pricing is all wrong, they are already operating at a loss, they should have stuffed a bit bess crap in there and concentrated more on gaming. This one comes down to opinion mostly, but looking at the sales of psp vs ds. Well, need I say more. If the psp had less crap then it would sell for less and it would be closer to the ds in sales, if not, it would already have surpassed the ds. Too bad sony is too stupid :(.
"Sony should drop out of the console industry and start making games for nintendo."
said that as a joke but i think its funny :D.
"Blu ray manufacturing was calculated to be around 10% more expensive than for regular DVD media." ~ pwned noob. http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/190/2
{"- PsP shipment numbers released rather than total sales"
This being a negative is pure opinion, nuff said.
maybe you need to research bra? Its one thing to get your facts right and make me look bad, but another thing entirely to tell me to get my facts right when they already are.
Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
"Did you know that blu-ray discs do cost more to manufacture than DVDs? At least for now, it is. They may get cheaper, but I wouldnt be surprised if the first PS3 games cost 70 dollars."
---http://www.ps3focus.com/archives/130#more-130
Blu Ray approx the same as DVDs. Stay with the latest news.
Why are you anti-Me, B? I wasn't saying that Nintendo sucks at hardware. I'm saying look at Sega. They're doing way better now that they're software only. Hardware is a shitty business to be involved in. ALL systems and ALL handhelds are sold at a loss when they are first released. It'd be a lot better for them to stick what they do best(the reason their systems still exist), and develop games.
"Umm, it doesnt cost them 300 dollars despite the fact that it is the retailing price (unless they are making a loss in each PSP sold)."
---I don't have ACTUAL numbers, I just know they sell it for a loss. I was giving an example. Software sales is where profits come from for systems(or licensing fees paid to Sony to develop for their games).
"It is perfectly acceptable for whom? I doubt you are counting gaming time only (which includes disc reading), but even giving you the benefit of the doubt, I recall playing much better games on any gameboy ever for 30 hours (if not more),"
---I just mean, you don't play for 30 hours straight... That's unhealthy. Really unhealthy. I mean for the duration of a playing session, my PSP has never died. I can go a full day of playing here and there and the battery last until bed time. I've put about 34 hours into Untold Legends, and that game has LOTS of loading. Had no issues what-so-ever with battery cuts, and yes, I got 5-7 hours easy per charge.
"Dude, why are you correcting him when it is compatible, not compatable?"
---There's a difference between logical corrections and spelling corrections. I was saying you can't say a system is "not backwards compatible" when the game you're talking about is current gen. Then its' just not compatible. No backwards is involved. He was speaking of Tekken 5 specifically.
"Then why bother inflating them? It doesnt help them to get sales anyway, and still the actual numbers are known, lol."
---If the actual numbers are known, how come nobody ever posts systems sold worldwide, only Japan? In Japan they have count, worldwide it's a mystery outside of Sony. Inflate them because, it's called intimidation. Make them seem better than they are so they get concerned that you're doing so well.
" I want FF3 DS, not FF7:Pseudo-prequel, because it looks more like an interactive cartoon than anything."
---Dude, that trailer for FF7:CC is an anime called Last Order that leads into the game, retard. Talk about not researching. It exists to set the mood/tone/style the game is going for. That isn't the actual gameplay.
--------
""- PsP battery lasts 4 hours"
it does not lost more than 5 hours unless you are using it for homebrew with flash card memory or something, playing psp games, it lasts 4 hours, playing their crap umds, it lasts 4 hours. So... Figure it out kid."
---Not true. I'm speaking playing Lumines, Untold Legends, Dynasty Warriors, Burnout Legends, Wipeout Pure, Namco Collection, Taiko Drum Master, all off of the UMDs. I get 5-7 hours easy when I play. Did you people charge your PSP correctly when you got it?
pointless @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
you all need 2 calm the fuck down seriously who the fuck cares stop arguing...if you like PSP go and get a room and fucking make out with the thing because NOBODY FUCKING CARES...to each their own. im so sick of reading these reviews on joystiq hoping to find some interesting insights on the articles and all i get is this system flame-war bullshit. seriously get the fuck over yourselves. kthx.
Christopher7xii @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Heaven forbid I express my freedom of speech. If I feel like talking about the PSP on a video game forum, why can't I? If you don't like it, skip over it. This isn't a review site anyways. Definitely not in the comments about an article relating nothing to a particular game.
b @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
I'm not getting confirmation
Geist @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
Christopher7xii, dude, you're wrong in at least one of your points. Maybe others, I'm not quite sure. In any case:
First of all, the consoles Nintendo ships make profit when they are released. All the time. The DS is only losing money now after some fair price reductions, but that loss is in the single digits. Nintendo is actually the most profitable company in terms of game-making. They make money because they optimize their systems for cost.
There's ANOTHER FF7 game coming out? That makes, what, four?
And for everybody who is bitching about battery life, http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572563p1.html
As for my own opinion, I own both systems, and frankly, there just isn't enough on the PSP to keep my playing it. Without waiting through all those goddamn loading screens. But then, GTA:LCS is coming up soon, so let's see how that is.
Jay @ Dec 18th 2005 9:05PM
another blown out of proportion news tidbit about SONY. when has sony ever stated 100% backwards compatibility? never. sorry bashers.