Can PS3 Play PS2 Games

The Sony PlayStation 3, which is the dream console of all gaming buffs, released with a bang in 2006 and took the game market by storm. But it did not perform as well as it was expected to. The reasons were manifold. The most important reason was that its announcement came much before its major rivals Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360, but it was late in its launch. This favored Xbox and gave it a good head start, as compared to PS3. When it did release, gamers all around the world wondered if it is possible to play PS2 games on your PS3. Well, let us find out.

Can You Play PS2 Games on PS3?
Some of the earlier versions of PS3 had a similar architecture to that of PS2, so they offered hardware-based PS2 emulation. Two models or 'bundles' of PS3 were released in the beginning, one with a 20GB hard drive and a more expensive one with a 60GB hard drive. These original consoles did offer backward compatibility. So if you already have a huge library of PS2 games, dig these old models. So, is it possible to play PS2 games on PS3? Yes. On these old models, you can. But this emulation does not work with all PS2 game-titles, and the backward compatibility does not apply to the game accessories. After a while, Sony came up with a new version that had a 40GB hard drive. Along with this, there were also some hardware changes that improved the device performance, but made it lose its backward compatibility completely. Well, not completely, as some titles from the PS1 can be played on this one. The 80GB hard drive version came out after the 60GB one. This version had a software emulator, with the help of which one could play PS2 games on PS3. However, Sony later discontinued that too and the latest version of the PS3 cannot play PS2 games at all. The system will let you play PS1 games but won't read PS2 discs.

Reasons for No Backward Compatibility
According to the game reviews flooding the web, the reason for no backward compatibility is that Sony wants to fetch profits from both the versions. The PS2 version is still in the market and is selling well. Also, new game titles are being released for the same. But Sony has been justifying the move as an effort to cut costs.

The lack of backward compatibility is putting off those millions of PlayStation lovers who want to upgrade from PS2 to PS3. People have huge collections of PS2 games, which will be rendered useless if they go for the new PS3. Sony's policy regarding the backward compatibility may even prove to be a mistake in the long run. Rumors around the web suggest that Sony might be rethinking their strategy and that in the near future, gamers may get a positive answer along with all the other great features of the PS3.

Nevertheless, there are some hardcore Sony fans who are not bothered by this small glitch and have bought the feature packed PS3 already. Moreover, technology is changing every second, and your query may have a definite answer in the near future.