Really Confused on PS3

[scaryogre]

Well for my birthday I was all set to get a new PS3 and some games/BD movies. Now I am reading the 80GB model was discontinued. As far as I know, it was the only model with some backwards compatibility unless one was lucky enough to find a 60GB model still on shelves.

So now they have the 40GB model in stores. No PS2 backwards compatibility with that unit. The "new" 80GB model isn't going to be released until June sometime. And I haven't ready anything definitive on whether that unit will be backwards compatible or not.

Is it just me or does Sony seem to be doing some weird stuff with all this? I'd buy one today if I could find a model with PS2 backwards compatibility, but that doesn't seem possible.

Additionally, I am also worried that somehow the newer model will support more features, etc. Sony sure is making this confusing for the consumer (at least for me). I don't want to buy something and then find out a few months later it's not firmware upgradeable to a new HDMI spec or whatever.

Any suggestions on what to do? Should I wait until June? Buy the 40GB model and forget backwards compatibility with PS2 titles?

FYI...I have an older Denon 3803 AVR. No HDMI inputs, but it will do DD5.1 and DTS. My TV has HDMI inputs as well as a coax uplink for DD5.1 to my AVR.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,

-scaryogre

[Serren]

You might still get lucky and find the first 80 GIG version somewhere. Check Kmarts, Walmarts and Toys-R-us's

[namehater]

20gb and 60gb had fully blown hardware supported backward compat. the 80gb had software emulation, which isnt near as good as hardware

i recently got a 20gb, that would be my suggestion, gonna be the cheapest way to get into a ps3, then just buy a bigger hard drive from newegg or something and be set!

a VERY good source of information on ps3 is wikipedia.com, just search for ps3 and it will tell you all the differences in the models and what not in a very easy to read chart

[JParker0105]

or you can just say screw PS3 and stay with your 360. lol just playing.

my brain tells me to buy a ps3 for MGS4 but i will have to buy the essentials pack first.

[MadBryan]

check BlockBuster for that 80gb

[KEEZY]

I found one at Kmart a while ago. They had a few left, but NOBODY goes to that Kmart anymore. Also the "new" 80 gig will be the same as the old one, I've read that a few places.

[Lord Sam]

Originally Posted by KEEZY

I've read that a few places.

Wait....you can read?!? Since when?!?

[2Times]

Why do you want Backward compatibility? Are you getting rid of your PS2.The games will look just as good if you get component cables for your PS2. They are the same ones as the PS3 component cables. So if you connect your PS3 with HDMI, you can use the component on the PS2. Unless you just don't want to hook up a PS2 and a PS3. Then just forget about the whole thing and read all the replies before and after this one.

[Thornes70]

HDMI is highly recommended, too - I bought one for ours, and I noticed a huge difference in graphics sharpness (I tested it with Oblivion).

[BrewCityUpstart]

Seriously, people need to get over the backwards compatability shit- play a ps3 game.

[MadBryan]

If I got one it would have to be backwards compatible. We play Gamecube games on our Wii and Xbox games on our 360's. My son is really interested in quite a few PS2 games like Sly Cooper and Jak & Daxter and Rachet & Clank

[namehater]

Originally Posted by BrewCityUpstart

Seriously, people need to get over the backwards compatability shit- play a ps3 game.

theres about 5 ps2 games that i play on my ps3... there are no ps3 that really interest me, i am going to pick up UT3 pretty soon since i heard they fixed its problems

[scaryogre]

Originally Posted by BrewCityUpstart

Seriously, people need to get over the backwards compatability shit- play a ps3 game.

Right now only one PS3 game interests me and that's Uncharted. I am mainly looking at the PS3 as a BRD player for now. The future games are a plus.

Also, I have 3 kids. I've promised them they can have the PS2 upstairs which keeps them out of my home theater as well. Thus, I need the backwards compatibility because I want to play some PS2 titles I never had a chance to play yet. God of War and God of War 2 especially, but I have many others.

IMO, Sony is really making this confusing for the consumer. The PS3 should be backwards compatible with PS2 titles especially.

[MadBryan]

Don't make excuses, you absolutely right!

[Jon Liu]

I agree. All the different SKU's seems retarded to me.

I love my PS3. It even plays games. That's about the only thing it does now for me. Since I have a dedicated BD player, the PS3 has now become almost exclusively a video game system for me! I know. Not many people can say that!

[scaryogre]

Originally Posted by Jon Liu

I agree. All the different SKU's seems retarded to me.

I love my PS3. It even plays games. That's about the only thing it does now for me. Since I have a dedicated BD player, the PS3 has now become almost exclusively a video game system for me! I know. Not many people can say that!

Jon,

I've been doing a lot of research into the standalones as well. What model and make did you get? Im a big home theater buff so am interested...

-scaryogre

EDIT:

Commentary on Sony PS3:

After reading quite a bit and thinking about this some more....it certainly seems that Sony is kind of caught in a position they expected to be in last year. In other words, they expected the adoption of Blue-Ray a lot sooner than it actually happened. Now that it is all of a sudden reality (BRD is the HD standard) they are kind of in a marketing funk as to what the consumer wants.

Before they won the HD war it seems their marketing over-reacted to compete with the Xbox 360 and the unexpected success of the Wii by dropping support for PS2 backwards compatibility (no doubt cost-saving) and eliminating a few extra USB ports + sporting an inexpensive 40GB hard drive. The result? A PS3 that was price competitive and (during the holiday season) specifically marketed at pushing BRD consumer adoption as a movie player at the expense of few added features. And oh by the way, you can play PS3 games on it too! So the current conditions really seem to exist (to me at least) as a result of a marketing and pricing decision.

To correct this Sony must implement backwards compatibility with PS2 (hardware) even if it costs a bit more. Why? Because people are now looking at the PS3 as the future "all encompassing" solution to their ability to own and play HD movies (now that HD-DVD is out of the picture). The PS3 is up-datable via firmware, it will play BRD, display some family photos, it has an online service, and it plays next gen video games.

By offering the PS3 as an all-in-one solution (which was Sony's initial marketing goal by the way) and including PS2 backwards compatibility they are really helping consumer acceptance. Let's not forget that the PS2 software library and its' hardware was one of the best all time in sales. By having backward compatibility is really helps Sony and should increase the demand for adoption of Blue-Ray sooner rather than later for those on the fence.

Finally, consider this: By returning to their initial goal of marketing the PS3 as an all-in-one solution they not only increase their hardware sales, but with it increase PS3 software sales, legacy PS2 title longevity (meaning more sales), and most importantly it further cements them as the leader in HD with increased BRD movie sales. The more movie sales that happen means the studios focus their efforts on producing them. It's a win all the way around.

In short....if there was a PS3 currently available that had PS2 backward compatibility, all the bells and whistles, and was in the $499 price range (depending on included software) I wouldn't be writing this and would be picking it up at the store right now.

My two cents...

[Jon Liu]

As the best bargain, the PS3 is the clear winner. It's the most updatable Blu-ray Player to date and on top of that, it's the quickest responding. Now, what it doesn't have is bitstreaming, but that's a wash for most people anyway.

They need to bring back Back Compat as quick as they can, in my opinion. I have the 60GB so I have no problem in that department, but I hardly use it. I can see the appeal of it for a lot of other people so I think for their sakes they should bring it back.

Ogre,

As fellow HT Buff I would recommend what I have the Panasonic BD-30, in a heartbeat. The only problem I've had, which is directly linked to the most recent firmware update, is Dolby TrueHD has some very brief dropouts. Before this firmware upgrade, I didn't have the problem. Panasonic is aware of the problem and working on getting it fixed for the next firmware release.

Aside from that one problem, I think it's the best Blu-ray player for the money. It's one of the fastest (if not the fastest standalone), it's reliable, it's quiet, it does everything except for BD-Live, which I don't care for anyway.

Scary, I noticed you are another Rocket owner!!! Sweet! I am in love with mine!