Racketboy

A couple of days ago I posted a little round-up of the Wii’s backwards compatibility and Virtual Console and I thought I might as well take a similar look at the similar features for the Playstation 3 and PSP.

After getting spoiled by the near perfect PS1-on-PS2 emulation, the hit-and-miss backwards compatibility is a bit of a let-down. While supposedly the PS3 does a better job playing games than the XBox 360, it still has some room for improvement.

Sony has acknowledged this fact and has actually posted a database in which you can search for a game in question and find the compatibility status.
(you can also browse this user-created list).

It’s also not quite as straightforward when playing older games as it is on the PS2 or the Wii. Instead of simply booting an old disc like a PS3 disc, you have to do a few tasks such has create a virtual memory card in order to save game progress.
Engadget has posted this video on Youtube to demonstrate what it’s like to play a PS2 game on the PS3.

And while this was discovered a little while ago, it is still worth mentioning that the PS3 does not increase the graphical quality of either PS1 or PS2 games like the PS2 did. While it isn’t a very big deal, it is still a disappointment to those used to the PS2’s abilities.

The PS3 isn’t the only Sony gaming product getting some new old-school action. It seems that the PSP is actually getting some more good games via some PS1 downloads. From what I’ve seen, the downloads are only available to Japanese gamers so far and they seem to have an interesting lineup of PS1 downloads at reasonable prices…

• Arc the Lad
• Biohazard Director’s Cut
• Bishi Bashi Special
• Jumping Flash
• Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 1
• Konami Antiques MSX Collection Vol. 2
• Minna no Golf 2
• Silent Bomber
• Tekken 2

The good news is that the impressions so far have been quite good in terms of how the games look and feel on the PSP. Some claim that they look better on the PSP that they did originally on the PS1. The bad news is that in order to download the PS1 games to your PSP you need a PS3 to act as a middleman. Sony just can’t make things easy, can they?

Similar Posts From These Categories:
Playstation, PS3, PS3, PSP