Originally Posted by Cetra

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

Two factors that help ease my mind are A) my Gamestop is pretty reliable, so if they guarantee a certain number of systems, it should stick

Originally Posted by SOLDIER

and B) I reserved the $500 system, and I was told I was only one out of 3 who requested that model. Well, I'm not exactly sure if the latter is a plus or minus, but I'm thinking since the demand for the 60gb is higher, then there's a less likely chance of them reducing the number of 20gb models.

Originally Posted by USA Today

Sony's PS3 will not run many older titles

Ken Kutaragi, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, holds up a box with the PlayStation 3 during its launch ceremony in Tokyo. Sony says some older games won't play on the new console.

TOKYO (Reuters) — Sony said on Tuesday its new video game console, the PlayStation 3, does not run about 200 PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software titles properly, the latest problem the electronics maker has run into in its cash-cow game business.

The PS3, which Sony calls its most important strategic product of the year, went on sale in Japan on Saturday, setting the stage for a three-way showdown with Microsoft's already available Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii.

Sony said audio features do not work on some software titles when played on the PS3, which is supposed to be compatible with games designed for its previous models, while some other titles do not work on the latest machine at all.

Shares in Sony closed up 0.9% at 4,730 yen, underperforming a 1.64% gain in the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index IELEC.but in line with Nintendo stock.

Industry specialists say the glitches appear to be the kind of hiccups that often plague console launches and are not likely to have a lasting impact on the PS3 business.

"There are always sorts of little problems at launch ... It may take some time to make everything compatible, but I don't think it's a huge problem," KBC Securities analyst Hiroshi Kamide said.

Indeed, Microsoft received customer complaints following its Xbox launch in Japan in 2002 that the console was scratching game discs, while Sony's PS2, which it released in 2000, had compatibility problems with PS games.

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's game unit, plans to fix the PS3 problems by offering online upgrades for system software, SCE spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said.

Sony sold 88,400 units of the PS3 in the first two days of the Japan launch, clearing out most stores' stock, video game magazine publisher Enterbrain said on Monday.

The PS3 will be launched in North America on Friday. Gamers in Europe must wait until March due to a glitch in commercial production of blue laser diodes, a key component of the game gear's Blu-ray high-definition DVD player.

The Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment conglomerate aims to ship 6 million units of the PS3 by March.

The original PS and PS2 have each sold more than 100 million units.

Sony, which has dominated the game market over the past decade, has packed the PS3 with its latest technology including a Blu-ray player and the Cell microchip, dubbed a "supercomputer on a chip".

But the new machine's lifelike graphics and fast downloading of game software and video clips come at a price.

Sony sells a basic model for 49,980 yen ($424.9) in Japan, almost double the price of the Wii, which will be released in the United States on Sunday and Dec. 2 in Japan. ($1=117.63 Yen)

Originally Posted by Omnislash124

Source

Granted, 200 Titles that don't work is a relatively small percentage of titles when you compare with all of the titles released. But still, would this be the blu-ray's doing that cannot read CDs and DVDs correctly?

Originally Posted by Alai

Yeah, this is likely an emulation and hardware issue. The EE+GS in PS2 slim was already incompatable with several PSone and PS2 games. Note that many of the incompatabilities were caused by the realization of one chip for graphics and processing duties in the slim PS2. The issues were not because of emulation, because nothing was emulated. The new hardware was different from the old PS2 hardware, and obviously something changed in the way certain instructions were executed or read. This is probably the same issue that is showing up in the PS3 only compounded. The PSone titles are emulated though. PS2 titles are run natively on PS2 hardware within the PS3.

edit

That's another reason why it's so damned big.

Originally Posted by Cobalt Katze

As long as it doesn't screw up: Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile and Final Fantasy Tactics... I'll be fine.

If it does, Sony will feel my wrath! Or something.

I'm mainly antsy to get my phone call from EB letting me know if I'll be getting one on Friday or not...

Originally Posted by Gamasutra

November 14, 2006

Analyst: 'Battle Royale' To See 150-200k PS3s For Launch?
In his latest interactive entertainment notes, Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian has made his predictions on the 'battle royale' set to take place this week as the Wii and PS3 see their official US lanches.

Says Sebastian, "This week represents a significant milestone in the interactive entertainment universe," though, he hastens to add, "the significance of the launches for the software publishers is largely symbolic, as the new consoles will not likely be meaningful drivers of software sales until later next year when we expect the installed bases of the PS3 and Wii to reach more critical mass."

Still, "excitement surrounding the hardware launches backed by significant marketing budgets from Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sony (PS3 and PSP) and Nintendo (Wii and DS) – should benefit overall industry trends through the holiday."

On retailers' struggles to secure and supply a continuous flow of hardware, Sebastian adds that Lazard continues to expect shortages for most stores: "Our channel checks with retailers indicate that there is strong interest in both the PS3 and Wii; most stores sold out of pre-orders quickly."

"We expect Sony to deliver 150-200k units to stores in the United States for the launch; consumers without pre-orders may find it difficult to locate an available system. We estimate sales of approximately 750k PS3s domestically by year-end. We expect a more robust launch from Nintendo, with at least 1.2 million units sold in the U.S. and up to four million units shipped worldwide by year-end."

"Due to the limited initial installed base of the platforms, we believe the financial impact over the holiday period will be more significant for hardware manufacturers and video game retailers (such as GameStop) than for software publishers."

In addition to predicting a strong push for Xbox 360 products due to a shortage in PS3 supply, Sebastian also says the newly launched consoles may not have as significant an impact on holiday sales.

He adds: "We expect less than 15% of software sales to come from the PS3 and Wii this holiday; the more numerous Xbox 360, PS2 and handheld platforms (DS and PSP) remain key drivers of growth," though, he predicts, "this fifth major platform transition is likely to be the largest product launch in the industry’s history."

Originally Posted by valiant

Please bear with me, (stupid question)

I haven't been up to date but acknowledging that the PS3 is "region free," does this include PS2 and PS1 titles?

Originally Posted by Cetra

Without a doubt these are issues that can largely be fixed with firmware updates. Plus consider the situation. We are talking thousands of games, some only showing the problems midway though play. It just isn't possible for Sony to playtest all of these games to find all of the BC problems for the launch. Fortunately, unlike the PS2, the PS3 can be updated to fix these problems once they are found by the general public.

Originally Posted by Alai

Yeah, the PS3 can be updated through firmware. But there is only so much you can do by updating firmware. You should'nt count on them being able to fix it through firmware. Maybe they can, maybe they can't. You can change alot about an electronic system through the firmware, but you can't necessarily change the way a game is processed or how a processor chip may function.