Backwards compatibility

Now that the PS3 console is now in an affordable price range, I have one major question. Is the PS3 backwards compatible? For those of you that do not know what I mean, Can the PS3 play PS2 and PS1 games? If it is I will have no need for my PS2 anymore and will be able to get rid of it, but before I do that I need to know if the PS3 will play my games.

not sure, if I recall I think the first gen ps3s were backwards compatible-but Im not sure about the new ones. worst case scenario I would say best to play it safe-keep your old ps2 and try them on the ps3 if they dont work keep the ps2 if it does then you can get rid of it.

That was my plan at first Patriot, Until a few people at work said all PS were backward compatible. I am a skeptic by nature and just to confirm what they were saying with the hope of making about $50 for the PS2 to go for the purchase of the PS3. If all else fails I can get a decent game after I get the system and find it backward compatible. Thanx Patriot.

I could be wrong-thats just what I heard about PS3s and backwards compatibility, Ive never actually owned one.

to my knowledge the new ps3 are not have backwards compatibility. If you get a first gen(which they do not sell new any more you can maybe find them used) they did have backwards compatibility.

First generation PS3's had full hardware backwards compatibility, they basically had PS2 hardware in them. The next generation of PS3's had some very basic hardware, but PS2 backwards compatibility was software based. Generation three onwards had zero backwards compatibility. Some games, like Final Fantasy X are being converted for use on the PS3, but they have to re-engineered to work on all PS3 models. All versions of the PS3 are compatible with original PlayStation software. In fact, they sell classic titles in the PS store.

On a similar note, it will be interesting to see what happens to PS3 software compatibility with PS4 if Sony decides to use x86 CPU's instead of Cell.

PS3 never had full PS2 compatibility, My 60gb launch PS3 had SOME PS2 functions, I think only the GS from the PS2 was in there, not the Emotion Engine. Some games worked, some didn't.

PS2 is extremely hard to emulate, but now on the PSN store we have quite the number of PS2 titles up for download, so getting there.

The PS4 will probably go the same route since it seems Sony is using an AMD APU + GPU set up, would have preferred them to expand Cell and have 100% PS3 compatibility, especially people like me who own 200+ PS3 games on Disk.

Time will tell.

I have an original launch PS3, it has full backwards compatibility with PS2 titles due to PS2 hardware actually being in the box. My 35 or so PS2 games all work. My model is the CECHAxx which does have the hardware, as does the CECHBxx. These two models had the Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer in them. The CECHCxx and CECHExx models have limited backwards compatibility using the software and a small amount of PS2 hardware.

AMDSempron145, I've noticed you are in Australia. The CECHAxx and CECHBxx models were only released in Japan and North America, therefore you, along with the other PAL territories, started out with limited backwards compatibility.

By the way, here is an interesting page with pictures of the various PS3 motherboards and some of their specs. If you take a look at the picture for the CECHAxx model, you can see the EE+GS chip on the left side of the board. Here's the image I'm referring to. Here's an image of the CECHExx, notice the differences in the area where the EE+GS would've been.