PS3 To Never, Ever Gain PS2 Backwards Compatibility Again

Sony's newer, slimmer, sexier PlayStation 3 console is a nice piece of hardware. There's no doubt that the 120GB hard drive, lower power drain, sleeker look and $299 price tag will draw more than a few folks in, but those holding tight to yesteryear now have reason to pause.

Unlike some of the first PS3 machines to hit the market, the new PS3 'Slim' doesn't support PlayStation 2 titles. Backwards compatibility was a big draw way back when, and even today it's a hot-button topic. All Xbox 360s still support original Xbox titles, though Sony seems to be fading that away from its PS3 consoles. For good.

Ars Technica recently sat down with Sony's director of hardware marketing, Mr. John Koller. Aside from telling the world what his favorite color, food and movie was (we kid, we kid), he also stated matter-of-factly that PS2 backwards compatibility "is not coming back." He stated that the slim PS3 is now the new face of the console, and Sony has absolutely no plans to ever add PS2 support again. Despite that fact that lots of hardcore followers bicker about this, Mr. Koller noted the following:

"It's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing," he claimed. "We've got such a substantial lineup of titles on the PS3; most people are buying the PS3 for PS3 games. They've buying it for PS3 games and Blu-ray movies."

At this point, we don't have any reason to doubt him. It's 2009, and while the PS2 has/had a great game library, the gameplay and graphics are too dated for the average consumer to care about. Does the hardcore Sony fan care? Sure. But does the average joe thinking about spending $299 on a new PS3 console care? Not so much. Which camp are you in?