General

[DamoNAN]

I heard there wasn't much difference in the Ps2 and Ps3 formats, only that the Ps3 had a bigger hard drive internally. If this is the case, does that mean Ps3 titles will work on Ps2 hardware ?

[heinous]

ps3 games are blu-ray discs. ps2's can't read them. blu-ray didn't even exist when ps2 came out.

but there are versions of ps3's that can play old games of ps2's. may want to check wikipedia's article on ps3's.

[Shiba-Kun]

PS2 = Emotion Engine.
PS3 = Cell Processor.

Maybe they had it backwards and were talking about PS2 emulation?

[Cunha]

PS3 hardware is leaps and bounds beyond that of the PS2, and is significantly better than the 360 as well.

Some games are still better on the 360 than the PS3 because the developer does not take the time to actually utilize any of the capabilities of the PS3.

But no, the PS2 is not even close to playing PS3 games.

[Chemical-X]

If you are looking at buying a used PS3 make sure to check the serial numbers for compatibility with the PS2 games. There are several sites that have lists to print if needed.

New PS3 units cannot run the PS2 as a result of price slashing on the PS3, Some of the internal hardware had to be reconfigured to allow a price reduction.

If you pick up an older and compatible unit the OS can still be upgraded to current and the hard drive can be swapped for a larger unit if desired. Swapping the HD will not void the warranty so long as it is done by the sony reccomended methods. The swap is not expensive and can be done by yourself, Its really pretty simple to do.

The HD and OS are the only things that would need to be upgraded if you wanted a unit that meets todays specs. Also the older units have the card readers and extra USB ports.

[Jensen]

Yes, the fact that the PS3 has a six core processor, and can play Blu-Rays, is a massive difference. The PS2 was made as a gaming system. The PS3 is more of a computer and media center that you can play games on. It supports 1080p high definition graphics through an HDMI cable, and also has USB ports on the front, which you can use flash drives to update software, transfer music and pictures onto the PS3.

It has a built in wireless network adaptor that supports wireless N signals, which has a much larger range and can transfer much more data than wireless G. With the online capabilities, you can connect directly to the Playstation Store and download trailers and demos right to your hard drive, and even download full games.

You can connect your PS3 to a network with your computer, in order to access all of your computers music and photo files without storing them on your hard drive. The PS3 has the ability to use any Bluetooth headset in order to talk in games, or use the chat feature to talk to friends. You can also connect a Playstation Eye and do video chat.

These are all things that the PS3 does, and the PS2 can never do. The PS3 is incredibly more technologically advanced than the PS2. And those facts I said are only some of the differences. There is much, much more that can be done on a PS3. Buy one.

And the older PS3s, with the 80gig hard drive are backwards compatiple, meaning they can play any PS, and PS2 games. They also have a CF, SD, miniSD, and another reader to transfer files from cameras and cell phone.

[Sir Brass]

The first gen 60 GB PS3s sold in the US had the Emotion chip built in to support the playing of PS2 games. That's the one I have. the 1st gen 80GB PS3s had software emulation to support the playing of PS2 games.

So, look for a first generation 60GB. Obviously your system will need an update when you first boot it up, but that's standard procedure even for the new units, as there's been a firmware upgrade or two since THEY were released. It's not hard at all. HD upgrade is blasted easy, and Sony tells you how to do it yourself. Just follow their directions. You can use ANY 2.5" (that is, a laptop form factor) SATA HD (this means SATA2, aka SATA300 as well as it is backwards compatable to SATA1, aka SATA150).