Is it technically possible for a 40GB PS3 to be enhanced with backwards compatibility?

Question

Maybe through some downloadable patch? like the ones that are officially used in XBOX 360 Live, so you can play old XBOX games. Or maybe with the addition of some kind of chip?

Answer 1

THe PS3 has more than enough power to run a PS2 game, even without the Emotion Engine or PS2 GPU being present. The only difference really (other than the size of the game) is the coding. It is possible. (Not that I could do it of course!)

Answer 2

Originally, the PS3 was to use a software emulator for PS2 backwards compatibility.  An emulator is a program that pretends to be a piece of hardware, so you can run old software for the platform being emulated (e.g. the PS2) unaltered.   The 360 uses an emulator to play old Xbox games.

An emulator may be cheaper in the long run, but is difficult to create, and never as perfect as the original hardware being emulated.  This is why the 360 can only play a small number of old Xbox games, and even some of those have glitches from time to time.

When Sony couldn't get their emulator working right, they decided to put the PS2's processors into the PS3.  This is why the original 20GB and 60GB PS3s can run just about every PS2 game out there - they essentially have a PS2 inside of them.  (likewise, this is how the PS2 is able to play PS1 games - it has the PS1 processor inside of it.)

Sony then managed to get their emulator working - but only partially.  However this allowed them remove one of the processors, making the PS3 cheaper to produce - but at the expense of being able to run as many PS2 games.  This is the 80GB PS3 that is currently being sold in the MGS4 bundle but like the 20GB and 60GB PS3s, it's being discontinued.

The 40GB PS3 and now the "new" 80GB PS3, have neither PS2 processors in them, so the existing emulator won't work for them at all, which as you know, means they can't play any PS2 games at all.

It's *possible* that Sony could continue working on the emulator so that it could run on the 40/80GB PS3s...but I highly doubt they will.  Historically, interest in the previous generation usually dies out entirely by the console's 2nd year - which the PS3 is coming up on very quickly.  Microsoft has pretty much stopped all development on the 360's Xbox Emulator for this reason.  Second, Sony has made it no secret that they really want PS3 owners to buy PS3 games, or at least blu-ray movies, and not PS2 games.  A Sony executive for SCEA even went as far as to say "If you want to play PS2 games, get a PS2!  They're only $100!"

Yeah, OK Mr. Sony executive.   You're totally missing the point and the wants of the market, but then again, that's nothing new for Sony and the PS3.  

What's even stupider is that Sony criticized Microsoft's imperfect emulator in a public press release, claiming that the market demands perfect backwards compatibility, and tooting their own horn that the PS3 would be able to play virtually every PS2 game on day one.  That was 2005.  In the intervening years, the 360's emulator has actually gotten BETTER, while Sony's backwards compatibility has gone from "All" to "Some" to "Buy a PS2!"

Answer 3

I have no idea, I have heard rumors that sony might have a software update from some people. I have also heard that it cannot be done because the 40GB model does not have a specific thing inside so that it could read PS2 format disc. That is why i got the 80GB model because it has everything. It may be too late to get the 80GB model with the media slots and 4 usb's because the are remaking the 80GB model with the features of the 40GB. That means now media card readers and you will loose 2 usb slots!