Tuesday 14-Jun-2005 10:41 AM The Father of PlayStation gives us all the details PS3's back compatibility, and still finds time to slag off Xbox. Now that's dedication The PS3 will support backwards compatibility for both PlayStation 2 and PlayStation games by using a combination of hardware and software emulation, according to Sony Computer Entertainment's president Ken Kutaragi.
And never one to shy away from a scrap, Kutaragi also used the opportunity to get another dig in at Microsoft's Xbox 360. He claimed that Microsoft's hazy plans for backwards compatibility mean that the original Xbox will be "killing itself" as soon as its next-gen brother arrives.
Speaking to Japanese website Impress Game Watch, Kutaragi explained that a balance between hardware and software emulation is necessary for PS3 to be fully bacwards compatible. "We can do it with software alone, but it's important to make it as close to perfect as possible."
He then explained why hardware emulation is so important: "Developers sometimes do things that are unexpected. Their games run, but are written in ways that make us say, "What is this code?" We need to support backward compatibility for these games too, so using software alone for compatibility is difficult."
That means that while the PS3 won't come with complete PlayStation 2 or PlayStation processors bundled inside (the PS2 contained original PlayStation chipsets to allow backwards compatibility), it may have to imitate some aspects of the earlier consoles' innards.
The remainder of the emulation will be handled by software that 'tricks' the PS3 into running PS2 and PlayStation games, in much the same way that PC-based emulators allow you to play versions of games from other platforms.
Both Nintendo's Revolution and Xbox 360 are expected to rely exclusively on software emulation - something that could cause problems for Microsoft's machine in particular.
When conversation turned to Microsoft's hazy plans for Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, Kutaragi took the gloves off and let fly. "The current Xbox will become antiquated once Xbox 360 launches in November. When that happens, the original Xbox will be killing itself."
Kutaragi feels that the launch of the Xbox 360 will instantly make the original Xbox obsolete unless it is fully backwards compatible - and he doubts Microsoft can solve the problem. "The only way to avoid that is to allow 100 percent compatibility from launch, but Microsoft won't be able to guarantee that. It's technically very difficult."
Kutaragi also gave the PS3's Cell chip a much-needed publicity boost after news broke yesterday that Apple CEO Steve Jobs rejected it last year. "The Cell has an architecture that lets it do anything," said Kutaragi, "In fact, some of the demos at E3 were running without a graphics processor, with all the renderings done with just the Cell."
And he explained why Sony went to nVidia for the PS3's graphical processing unit (GPU) - "We've teamed with nVidia because we're making an actual computer. We talk about making the ideal GPU - a processor that goes beyond any currently existing processor. Nvidia is moving in that direction, and so they share our vision."
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