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Sony says they aren't playing on updated firmware.

When Sony announced they were removing the Emotion Engine from European shipments of PlayStation 3s, panic ensued over whether crucial PlayStation 2 games would be compatible via software emulation. German website Cynamite claims they've accessed an early overseas PS3 and ran a number of high-profile PS2 releases on the machine without much success. The games they say don't work:

God of War
MGS 2: Sons of Liberty
MGS 3: Snake Eater
Shadow of the Colossus
Guitar Hero 2
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Okami
GTA: Liberty City Stories
Eragon
Final Fantasy X-2
Ratchet & Clank 3
Lumines

1UP contacted Sony about the allegations, who quickly pointed out that, by Cynamite's own self admission, they couldn't be right -- the PS3 they tested was utilizing old firmware. When PS3 becomes available in Europe, so will a 1.6 firmware update updating software emulation. "The article is misleading," said SCEE director of corporate communications Nick Sharples. "As the console tested by Cynamite was not using the latest firmware upgrade, the information posted on its site is meaningless."

We attempted to have Sony clarify their comments and confirm some of the aforementioned games as being PS3-compatible, but, so far, we haven't received such a statement. In any case, no reason to panic just yet. Some games obviously won't work, but chances are many of the above will.

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Well I have to say that Sony is right on this one. How could that guy try it out if the firmware for the Euro PS3 hasn't been released yet. Now if they in fact do not work after the release of the firmware then some major crap is going to hit the fan.

It's kind of odd to me why Sony wouldn't have launched with the firmware update. Wasn't it over a month ago that the U.S. firmware update was released to correct a lot of the backwards compat. issues?

Again, this just seems odd to me, OH WAIT...Europe is playing with emulation.

Yeah, I think it will be a totally different firmware for the PAL PS3. Curious to see what happens after the Euro launch.

Sony is digging a deeper grave much?

I lol'd when I saw FF X-2.

I'm not sure if I'd agree with your "MUCH". Sony is doing better in Japan, and they've really been down to the very bottom, so I'm not sure there's any place for them to go but up.

As with all things though, we'll just have to wait and see how things unfold in Europe.

Well, the fact is that those PS3's are really only units sent out to gaming review magazines and sites. Those units will only have the basic firmware, and none of the upgrades until launch.
With the launch of the new firmware upgrade, there SHOULD be a vast increase in the amount of PS2 titles able to be played.

That being said, it's hard to believe that games like Okami, and the recently released Guitar Hero II didn't work, but Eragon did.

I mean, Eragon?!?! How freakin random is that?!

I think Eragon didn't work either. Here's my thought...if I was a game magazine or publication and I tried to play a particular game and couldn't because the backwards compatibility wasn't there, then I'd have to tell the reads about it. I think this is another case where if Sony would have payed a bit more attention, this could have been nipped in the butt, and they could have averted some negative press.