Sony has finally revealed why the European version of its PlayStation 3 console has poorer backwards compatibility than the US and Japanese models. It's all to do with a Sony-built microchip, cited as one of the components that has kept the price of the console so high.
Sony is removing the chip from the European model in a move which will cut production costs, but will also limit the console's ability to play as many Playstation 2 games.
Share rise
The data-processing chip cut out of the European PlayStation 3 means engineers will either have to devise a solution to get the console working with older PS2 games - or that Sony will face some unhappy customers.
Sony shares rose close to 3 per cent when the company made the announcement. The PlayStation 3 project has been a major factor behind Sony's games unit running £800m into the red this financial year. The company says its aim is to turn the games arm into a profitable enterprise again by the end of the next financial year, in April 2008.
In a further cost-cutting measure, the Japanese company is planning to integrate new 65 nanometre cell processors into future PS3 models, replacing the current 90-nanometre circuitry.
