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European PS3 will eschew PS2 hardware for emulation, sez Sony

Bad news for those European fans who've still been anticipating the PS3 despite delays, higher costs, limited selection, and weak launch stock: the rumors were true this time around, and your 'newly designed' console will be shipping sans PS2 hardware. Of course, you'll still be able to play certain titles through software emulation -- although even that may be dodgy, judging from the US and Japanese experience -- and there's always the possibility of non-compliant games coming out over PlayStation Network, but Sony has already admitted that the backwards compatibility offered by these new rigs won't be on par with that of PS3 Rev A. Since this move is purportedly being made to lower costs and speed up production (remember Sony is quite sure that there are widespread shortage) it's possible that the PS2-less PS3 might be sold in regions outside of Europe according to company reps -- yet another blow to gamers who've had to put up with setback after setback after setback for the privilege of giving Sony their money. We're sure that this news is going to bring yet another barrage of "passionate discourse" in the comments, so let the flaming discussion begin.

[Thanks, Griking]