There have been rumors about backwards compatibility on the PlayStation 3 ever since Sony discontinued their 60 GB model back in 2007. Old-school gamers left in the dust have understandably held to their guns, and now the rumors are back.

Sony may indeed be looking into a device to act as a bridge for PlayStation 3 backwards compatibility. There is a rumor on Japanese message boards about a patent filed by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan for a new generation to previous generation console adapter. The crew over at Siliconera checked into this, and have verified a patent does exist. A schematic of the proposed adapter shows the device has its own processor, a DVD decoder/emulator, sound processor and graphics processor.

This is very interesting, but I’m going to have to make an educated guess and file this under 'Not Gonna Happen'. First off, this is a Japanese patent, and a patent is itself just an idea. There is no guarantee this will ever be made, at least not here. Even if this was manufactured in Japan there is no indication this will ever come to North America or Europe. Also, game manufacturers are making a big push against used game sales now, and it would be curious for Sony to step in and sell a device that would encourage this. Yes, you can still buy some PS2 games in stores, Best Buy being one of the biggies. However, if you had this adapter, where would you get most of your games?

I wrote yesterday about how Microsoft knows how to do business. Well, Sony has proven they also know this business extremely well. Sony will likely do the smart thing and focus on marketing the Move for the holiday season. Any other console hardware push and/or peripheral would just confuse the market right now. Rock Band pro instruments, I’ll give you a pass (but just barely). Sony also needs to focus on their subscription service, PlayStation Plus. Maybe adding downloadable PS2 games to that service would be a better strategic move than selling an extra plastic device people would have to add to their entertainment centers.

The 80 GB Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle was the last time we have seen backwards compatibility on new PlayStation 3 hardware. I would be willing to bet that we will never see it again. Let’s just hope that we will have backwards compatibility on the PS4.

Well, Ranters, do you really think Sony might make an adapter for backwards compatibility on the PS3? If so, would you pick this up?

Source: Silconera