Cheats-Area.com

   Sony Europe has just issued a press release announcing the launch of the European PS3 compatibility website, a few days earlier than expected. The list of PAL PS2 games playable on the PlayStation 3 both confirms and denies some of the recent rumours, which claimed that major PS2 hits such as God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami and Metal Gear Solid 2/3 would not be playable on the PS3. According to the newly updated PAL PS3 compatibility website, some of these titles will be fully playable, while others will have "noticeable issues", or won't be playable at all. Here are just a few examples we hastily picked up from the list:
- God of War, God of War II, Shadow of the Colossus, GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, GTA: Liberty City Stories - playable with "no knwon issues to date"

- Final Fantasy XII - playable "with minor issues"

- Final Fantasy X, GTA: San Andreas, GTA: Vice City Stories, Metal Gear Solid 3, Okami - playable "with noticeable issues"

- Final Fantasy XI, Guitar Hero 2, Lumines Plus, Metal Gear Solid 2, Ratchet & Clank - not listed, meaning that they are not (yet) compatible with the PS3    If your favorite PS2 games are still nowhere to be found in the list, rest assured that "[Sony] will be adding additional titles to this list in future firmware upgrades", even though most of their resources will be allocated for developing new services and entertainment features exclusively for PS3, rather than delivering PS2 backwards compatibility.

   In order to play the PS2 games listed so far, users will need to install the latest PS3 firmware upgrade (version 1.60), which will be available at launch from midnight on March 22 through the PlayStation Network, from PlayStation.com, or, for those unable to access the Internet, on a disc obtained from local Customer Services. Sony's communique goes on to detail the other features included in the v1.60 firmware upgrade:
"The latest system software upgrade (Version 1.60) will deliver features such as Folding@home connectivity, background downloading of content from the PlayStation Store, support for Bluetooth keyboards and mice, and an optional full QWERTY on-screen keyboard for text entry.

The Folding@home project allows PS3 owners to connect to Stanford University's Folding@home program, a distributed computing project aimed at understanding protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and many cancers. (...) Additional details about Folding@home are available at www.scei.co.jp/folding/en/.

Firmware Version 1.60 also delivers a more convenient process for downloading content to the PS3 from the PlayStation Store. Up to 6 pieces of content from the PlayStation store can be queued up for download while the user enjoys other functions of the PS3 system, including playing games, browsing the web, using media functions including photo browsing, video and music playback. Progress of downloads can be easily tracked under a new Download Management menu under the XMB's Network icon.

Firmware 1.60 also provides support for keyboards and mice enabled with Bluetooth wireless technology. Text entry is further expanded with the option to use a full QWERTY on-screen keyboard, in addition to the existing single tap keyboard. PS3's built-in Web browser is also enhanced with the ability to zoom in to the optimal viewing size for the selected area of a Web page at the press of a button, as well as an optional tool for reducing flicker when the PS3 system is using interlaced video out (480i or 1080i)."