Sony hard at work on PS3 backward compatibility

Teams at Sony's UK studios are currently working on the PS3's backwards compatibility. The ability of the system to play all — or at least most — of the pre-existing libraries of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games is a critical selling point of the console, and things appear to be moving along quite well.

"A surprising number of PS2 titles are already working on PS3 prototype hardware, and emulation tricks being used to mimic the behavior of the notoriously complex PS2 processors are getting whole swathes of game titles up and running on an ongoing basis," reports GamesIndustry.

Also in development in Sony's UK branch is the PlayStation Network Platform, or PlayStation HUB as it is referred to internally. Amongst details being worked on for the service is the platform's billing system, which is being co-developed with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Testing of the billing system is expected to begin next month.