Glad to know that although those of us in the EU invariably do pay higher for hardware already, Sony has now also been kind enough to provide an inferior product that'll bear the same name ;) Bravo.

Does this sound like horribly wishful thinking to anyone other than me? Just to clarify, do you really believe there's a chance that Sony are going to offer functionality in software (Which they've already confirmed won't be as compatible) that they are unable to provide in hardware currently? Cos I can't see that happening either

Was it not Jesus himself who said "Love one another as I have loved you... unless you're gay".

Sony spokesperson "The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models... Rather than concentrate on PS2 backwards compatibility, in the future, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3." I think Sony are being quite clear on the matter. Improved performance / visuals / compatibility for PS2 games on the PS3 is not going to happen - you'll just have to move on is what they are saying. Video's have been doing the rounds for months as it is showing how poor the emulation can be as it is. Ignoring whatever the EU PS3 will be like, have Sony released any updates to improve the existing PS3s backwards compatibility?