real world
British Ad Yanked Because It Fibbed About PS3 Backwards-Compatability
Posted by Luke Plunkett at 3:30 PM on May 8, 2008
Hrm, thought we'd seen the last of this topic. Seems a British TV commercial for PC World has been taken off the air by the Advertising Standards Authority. Why? It contained "misleading" information about the PS3, claiming the 60GB unit "plays your PS2 games as well", even though it, well, does not. It plays most of them, yes, but not all. I'm sure they meant to say "plays most of your PS2 games as well", but hey, maybe they were paying by the word.
"Misleading" PC World PS3 Ad Pulled [Next-Gen]

Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
NinjaMarion
Posted 4:18 PM 8/5/08
@snakepliskin: Enzyte's not that bad, it's the Extenze commercials that annoy me. Hell, I see more than just commercials for that crap. Once Comedy Central, Spike (All three right in a row in that order on our channel lineup, the first and last of which I actually watch) go off the air for the night, they air numerous showings of the 30 minute Extenze "talk show", sometimes on two of the three channels at once.
NinjaMarion
snakepliskin
Posted 4:02 PM 8/5/08
@Palladium: Speaking of those penis pills, i started seeing enzyte commercials again even though they just got raided by the feds. Why is the fcc protecting people from boobies and swearing on tv but not protecting stupid people from scams?
snakepliskin
Palladium
Posted 3:52 PM 8/5/08
Awww. They got taken off the air for mis-phrasing a minuscule number.
So, that must mean those penis extension pills on TV really do work? Because they've been on the air for years now!
I mean, cmon'. There's only 50 games, out of thousands, that don't work at this point.
Palladium
Saint Anima
Posted 3:47 PM 8/5/08
@Rabidsquirrel: @Morberis: Ah, I see. Poor Europe. -_-
Saint Anima
Saint Anima
Posted 3:46 PM 8/5/08
60 gig doesn't play all of the PS2 games!? I've been lied to!
Saint Anima
Aprocalypse
Posted 3:45 PM 8/5/08
@Aprocalypse: Clarification: Never got the hardware emulation 60GB. We got one with a 60GB HDD, though.
Aprocalypse
eqhara
Posted 3:44 PM 8/5/08
@Morberis:
I would agree with that.
eqhara
AntiZERØ
Posted 3:44 PM 8/5/08
@Solidius: It's like saying, "our cleaner kills 99.9% of germs"
Not all discs will play on the 60GB PS3, but more than enough non obscure titles should work. At least more will play "better" than on an Emotion Emulator 80GB
AntiZERØ
Aprocalypse
Posted 3:44 PM 8/5/08
@Solidius: Guess what umpteenth thing never came to PAL territories. PAL never got the 60GB.
Aprocalypse
Morberis
Posted 3:43 PM 8/5/08
@eqhara:
I think thats more a point in favor of the UK than it is the US...
Morberis
Morberis
Posted 3:43 PM 8/5/08
@Solidius:
Nope, no emotion chip for Europe.
Morberis
Rabidsquirrel
Posted 3:41 PM 8/5/08
@Solidius: In the US.. yes.. in Europe... no no emotion chip was in the 60.
Rabidsquirrel
eqhara
Posted 3:41 PM 8/5/08
Is that all it takes to get pulled in the UK? That commercial's fabrication is *nothing* compared to some of the shit that can fly on American TV.
eqhara
ShirtGuyDom
Posted 3:41 PM 8/5/08
See, adding "most" in there would have cost millions in extra advertising money! So they took a chance. Whoops!
ShirtGuyDom
Solidius
Posted 3:36 PM 8/5/08
Wait...
Doesn't the 60GB play *all* the PS2 games because it uses the Emotion chip?
Isn't the 80GB the one that can only play *some* PS2 games?
Or is it different in Europe?
Solidius
Pornosaur
Posted 4:47 PM 8/5/08
At this I'm totally confused about the PS3 skus. I was contemplating picking one up with my tax rebate check but backwards compatablility is something I want. I still have a backlog of Ps2 games and some old favorites. If I walk into a store today what version of the PS3 do I need to buy to play PS2 games? I'm in America.
Pornosaur
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 4:32 PM 8/5/08
@ffmusicdj: Probably happened because someone already sued or something.
I don't really think PS3 needs a full backwards compatibility, and the decision to pull the ad out has more on it than just "misleading information".
But I can live with that. Because it really is misleading, and I personally think ALL misleading information should be wiped out.
Only wish they would do that to some other rather obvious stuff.
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
ban_hammer
Posted 4:29 PM 8/5/08
@AntiZERØ: but this the PS2 we are talking about, half of most libraries probably are at least made of obscure titles, and people who read PC World are probably not your casual gamer which increases the likelihood of obscure titles in their collections
ban_hammer
Doshu
Posted 4:28 PM 8/5/08
@Palladium: I mean, cmon'. There's only 50 games, out of thousands, that don't work at this point.
I've personally not found any that don't work. However, all of the PS2 R&C games I've tried are pretty close to unplayable. They stutter on the PAL 60GB PS3. While not totally unplayable, it was enough to make me plug the PS2 back in for those games.
Doshu
ffmusicdj
Posted 4:26 PM 8/5/08
You don't understand, some idiot can sue.
ffmusicdj
LittleBigPlaneteer
Posted 5:03 PM 8/5/08
@Pornosaur:
The 80GB, which will be re-released in June with Metal Gear Solid 4. You might be able to find the current 80Gb bundle that includes Motorstorm. No DualShock 3 in that one though
It's not that confusing really. There's only 2 SKU's, a 40GB with no PS2 BC, and an 80GB with PS2 BC. Sort of like a Core and Premium model
LittleBigPlaneteer
Rabidsquirrel
Posted 4:58 PM 8/5/08
@Pornosaur: 80. Not full backwards.. but i think its fairly high up there.
Rabidsquirrel
Barnolde
Posted 6:34 PM 8/5/08
PAL 60GB = NTSC 80GB
It plays about 80% of games with no issues. The 20/60GB NTSC models played 99% of PS2 games.
The 80GB model's BC is for all intents and purposes, a PS2. You can play most anything, though some games like the R&C titles won't play.
It's certainly more acceptable, especially when compared to the 360's 30% BC support, most of which have graphical issues or framerate problems (Halo1 is unplayable).
Barnolde
thequiffisdead
Posted 6:32 PM 8/5/08
What are the odds?
thequiffisdead
thequiffisdead
Posted 6:32 PM 8/5/08
You can't buy 60gb PS3's in the UK anymore anyway, that's unless it's second hand.
thequiffisdead
midnightz
Posted 6:32 PM 8/5/08
You can't even get the 60GB flavour here anymore.
midnightz
phicaluk
Posted 7:13 PM 8/5/08
It's actually a typo, their original copy for the ad was "plays your PS2 games [nowhere near] as well [as your PS2 did]"
phicaluk
Repsode
Posted 8:08 PM 8/5/08
There are still new 60GB PS3 on sale in the UK?
The original 60GB in Europe was one of the first to have the Emotion Engine yanked, thus Europe never has had the wonder of a fully BC compatible PS3.
Second that model is no longer manufactured by Sony for this region. The only SKU manufactured for Europe is the BC-less 40GB model.
I haven't seen new 60GBs for a good number of months. If PC World do have them they would be in limited quantities.
Incidentally there's no distinction made on the company's online store. Therefore I'll assume they only have 40GB models like everyone else selling new PS3s in Europe.
Repsode
nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin)
Posted 8:59 PM 8/5/08
quite strange seeing as the 60GB model was discontinued a few months ago.
nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin)
Llost
Posted 9:08 PM 8/5/08
Well that's the problem with sripping away at your console, it under delivers to fans and it confuses not only consumers but retailers aswell.
Llost
Ungruntled
Posted 9:28 PM 8/5/08
The only place to get 60GB PS3s in the UK is eBay at crazily inflated prices. I remember seeing this advert once, I think it was around August 2007. So well done to whoever pulled it for being SO on the ball. Idiots.
Ungruntled
Scuba Steve
Posted 9:25 PM 8/5/08
*hugs 20GB*
30 hours at Walmart, and I probably could have picked you up the week after for less than 10 minutes wait.
Scuba Steve
Metropolis
Posted 11:16 PM 8/5/08
I gots my 60gb from some kid trying to sell it at my friends gamestop. I offered him 200$ and never looked back. Besides being greasy and smelling like coconut oil, a little rubbing alcohol took care of that, it works like a charm. I play more ps2 games on it than ps3 ones.
Metropolis
Gidim
Posted 11:42 PM 8/5/08
@Metropolis: "Greasy and smelling like coconut oil," yup, sounds like every other Gamestop I've been in. I blame the customers. Mind you they threw me out when I tried to clean the place with rubbing alcohol.
Gidim
Lov3
Posted 2:04 AM 9/5/08
@Barnolde: In fact, the EU 60 GB will play between 70-75% of games. 'Play' in this case apparently means that you can get through the title screen and into the interactive part. There is no guarantee that the game will play cutscenes, display subtitles and in game text properly, load every area on the disk, save or load games, or behave correctly when it is in play. The only way you can play some RPGs for example is by skipping through the cutscenes as soon as they pop up, because otherwise the game will hang and you have to restart.
About 30% was the figure of games which play 100% correctly. On the US 60GB (the SKU that never made it to the EU) that figure was 98% at launch, and they were able to patch problem games to over 99%. They *could* patch up the EU machine, but apparently they have discontinued patching completely, and are now phasing out that SKU entirely.
Lov3
Ryuujin1024
Posted 6:54 AM 9/5/08
@Lov3: But since this is how sony are making the PS3 from now on I should Imagen like the PSP the emulation firmware will be updated so often.
Ryuujin1024