When the first lineup of Playstation 3 consoles hit the shelves, many consumers were confused about which ones played former Playstation titles, like Playstation 1 and 2 games. Many people not satisfied with the release of the newer, slim Playstation 3, had also found no Playstation 2 backwards compatibility one of the major downfalls of the Playstation 3.

Sony of America has been very secretive about a new prototype that they’ve come up with that will specifically address the issue of backwards compatibility. The new device, which has no name as of now, is aimed at bringing Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 compatibility to all models of Playstation 3. The device would connect to the Playstation 3 and house the processor, graphics processor, and RAM for the Playstation 2 system and will enable full backwards compatibility. Of course, for those of us lucky folk out there that already have a backwards compatible Playstation 3, this would be of no use. The target audience is most centralized around those who have purchased a slim model Playstation 3, known for not having the full backwards compatibility support that so many consumers long for. If the price is right, this will add a certain functionality to the Playstation 3 that the system has been needing, but is it too late? How many people are still interested in collecting Playstation 2 games? Obviously, if you have a large collection of Playstation 2 games or Playstation 1 games, this is more of a trophy item if you don’t own a backwards compatible Playstation 3, but it should be interesting how the pricing of this unit effects the Playstation 3 overall. The ability for a Playstation 3 to have backwards compatibility is considered the driving cost behind the older, fully backwards compatible Playstation 3 units. When sold online, those systems still catch their original MSRP sales prices and above, yet this little adapter might just change all of that.