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My PS3 Won't Play My PS2 Games

Backward compatibility is a major factor in deciding to upgrade your gaming system; while the PlayStation 3 (PS3) may offer an unparalleled gaming experience, it's hardly worth the change if all your favorite games won't work on it. Unfortunately, the PS3 models are not completely backwards compatible with all PS2 games. Whether or not your PS2 game works depends on your model of PS3 (either the "fat" or the newer "slim" model), the firmware on your system, and even the hardware available.

Things You'll Need

PS2 System Tools

Instructions

- 1
  Check the status of your game's backward compatibility using the PlayStation Knowledge center; the website for this check is available under resources. Select the appropriate model of PS3 system before searching. The output will tell you if the game is compatible, and what issues (if any) have been reported.
- 2
  Make sure you have the PS2 System Tools for your "slim" model PS3; while the older models of PS3 came with the appropriate hardware to play PS2 games--specifically the "emotion engine" that made the system backward compatible--the newer models only offer a kind of emulator to make playing your games possible. This software may not work for all games. You can get these tools from the PlayStation Store.
- 3
  Check if the game you wish to play is available from the PlayStation Store. While this means purchasing a digital copy of the game, it does allow you to play that game without a disc and in a format that has been designed to work with the PS3.

PlayStation 3