Europeans may see a disappointment with the launch of the Sony Playstation 3, as some hardware revisions to the console being launched is expected to be even less backwards compatible with Playstation and PS2 games.

The PS3 has already launched in the US and in Japan, and is expected for a March 23rd release in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia with at least one slight change in the hardware configuration. This change, specifically replacing the “Emotion Engine” with emulation software, will save costs in production of the PS3 and help pass savings onto consumers, but it also makes the PS3 even less compatible with older PS2 and Playstation games. “The Emotion Engine has been removed and that function has been replaced with software,” said Nick Sharples, a spokesman for Sony in London. Sharples referred to the hardware change as having a “slightly detrimental effect” on compatibility.

The PS3 launched by Sony in the US is compatible with 98% of PS2 games according to Sharples, and Sony will continue to put effort towards making the more popular games compatible with continues software revisions, although they did not specify which games will be playable on the European PS3 in March. Backwards compatibility has been key features in the sales of both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii game consoles.

Sony has also recently announced that they will be giving away a Blu-ray disc version of the “Casino Royale” movie in an attempt to help sales with some free “extras” for the European launch. The James Bond movie would be available to the first 20,000 Australian customers to purchase a PS3. “They have to sweeten the deal a little bit,” said Hiroshi Kamide, director of research and game expert at KBC Securities Japan in Tokyo. “The problem with the product so far is that no one has fully understood why it’s so expensive.”

Free downloads of “Gran Turismo” game will also be available for the launch, according to Sony. Sony will only be offering the 60GB version of the game console to European customers, priced at €599 (US$786) or £425 (US$830). The same model in the US goes for around $600.

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