I stumbled across a heart wrenching story of a guy named "Steve" who is a member of the site TAWKN.com. He bought the 80GB PS3 with backwards-compatibility. Since then unfortunately he ran into some problems with his unit so he had to send it in for repair. When he called in to get a status update poor Steve was told that his PS3 could not be saved. No big deal, Steve paid extra to extend his warranty so he'll get a brand new one. Right?
Wrong.
Turns out since Sony doesn't make that model anymore they will not replace it. This is regardless of the fact that one year ago Steve paid for four years' worth of Sony Care extended warranty. Extending his coverage for a total of five years. Sony offered to give him a new model 80GB PS3. Which is not Backwards compatible, is missing the extra USB ports and built-in card readers.
This really grinds my gears. I understand that Sony has decided to discontinue backwards compatibility and that you can no longer buy these systems at retail. Which is a ridiculous thing anyways. I don't care if only 70% of the games worked, It's better then nothing and I never had a problem. Also, don't you think they should have prepared for repairs of these models? It seems pretty obvious to me that people would be pretty pissed off when they get screwed over for being early adopters of your product by having 2 MAJOR features stripped away.
I didn't buy the extended warranty for my MGS bundle, so if they told me I can't have backwards compatibility if mine brakes that's fine. I should have bought it. But this poor guy Steve dished out extra money to protect his purchase, so he should be reimbursed. If it truly is impossible to replace the unit I think some free games and perhaps a slim PS2 are in order. I would be going ape shit if Sony tried to pull this on me.
You can read Steve's full story here.
What do you think about this? What do you think Sony should do to fix this?
[MAJOR UPDATE]
I just got this email from Dana at TAWKN.com
Both the call to MTC (877-779-9929) and to Sony Canada (877-899-Sony) on YouTube, and here it is:
The final verdict as it stands? Steve is pooched.
I'll bump and update this story. But Steve is basically just going to
bend over and take this. I feel sorry for him, and anyone else who has
to go through these types of situations.
I wouldn't want this to happen to me. It sucks Steve is just going to accept that poor poor customer service. Especially since other users on TAWKN claim that when they had to pay the 150$ replacement fee (for people who do not have the proper warranty for replacement), that their new console came from MTC. So why can't they send Steve one?
Very good Point J-Lim.
From a business perspective this is likely what they are doing, but it is ridiculous.
The Wii has proved casual games are not only "In" right now but they are god damn profitable. By stripping the PS2 compatibility out of the PS3 they are missing out on a huge segment of casual gamers who just might be in the market for a new BluRay player.Last I checked BluRay sales were rising 17% over DVD sales.
I was really holding onto a small glimmer of hope that a software based solution would be introduced to solve this issue. But with the recent price drop of the PS2 Slims and the development of new big name titles exclusively for the PS2, my marketing spider-senses are tingling and lead me to the same conclusion. And it's pretty stupid.
I love my PS3, it's my personal favourite of the consoles in terms of performance, games and over all features. But Sony really needs to get their shit together when it comes to customer needs analysis. HOME is the biggest pile of crap ever. For a fraction of the time and money that gong show took to launch they could have built cross game voice chat and PS2 backwards compatibility in a firmware update.
And to answer your other question no, you can not download PS2 games on the PSN. Just very select PS1 titles. But all PS3's can play PS1. Funny how that works eh?
Wow, just wow. I had no idea that Sony's customer service was this horrible. It's upsetting how you pour money into something, yet you don't get much back that you should. I wonder if there was no legal way of going about that issue? You pay for insurance, yet you don't get what you paid for? That is just wrong (but if you look at American healthcare, it's not much of a surprise =/)
I believe that by stripping ports and the PS2 chip is saving them money, even if it is not that much. Remember, Sony is still losing some (or was it that they were breaking even now?) money on the PS3 hardware. So by Sony's thoughts, they would save some money, even if its not much, to curb expenses. But yes, software is where the money is (imho), and by having no BC, I think it is a stupid move in the long run, because there are still a lot of stellar PS2 games out there (shoot, I would have shoveled out an extra 100 bucks at the time, if I could have the 60 gb PS3 with PS2 chip).
But I also believe that by taking out BC, Sony thought that PS2 sales would still fly (which they still kind of are). So, in doing this, keeping the PS2 alive still by people buying the console, rather than having just one product (the PS3) in their homes, all the while forgetting the PS2 entirely. Just my 2 cents on that topic.
Spot on llescaflownell. I agree.
I should point out though that many many other people have had very positive Sony support experiences in the past. This recent event seems to either be an isolated incident or a new initiative. Either way, i feel really bad for that Steve guy.
Frankly, I can't believe this. I've had my PS3 since Dec. 06 and its a 60 GB one. I guess I'm screwed if it breaks. I play a lot of my PS2 games on this system.
Steve must feel very frustrated.
I can't believe more sites aren't looking into this. This is kind of a big deal if a ton of PS3's kick the bucket. I will be pretty steamed if mine breaks and I don't get it fixed / replaced.
I know... this is the first i've read about it!
Well I've sent in my 60 GB app. 28 days ago. They told me that they would replace it with a new one. Does this mean that I won't be getting a new one? Or does this mean I won't be getting a new machine that has card inputs, 4 USB ports and BC??
Im pretty sure they will give you the new models (no BC, 2 USB, etc)
because sony only makes the 80GB and 160GB ones now, but who knows maybe they will surprise you.
would replace it with a new one. Does this mean that I won't be getting
a new one? Or does this mean I won't be getting a new machine that has
card inputs, 4 USB ports and BC??
It's hard to say. There are many reports of people getting the old models as MTC still has them in stock. I'm still trying to find out why this guy was having this problem.
Did you use warranty, or did you pay a replacement fee?
The more I look into this story the more I think it may have been a screw upon Sony's part and that they will eventually resolve it. I just find it very hard to believe they wouldn't consider this would happen and piss off their core customers (ones who bought the system early in the life cycle).
Please keep us updated, or at least me so I can update this story with the experiences of our own member as opposed to another sites.
Damn that sucks. Guess I lucked out when I broke mine this summer and sent it in under warranty (with literally days to spare) and I was curious if they would send me a 60GB BC back, and they did, but unfortunately not in this case 
The guy should get the same system that he purchased regardless if its been discontinued,or at least an exchange for a better one.Yet again,its a business,which can be good and bad.
"What do you think Sony should do to fix this?"
Suck less.
In all seriousness though, it looks like a play to extend the lifespan of the PS2 - which is dumb. I haven't kept up with the PS3's sales numbers, but if the past is any indicator of the future, they're probably still not stellar. The PS2 still has a lot of kick left as a cheaper entry point, but if I have my facts straight, money is made from software, not hardware. If the PS2 demographic is buying the PS2 because it's cheap, there's no canibalism coming from the PS3 crowd having backward compatibility. Is there really that much money saved shaving off media ports and a PS2 chipset?
Or maybe there's a larger picture I'm missing. PS2 games on PSN? Save costs and bump margins up by digitial distribution?