How good do the PS2/PS1 games look on the new console? I’ve been seriously considering buying the 60gb version of PS3 so that I only have one console, one controller, one set of wires, et cetera, to deal with, and I’ve heard that the old games look really good if not better than before.
Any other issues I need to know about before I buy one, regardless of version?
Other than only the original models being backwards compatible (and possibly the second model, I don’t remember exactly, but I do know that new models are not BC), I couldn’t think of any. Sony had a bad history of original release consoles failing, but they seem to have fixed that with the original PS3s. Also, don’t expect PS2/PS1 games to look much better, I haven’t noticed anything to that effect. Not to say they don’t, but I haven’t noticed anything myself.
Irregardless of any other factors: wait. There’s been a lot of rumbling from highly placed people about a price drop in the near future. It’s been nearly three years so even if the PS3 was doing well they’re long overdue for one. For obvious reasons Sony won’t say anything until they do it. Still it’s reached the point where everyone is saying “Any time now…”
Ditto what Jules said - newer models are probably not backwards compatible (although I think they’ve had a hardware rev since I last looked into it - I’d check Sony’s website).
I have a first-gen 60GB model, and I love it - mine is backwards compatible, but in all honesty, PS2 games do not lend themselves to HD displays. I just dusted off Shadow of the Colossus and it’s not much better looking than on the PS2 - a bit smoother if you have the PS2 smoothing setting turned on. But scaled up to a 46" HD tv, it looks only fair. But once you play a PS3 game in glorious HD, you’ll be hooked.
As a Blu-Ray player it’s outstanding, and it is a decent media center - there are lots of ways to stream media to the PS3 from a computer (I have a Windows Home Server myself, but you can use Windows Media Player 11 or 12 and achieve similar results).
The only issue I have with mine is that the fan gets quite loud (but I have a good home theater setup to drown out the noise :)). But the newer models are more power-efficient, so I think they’ve reduced the fan noise.
Oh, touching on what Just Some Guy said - not only are price cut rumors abounding, but so are rumors of an impending redesign.
Impending price cuts are pretty irrelevant to someone wanting to buy a 60gb version.
As for me, I’d love to go back and spend some extra money on the 60gb version. I have a ps2 in my bedroom to use as a DVD player, but gaming on the big screen is so much better. I don’t have a huge use for the CACD (or whatever the lossless CDs are), but the extra USB ports and SD card slot would be fantastic, and worth the extra money.
Only if you -really- want a BluRay player.
Pretty much a waste of money otherwise, especially if you already have a PS2.
Exactly, that’s what I’m looking at right now. I know I want to be able to play the new Final Fantasy installments, Assassin’s Creed and MoH/Cod. I can do that on any PS3. I’m mainly interested in, 1) is it worth it to get my hands on the 60gb so that I can play PS2 and PS3 games with one console, and 2) what are the main issues users have had?
I’ve heard a lot about noisy fans and overheating, something about a controller battery glitch, having to download updates before being able to actually use it (no plug-and-play like previous gen consoles) and a fairly high failure rate of components.
I never owned a PS1 and waited several, several years to buy a PS2. If waiting is the logical thing, I can wait. But I don’t so much wanna wait. It’s odd, I’m normally pretty good about delaying gratification, but I find myself very much desiring this little toy.
There is rumor of a redesign that will emulate the PS2 instead of have the hardware inside it. Wait.
Noisy fan: Yes. But no noisier than the 360’s disc spinner, and any decent volume of theater is going to cover it.
Batter glitch: This is a display error only, and should be fixed in the upcoming patch.
High failure rate: Irrelevant in comparison to the 360 (which has narrowed the gap, making this point pretty moot).
The rumor is that the *current *software is capable of emulation, but Sony won’t enable it. It’d be great, but I’m not holding my breath.
Edit: Oh - here’s an interesting article that came out yesterday regarding a lot of this.
Edit 2: Turns out that rumors of a price cutare greatly exaggerated.
As I mentioned in passing, Sony has to deny a price cut right up to the point that they actually announce it. If you look back historically to other console price cuts you’ll see companies vehemently denying that one is coming while they’re preparing for one. I took that statement from Sony as pretty much confirmation. If everyone who should be in the know are talking around a price cut and the console manufacturer is responding quickly to deny the rumors then you can be almost certain one is coming. If they ignore the rumors then it’s much less likely. 
I think your logic is a bit screwy here, since Sony has been denying an incoming price cut for like a year now.
While price cuts are almost invariably preceeded by denials that they are going to do so, just because they are denying an incoming price cut doesn’t mean there’s going to be one. They might just be annoyed at how people keep asserting that they need to do one to survive.
Well yeah, since it relies on the good ol’ “If they deny it then it must be true!” but in my experience the volume of the denials increases the more likely they are to cut in order to lure in the last few people who will pay the old price.