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TOKYO - Sony said on Tuesday its new video game console, the PlayStation 3, does not run some PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software titles properly, the latest problem the electronics maker has encountered in its cash cow game business.
Sound is eliminated on some software titles when played on the PS3, while some other titles do not play on the latest machine at all.
The PS3, launched in Japan on Saturday, is supposed be compatible with game software designed for its previous models.
Sony shares were up 0.9 per cent at 4,730 yen by midday, underperforming the Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index, which gained 1.72 per cent. Shares in rival Nintendo were up 1.4 per cent at 26,070 yen.
Satoshi Fukuoka, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment, said the game unit of Sony is checking the compatibility of the PS3 with some 8000 game titles launched in Japan for the PS and PS2, but declined to give the number of games found incompatible so far.
The Sankei Shimbun daily said on Tuesday about 200 PS and PS2 titles are likely to have compatibility problems.
Fukuoka said Sony plans to solve the problems by online upgrading of system software for the PS3.
By the highly anticipated PS3 launch, Sony is pitting itself against Microsoft's already available Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii, which will hit US stores on Sunday.
Sony plans to start rolling out the PS3 in North America on Friday. Gamers in Europe must wait until March due to a glitch in commercial production of blue laser diodes, a key component of the game gear's Blu-ray high-definition DVD player.
Sony sold 88,400 units of its PS3 in the first two days of the Japan launch, leaving most stores without any stock, video game magazine publisher Enterbrain said on Monday.
Sony aims to ship 6 million units of the PS3 by March.
- REUTERS
