In order to save money, Sony, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to further gimp the Playstation 3 that will go on sale in Europe March 23rd by not including the chip to allow fuller backward compatibility with PS2 games.  Instead, some PS2 games will be playable through "special" software.  Apparently Sony is also considering selling the gimped PS3's in the USA and Japan as well, but no decision has yet been made.

Like I need another reason to not buy the Playstation 3 (where's the rumble, bitch?!)

[Source: Associated Press]