PlayStation 3s without PS2 backwards compatibility are missing the Emotion Engine, a chip Sony designed as the PS2’s CPU. What if the PS3’s cell processor could emulate the Emotion Engine? Theoretically, all PlayStation 3s would be able to play PS2 games even if a console didn’t have the proper hardware. According to a recent patent filed by Sony Computer Entertainment in the US, Sony has the code and technology ready to do this.

There are two main ways to emulate hardware. Interpretation is when target code is decoded and converted into a language the host can understand. The other strategy is to decode and recompile programs in the host’s language. Maybe the concept is better explained another way. Interpretation is like having someone constantly translating English to Japanese for you, non stop, twenty four hours a day wherever you go. Decoding and recompiling is like someone translating a sets of words and putting them in a dictionary you can reference.

Sony developed a way to translate instructions from an Emotion Engine chip into chunks that can be referenced.

I doubt it would be announced at Gamescom, I'd think if it was to be announced this year, it'd be announced at TGS, because Sony is based in Japan, as is Nintendo, and I think it'd get more coverage at TGS than at Gamescom.

EDIT: Plus, it'd likely be bigger and more well responded news to than the "slim" PS3, and so it's more than likely a business strategy to get considerable coverage and excitement up over the "slim" PS3.

Koller said that Sony is not considering adding backwards compatibility support to the PS3, a feature stripped from the line a while ago but sometimes requested by some fans. "Backwards compatibility is off the table," he said.