Sony confirms PS3 can use old game saves

Microsoft has run into a pair of notable complaints with its Xbox 360 backward compatibility. First off, not all original Xbox games work on the next-gen system. And the ones that do typically need to be replayed from the beginning by the gamer, as there's no port on the 360 for the old system's memory cards.

With its upcoming PlayStation 3, Sony is promising to address those problems. It is aiming at making virtually every original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game backward compatible on the PS3 from the get-go, and according to a FAQ on the official PS3 Web site, it has the memory card issue hammered out as well.

"To use saved data on a PlayStation 2 memory card, you must copy the data onto a virtual memory card within the hard disk," the site reads. "This requires a PS2/PSone memory card adaptor to copy the data to your PlayStation 3. A memory card adaptor is designed to edit, up/download game saves to and from EMS flash card or smart media card."

However, the FAQ doesn't mention if Sony will be releasing such an adapter itself. Currently it's possible to move original Xbox game saves to an Xbox 360 with the aid of third-party peripherals.