Sony's successor to the PlayStation is the PlayStation 2, which is backward compatible with its predecessor in that it can play almost every PlayStation game. This was done by embedding the most important parts of the PS one inside the PlayStation 2 design. Unlike emulators that run on a PC, the PlayStation 2 actually contains the original PlayStation processor, allowing games to run exactly as they do on the PlayStation. For PlayStation 2 games this processor, called the IOP, is used for input and output (memory cards, DVD drive, network, and hard drive). Like its predecessor, the PlayStation 2 is based on hardware developed by Sony themselves.
The third generation of the PlayStation is known as the PlayStation 3, or PS3, and was launched on November 11, 2006 in Japan, November 17, 2006 in North America, and March 23, 2007 in Europe. The PlayStation 3 is backward compatible with nearly all games that were originally made for PlayStation 1. In PAL territories and later shipments in North America and Japan, however, the PlayStation 3 lacks some of the backwards compatibility hardware and so supports significantly fewer PlayStation 2 games. However, the list of compatible games is being increased via software emulation. PS3 games will not be region-locked, but PlayStation 1 and 2 games still only play on a PS3 console from the same territory.
The PlayStation Portable (officially PSP) is a handheld game console first released in late 2004. Despite the name, it is not compatible with PlayStation games; it only runs games developed specifically for the PSP on the UMD format. Nevertheless, at the PlayStation Briefing conference on March 15, 2006 in Japan, Sony revealed plans for PlayStation 1 games to be downloaded and playable on the PSP through emulation. Sony hopes to release nearly all PlayStation 1 games on a gradual basis; however, as of late December 2006, a custom firmware release allows users to play PS1 image files converted into the PSP's EBOOT format
