Sony has posted a backwards compatibility database for the Japanese Playstation 3 online, and IGN has checked for issues with some of the major titles. According to IGN, most of the titles checked report “Currently, there have been no reports of major problems during play.” Given that there are thousands of titles in the database, it is unlikely that Sony has been able to test every single game thoroughly at this point, so compatibility issues may still surface later.

Also, IGN reports that many titles in the database with issues have been fixed as of the System 1.10 update, indicating that the emulation system is software based, not based on PS2 hardware inclusions as rumored earlier. Most of the issues IGN highlighted are problems with background music or movie sound playing back incorrectly. While annoying, this wouldn’t be a major issue. However, titles like Gran Turismo 4 and Silent Hill appear to be subject to occasional freezes, and some titles lose game save data.

Some of the issues appear to be hardware based. Some of Konami’s titles have problems with the microphone, and there are issues with games that allow gamers to access previous Playstation 1 save data. Other issues seem to be related to the differing hardware support in the PS3 as well. HD-based games are also not compatible, though a future software update promises to fix these. Hopefully, Sony will place the US compatibility list online soon. While a number of titles appear to have issues, at least right now it seems like the Playstation 3 will offer greater backward compatibility support than the Xbox 360.