IGN: It's surprising Mercenaries is coming to the PlayStation 2 and PC. But you can't honestly tell us the game will be exactly alike on each platform. How will the PS2 and PC versions differ from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions?

Jonathan Zamkoff: So here's the scoop. We are shooting for true feature parity on the PS3, 360, and PC. There will be small visual differences on those consoles due to platform specific texture compression algorithms and other platform-specific graphics implementation, but to the end-user the game experience will be nearly identical.

For the PS2 we are taking a different tact. We're working extremely closely with Pi studios down in Houston, Texas. They're 100 percent focused on developing the PS2 game under Pandemic's direction. They are using the Mercs 1 core engine and toolchain, coupled with modified Mercs 2 assets to create the Mercs 2 PS2 version. Due to memory and processor limitations we will not be able to have the exact graphical feature set (e.g., certain lighting models, etc.), but Pi has done an incredible job of having the PS2 game mirror its next-gen cousins as closely as possible.

IGN: Can you pull off co-op on each of the four versions?

Jonathan Zamkoff: Co-op will only be available on the PS3, 360, and PC. We have an ambitious enough feature set already on the PS2, and wanted to focus our efforts on delivering a killer single player experience that stood alongside the PC and next-gen versions.