PS4 is Not Backwards Compatible and That’s a Good Thing

Frontburnr: If you think the next-generation will be about the technical power of graphics and hardware, you are thinking like a console generation that is ready to be passed by. This is about a platform reflecting a social world, a connected world. Sony is providing the power to not just build better looking games but the power to share and participate in content dynamically.

[dedicatedtogamers]

No, a lack of a beneficial feature is never a "good" thing.

However, it's not necessarily a bad thing, either. The PS4's lack of a built-in flashlight isn't a bad thing, even though it's a feature that is not included.

[agentxk]

When I stumbled across this, I was surprised to see some decent points. We can't really move forward if we are still looking in the rearview mirror.

However, I do have a ton of PS1,2 and 3 games. So it's a "Yeah, but..." type of situation.

[wampdog29]

You also can't move on without knowing where you came from....

[sikbeta]

Less options YAY!!!! -___-

Only good thing about this is the price of PS4 will not be as awful as PS3's and ylod/variant probably will not happen

[starchild]

I hate when people argue that backwards compatibility isn't valuable to have. I love the PC for that reason. I can play my entire library of PC games on a single device.

[ABizzel1]

I understand disc based BC not being there, but I kind of wanted my digital games to transfer.

I mean I have a bunch of digital games thanks to PS+, PSN sales, and games that I just had to buy, and I kind of expected those to transfer over simply because their digital and PS+ is suppose to continue with the PS4.

Maybe they'll offer all of them again for PS+ users during the first few months of PS4 PS+ launch.

[BitbyDeath]

@starchild,

Can you get a game called Dr Drago's Madcap Adventure to work on Win7?
It hasn't worked since Win95 and i'm not going back to that.

Not every game on PC works on the latest version of Windows mostly just the recent ones.

[MysticStrummer]

"I hate when people argue that backwards compatibility isn't valuable to have."

I hate when people think their opinion should be everyone else's too. I never used my PS2's BC. I never used my PS3's BC. Apparently BC is not valuable to me. Try to deal with that.

[vet_medic]

If it makes PS4 price higher I don't want it

[TopDudeMan]

I don't understand why people are going nuts about backwards compatibility. Even if they did put it on, it would never be as good as playing the game on the original console that it came out for.

[princejb134]

I disagree backwards compatible is very important
For one I have 26 ps3 games that I won't be able to play on my ps4 when I do buy it
And I don't want to keep my ps3 because that's just extra space in my room that I don't have
So if I'm not keeping the ps3 there's no point of keeping the ps3 games

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Not a deal breaker to be honest. I hope my ps3 doesn't give in but PS4 will be used for PS4 games.
Next Xbox better have BC though, I have way to many downloaded and retail 360 games and it would be a shame to have to keep my console around to play them.
Truth be told however, I'll probably end up not even playing the darn things with all the next gen goodness taking over.
In conclusion, not a good thing, not by a long shot, but not exactly a disaster either. I can live with it.

[brave27heart]

Since my PS3 isnt going anywhere Id say BC isnt an issue to me. Plus the nostalgia of hearing that start up orchestra...

As long as you still have the hardware I can always play my old games. Changing a few cables over isnt an issue to me.

[NastyLeftHook0]

I want the ps4 to be backwards compatible, But if it is not, then its 100% fine by be. Atleast i know where my dollars are going and thats to 100% dedicated hardcore gaing and not screwing me over as a consumer with mandatory online.

[agentxk]

Agreed. I like how Sony said that DRM is completely up to the dev, not them. I am always on the internet, but I am glad that users won't have to be to enjoy most of their games.

[ichimaru]

what does this article have to do with always online drm. better yet, why do you feel the need to derail every comment with flame bait. comes of as bitter instead of actually being excited for the ps4

[Hambo]

Not really sure how this is "flame bait?" Nothing bitter about his comment.

[ichimaru]

"100% dedicated hardcore gaing and not screwing me over as a consumer with mandatory online.#" literally had Jack to do with backwards compatibility or the lack there of.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

. . .and that lil bit of jerk just for good measure.

[ichimaru]

for those who literally purchased a strong library of games this gen,I would be disheartened. it's an inconvenience to have to switch consoles to play a game that cans out a year ago

[KewDeGra]

stop being lazy.

[ichimaru]

said the consumer to console development teams. its not my job to find excuses for a product. its the Sony'/ms' job to convince me it's worth a purchase

[insomnium2]

@ichi

Wouldn't PS4 be more worth the purchase if it is cheaper? Would you pay a full 100 dollars more for b/c? How about 150 dollars? Where do you draw the line?

[T2]

Sorry im not paying 100 bucks more on a ps4 so others can play uncharted 2 ... How bout just enjoy uc4 ?

[Neonridr]

The problem I see here is that because the PS4 is so radically different in architecture from the PS3, the only way to have backwards compatibility might be to embed a PS3 Cell processor into the PS4 hardware used strictly for the playing of PS3 games. Having to do this could easily tack on another 100 bucks to the end price, so for that I would rather just get up and turn on the PS3 instead.

It's a great convenience, but not worth it if it raises the costs, or reduces the build quality to accommodate.

Again, it's a nice feature to have, but not a deal breaker in the end...

[ShiftyLookingCow]

Certainly not a deal breaker but trying to spin it as a plus is just silly.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

It's a huge plus if keeping it out keeps the price down. It's good for more people to afford, it's good for Sony to make money, it's good for developers to get with the developin'

But seriously, backward compatibility was never promised to anyone at any time. It was just a luxury on consoles that started with the PS1. Things were different then. It's a slight inconvenience at best to have to boot up my PS3 to play an old game, something that won't be happening often with me anyway.

[darren_poolies]

You buy a new console to play new games.

[hadouken182]

How tf is lack of a beneficial feature a good thing?!!!! I SWEAR TO GOD these articles are so RETARDED! Y?!

[T2]

Good if it keeps price down .

[Godz Kastro]

No, that is a bad move. I have owned an 360 for most of this gen. I had a ps3 that I barely played so I gave away. Now, In recent months I was interested in a PS3 to play some exclusives but thought that the Ps4 would be announced soon and it was.

One of my main reasons to buy a ps4 is to play Sonys back catalog. If that's not an option then it takes away one of the major reasons I was interested in one.

Sony, please, either stream or hardware but make BC available.

[thebudgetgamer]

Your post history makes me belive that you are full of crap. You may not be though, just what I gathered. I appologize if wrong.

[Godz Kastro]

Dude, your wrong. Im a tech enthusiast not a fan boy. I have a wiiu and I will buy a ps4 and 720. However which one I will keep depends on which one I use the most. MS, Nintendo and SOny does not pay me to play their systems. So my loyalty goes as far as they are able to entertain me. If you have seen any negative comments toward Sony they were mostly directed at illogical rabid fanboys.

[thebudgetgamer]

My bad then.

[Godz Kastro]

Thank you sir.I appreciate that you had hesitance in the comment to begin with and allowed me to reply.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

But it's common knowledge that they're doing exactly that, streaming old games through Gaikai.

[Darrius Cole]

I still don't believe that it is written in stone that the launch model PS4's will not be BC. PS3 has a good catalogue this year. I don't think they want to force people who can afford to pay the extra for a PS4 to choose between PS3 and PS4.

[dennett316]

Unless they have PS3 chips inside the PS4, then backwards compatibility is simply not going to happen on PS4 unless it's via streaming. They've completely changed the internal architecture....PS3 games cannot possibly run, and I doubt the PS3 will be emulated any time soon like the PS1 and PS2 currently are.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Um yes, it is set in stone that PS4 is not natively backward compatible. This is their strategy moving forward. Don't set yourself up for disappointment based on nothing but false hope. And they have been forcing, as you put it, people to buy non backward compatible PS3s for years now, and it seems to have been working out well. The decision is yours alone. Do you want a PS4 to play PS4 games, or do you want to have your cake and eat it too? Of course only one of those is possible.

[clintos59]

Honestly I could careless about BC. Would it be awesome to have it? Sure but at the same time why would I buy a ps4 to play ps3 games?

Thats like someone saying I am not going to buy a dvd player because I want it to be able to play my vhs collection. Thats why u keep your ps3 so u can play your ps3 games on there.

If u still aint convinced then dont buy it.

[Roper316]

should be couldn't careless, you are saying you do care when you mean to say you don't care

[clintos59]

Sorry im not a professional journalist like yourself. I'll try harder lol. Is that better?

[Roper316]

it has nothing to do with journalism but knowing how to say what you mean. If you are happy with going through life saying the opposite of what you mean I couldn't careless.

[ichimaru]

because consoles launch with about 5 games maybe, they usually sick(relative opinion) and many gamers see this as a chance to score a few great last gen games they missed while they wait for the heavy hitters in the summer. console launches are clockwork

[KrisButtar]

"Thats like someone saying I am not going to buy a dvd player because I want it to be able to play my vhs collection"

you do realize that when DVDs came out their was a transition period where there were DVD/VHS combos.

Shouldn't there be a transition period for the PS3/PS4 also?

[Godz Kastro]

Yes, I agree. Right off the bat you have a ton of games to play while they work on next gen titles.

[Godz Kastro]

But this is the thing, a person has had ps3 this whole gen might not care. I didn't have one so I do. Im not saying i would not buy a Ps4 for this reason but it takes away my urgency to go out and get one. I want to play Uncharted 3, Infamous 2, the last of us, beyond two souls, journey and so forth.

Ill enjoy any new ps4 games but without BC im not rushing out to buy. Period.

If xbox does not have bc its not that big of an issue because ive played everything I wanted to play on it this gen. Ya dig?

[KrisButtar]

well the PS3 did launch with 2 models one that was BC, for the ones who wanted it and another model without BC for the ones who didn't want it.

I don't see why they couldn't do it again for the launch of the PS4

[ShiftyLookingCow]

No both PS3 launch models had BC. The European ones had partial BC(Emotion Engine removed) and from 2008(iirc) BC was totally removed.

As convenient as it would have been, BC is not coming back(except Classics). Although I am not getting a PS4 at launch, I hope the launch console is a long lasting sturdy beast(360 was disastrous and PS4 launch consoles were also unreliable in the long run, both due to lead free solder).

[gazgriff2k12]

There some fine games son. expect those games to have hd ports or the ability to stream them

[dennett316]

Space and free inputs on the TV are concerns for people, especially as more and more have the console set up in their living room rather than a bedroom or whatever. Cluttering up the TV with extra consoles simply may not be possible for some, so backwards compatibility would have been extremely handy for them. People have large game collections, maybe even a lot of PSN purchases, and it kinda sucks to not be able to transfer those over to a new machine.

I agree with you in that it's new hardware and you should be playing new games on it, but the lack of the option may well delay people from buying the console. Sony know this, but they also know the problems they had with the PS3 and it's more complicated architecture, so the change had to be made to appease developers.

[Leon_Blu]

Does anyone know if we can download PS3 games digitally ?

Wasn't there talks about that on the Playstation conference.

It would be awesome for me as I have no ps3. My launch 60gb system is not working for me anymore.

[ShiftyLookingCow]

Check the PS3 page on https://store.sonyentertain...

But the prices are not competitive with retailers like Amazon. For example you can get MK Komplete Edition for $20 on Amazon while it is $50 here.

[Leon_Blu]

Ok, we shall see when the PS4 gets released. If it's no BC for PS3 then there should be an option for downloading The last of us, uncharted etc ..

[Majin-vegeta]

Maybe Sony should offer two models one that is backwards compatibility and one that isn't.Or some people can just stop being lazy and get and HDMI switcher to switch between the PS4&PS3. http://www.amazon.com/Portt...

[Hambo]

Just happy to see Sony looking forward instead of trying to relive the past.

[mrmancs]

you dont buy a new sports car and keep it in the drive whilst continuing to drive a old battered used car do we?

[ShiftyLookingCow]

It doesn't hurt that PS4 doesn't have BC as it is going to be reasonably priced from the start but lack of BC is not a good thing.

We just end up with more "classics" to buy again.

[fsfsxii]

BC is overrated

[dennett316]

You misspelled convenient. No, it's not an essential feature, and changing the internal architecture was important for Sony, but it'd have been a nice option to have and would have perhaps seen more sales at launch as people would be more inclined to get the new console if they could have taken their PS3 games/PSN purchases with them and been able to trade in their old console to offset some of the cost of the new one.

[fsfsxii]

I thought people buy new consoles to play NEW games

[JW1080]

All eyes on the future! I like it. Especially if it lowers the price of the console than that's even better. Want to play old games? Simple,keep your old console. Stop whining. PS4 is about totally new games and not living in the past. Embrace the future people. This damn sure ain't going to stop me from purchasing the PS4.

[dennett316]

It's got little to do with "not living in the past". PS1 and PS2 titles will work on PS4 as they are emulatable, and will no doubt still be available for purchase from PSN.

Make no mistake, Sony would have had PS3 BC in the console if they could as it's a great selling point, but changing the architecture so radically when compared to PS3 removed the option by default. I understand why they had to do it, but it's not as easy as just telling people to "stop whining". Not everyone is you, not everyone can keep all their consoles around, not everyone has the space etc.

[WeAreLegion]

I want it because I want to be able to download my purchased things on the PS4...especially if it has a larger HDD. My 500 Gb is full. :/ Who knows how long they'll keep the store up on the PS3. :/

[turgore]

So I'm supposed to discard my entire PS3 library ? This is why PC gaming is far superior.

[arronax-1]

then go there! See if anyone cares.

[delboy]

Cows don't need BC,they don't play old games on new consoles, yea right, but they buy ps2/ps1 games from PSN?
Lack of BC is a deal breaker for most gamers, BC should be mandatory or a standard in gaming by now.

I will gladly buy the next box or wiiu over a ps4.
Why, because I will get multiple system in ONE, and will be able to play all the games I skipped because I own a ps3.
Halo, gears, mario galaxy and many more are on ebay for like 5-10$.
No BC is No Buy for me, it's a betrayal to the royal customers.
I supported Sony for many years,bougt ps1-ps2-ps3(just imagine how many games I own for those systems and will not be able to play them),tv's, mobile phones, dvd player's, but enough is enough, NO more Sony products for me, ever!
Sony doesn't care about me, so why should I care about them?

[ShiftyLookingCow]

Always online DRM(in addition to yearly Live sub) is an even worse betrayal than lack of BC. You better hope the rumors are wrong.

[xilly]

I've owned a PS3 that has backwards compatibility since launch, and the only time I've ever played a PS1 or PS2 game were when I purchased them from PSN. I hate switching discs, so I'm perfectly content with digital legacy titles even if I have to re-buy them. Convenience costs money and I'm okay with that.

[JeffKaos]

I think backwards compatibility is important since there have been so many great games that released this generation that I don't see myself abandoning while I wait for the next gen to get fully revved up and have a decent size library. And my old hardware isn't going to last forever. Also, I have a lot of games I downloaded and I can't really understand why those games can't be played on the next gen consoles. But on the other hand, from a business point of view it makes pretty good sense because I'm pretty sure I'll see games like Skyrim and BioShock for sale as downloadable titles on the next gen systems. So I guess I'll just have to buy those games again. At least backwards compatibility isn't an issue on PC's and I'm seriously considering abandoning consoles and migrate back to the PC.

[wishingW3L]

with M$ requiring an always online access, Nintendo's lack of 3rd party suppoer and Sony not providing BC not even with digital tittles? Things are getting ridiculous when trying to chose a console.

And from Sony I can understand the PS4 not having BC with PS3 games but not even with the PS1 and PS2 classics we bought off the PSN like Persona 3 or Suikoden? I mean, there are emulators on the PC made by fans and for free than can run games while looking better than HD Collections on freaking x86 architecture machines that have lower specs than the PS4 for god's sake! It's obvious that what they really want is to sell us the same games again through Gaikai. And I bet they can even emulate the PS3 but since Sony fanboys are so gullible due to their extreme fanboyism then Sony knows that they can get away with this very easily.

[lovegames718]

I have two ps3s in my house that are going to have to get some use somehow when os4 comes out. I had my ps3 phat that was backward compatible but I never once used that feature. But I do understand that I have friends that want to trade in their ps3 towards a ps4 and if it's not b/c they can't do it. These are Lol that can't afford to go out and buy a ps4 without help, Its a catch 22 though if the ps4 is b/c it will cost a lot more so their tradable in will be moot or be the same if it wasn't b/c and they had to pay full amount and not be able to trade in their console. The cost to them would be equal in both scenarios.

[gazgriff2k12]

If the ps4 was backwards compatible it would cost an extra $100+ so trading your ps3 for $100 would not save you money ya dig. I to would like BC but its no problem without it, I barely used it on my ps3 and even re-brought games for the HD versions might do the same on ps4. hopefully sony will give us our psn games we brought for free when available on ps4

[Dms2012]

Next article: How the Xbox 720 not having bc would be a horrible thing.

[TheKayle1]

ok now backward compatibility is a good thing...tomorrow being less powerfull will be a good thing...too......trolls...trol ls everywhere

[StreetsofRage]

Lol! A good thing? Only on this rabid site.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

I agree. How is not having BC a good thing? LMFAO. There is not a single person with a PS3 that wouldn't want to have BC on the PS4.

Talk about damage control. Ya lets have as many devices hooked up to our TV's and plugged into our sockets as possible because that is a good thing.

1 device to play all the games is the best option and will always be the best thing. Not having BC is sad and pathetic.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

No it's not.

Fanboys will spin anything. Fanboys will defend anything.

[R_aVe_N]

I have had BC on my PS3 since launch have I thought about or even tried to play PS1 or PS2 games heck no. It is not a needed feature. Why boost the release price on a next gen console. What do you buy next gen consoles for when you are just going to play old games?

[SKUD]

Glad I don't have to stand in long lines like I did just to secure a PS3 OG 60GB w/bc during the launch. Was a major part of my purchasing decision. Being able to play my whole PS library from one box. Good times. Now I can just wait it out.

[isarai]

If it means a cheaper console, then i really don't care. Also since they started releasing Classics on the store and HD collections, what other games really is there to go back and play? all the great ones are on the store for about the same price(if not cheaper) than you would pay to buy them at a store or offline (they all pretty much range from $5 to $10) if you really want it that bad then go buy a PS2 slim, they only cost like $20