With the next generation of consoles now in our glimmering horizon, we turn to examine the future of gaming as we know it. But while future software and hardware sounds enticing, support of the past will be of equal importance. Backwards compatibility will be essential for the next line of game hardware, and here’s why.
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This is just gamers nip picking and moaning about something.
Myself, I'd love BC to be included :) If its not, oh well I'll still get one.
So worth it to a zealot like me <3
backwards compatibility is needed in the early stages until the platform's library can stand on it's own feet. Once people have more, good, next-gen genres to play then I don't think "most" people would really think mind if it fazed out. For early adopters, I say to find someone who does re-balling and get that done to your launch system. People complained about the original model's price but it paid off in this case. They keep BC because emotion engine was built in. They don't have to buy "select" ps2 remasters and they are getting that money back in the long term.
It just isn't a critical feature of a new console.
Fact is, the vast majority of PS3s sold ARE NOT BACKWARDS COMPATIBLE WITH PS2 games.
Thats right, 80+ percent of you who bought a PS3 knew full well it couldn't play your original boxed PS2 games. Did that fact hurt the machine's sales crushingly?
No it didn't. So if backwards compatibility costs so much to execute that it takes something away from the new consoles or increases their cost significantly, it shouldn't happen.
In Sony's case, it is likely to push up the cost of their new machine significantly. They chose to go with an unconventional CPU, which cannot be emulated in software well. Which means it would have to be included as hardware and add complexity and expense.
If you can find a way to add BC without increasing the cost of the machine, then go nuts. But if it pushes up the cost for everyone, then you should just remember that your PS3 probably doesn't play boxed PS2 games either.
For instance, I still fire up Ninja Gaiden Black every now and then for some Itagaki classic!
I also love the BC on the Wii, so for me BC is important. that is the one thing I'm envyous of PC gamers.
Backward compatibility is more important now than EVER...
This gen has taken competitive MP to the forefront of gaming, and people will still want to play these games.
Some say "Just keep your PS3/360"... and I say "NO". I have HDMI splitters already hooked up so I can have all my machines run. I can't keep plugging things into MORE power strips making it a fire hazard.
BC is most important at the beginning of a generation when new-gen titles are fewer, and people are still playing games from the huge catalog of the previous generation.
I don't know if BC would be hardware based or software based, but Sony and MS know the importance of BC.
BC is still a good thing though, but whiney gamers will cry that the cost will go up at launch, like they always do.
Every other console that plays PC games that's going to come out, like Razor, and the one Valve is behind, they're going to be $1000 and $1100, and not a single PC gamer whined about it. Grow up you little kids.
It is a big deal for me.
i dont care Backwards Compatibility retail games
but i would like to play some of my psn games on my ps4
BC is an advantage as it will give you back catalogue of many great games this gen. Sure, in 3 years down the road of next gen. BC will slowly become irrlevant. However, theres always great games you wanna be able to play from previous gen. This Gen we had some great games. Hell, i still play Timesplitters 2 on my 60gb PS3. That game is awesome, better than most multiplayer shooters this gen by a long shot.
One thing i do not want is have a last gen console sitting along side next gen console. Dont have the room & space to fill my entertainment hub. All HDMI's in my TV is being used up. Space is cramped. So it would have to get replaced. I would like it to be BC on launch.
Next gen, i rekon XBOX Next will have an advantage in this option. For 3 years the next Xbox will be BC until a price cut and a revision of hardware without BC is released.
But at the same time, people don't buy chevy corvettes to go 60mph max. There intentions are going faster, the same theology applies to consoles.
Obviously people still want to play PS2 games...and Sony is trying to take advantage of it.
BC should be in PS4, but most probably won't.
And considering that this gen games won't be needing an hd makeover for the next gen, backwards compatibility will be more important than ever. Not a deal breaker for sure, but it wouldn't be just a gimmick either.
I'm confident that it will happen. Probably not with integrated hardware though. Sony bought Gaikai so that would be an option for BC.
Nintendo has been backwards compatible for a while now on both console and hand held.
This gen was BC not sure why next wouldn't be.
* People are going to want to play GTA 5 on their xbox 720 because it's going to be 3-4 years before we get another one.
Other games as well.
It's all about living nostalgia - especially with friends or family.
I think PS4 will be backwards compatible though. Sony received way too many complaints about it this gen to ignore it for PS4. I see them charging $50 more for a BC version.
To me a new generation of consoles means it's time to move on. Sure it's great to play your older games, but I'm sure you didn't buy the latest hardware to stay stuck in the past.
People should stop worrying however about not being able to run their library of games because the whole thing is tied into the gamertag now and would be quite ridiculous if you couldn't play this software any more. It would be very short sighted quite honestly. I personally wouldn't bother investing quite as much enthusiasm if things didn't carry over and MS especially will be very aware of this factor
IMO, xbox shouldn't have a problem to doing disc BC, but doesn't seem likely at all the ps4 will be BC. I mean the current ps3 isn't BC, and now speculation is pointing to the ps4 not using the cell processor.
Who knows for sure? Just a fun hobby, trying to guess at this point. Either way, I'm totally all in for next gen regardless of BC or not.
hyperball much ?!
And with all that said, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we're charged for the pleasure of playing this stuff again. Probably a licence that allows for older arcade play and another for disc with a slightly reduced licence for both. People pay for this stuff so it's probably a given
If I'm buying a next gen console I'm gonna play next gen games... Just look at the ps2 they just stopped production. If I really wanted the play old games I can still buy the old system
BC=your old games playable on new machine,no extra fee,no streaming shenanigans.Digital/Retail game and you click/insert...it works
Second
This gen is quite different from the previous one,lots of us have large digital collections,making them not transfer= unacceptable
Imagine if some new PC comes out and it makes your large Steam library unplayable.
Would you buy that PC?
Me certainly not.
I would still get new consoles at some point but I would drastically reduce digital purchases($5-$10 max).
PS3 owners who intend to buy PS4 dont need a second "PS3"
Sadly, the days of backwards compatibility is long over.
Some of this was solved by having PS2 games downloadable in the PSN store. But the download sizes aren't that big. If we continue to do it with the PS3 games, HD's will fill up in no time. As we can already see, and we're still on this generation.
Just imagine playing ps3 games on your ps4 upscaled to 1080p/4k(with a way better scaler than what ps3 has) with features like post process AA.
This is why backwards compatibility is an awesome feature to have.
It's a revenue thing.