PS3's B.C. problems and how to blow it out of perspective

From Joystiq: "We all heard the news; the PS3 isn't fully backwards compatible with every PlayStation game. Of the 8,000 or so games in the PlayStation universe, roughly 200 of them won't work as advertised. It looks like the backcompat issue is yet another black mark on Sony's already stumbling reputation ... but is this really that bad?

Business Week is one of those groups who apparently think background music not playing right in Radiata Stories during cutscenes is going to topple the Sony empire like Visigoths over Rome (alright, a bit extreme). They claim "the bad publicity could ultimately leave Sony at a disadvantage compared with Microsoft and Nintendo." We find that a bit of a stretch when Sony's got bigger issues out there and we haven't heard a peep from Microsoft's backwards compatibility efforts since August."

[Sphinx]

...not too many people could care less about playing old games, that aren't classics (like Duck Hunt, or the like). This won't hurt the PS3 at all.

[Watapata]

you DO realize that the number one driving force over hardware adaptation in the computer era is backwards compatibility right? You do know that Windows would never have become dominant without software BC don't you? BC was a key selling point of the PS2 in its early days...There's no reason to think it may not have a similar effect these days...

[Bill Gates]

And DO you really think that 200 out of 8,000 games is really as big an issue as some sites are making it out to be? It's all negative propaganda being spread to continue to stain Sony's name. If Sony wins the next format, Microsoft will have so much money to lose, and not because of their silly HD-DVD drive either. Think really hard why. Microsoft needs for Sony to finish last this time around, and they will stop at nothing to accomplish this. Sony and Nintendo are trying to expand the market of gaming to other areas so that the industry will remain healthy. I swear some of you think that people don’t age. Companies realize that people age and so they need to keep catering to those aging people as well as raising new ones. Sony is catering to a certain demographic with the PS3 for the next couple of years because they know the PS2 will still be doing well in that time still sucking some of the 360's profits. After two years the PS3 will catch on to those that are currently still enjoying this generation of gaming, and are in no rush to jump into the next negeration.

If anyone responds to this, don’t expect me to respond back as I’m only able to post one comment per thread because apparently I hurt the feelings of some loser 360 fanbiatch.

[Watapata]

"Bill Gates" i was just referring to the importance of legacy apps and bc in general. Do I think that the drop of 200 out of the gigantic library of past games is a big deal, no, not at all. I'm just stressing the fact that bc is important. I very much applaud Sony for having the bc that they do compared with Microsoft's comparatively slim offerings. Next time I'd refrain from attacking people simply because you feel they may have inadvertently attacked something you obviously adore so much. Maybe then you wouldn't be limited to one comment per topic. Everything you hate about some 360 fanboys, you represent on the PS3 side.

[Arkham]

I love how today's news reports kept saying the BC didn't work with "over 8000 Playstation games."

No one expected 100% compatibility, even the slim PS2 doesn't play all games.

I'm sure most key games will be fixed with updates. Until then 97% compatibility is still close enough for the majority of people.

[Phytonadione]

It's not 100% bc? I'm going to EB right away to get a refund on my pre-order! Damn you Sony! Is 99% bc the best you could do? That is not good enough!

[testerg35]

Didn't Sony say 100% BC... and that's the problem. With MS you knew what to expect..

[shysun]

Just stop being a Fanboy for 5 seconds!:(

[andy capps]

They said that everything that followed their QA standards (they had a different name for it) would work. This will be patched anyway. The backwards compatability thing is nice, but I agree with 1, I could care less about playing old games on a new system. Very rarely do I plan on playing old games on the PS3. An exception will be God of War and Shadow of the Colossus.

[big_tim]

They said that it would work with all games that followed their guidelines. Anyway, everyone knew this already since the PS2 couldn't do 100% of the PS1 games that this would happen. the plus side is they can create patches for the FEW games that don't work to make them work. This is the exact opposite for the 360. They have to patch the emulator for every game to get it to work in the first place.

I don't want to sound to negative toward the 360, because I own one, but they have a greater problem then the PS3 does with the BC issues. I am still waiting for a couple of older games to get patched so that I can play them in between new 360 games.

[foxone]

the problem is that it involves GT and FF
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/...

[jedicurt]

which GT and which Final Fantasy?

are we talking GT1? GT2? or GT3? or even GT4?

are we talking FF7? FF8? FF9? FF10? ff10-2? or perhaps even the FF Anthology or FF chronicals, or FF Origins?

i'm sorry BBC you can't say the names of game franchises and not the specific game names, cause i doubt there is a possible problem with every game in the franchise

[jedicurt]

Actually i forgot FF tactics as well. and i'm sure there is another FF title i am forgetting as well

[andy capps]

From listening to the IGN podcast today, they say that every single game they've tried has worked, and these seem to only be occurring with the Japanese versions of these games. But yeah, 200 games out of 8k isn't bad. It'll probably all be patched soon.

[Grown Folks Talk]

are going to trade in your ps2 for the whopping $30-$40 trade-in-value at your local game store? if it matters that much, keep the original system. you can't even get a controller with the trade-in. might as well keep the ps2.

[jedicurt]

I'm actually going to give mine to my youngest brother cause he just turned 13 and is starting to get bored with his GameCube games. so i'll give him the games that i don't want anymore (which is alot) and keep the ones that i still play. so some backwards compatibility is good in my opinion, cause i still play some of my old playstation games form time to time. Especially the original Soul Reaver (I love that game)

[Grown Folks Talk]

but how far back do you need to go? are people going to complain about ps1 games not working on the ps6? not every game stands the test of time. 2 of my favorites for ps1 were tenchu and syphon filter. i almost bought another ps1 just to play them again, but after testing out a kids system at gamestop, they weren't the same. it's nice you're not going to make your brother spend money on something you can easily pass on to him. another point this brings to my mind is that if many people feel the way you do, then why all this yip yapping about power and gpus/cpus, and graphics, ect if they still enjoy these old games? i'm old enough to have played games in a time where you didn't even think about graphics. you played games because they were fun. atari 2600 games sure as hell weren't pretty, even nes and genesis weren't exactly top notch. they sure had some fun games though.

[jedicurt]

well i am worried about how good the new games will look aswell. and i was right there along with you on the Atari 2600, and even the Com64.

i'm no young pup.

but i still have a nes and an snes in my bed room, along with a sega (with the sega cd and the 32x) cause i play the old games still. that is why i like the BC capabilities, and i'm perfectly happy with what sony has done with the PS3

[icdedppl]

so, ps3 has about a 97.5% success rate working with older games and the possibility to reduce that down even further. seriously, you can't really complain about that number...

[joemutt]

People will be playing alot of PS2 games on their shiny new PS3's.

So BC will be important for the PS3, if you want to play the good games.

[MissAubrey]

0ut of 8000 games only 200 are playable.

[kmis87]

Umm, you got that backwards. (haha, that's kind of a pun. Backwards, backwards compatability)

[LAWMAN]

out of 8000, only 200 IS NOT compatible

[DEIx15x8]

My biggest complaint about the PS3's backwards compatibility is that they said that it would be fully compatible and even just placed a PS2's hardware into the case to allow it. Not they aren't all working even on standard PS2 hardware (though the PS2 silver was known to not work with all PS1 and some early PS2 games). To make things worse they don't even attempt to make the game better so you are stuck with the same 480i game on your big 1080p (Sony loves them but most will only be 720p) tv, even if Microsoft did it this way the games would still at least be in HD since xbox supported it (480p, 720p, and 1080i). The thing that tops it off though is the fact that GT4 doesn't work while Sony is trying to resell you the same game just to have it PS3 compatible in HD, Forza is 360 compatible in HD at no extra cost. Making you buy what you already own is just plain low and pathetic.

[Arkham]

Today's letter is "P".

"P" for "Paragraph".

See DEIx15x8 P.

P, DEIx15x8, P!

[Hymons]

Just think of it this way. If there are those "must have" PS2 games that you want to play on your PS3.. why not just play them on your PS2? I mean if it's that big of a deal that you want to play a certain game.. (saying that it would be one, out of those 200) just play it on your PS2. I would have to say it all comes down to what those 200 games include. If all 200 are mediocre games then why would it even matter? On the other hand, if they were excellent, there might be a slight problem. The only flaw to that theory is that everyone has their own opinion of what games are good/bad. But seriously guys 7800/8000 games? I don't see the real issue here, the numbers don't say anything.. it's the games that do.

[DJ]

While Sony has 7,800 titles working perfectly fine. True, the Tekken issue saddens me but I think I'll live.