Here's What Happens When You Put a PS3 Game in a PS4

Clickonline writes: "This doesn't come as any surprise, backwards compatability was never supposed to be a part of the PS4 ecosystem and at least in this case the console identifies the fact that it's a PS3 disk, unlike the Xbox One which merely dismisses the data of its older sibling."

[ArchangelMike]

I think it's interesting that the PS4 recognises the PS3 disc, but just refuses to read it. I don't beleive for a second that Sony (or Microsoft for the XbOne) could not make the PS4 backward compatible. I bet if gamers had kicked up a 5h1t storm, like they did with the XbOne DRM fiasco, the PS4 may well be backward compatible now.... you never know....

[R3ddBuddah]

No alot of know, especially with the gaikai coming next year, that is there BC, This is to help cut cost of the ps4 ...

[mikeslemonade]

^Doesn't matter if it hurt the PS3 sales. The owners will buy the PS4 and still buy the games.

[FamilyGuy]

Speaking of Gaikai, I'm suspecting (hoping) that the PS4 will let you stream games you already own on PS3 for free if you put the PS3 version in the drive. It might be a reason why the PS4 is made to acknowledge the disc even though it can't play it.
They're already doing this with the $10 digital upgrade thing. Getting the PS4 version of your PS3 games for $10 but requiring the PS3 disc to be in the drive whenever you play.

[nveenio]

The reason it recognizes is for the people who upgrade last gen games to current gen. They need the PS3 disk in the drive to play the cheaper, digital version on PS4.

[DeadlyFire]

Well the problem with BC isn't the disc. Both PS3 and PS4 use Blu-Ray. So reading data from the disc is possible and easy for the system.

Its the CPU and GPU that don't exist in the PS4. Which is why its not 100% compatible.

The Digital upgrade thing could be a test phase for BC.

[The_Villager]

It's not backwards compatibility when the service is not free. Sony are making you buy your old games again which is pathetic.

[minimur12]

When using the digital upgrade service you need to keep the ps3 disc to launch the game. So this'll be a reason as to be it recognises ps3 game discs :)

[Corpser]

@familyguy

gaikai won't be free when these digital upgrade games are already $10 each

[RedHawk02]

@ FamilyGuy I'm pretty sure it's a subscription based service so it probably won't be like that.

[indysurfn]

@amilyGuy and @R3ddBuddah you both beat me to my points! Good job, could not have said either of them better. Gaikai is a one big development cost where as including extra hardware would have been a permanent cost. I think Sony did the best thing, even though it hurts to wait a few months.

Plus it will do more than just putting extra hardware into the ps4 would have as far as compatibility. There are the psp, and Psvita too, and possibly the ps2, and ps1.

[Snookies12]

It would jack up the PS4's price if that were the case. Besides, Gaikai is coming and that will fulfill most of our PS3, PS2, and PS1 needs.

[Snookies12]

No need to be a Negative Nancy lol. I don't see why it wouldn't happen. The PS4 is more than powerful enough, along with its streaming capabilities.

[s45gr32]

Actually no, the reasons why the PS3 was expensive was because of :
piano black casing
first blu-ray player
first device to implement a single core processor with 8 virtual cores, built in graphics chip, and to utilize parallel processing.
Bringing blue tooth technology from cellular phones into electronic home devices.

Nothing to do with backwards compatibility like PS2 different architecture from PS One, new technology and the introduction of DVD ; yet, the price stayed the same. Now a PS3 with run of the mill black casing, AMD dual core processor, no blue tooth technology, no multimedia flash card port, two usb ports. Of course it will keep blu-ray technology and the PS3 would of cost as the same price as the PS2.

[LightofDarkness]

@Snookies: it will if all you are playing are slow paced games that do not rely on reaction time at all. The latency will be far too high to comfortably enjoy any game over the cloud at this point. It's not because their cloud network isn't fast or anything, it's because unless you live next door to a Gaikai data center, you're going to be experiencing lag. Too much lag to play something like God of War, for example.

[e-p-ayeaH]

your putting to much faith into something that isnt avaiable yet.

[king_george]

@Snookies

But heres my question: will i have to re-purchase all my games AGAIN? Cuz that would suck

[Persistantthug]

@king_george...

We don't know yet....I don't even think Sony knows all of the details yet.

However, I do hope that we are at least given the opportunity to play our already downloadabe and 'owned' PS3 games (like JOURNEY) for free. They might require PS+ subscription though.

I somehow doubt they are gonna let us use Gaikai for free just because we have the disks.

Lots of questions to be answered.

[CernaML]

Obviously the PS4 will be able to read the PS3 disc considering theyre both blu ray discs. But the PS4 still lacks the hardware to actually run it.
Pop a PS3 game into a PC with blu ray and itll read it too.

[Ricegum]

You also have to bare in mind that the PS3/360 is still selling quite well so B/C would really hurt sales. But yeah, I have no doubt they probably could implement it in the PS4/One, at a low cost. It's just not really sensible.

[s45gr32]

How it will hurt sales besides from a consumer point of view it allows gamers to play their previous games at high resolutions while they wait for the heavy hitters to come by....

[Persistantthug]

@s45gr32....

It's about technological and manufacturing practicality.
In order for the PS4 to be 'PS3-B/C', the PS4 would need to be equipped with a current CELL Processor (45nm) and a gpu (possibility Nvidia specific).
It not only would raise the cost by approx $150, but it would also change the fragile logistics of the box itself (Size/Heat).

PS4's main marketing strength so far is price.
PS3 B/C would have potentially crippled the PS4.
Let Gaikai handle it.

[Necro_559]

First of all if Sony would have done BC, it would have had to been hardware based. And that would have jacked the price up by at least $100, more or less. And a software based emulator is out of the question. The complexity of the Cell is retarded and it would be damn near impossible. Which is why you dont see PS3 emulators of the market. Of course that is Sonys side of the market. MS, well thats a different story but with some of the same reasoning. They also dont want to have the price jacked up even more. However, they could have created a software emulator.

[Hicken]

Yeah, it's not that they couldn't. It's more that they couldn't without raising the price considerably. And since people complained about the high price of the PS3- due in part to having the PS2's chip inside it- and didn't even use the feature all that much anyway, they figured it'd be better to keep it out.

[Paranoimia]

Why is it interesting? It's just a BD-ROM disc that is readable in any Blu-ray drive. Your PC could read it too, but wouldn't be able to run the game either.

Like your PC, the PS4 can read the disc structure but doesn't have the required hardware to run the code, as it is a completely different architecture.

Being able to read a disc is entirely different from being able to run the code on it.

[DVAcme]

It's not that simple. The PS3 uses Sony's proprietary Cell processor, which is drastically different in architecture to PS4's ATI hardware. That's the reason many ports weren't as good in the PS3 as in the 360, it was harder to program for it. It's also the reason the PS4 is much cheaper than the PS3 was at launch, that it uses components that are more common than the Cell. It'd take some HEAVY programming to make an emulator run PS3 games on the PS4 without problems. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility for Sony to eventually emulate PS3 games on PS4, but I lean towards unlikely.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

It's not that they couldn't make it compatible, but the disc runs of a certain hardware.
They could put a ps3 in a ps4, but then it would cost way more than 400 dollars
It's one of the reasons the ps3 was so expensive
- blueray (was new)
- bluetooth (was new)
- ps1 architecture and a ps2 architecture in ps3
- wifi

[bocajbee]

Isn't that due to the PS3 to PS4 upgrade thing?

How you have to redeem a code to download the PS4 version but you need to insert the PS3 disc into your PS4 to actually play it.

That's what I read a while back.

[GribbleGrunger]

Why would the PS4 recognise PS3 discs but not be able to play the game off the disc ... ?

How else are Sony going to check if you have a disc based copy of a PS3 game so that you can stream it through Gaikai at no extra cost?

... Sounds plausible!

[gazgriff2k12]

Im hoping that gaikai will let me stream my games for free when the disk is inserted. also want my psn and ps plus IGC games streamed for free. we can only hope

[C-H-E-F]

The PS3 recognized 360 games (inserting link below), so I don't understand the big whoo haaa about this article. Anyways if you're gaming on the PS4 playing bf4, killzone or nba2k14 send me a PM with your PSN i'll add you so I can crack your head.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[assdan]

Unlike DRM, there isn't just a backwards compatibility switch. People realize the console actually has to RUN the game right? The ps4 and ps3 run in an incredibly different manner, and the power difference isn't nearly as big (3.2ghz 7 core vs 300 MHz dual core). And even with that bog of a power differnce, they still took away the feature on ps3.

[filipakos]

backwards combatibility would prevent customers from buying a ps3.Sony want to support ps3.If ps4 had backwards combatibility whats the reason for ps3 to exist?Maybe im wrong but thats how i see it

[Lykon]

for the ps4 and gaika there will be . XB one .. no. A dev friend of mine told me that XB one has just about enough power to software emulate toned down versions of some , simpler 360 games .. but it's impossible because of kinect. But i think anything is possible in the next 18 months based on what the consumers do. We got rid of the DRM..maybe we can get rid of that stupid webcam.

[ScepticTankAvenger]

If the PS4 was backwards compatible, it would have cost a lot more. It would require them to put the PS3's CPU in the PS4, which would also make it a lot bigger. The original PS3 had the emotion engine in the system, which was the PS2's CPU, that's why it was so big and cost $600, which even then was sold at a loss.

[Kennytaur]

All it takes to recognise it is some knowledge of the format. Like how Windows can recognise a 7zip file, but needs additional software to open it.

The PS4 can't play PS3 games natively without having a PS3 built in with all it's processors. This would jump up the price and size by a lot, and although some people would appreciate it, it wasn't worth it for Sony.

[Downtown boogey]

In the case of Xbox, the disc drives are different in format whereas PS3 and PS4 share the same disc medium thus it is possible to read the data. However, the programming and the code for each console is different due to architectural reasons. In essence, the insides of PS3 and PS4 aren't compatible and in order for a PS3 game to work on a PS4 the code needs to altered for PS4 to make any sense of it.

[ramiuk1]

if u remember didnt they say something about by using the ps3 game u could stream it using gaikai?
cant play from disc but it could be used to unlock game??

[BadlyPackedKeebab]

Anyone that understands tech understands exactly why it cannot be make backwarda compatible.

[Anonagrog]

Recognizing the PS3 disc doesn't mean there's the capability to run code compiled for a completely different ISA, not to mention the interface with external systems like the console OS, along with code design targeting hardware specifics of the PS3's unique architecture (e.g. The Cell PPE's assembly isn't the same as Cell SPU assembly).

There's a world of difference here.

[wampdog29]

Not too hard to comprehend really... both the PS3 and PS4 use official Blu-ray disc technology and not proprietary tech at all. The PS4 would have no problems understanding that it is a BD disc and then read the code. The disc drive and drive controller isn't the issue, but the rest of the hardware is when it comes to making use of that code on the disc.

[Ghoul]

due to the cell architecture its almost impossible to emulate the game or even run the code native.

every ps3 game would need a massive rework to run native on a ps4 architecture.
thats why sony choose to let gakai stream the games to your ps4 by runnign it on cell server clusters.

[kingPoS]

Isn't that just the same as sliding a PS2 game into a slim PS3? Even monster gaming rigs have yet to successfully emulate the Cell. It is indeed a very unique CPU.

From what I understand, only PS3 hardware can play PS3 software.

Gateway MT6706 2008

[Ghoul]

"Isn't that just the same as sliding a PS2 game into a slim PS3?"

jup thats why tehy had BC in the launch Phat version for 600 bucks,
and removed it afterwards to get a costdown.

and i all seriousness.

noone needs BC, this bullshit is only a few people that wanna get heard on the internet, couse almost EVERYONE who has the old games has the old hardware......

i know i know it will die some day, but even then you wont have your ps4 for 50 years, so by now you allready have the same problem over 2 decades.

i cant wait for the first "sony gimme ps2 and ps3 BC"

[nypifisel]

Well you obviously know nothing about programming. You program against the hardware and its architecture, how to move assets from memory etc etc. The Xbox One and PS4 share nothing architecturally with the 360 and PS3 to get these games to play on the new consoles they would've had to been remade or the new consoles would've had to included the past gens hardware. That's how BC worked in all the older consoles.

[ipach]

backwards compatability was a big reason the PS3 launched at $499/599 and subsequently struggled... as cool as it seems in theory, in practice people just don't end up really using the feature. i played like all of 2 PS2 games on my old PS3 fat. as new games come out for the next gen, those old games become even less interesting...

i'm a much bigger fan of well done re-releases (e.g. flower), especially if they don't make you pay for it again or if it is pretty cheap (e.g. PS+ free Ico/SOTC). and given how much easier the PS4 is to develop on, it stands to reason that PS3 ports would actually be quite easy to pull off, especially if the original code was first done on PC

[LoTuZ]

Why is that interesting. Didnt they say that the ps4 requires your ps3 disc for uograded games? So should it not be able to read a ps3 disc?

[kB0]

Just because it could detect that it's a ps3 disk doesn't mean it could play it.

There are many factors at play in order to get backwards compatibility to work.

Remember the original 60 GB? it was a ps2 and a ps3 not just a ps3 emulating ps2 games. Later they released the 80 GB unit that still had a ps2 synthesizer but was emulating most of the games, BUT STILL partially through ps2 hardware.

If they made the ps4 backwards compatible they would have to have made the unit much more expensive in order to either fit a ps3 inside or possibly fit enough of the components to emulate it. The only problem is that with the ps3 it's much harder to emulate especially since the ps3 was a much bigger leap over ps2 than the ps4 vs ps3.

I wouldn't hold my breathe for native backwards compatibility, but gaikai will make it at least possible to play ALL games from out past:)

[TheOrion]

Not that interesting, after all upgrading a ps3 version to ps4 requires the ps3 disc in the drive so it would need to recognise its format.

Just because it can see its a ps3 disc it does not mean it could be made to play it.

[XisThatKid]

Doubt it usually when Sony decides on something it's for a good reason and rarely cave. The problem with X1 they didn't let us know why the features they wanted was a good thing or how the general consumer can understand how they can benefit from it.

[admiralvic]

"I think it's interesting that the PS4 recognises the PS3 disc, but just refuses to read it."

How is this interesting or even unknown information? The $10 dollar upgrade program requires you to hold onto the disc, so obviously the PS4 can read PS3 discs to a point of knowing what they are. They're not going to let you get a $10 dollar copy of something, which will work with an AOL internet disc.

[jayswolo]

it doesn't REFUSE to read it, it CAN'T. It's not hard to recognize a file format, the problem is supporting the functionality. A mac can identify an .exe file but it does not support it natively.

Does anyone on this site actually know about technology.

[Idba]

People has to remember that the architecture of ps3 and ps4 is very different. It might be able to recognise the disc, but not the content

[showtimefolks]

sony spent 300 plus million on gaikai that's why PS4 isn't BC. Also i sony or ms were to make their systems BC than the cost would have gone up, meaning the price would have gone up

and like Idba said:

rchitecture of ps3 and ps4 is very different

[Summons75]

Not by much though. That argument is awful. the reason why PS3 was so high was because of what it needed to use the first gen blu rays plus the unconventional cell....

They spent 300 mil on Gaikai which means us gamers are going to have to rebuy all the Ps1,2, and 3 games we bought last gen on Psn or physically...there is a reason Sony hasn't talked about Gaikai since the Ps4 reveal and what it means to us gamers. I just hope they have the sense to get our ps1,2,3 games through it for free and maybe a SMALL one time fee to get new ones.

[r21]

Hmmm, if it reads PS3 discs, makes me think this is how Sony will allow PS3 games via gaikai instead of subscription based...i hope.

[g-nome]

Hope it tells you you are a dumbass.

[wenaldy]

dumbass article.

[YoungPlex]

Um, of course it recognizes the disc, how else would the upgrade program work! My cousin bought BF4 on PS3 and upgraded for $10 but is required to insert the PS3 version of the disc every time he wants to play. Silly article...

[ramiuk1]

really?
in uk u have to give them your xbox360/ps3 copy and they give you the next gen copy once you have paid the extra(game uk anyway)
not sure on amazon

[kB0]

That's just retail stores doing promotions. You should be able to upgrade through psn as well.

Ebgames had an uprgade very similar to this at ebgames I believe here in NA.

[ramiuk1]

this site stupid why have i got a disagree lol.

@KB0 so i can put the game in and upgrade for cheap through psn store,didnt know that .
but saying that in UK we getting scrwed on the store(£55 a game)

[alexmurur]

LOL BC could be easily done through software emulation.. same with ps2 to ps3.. anyway, it really a let down that this generation cant support last gen discs thoroughly..

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

Oh yeah, easy as cake, just like you see a ton of PS3 emulators for X86-64bit based PCs or like you see a ton of PS2 emulators running perfectly stable for PowerPC based tech... Oh wait, no you don't, so many years later and yet we see no software based emulation of PS3 and PowerPC hardware still have to emulate Windows or other PC software before emulating PS2 and everything ends up shaky... Good try though.

It's only so easy to point fingers and say that those big evil companies out there are all lazy and greedy for not offering you exactly what you want and how you want... But when was the last time you had been programming like that?

[alexmurur]

there is a meaning to the word 'could' and plus they should think of it before building the console. Cant help it now.. nobody is pointing fingures.. all i wanted was theps2 like generation to comeback but oh well since im the dumb one,

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

There's also a meaning to the word "easy". Software emulation is not easy at all. So it couldn't be done easily as you first claimed, even if it could be done... But, for PS3, apparently it can't even be done on top specs PCs today, what makes you think it can be done on PS4? Maybe on PS5 will have the extra power to actually emulate such a different architecture, but that's a maybe.

Also, there's no software emulation of PS2 games on PS3, it's either hardware based (20 and 60GB models) or hybrid (on 80GB models), PS2 games had to be reprogrammed to run on later models (which are the HD remakes)... So I don't even know what you mean by "same with PS2 to PS3".

Everyone would love to have that BC back, but no one wants to pay for extra PS3 hardware inside of PS4, simple as that.

[Hicken]

If the PS2 isn't easily emulated yet- and it's not- then what makes you think it's easy to emulate the PS3's Cell architecture?

[mayberry]

Im keeping my 60G ps3 to play my ps2 games such as star wars battlefront, my kids lego games, Shadow of the colossus/ico etc... it has been on daily for years now and still runs like a champ!

[isarai]

LMFAO just because it recognizes the format doesn't mean it can play it. especially seeing as how it needs o recognize it fir the upgrade feature

[DoubleM70]

Why would they make the PS4 or the Xboxone BC? When they are still selling and manufacturing PS3 and 360's. I can understand them making an emulator available in few years, which would be cool.

[piffyd]

why would ms or sony ever GIVE you BC when you all proved last gen you would happily RE-BUY all the games from the ps2 era

blame yourselves

you can just emulate every ps2 and ps1 and psp game you own legally in full 1080p hd

and you can bet that ps3 emulator is only a year out now

don't PAY for things twice and they won't try to do this sh!t again

also, stop buying dlc EVER!

[Persistantthug]

@piffyd said
"and you can bet that ps3 emulator is only a year out now"
.
.
PS3 emulation is alot further away than that, I'm afraid.
There is nothing currently available that can emulate a CELL Processor with any practicality.
Add the fact that most consumers are using X86 based cpus, this actually makes CELL emulation even more daunting.

We will probably finish out the rest of this decade without any reasonable PS3 emulation.

Even XBOX 360 (Power PC based) emulation will be tough this time around.

[SirBradders]

I just think its stupid why would i want my next gen console costing more to play games on it even though i already own a system that does it. Also have people never heard of emulators, which is another option.

[oldassgamer]

My take is that BC will be a mid generation update to the PS4. Keep in mind that BC takes money from their pockets. There are still a lot of people who will pay for the much cheaper PS3 hardware with a much larger games library. That cheaper hardware equals a much bigger profit for Sony, and the PS3 is covering the the PS4 right now. Look for BC around the time you see your first price drop on the PS4.

[TBONEJF]

What is wrong with those idiots? didn't sony say that PS3 isn't backwards compatible? or u just want to break your ps4

[Harmonizer]

The amount of people not knowing that BC isn't possible due to HARDWARE is insane. It's simply not possible, no matter how much money you throw at the damn box. The CPU and GPU CANNOT read and play the content on the disc. It's like trying to play a DOS game on MAC. It's a no-fucking-go. Gaikai is coming soon enough, so cheer up folks :) besides, if you want BC...use your old consoles :)

[Incognito117]

Guys, here's an educated guess on how bc is going to work on the PS4.
As Sony has made it abundantly clearly the architecture of the ps4 is too different to support games from the previous generations. This is either the truth or a way to promote the Gaikai. Well if it is the truth the Gaikai will be a yearly subscription service like the xbox live. Once you sign in you'll be supplied with the list of available games that have been modified to run on the ps4 architecture. It's like gta being modified to run on android and ios. If you have the ps3 versions of the game, the disc should be inserted only as proof. The game will still stream from the gaikai cloud and not the disc. I Am doubtful if it would ask a fee if you had the ps3 version already. I bet the fee would only be for people who don't own the ps3 versions and want to download it for the first time on ps4. The graphics in no way will have improvements.

[RedSoakedSponge]

>> Here's what happens when you dont give a shit <<