Digital Death of Backwards Compatibility

Loot Ninja says:

"Every time I see a classic title available for download on a console, I let loose a sad little sigh. I already paid for this game, why do I need to pay for it again? It's because Backwards Compatibility is slowly dying a painful and expensive death. The powers that be have chosen to reduce support for backwards compatibility in favor of digital distribution."

[drunkpandas]

I re-bought FF7 on the PSN. I had sold or lost the game years ago and it was cheaper on the PSN than on disc. I did not re-buy MGS because I had no desire to play it.

What will be interesting is with the launch of Games on Demand on 360. Will people want to buy games they already own on disc just for the convenience factor of not needing a disc?

[fiercescuba]

I am hoping they bring back BC on the PS3 so I can play GoW 1 and 2. I have a a 40 gb model and am waiting for the supposed firmware update that may do this.

[Syronicus]

Did you buy the PS3 when it was first released? No? Oh, I guess Backwards Compatibility was not that important then? People pitch a fit about it now that the PS3 does not have BC or at least is limited and yet they were not there to support it when it was inside in full.

I am glad that the 360 does ok by the way of BC and that my 60 gig PS3 is fully BC. I supported it when it was released. Too bad these complainers did not.

[Nineball2112]

Well, I lucked out. I got the 40GB PS3 as a gift (I think it was the Spiderman bundle) and when I found out it wasn't backwards compatible, I immediately exchanged it for the 80GB Motorstorm bundle.

Man, am I ever glad that I did. I more or less skipped last gen on consoles, so I've been able to play MGS1, 2, & 3; RE4; GOW 1 & 2; and I plan on picking up SotC and Ico when I get a chance.

Did I pay more for that ability? Hell yeah... but it's been worth every penny I paid and then some.

[Maddens Raiders]

I just had to retweet this great post. 8D

[Tony P]

I don't get this "only yourself to blame" attitude, Syro. Did Sony ever advertise limited time only BC?

[Syronicus]

Nope, and they should not have had to. People who complained about price got what they wanted and now those same folks are here complaining about no BC. Boo-hoo on them. Sorry, but I don't feel a bit sorry for people that don't have BC in their system. I bought the system when it had it and feel that I did my part to support Sony's efforts to bring us the best possible console they could. People wanted cheaper so they got it and to what? The expense of BC and now they pitch a fit about it. Sorry, but limited time or not, even when the 80gb model was out people should have seen the signs that BC was going away for a cheaper PS3. At that time they could have supported the efforts but no, it was too much money and now look where we are at. No BC and a boat load of complaints.

All I am saying is maybe next time people will understand that when they release a console, the price includes ALL the features and if you want cheap, you will lose some of those features and more than likely, BC will be that loss.

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

Although I partly agree with you, but Sony had initially given the signal that they considered BC a very important feature of PS3 only to remove it shortly afterward.

I vaguely remember them giving a warning that BC was to be removed in newer cheaper units, but I hope the trend going forward wetter it is MS, Nintendo or Sony is to give us hardware BC!

[FamilyGuy]

He's talking about PS2 games and PS2 games ARE NOT digitally distributed. And if they were you can be sure that the same emulation that allows them to work would allow the physical disc versions to work as well. If the argument were about PS1 games, which are sold on the digital store, he'd still be out of line since ALL PS3s play ps1 games.

What is the point of this article/topic?

My PS3 isn't a launch PS3 and it plays PS2 games, 80Gb MotorStorm bundle here.

[MazzingerZ]

"Every time I see a classic title available for download on a console, I let loose a sad little sigh. I already paid for this game, why do I need to pay for it again?"

You DON'T need to, ALL PS3 MODELS are PS backwards compatible

This article is missleading, he doesn't mention that at all, talks about paying double for classics but refers to PS2 games?

[rockleex]

Especially since 120 million gamers already have a PS2.

Sony followed their advice and took it out among other stuff in order to give people the price cut they wished for.

People never know what they got till its gone... or in this case, what they COULD have gotten.

Also, people saw it coming with the 80GB limited BC.

[Tony P]

@Syro

Ok sure. But how is that anyone's fault? You act as if consumers formed a conglomerate to intentionally spite the console.

I mean, obviously a lot of PS2 owners didn't adopt a PS3 or else the PS3 sales would reflect the massive install base of the previous console. Whatever their reasons, they held off. Maybe it was price. You can't blanket judge people's finances. The reasons are myriad. But do you seriously think people were thinking Sony would actually remove hardware BC as a result?

That Sony would lower the cost at some point was a given conclusion. That they would do it at the cost of what many gamers consider a core feature is not something the average gamer should be able to predict imo. Might as well have guessed Sony would remove Blu-ray itself, no?

[BLuKhaos]

"Ok sure. But how is that anyone's fault? You act as if consumers formed a conglomerate to intentionally spite the console."
The consumers didn't but the media did, and guess who the media greatly affects?

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

It is Sony's job to design, manufacture and sell a product people want to buy. It is not the other way around.

I also don't believe in supporting a company, but more the product and in turn the company. Meaning if the company produces a great product it deserves to be support through me buying the product and NOT because I'm in some way blindly in love with the company due to the product. The latter is a fanboy and the former is a wise consumer!

edit: @rocklex below
Fair enough, although I see a lot of people clamoring for PS2 BC on PS3, me included. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if this feature is at the top of the list of what consumers want (and in many ways is a reflection of how well PS2 did).

[rockleex]

That people want to buy a PS3 to play PS3 games, not PS2 games.

There are those of us who want to play PS2 games on our PS3s. Obviously, those who didn't want to... were able to get their voice heard by Sony.

Sony tested the waters with the limited BC, and sales improved. So Sony went on to remove all PS2 BC.

[Syronicus]

You are absolutely right. But when they did, it cost more than the consumer was willing to pay. For those of us willing to pay for all the extras Sony put into the PS3, we have BC in our consoles. For those who cried it was too much, well they are now crying that they are missing features. People can't always have their cake and eat it too. All I am saying is if more folks would have ponied up in the first place, articles like this would have never been written. Not trying to be rude, just trying to state the fact.

[Menchi]

This is strange... There's only Playstation 1 titles available for DD on the PSN, yet, the PS3 can play those just fine.

So, why on earth highlight MGS, when it actually works on the console he's talking about? It reeks of looking for a point where there is none.

If Sony were offering PS2 titles, and including no BC, then it'd be a fair point. However, the true case, is that ALL PS3's can play PS1 titles, not just launch consoles.

I'm all for the reinstating of BC in all models, however, to try and make false points out of twisted claims is a bit absurd.

[Solid_Snake]

I have MGS, and my other psone games.. i don't buy them cause I already have them. So how is it killing them? When PS2 games are released, that may be a different story.. but even then, my ps3 plays PS2 games.. and rumors all point to some sort of ps2 emulation for update for everyone. It's just convenient for some people who never got to play certain games, etc.

@ drunk pandas, eventually DD will catch on to most, but not yet. Some people will play on the 360. The PSN has some games (burnout paradise, warhawk, etc.) that you can get DD instead of disc. I still think most people will rather pay a little bit extra and have a disc, and not bother with downloading, etc. Maybe if it ever gets much cheaper, then people will make the jump. This gen has shown that price point matters a lot to people and videogames.

[pixelsword]

So you only have yourself to blame; it's not like it wasn't there.

[PS360WII]

No one has a problem with the Virtual Console (well not many at least) why can't Sony tap into it's PS1 catalog?

[Shuya]

Licensing in the west is a major hurdle for them, you only have to look at the Japanese store to catch a glimpse what we're missing out on due to legal problems (real classics like xenogears for example).

[greyishfox]

My problem with Virtual Console is I already own some of the old cartridges for NES, I bought them back in the day, why do I need to buy them again to play the game?

[jackdoe]

Er, only titles available are PS1 titles, and the PS3 still has that compatability. So this article is moot.

In order to release PS2 games, Sony needs to institute some kind of emulation just like MS, which means BC with those titles on the PS3. But if you were smart, you got the 60gb PS3.

[Cajun Chicken]

I blame MS for this really. Taking away BC and replacing with XBOX Classics, now those have gone and still to this day, some important actual XBOX exclusives still haven't been patched to work, I mean, you would've thought they'd patch in all of THEIR own exclusive titles, right? Nope. Quite a few games with the 'Only for XBOX' stamp, still don't work and never will and require a XBOX to play them or just go and find the PC version most the time like I did with Serious Sam 2.

As people say above, its peoples own fault with BC not on PS3 because they didn't want to pay full price and be early adopters. Heck, I have an EU 60GB PS3 which didn't have all the components of the US BC PS3s (which had virtually full PS2s inside! EU got part hardware, part software emulation), but I can play, so far, roughly 90% of the PS2 library with no problems in my game collection, I just can't play Jak1 and the Ratchet titles, I own about 20 games for PS2. All PS3s have perfect PSone emulation like on the PS2, best part is virtual memorycards and being able to take the PSone game and the save on your PSP, therefore buying ONE game which is playable on TWO systems.

Still, IMO, the Wii has the best backwards compatibility, you can get games from the VC such as NES, SNES, N64 titles and too, the Wii kindly has the ports for Gamecube controllers at the top and has perfect GC compatibility.

[xino]

When the next PS comes out, you'll have to re-download Final Fantasy 7 again just for it to work on the next PS

[greyishfox]

The article is not about Sony, it just uses it as an example. Going into every possible example (Virtual console, Xbox Classics, etc) will make the article long winded and painful to read. The article was short and to the point.

For those of you that missed it, the point was Digital Distribution is replacing Backwards Compatibility.

Buying Genesis/Master System games on Virtual Console is not backwards compatibility, it is Digital Distribution. If you still own the cartridge for the Virtual Console game you bought then you have paid twice for something you already own.

[bankai]

the picture should have been a ps2 game instead of a PSone title being that you CAN PLAY PSone games on the f**king thing. im glad i kept all my psONE games. hell man, i still have my psONE.

im sure sony will bring BC back. but for now they had to cut it to give us a price drop. thats right, for all the people b*tching about a price drop, one has already happened. a $200 price drop.