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[H_Prestige]

Of course... Unless certain people get their wish and have used game sales be made illegal. The beginning of this Gen Sony was mocking the 360 for its limited BC. But next gen when harddrives will be bigger and bandwidth will likely be better I wouldn't be surprised if everyone got rid of BC in favor of re-selling old games through XBL/PSN/Nintendo's download service

I don't see any indication of that happening, at least with Sony. They've been selling ps1 classics on the store since day one, but they also allow you to play the ps1 discs you already own.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Yeah I would like my 70+ PS2 games in my collection o not become paperweights. My PS2 died as the PS3 came out, now my PS3 is my PS2/PS1. I know there are a whole group of people that constantly sell their games, that dont care about ever playing older games but I am not in that group.

 

[DodgerSan]

BC is also attractive to people like me who are not lucky enough to be game journo's who likely got to play a lot of the PS2 catalogue for free as it came out. Now fortunately thanks to BC when GAF reminisces about a past gem (SOTC/ICO for example) I can track them down and play them on my PS3 without having to fork out for a separate PS2.

The God of War thing is a bit of a weak argument as well, as there are thousands of great games that will never get this makeover treatment for one reason or another.

 

[Escalation]

I care so I bought a PS3 when Sony cared too.

 

[TheContact]

I play more PSX/PS2 games on my PS3 than actual PS3 games. I already have 3 systems sitting next to each other I wouldn't want to have to keep another 3 to play the previous generation's games and it would suck if they forced you to pay for it again as a digital download on the new system.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Yeah I would like my 70+ PS2 games in my collection o not become paperweights. My PS2 died as the PS3 came out, now my PS3 is my PS2/PS1. I know there are a whole group of people that constantly sell their games, that dont care about ever playing older games but I am not in that group.

I definitely can see where you are coming from.
Maybe Sony should/could at least do something like 'Buy a PS3 Slim before the end of the year and get a PS2 for $20' or something or other...

 

[jay]

I am just happy to see a game journalist finally sticking up for the underdog and not bowing to those greedy consumers.

 

[DeVeAn]

Options are good. B/C should be there and give you the option to use it if you want. Why not have it? OPTIONS!

 

[turnbuckle]

I don't see any indication of that happening, at least with Sony. They've been selling ps1 classics on the store since day one, but they also allow you to play the ps1 discs you already own.

Time will tell. I hope you're right, but I think the BC for PSOne hasn't been removed because they haven't really established PSN as a formidable distribution center for their games yet. The library available online is pretty pathetic thus far, but if/when they can line up agreements with third parties to better monetize re-releases, I think it's a forgone conclusion that DD will supplant BC.

Just like Nintendo removing GBA compatibility in the DSi while simultaneously launching the DS store.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Oh christ....

Come on, Sony and Microsoft both screwed up with their backwards compatibility features. Microsoft half-assed it in the beginning, then just abandoned support completely, even stopping releasing older Xbox games in favor of 360 titles instead. Sony going from full-BC, to some titles not running, to removing it completely was also a bad move. If you're not going to support BC, don't put it in your console at all. I won't have any problems if the next set of consoles don't offer it from the start.

 

[Gilgamesh]

There sure are a lot of people in here complaining about the lack of backwards compatibility. Do your old consoles burst into flames when you buy a new one or something?

 

[TurboLibre]

There sure are a lot of people in here complaining about the lack of backwards compatibility. Do your old consoles burst into flames when you buy a new one or something?

Kind of. My PS2 died which pushed me into getting a PS3.

 

[OokieSpookie]

Come on, Sony and Microsoft both screwed up with their backwards compatibility features. Microsoft half-assed it in the beginning, then just abandoned support completely, even stopping releasing older Xbox games in favor of 360 titles instead. Sony going from full-BC, to some titles not running, to removing it completely was also a bad move. If you're not going to support BC, don't put it in your console at all. I won't have any problems if the next set of consoles don't offer it from the start.

I think the main problem (one of many in the early days) was that Sony ran their mouth way too much about how great BC was and in doing that screwed themselves when they about faced and took it out.
That and the large collection of PS1 games that would be released on the PSN for the PSP and PS3 (yeah we are JUST starting to get good ones and still very irregularly) were two huge blunders that instead of addressing they just pretend that it never happened.

 

[birdchili]

Maybe Sony should/could at least do something like 'Buy a PS3 Slim before the end of the year and get a PS2 for $20' or something or other...

or perhaps they could say: as a commitment to the art of videogames, we promise that our platforms will continue to play classic games from our previous platforms, allowing future gamers access to the rich history of this rapidly evolving and influential medium.

 

[SapientWolf]

I care because I don't think my 360 is going to last much longer than this generation. If MS doesn't have backwards compatibility (and better build quality) in their next console I probably won't buy it. BC was also one of the reasons I got a 360 in the first place and I'm still disappointed that they never ported Otogi or Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.

Oh, and all the XBLA titles better be BC as well.

 

[revolverjgw]

I use my PS2 BC all the time, as much as my PS3 and PC games and more than my 360 and Wii games combined. The games look a lot better on my LCD on the PS3 than they did on my PS2, and I'll jump off a bridge if my PS3 dies.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I do not also understand why DSi does not get more heat for taking bc out at all.

it's because the DSi has BC with their previous system (Nintendo DS).

 

[Kintaro]

or perhaps they could say: as a commitment to the art of videogames, we promise that our platforms will continue to play classic games from our previous platforms, allowing future gamers access to the rich history of this rapidly evolving and influential medium.

"Even if it runs us out of business!"

 

[Tom Penny]

Someone shoud do a petition. I'm sure the amount of responses will so overwhelming that Sony will have to add it back. They can't possible ignore the massive amount of people that won't buy a PS3 because it doesn't have BC...

 

[Kusagari]

I use it all the time. PS2 was one of the best systems ever and I'm discovering new games for it all the time. I'd like to be able to play them without having to hook up the PS2 thx.

 

[VGChampion]

Someone shoud do a petition. I'm sure the amount of responses will so overwhelming that Sony will have to add it back. They can't possible ignore the massive amount of people that won't buy a PS3 because it doesn't have BC...

Are you being serious?

 

[mrgone]

Given that 360 hardware is about as sturdy as a 3-legged giraffe, what's going to happen when the next generation of hardware hits and we've got a mountain of old 360 games sitting next to a pile of 360s that can no longer inhale? Not to mention all of the arcade titles and DLC we've purchased. I for one give a shit about backwards compatibility moving forward, when keeping the old hardware around just won't be good enough.

 

[jay]

Given that 360 hardware is about as sturdy as a 3-legged giraffe, what's going to happen when the next generation of hardware hits and we've got a mountain of old 360 games sitting next to a pile of 360s that can no longer inhale? Not to mention all of the arcade titles and DLC we've purchased. I for one give a shit about backwards compatibility moving forward, when keeping the old hardware around just won't be good enough.

I think the deeper issue at work here is a lot of gamers do not have the desire to play old games. The industry, including the media, are entirely driven by brand new products and so when they see the majority feels similarly they have no reason to give us BC.

 

[birdchili]

"Even if it runs us out of business!"

i know why they're doing it. i just think it shows a lack of foresight in the design of their system (not the only one) and a general disrespect for the medium itself. it's doubly-annoying given that sony was the original champion of bc.

i'm quite happy to see sony stay solvent, they've been pretty great for gaming in general, but anyone championing this, or suggesting it's "ok" just because you could get a bc ps3 at one point (or a used one) confuses me.

 

[Kintaro]

I think the deeper issue at work here is a lot of gamers do not have the desire to play old games. The industry, including the media, are entirely driven by brand new products and so when they see the majority feels similarly they have no reason to give us BC.

I feel this is pretty accurate. Gaming industry does not treat it's old IPs like movie studios do. Nor do consumers treat them with the same respect either. Whether you believe they should be treated as such if an entirely different matter of course.

 

[MiamiWesker]

There sure are a lot of people in here complaining about the lack of backwards compatibility. Do your old consoles burst into flames when you buy a new one or something?

Yes. My PS1 was messing up by the time the PS2 came out. My PS2 was almost unplayable by the time the PS3 came out, I got a PS3 at launch cause I needed a PS2, if not for that I would have waited a while.

 

[KtSlime]

Someone shoud do a petition. I'm sure the amount of responses will so overwhelming that Sony will have to add it back. They can't possible ignore the massive amount of people that won't buy a PS3 because it doesn't have BC...

Ignoring people's concerns is something Big Business excels at. And if you don't think that's the case, look at the world.

 

[mrgone]

I think the deeper issue at work here is a lot of gamers do not have the desire to play old games. The industry, including the media, are entirely driven by brand new products and so when they see the majority feels similarly they have no reason to give us BC.

This is absolutely true, there really isn't a whole lot of motivation on both the consumer or the corporate side of things to do this for us, and most of the time I really don't even really mind the lack of it. It's just a damned shame that the 360 is made of glass and supports such a heavy stack of good titles. Hopefully emulation takes up the slack so we can still beat criminals to death with cars in Crackdown and save people from themselves in Dead Rising 10 years down the line without having to re-buy everything.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

I use my PS2 BC all the time, as much as my PS3 and PC games and more than my 360 and Wii games combined. The games look a lot better on my LCD on the PS3 than they did on my PS2, and I'll jump off a bridge if my PS3 dies.

Same here. For all people have said about PS2 games looking worse on PS3s than on PS2s, they looked way worse on my PS2 running through component cables than on my PS3 running through HDMI. Way better color composition and balance, too.

 

[a.wd]

I'm one of those weird guys with a life, so BC allows me to catch up on gems from last gen that I haven't A)had time to get when it came out B) Didn't have the chance to pick it up when it was new.

And his theory falls down when you look at games like Rallisport challenge 2, possibly the best rally racer from last gen and no next gen port. There are issues with licenses and companies closing that mean that we would never get to see a large amount of amazing games, and fuck that.

no, I'm sorry if it makes it cost slightly more to produce a console as they have to devote r&d time to making sure I get it, and makes it a little more difficult for these huge multi-billion dollar corporate organisations to rinse more money out of me by getting me to buy another version of the thing that I have sitting on the shelf over there.

I do have a sense of entitlement, its because I have sunk thousands of pounds of my money into my hobby , and at the point at which my hobby starts getting uppity and demanding more cash and not giving me the love it used to I'm going to vote with my wallet and wave goodbye.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Sony would literally have to make two different ps3's on two different production lines. It's likely the slim chassis wouldn't even fit if there were a ps2 "built in".

Yeah... making different skus with different configurations would be a big change for Sony.................

I care so I bought a PS3 when Sony cared too.

They still care... again, PS2 has had full BC for over 9 years.

 

[EscapingJail]

I just recently put 50ish hours into persona 4 on my 60gb PS3 after I beat 4 I'm looking to be Persona 3 and ontop of that I'm still looking to beat Shenmue 2 at some point soon on my xbox 360.

BC is important when I need to use it. just like all the other features on my consoles. I wanna watch a DVD or blueray? Sure I have a console for that. I wanna play a CD through my tv speakers? Sure I have a console for that... etc.

It gives me more options on what I would like to do with my time. Which is always great.

 

[Qwell]

I'm one of those weird guys with a life, so BC allows me to catch up on gems from last gen that I haven't A)had time to get when it came out B) Didn't have the chance to pick it up when it was new.

And his theory falls down when you look at games like Rallisport challenge 2, possibly the best rally racer from last gen and no next gen port. There are issues with licenses and companies closing that mean that we would never get to see a large amount of amazing games, and fuck that.

no, I'm sorry if it makes it cost slightly more to produce a console as they have to devote r&d time to making sure I get it, and makes it a little more difficult for these huge multi-billion dollar corporate organisations to rinse more money out of me by getting me to buy another version of the thing that I have sitting on the shelf over there.

I do have a sense of entitlement, its because I have sunk thousands of pounds of my money into my hobby , and at the point at which my hobby starts getting uppity and demanding more cash and not giving me the love it used to I'm going to vote with my wallet and wave goodbye.

So you have sunk thousands into the games... what makes it so you can't use your old system? If its broke, and you have so much invested in the games you can't spend the extra few dollars for getting a replacement system? What if adding the BC makes that system less reliable. And what about the billions that these companies spend just to make these current gen systems and then takes hundreds of dollars of loss per system just so you can have one? Do they not deserve credit for that as well?

Again all you people make it sound like you can ONLY play the games you have on a BC system, like they just magically stop working on the system you originally bought them for.

 

[sonicmj1]

I find BC very important.

Ever since buying a next-gen console, I have never used its predecessor. When I wanted to play Phantom Dust or Ninja Gaiden Black again, I started anew on my 360 instead of pulling out my old Xbox. I've purchased six PS2 games (God Hand, Yakuza 2, Devil May Cry 3, Shinobi, Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance, Persona 4) since I got my backwards-compatible PS3. I probably will never play my bundle copy of Jet Set Radio Future that I own ever again, since it isn't BC with the 360.

I find the convenience of backwards compatibility very valuable. As someone who owns many consoles, not having to hook up more platforms than those currently available is extremely useful. I might buy a console with less than perfect or no backwards compatibility, but it will cause me to forego purchases of games on older platforms that I would otherwise play.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Sessler and his annoying voice can go to hell.

There are still plenty of PS2 games out there I'd 'prefer' to play on my PS3. I've been eyeing Persona for awhile now...but just can't justify getting it and digging my old PS2 out of it's hiding spot cause the lens is slowly becoming fried...

"it's only 100 now" you say? Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather not spend the 100 if I could've just played it on my PS3.

"just get the 60 or 80gb versions" you say? Not only are they hard to find and priced ridiculously high but if they break down then you're SOL.

 

[squinters]

I use the Wii's b/c almost as much as I use it for Wii games, mostly because my Cube is busted. I wish the PS3 had b/c so I could play all the gems I missed out on for the PS2 (not enough to pay $100 though).

 

[Muffdraul]

Once I got used to how PS2 games looked on my HDTV... and more important, after a few firmware updates drastically improved the PS2 upscaling... I ended up using BC quite a bit. I was towards the tail end of an FFXII run through when my PS3 bricked last May. Because of that, I went back to playing PS2 games on my actual PS2 and my old 27" Trinitron in the bedroom. It was great to see those games looking the way they were supposed to look again. They just seem more vibrant, and somehow they have more depth. Even if they brought PS2 BC back, I doubt I'd go back to it.

It took me a long time to get used to how craptastic my Wii looks on my HDTV, but eventually I reached the point where I can even tolerate GC and even 16 bit stuff in HD. It still looks like a cat's butthole, though.

 

[Tarazet]

Jesus, we have reliable BC for one system out of last generation and now everyone expects it or else they quit gaming. WTF?

 

[ChaoticBlue]

only gaf cares

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Jesus, we have reliable BC for one system out of last generation and now everyone expects it or else they quit gaming. WTF?

More games for us.

 

[Kintaro]

Sessler and his annoying voice can go to hell.

There are still plenty of PS2 games out there I'd 'prefer' to play on my PS3. I've been eyeing Persona for awhile now...but just can't justify getting it and digging my old PS2 out of it's hiding spot cause the lens is slowly becoming fried...

"it's only 100 now" you say? Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather not spend the 100 if I could've just played it on my PS3.

"just get the 60 or 80gb versions" you say? Not only are they hard to find and priced ridiculously high but if they break down then you're SOL.

So, let me get this straight. You have a PS2, you're eying PS2 games, but you don't want to use your PS2 because you fear it'll die. On top of that, you don't want to track down a BC PS3 because...you fear they will break down. You have the means to play these games right now but you don't because of some stupid fear?

Okay...I'm going to back on out of here.

 

[mikekennyb]

I care about BC. I'm picking up a Slim PS3 today, and would like to play some JRPGs. Missed out on most of the PS2 JRPG's, just wasn't into the genre at the time.

There aren't any current gen JRPG's that interest me.... It would have been awesome to play FFXII, Xenosaga, Persona, etc. upscaled on a PS3, but too bad I guess. Any PS1 JRPG's out there that still hold up well today?

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

Jesus, we have reliable BC for one system out of last generation and now everyone expects it or else they quit gaming. WTF?

More like

"Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all promised full backwards compatibility and then Sony and Microsoft backed out".

Nintendo will probably also back out eventually so they can charge you a second time for digital copies of Gamecube games you already own.

It's a taste of what could be, taken away from us because these guys realize it's not the most immediately profitable strategy.

 

[sfog]

More like

"Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all promised full backwards compatibility and then Sony and Microsoft backed out".

Nintendo will probably also back out eventually so they can charge you a second time for digital copies of Gamecube games you already own.

It's a taste of what could be, taken away from us because these guys realize it's not the most immediately profitable strategy.

I'm pretty sure MS never promised full BC. They always refferred to it in regards to select titles.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I'm pretty sure MS never promised full BC. They always refferred to it in regards to select titles.

A technicality!

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I'm pretty sure MS never promised full BC. They always refferred to it in regards to select titles.

They never did... they especially never considered it a "core value" of what they should offer.

Jesus, we have reliable BC for one system out of last generation and now everyone expects it or else they quit gaming. WTF?

The GBA had BC with Gameboy titles. The DS had BC with GBA titles.

 

[Artofwar420]

I see it more as a tradition, the PS2 had it, and I expected the PS3 to keep having it.

BUT, if we're gonna see more "remastered" PS2 games come out for the PS3 then it's only for a small minority that it will be useful.

 

[BlazeHedgehog]

I see it more as a tradition, the PS2 had it, and I expected the PS3 to keep having it.

BUT, if we're gonna see more "remastered" PS2 games come out for the PS3 then it's only for a small minority that it will be useful.

But the Playstation 2 has games numbering in the hundreds. Even if they keep doing "Remastered" versions, there are going to be a lot of PS2 games left out in the cold...

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Nintendo will probably also back out eventually so they can charge you a second time for digital copies of Gamecube games you already own.

So they're removing one of the GameCubes?

 

[Ettie]

I don't see any indication of that happening, at least with Sony. They've been selling ps1 classics on the store since day one, but they also allow you to play the ps1 discs you already own.

Maybe you'll be able to play PS2 games on your PS4, but they'll charge you a sweet-lookin' penny to play PS3 titles via a DL service.



Anyway, I care Adam. You gotta be lurking or posting here somewhere. (

Spoiler

All the cool kids do

I like your rants for the most part, but I think you missed the mark here. It's nothing more than a good business decision to remove BC. I don't like it, but it is going to make Sony some money.