Backwards Compatibility; yay or nay?

Warden

Member
So, like it says in the title, I'm curious as to what y'all think about backwards compatibility.

I'm a huge (huge) fan of playing games from older generations. My YT channel is solely based on PS2/OG Xbox content, and when the 360/PS3 came out I was sorely disappointed in the lack of BC. We've seen the industry realize the importance of BC with the addition of BC for certain 360 titles on the Xbox One and stuff like that, and the rumors I've read hint at BC being a big feature of the next gen consoles.

Any console that lets me plug-in-and-play my favorite titles from previous generations gets a huge + from me. I'm also a little unclear as to why they wouldn't allow BC for all generations... I'm not technically keyed in, but surely if the consoles could run current gen games as they are today, the idea of plugging in a PS2 disc or OG Xbox disc with the next gen console shouldn't be too hard to achieve?

Half the time I find myself preferring to play titles such as KOTOR rather than current gen titles anyway, to be fair.

Side note: I hate the american spelling on this site, seeing those little red lines underneath my British spelling :banghead:
 
The thing about backwards compatibility and why it's never really been a huge thing is because with consoles you have to emulate not only the software but also the hardware of the older gen console.

Just look at the PS2 which is fully backwards compatible with the PS1. It had great backwards compatibility with most PS1 games but on some; it's not even something I would call passable. It's hard to replicate an older generation security encryption, hardware and software. It puts extreme wear on the system to do so. The further along you go and the further technology and security for those sorts of things go, the harder and harder it gets to be able to emulate said older console.

I am all for backwards compatibility, unfortunately though, I do not see it becoming quite the spectacle that everyone hopes for it be.
 
The thing about backwards compatibility and why it's never really been a huge thing is because with consoles you have to emulate not only the software but also the hardware of the older gen console.

Just look at the PS2 which is fully backwards compatible with the PS1. It had great backwards compatibility with most PS1 games but on some; it's not even something I would call passable. It's hard to replicate an older generation security encryption, hardware and software. It puts extreme wear on the system to do so. The further along you go and the further technology and security for those sorts of things go, the harder and harder it gets to be able to emulate said older console.

I am all for backwards compatibility, unfortunately though, I do not see it becoming quite the spectacle that everyone hopes for it be.

You know I think it might actually be such a huge thing for me simply because I grew up on the PS/PS2 combination, and the ease of use through the backwards compatibility always really struck with me. You definitely have a point about the emulation, it's probably something that is a lot more hassle than it's worth, especially when the gaming industry really wants to promote future and present titles rather than past ones.

On that note however I'm loving the numerous remakes/remasters of the good old classics. Resident Evil 3 in April will be a joy for me to play
 
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