Don't Hold Your Breath for Backwards Compatibility on PS4

I never had a PS3 so I'm just fine with remasters for my PS4. PSNow seems to be Sony's route for backwards compatibility (streaming) but looking at their rental model it's not that attractive an option for me.

Microsoft seem to be doing the same thing they did with the 360, just partial backwards compatibility, because of that I still have my 360 for when I feel like a bit of retro.

After reading Digital Foundrys piece after E3 when testing the Xbox One backwards compatibility, the abysmal performance of some titles leaves me thinking it'll be as hit & miss as on X360 - so not really worth the time. I'm glad Sony has gone another route as trying to software simulate the CELL would be ridiculously difficult and a waste of resources

With PS3 dropping price I don't see a point of butt-****ery with the ports/backward-compatibility... Plus, the game is already proven to work on the previous console, so just play it like it was intended :_)

_{Language - Robert}

Yeah well done Sony. Charge us to play our old games via PlayStation Home or remasters. You'll never get a single penny out of me to play my old games. PlayStation Home imo is a fail.

I'd love to play some titles from PS3 era, as I skipped the whole gen completely. To be honest, I am more happy with remasters, but I know they're not gonna remaster every single game. Me myself am really interested in Catherine and would love to play it, however I don't see the game being remastered ever, so backward compatibility would be amazing.
But if working on backward compatibility would slow down development of new games or other interesting hardware, then I really don't mind not having it

Backwards compatibility is most important at the start of a consoles life - when there isn't such a range or backlog of games. I believe that was the philosophy of the PS3 and one of the reasons it was eventually dropped...

They should have been working on it in the first place instead of a subscription streaming service for PS3 games...

If Fallout 3 & Skyrim was re-mastered for the PS4v then I'd be a happy Bunny

@WARDIE you mean playstation now, right? Playstation Home was shut down a while ago....
I agree though. Five quid to rent a 6 year old game you can get online for 3 quid? Ha. As if lads.

@MadchesterManc the 360 games I have worked fine. Of course BC is only available to Preview members for that very reason ahead of wide rollout, to catch any problems in the emulation process, so results are of course going to be buggy here and there.

Concerning Yoshida, they put all that money and effort into PS Now, so naturally he's not concerned with BC. They got subs to sell.

@mateq
Catherine is an amazing game, I suggest using the streaming service on ps4 to try it if you can't buy it for ps3.
It's entirely worth it.

There's a reason some people become heads of corporations. It's b/c they're able to say really stupid asinine things with a straight face that would make normal people burst out laughing halfway through the sentence. Things like -

People don't want to play old games on their new console, they want to play new games like GTAV TLOU GOW3 KH1&2 DMC Remastered.

The reason Sony won't ever again support BC in any meaninful way is b/c people are willing to keep spending money to rebuyt the same games over and over and over again.

Games are better remade? Like Uncharted missing multiplayer?

@rjejr

Happy Birthday #13! I will congratulate you here since as you know we are all mourning in NL.

I just wish we could PS1 classics compatibility. Even the Vita has that!

@sinalefa - Yeah, I won't be over there much today, I've never been able to cope w/ death. I'm an emotionally stunted rational person and death never made any sense to me.

Sorry if I missed thanking you over the weekend, I was away, no email, and came home to the sad news last night.

Thanks for making me want to play Red Dead again.

@WARDIE first off, it is Playstation Now you are thinking of. Home was the social networking app on the PS3. 2nd, they do not charge you to play games that you already own. They charge you to stream games that you may or may not own copies of to your devices. But Sony has said from Day One that backwards compatibility was not happening. So personally, I held on to my PS3 and my games. Then I can still go back and play them whenever I want at no extra charge

@Ralizah I wouldn't mind backwards compatibility for ps1 and ps2 games - they should throw that in.

Backwards compatibility is not anything I personally care about. When I had it on PS2 and on PS3, I never used it. I would much rather play new games. As far as Remasters go, I have bought 2. TLOU and GTA5. I Got TLOU because I stupidly traded in my PS3 copy when trying to save up for the PS4 and was always going to rebut it. Gta5 because I was sold on it being so much better. I am happy with both. But I still have a PS3 if I get the urge to play an old game.
As far as Now, start putting PS4 games on there for rental and we'll talk.

I really don't care about BC. I don't plan on getting rid of my PS3 and don't have much of a desire to play PS1 or PS2 games.

I've had BC on other consoles in the past and rarely if ever used it.

Im happy Sony are concentrating on new games rather than old...

@Kowa97 couldn't have said it better myself, including about the PSNOW. Although it will probably never happen, I'd love to have Max Payne 3 totally remastered.

Good, I didn't buy my PS4 to play PS3 games and I still have my PS3 for that purpose, not that I've even switched it on in the last few months and with the games coming up I doubt I'll play it again any time soon. I'd much rather Sony put all of their efforts into creating new games and maybe the odd remaster as they have done, especially as I never played The Last of Us the first time round so I got to experience it at 60fps.

Yes it'd be a nice little extra but it's not going to happen and I doubt I'd use it even if it did

I honestly don't care about BC, I don't even own a PS4. I won't get one till I can get a bundle for under $350 with a game I actually want to play.

But PS Now is a joke and as it stands now I would never spend a penny on it.

(They showed a very short list of titles that work, and doing software emulation means you have to work title by title. So I'm curious to see what kind of games will be included in those 100 games that they say will be compatible by the end of the year," he continued, sounding somewhat sceptical.)

I would be sceptical too because I highly doubt you'll be seeing GOW, & Halo on that list anytime soon, seeing as you can buy the remasters now & coming soon.

(Remaking games on PS4 makes the games even better – with The Last Of Us, you can play at 60 frames per second, and the same goes for Dark Souls 2. Actually, I just finished Dark Souls 2 again on PS4," Yoshida concluded,)

This quote is very true one of the reasons I got Dark Souls 2 again on the PS4, the game is now 10times better with 60fps. It also ups the multiplayer count, & adds all it's DLC.

Just keep your ps3 if you still want to play it. What's the big deal

@Neko_Majin_Sama streaming service? there's a thing like that available? I'll defenitely look into it been wanting to play that gama ever since I've learnt about it. + Atlus is an amazing company, they always make fantastic games!

@WARDIE Retread my statement. They are charging you to stream games which you may or may not own. But they let you stream those games to the PS4, PS3, and the PSVita. You are paying for the streaming and it is only $20/month. I am not saying that is a good deal. But it is something. But if you still have the games, borrow or buy a new PS3 if you are that concerned with beating them. Or repair your old one
And don't forget, the PS2 was backward compatible and early PS3's were too. It was a seldomly used feature which is why it was removed.

I for one think backwards compatibility is and has always been a great idea. I loved playing PS1 classics on my PS3. Its also something I like about PC. They're always backwards compatibil.

For those of you that say that you should just keep your old consoles, some of us don't want the hassle of having multiple systems wired up. It would be nice if one system played my old back catalogue.

@Kowa97 You say that it was seldom used, but you're just going off what Sony are saying. I know loads of people who use the feature. You only have to listen to the crowds reaction at E3 when Phil Spencer announced BC. People went crazy for it.

No. I am going by the fact that I never used it and I don't know anybody that ever did on a regular basis. Between my Various friends lists and working with lots of teenagers. Almost none used it. People say they want it, but at the end of the day, they Want their new games

It's been pretty much known from the beginning backwards compatibility isn't happening and if there was going to be any kind of response to try and mitigate it, I think Sony would've said something at E3. I won't downplay it because it is a big feature and I'd love it for the simple fact it would mean I could unload the PS3 like I will the 360 and have less clutter in the entertainment center. Other than that, not really bothered. I didn't buy a PS4 to play PS3 games and at this point, I'd like all Sony's remaining money to be put into PS4 games.

I'm disappointed if only because my PS3 seems ready to die again...would be nice if I didn't have to replace it, you know?

People really get worked up about this eh. Got my PS4, PS3 and PS2 all plugged into my main TV and it's not cluttered at all .

@hi_drnick I would love that with my PS4, 360, Wii and Megadrive all cosied up together.

My wife on the other hand has thrown my 360, Wii and mega drive all in different rooms upstairs. Sad times.

@Ralizah Yeah, that would be cool. I mean, even a phone can emulate the PS1 nowadays.

Then again, I do still stand by what I said before: usually if you have PS3 games, you'll have a PS3. If you have a PS3, you're only getting mild convenience with PS4 backwards compatibility. If you have a PS3 you can also play physical PS1 games.

An unpopular opinion: I still play last gen game on my last gen console...
Is it really so hard to turn on ur last gen console?

I really believed they expected us to jump on board their backwards compatibility subscription service...but why the hell would I want to pay $2-3 an hour to play a game I can walk over to Gamestop and buy for $9.99-$19.99 and play forever?

@themcnoisy ahh, that makes things tricky. Luckily I have quite a tolerant wife although the fact she can use hulu and YouTube seems to help.

@whywai88 yes its easy. But bc is useful to people.

I totally agree with what everyone has said, that you don't tend to go back to your old consoles when you get a new one etc. But what about 5-6 years down the line. What if you had a load of ps1, ps2, xbox original, GameCube games? I have, they are all sat in cases doing diddly squat. BC is a great option.

I don't wanna play my PS3 games on my PS4 I wanna play PS4 on PS4 cause I love my PS4 graphics........ capish!!!