Sony Baffled by XB1 Backwards Compatibility - Unlikely to Come to PS4

[Steven Bogos]

Sony Baffled by XB1 Backwards Compatibility - Unlikely to Come to PS4

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida "didn't think it was possible" to do the kind of backwards compatibility Microsoft has announced.

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[jayzz911]

yup the cell processor will be incredibly hard to emulate. Fairly sure the PS4 also doesn't have the power to just power through that problem

 

[meiam]

I don't get why backward compatibility is such a big deal, I mean it's cool, but it overshadow game announcement?

You can probably buy an X360 for ridiculously cheap, and from what I understand it's even limited to just a few title for the moment. It's nice to save space around the TV, but to me backward compatibility is the nice feature you throw out the end, not your crowning achievement of the presentation.

 

[joshuaayt]

Well you see, Sony, the 360 wasn't engineered by eldritch horrors, so it's probably very similar to the xbone, hardware wise.

Really shouldn't have outsourced that PS3 design to incomprehensible beings of unspeakable intent.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Ultimately Sony screwed themselves with the PS3. No way to say it otherwise. Microsoft plays the long game, Sony spent a lot of money making BluRay a standard over HD DVD. Well Sony you finally got your wish after losing the format wars, but the console wars may end up going to Microsoft because of the backwards compatibility thing.
I hope it was worth it, because if I didn't own both a PS3 and PS4 I'd be a bit pissed my PS3 library is worthless without a console to play it on. For all the crap people give MS, they seem to somehow end up on top regardless.

 

[dragongit]

Well, better to not dwell on the past forever. Hopefully people will still have their PS3s intact if they wish to replay them. I just hope they continue to focus on just making new games like Last Guardian.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida "didn't think it was possible" to do the kind of backwards compatibility Microsoft has announced.

That "full list" linked, only has 21 games listed.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I get it. The PS3 is apparently made in such a way that it is a beast, and thus probably not worth the effort to make it so those games work on the PS4. I'm not happy about that, but I get it.

So what's the excuse for PS2 and PlayStation games then? Because I still have a lot of those, and I would love to be able to play them without going through a mess of cables and dust just to hook up my PS2 again.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Well, it was not very smart to use an overly complex custom CPU (a Cell CPU with a complex configuration) for the PS3, with the idea that devs would have to spend years unlocking its full potential. That jacked up the development and production costs of the PS3, made the 360 a more appealing platform for third parties, and just gave MS a leg up on Sony again with the newly announced BC. They can only offer PS3 games via PS Now, with extra cost to the consumer. (I'm guessing they either have modified PS3s running the games or customized some servers that used the Cell.)

It's also funny how he says that he didn't think it was possible. It's pretty much the same method they used to get original Xbox games to run on the 360. Also, before the announcement, a team working on a 360 emulator for PCs managed to get Sonic '06 (Funny choice, huh?) and one of the DBZ games running (with some issues). If random hackers could get that far, MS can do much better with their own systems and code.

 

[Jadak]

Did he not talk to his PR people? I think backwards compatibility is largely overrated, but nevertheless seems a poor choice to acknowledge your competition as having done something beyond your expectations.

 

[Lightspeaker]

No way to say it otherwise. Microsoft plays the long game, Sony spent a lot of money making BluRay a standard over HD DVD. Well Sony you finally got your wish after losing the format wars,

Er...pretty sure Sony WON that war, BluRay IS the standard now. And arguably it was a much more important long-term battle to fight given the importance of formats. >_>


Anyway, disappointing but understandable that it won't be coming to the PS4. The PS3 was very powerful and very sophisticated technologically for a console but from everything I've heard about it over the years that made it something of a nightmare to code for because of the extra complexity. Which means emulating the damn thing must be a hell of a pain to deal with. I wouldn't blame them for not coming up with the goods there.

Though I have a rather amusing mental image now of a bunch of Sony senior execs all sitting around a boardroom table staring at a monitor showing the Microsoft press conference with totally confused looks on their faces.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

Ports, they are ports XbOne is not Backwards compatible.

 

[Buizel91]

I get it. The PS3 is apparently made in such a way that it is a beast, and thus probably not worth the effort to make it so those games work on the PS4. I'm not happy about that, but I get it.

So what's the excuse for PS2 and PlayStation games then? Because I still have a lot of those, and I would love to be able to play them without going through a mess of cables and dust just to hook up my PS2 again.

To be fair most of them games are over 10 years old or close to it. And they would look horrible. Most of them probably need remastering or something.

Don't get me wrong some of them would be fine but damn many of them would look abysmal.

 

[Kopikatsu]

I get it. The PS3 is apparently made in such a way that it is a beast, and thus probably not worth the effort to make it so those games work on the PS4. I'm not happy about that, but I get it.

So what's the excuse for PS2 and PlayStation games then? Because I still have a lot of those, and I would love to be able to play them without going through a mess of cables and dust just to hook up my PS2 again.

You can play PSX games on the PS3. I know this because I just got back from playing FF9 on it.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

As both of my PS3s have died, I'm all for backwards compatibility. I still have my PS1 and PS2, but haven't touched them in years.

I want to play Rogue Galaxy, Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, Shadowhearts, Kuon, Azure Dreams etc. again eventually.

I know I can simply buy Symphony of the Night, Silent Hill, etc. again digitally, but idk if you can even play them on PS4 even then.

I don't have a PS4, and until Dark Souls 3 I don't really mind it. Bloodborne looked ghastly, and I resent it for indirectly making DS2 kinda shit without itself being the more awesome game.

 

[SeventhSigil]

I get it. The PS3 is apparently made in such a way that it is a beast, and thus probably not worth the effort to make it so those games work on the PS4. I'm not happy about that, but I get it.

So what's the excuse for PS2 and PlayStation games then? Because I still have a lot of those, and I would love to be able to play them without going through a mess of cables and dust just to hook up my PS2 again.

To be fair most of them games are over 10 years old or close to it. And they would look horrible. Most of them probably need remastering or something.

Don't get me wrong some of them would be fine but damn many of them would look abysmal.

While I agree that a lot of them would look like butts, there's a number of old JRPGs and other titles that relied less on 3D models and graphical wowness (which obviously would age worse of all,) and instead on sprites and the like, ala early Final Fantasy. While certainly still dated in appearance, I'd give my left arm to have a means of getting my hands on a properly functioning copy of Star Ocean: The Second Story or Chrono Trigger/ Chrono Cross (my attempts to emulate them just leave it kinda glitchy, which steals some of the fun. ._. ) even if it means buying it off the PSN store. (Actually, for some reason I seem to retain a greater amount of fondness for dated JRPGs, like Legend of Dragoon, than other genres from the same time period, like shooters, platformers or racers. Dunno why. Oh, and gimme Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver CAUSE I NEEDS IT.)

Hoping they'll come up with an emulator for the PS4 to emulate PS2 and original Playstation games at least. :/ Get publishers on board, sell their SUPER old games at a super low price to anyone who doesn't have a hard copy on hand already, (and to be fair, after this many years I can't help but think a fair number of people will have lost/sold their PSX and PS2 stuff as a kid only to get a nostalgic twinge for the good ol' days years later... like me, for instance. =P ) profit and cake for everyone! The can still have their PSNow service for PS3 titles.

 

[RJ 17]

I don't get why backward compatibility is such a big deal, I mean it's cool, but it overshadow game announcement?

What better way to boost your new console's lackluster library than by supplementing it with games from the last generation that people enjoy?

 

[IceStar100]

Not to be that guy but you can play the old games. The PSPlus or what ever has alot of them and they keep adding more. Heck I just finished the uncharted games x-com and infamous. Yeah I know monthly subscripting and all. Still not much to have a lot of games.

 

[IceStar100]

Not to be that guy but you can play the old games. The PSPlus or what ever has alot of them and they keep adding more. Heck I just finished the uncharted games x-com and infamous. Yeah I know monthly subscripting and all. Still not much to have a lot of games.