Backwards Compability (Or why gaming sucks, period)

[lSHaDoW-FoXl]

All right. I don't care if there's a thread for this already. This is something worth resurrecting and bitching about. And if there's one thing we should do, it's whine about this. As opposed to, you know, whining about it for awhile and letting it go completely silent a month later. They've got the technology to do this, but they don't want to because it might get in the way of their precious online shops. How ridiculous is it that if you have physical copies, you basically have to repurchase them again if you simply don't happen to have a ps3?

Being the soul less douchebags they are, you can imagine that some people justify this, but I think it's really pathetic and kind of sad, really. I bet the game industry could castrate a 14 year old and skin a dog alive and someone out there - some obsessed fan boy - would still justify it. So yeah, lets all ***** and complain about this injustice. If anyone has an idea to set things right, post. We need to end this nonsense once and for all.

In fact, let me bring up just one of the many fragile justifications they use.

Why does it matter if you can't play ps2 games if you probably already have a the system for those games?

Well, that's quite simple. It's called convenience. You know, convenience as in not having to use up numerous sockets, plugs, and have to hook/unhook a the damn thing every time they want to change systems? (for some people). And it's not like this is technology is beyond human comprehension. The older ps3 models could do it. Fuck, even the ps2 could. There is literally no reason they can't do it outside of making money off of games they want you to repurchase through their online stores. Very easily, I can even bring up a second argument for this fragile excuse. Quite simply, systems don't last forever. So why should I repurchase every damn game -well, the ones they're going to re-release anyway. I'm sure not all video games will be for sale online - when they already damn well know how to do it?

Start bitching people. Otherwise they'll continue to screw us over. If you've got an idea, contribute it. Before I end my post though, I just want to make a final point. One that's specifically towards Sony. Before the PS3 came out, one thing they were marketing was the fact that it would have playback capabilities. Funny that didn't last too long, is it?

I think this above all things demonstrates on how the gaming industry just continues taking a step back because a bunch of spoiled brats can't live without their pacifiers.

http://us.playstation.com/psn/community/

Have fun.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

This issue is probably the one thing that makes piracy look good since you have no moral obstacles if you've already paid for the game originally. I do pity those dumb bastards that keep buying the same games over and over because they want it on the new platform rather than the less convenient old one or because they lack the talent to get good at many games rather than the comfortable few

 

[CAPTCHA]

There is one solution...

...buy a PC

 

[Evil Smurf]

Yeah, I know that feel. I can't play gba games on my DSi

 

[Irridium]

There is one solution...

...buy a PC

They're not much better. I know, I play on the damn thing. While sites like GoG [http://www.gog.com/], which is awesome and deserves all the money by the way, makes things easier, you still have the classic computer problems which are caused by the game itself/operating system/drivers/phase of the moon which then take you across the internet to a backwater forum where someone had the same problem as you, and there's no solution posted. It's almost always "Oh, I fixed it" without explaining how or no solution presenting itself.

But at least on the PC we have the option. With enough determination, you can more-often-than-not get something working. More than can be said for consoles, where you get the games they give you and have to deal. Still, at least they'll work without much of a problem.

With Nintendo consoles the games from the previous console (WiiU will play Wii games, Wii plays Gamecube games, 3DS plays DS games, DS plays GBA games, GBA plays GB games) will work on the next. Which, admittedly gets ridiculous when you have lots of systems. Better than the PS3/360 though.

The PS3 is only BC with PS1 games. Earlier models have full BC, but good luck finding those. And that's better than the 360, which stopped making things BC back in 2007.

Hm, seems no matter what system you have, it boils down to "pick which batch of problems you feel like dealing with."

Videogames, folks!

 

[snekadid]

Rom it, you bought it once and as long as you still own a copy you have the right. The downloaded version is identical to the Rom and so is technically a copy of a game you purchased legally and copying a game for your own use is a legal practice.

I have Nes games but unlike all the next generation of nintendo consoles the nes was a fragile PoS, prone to bugging out and instability even when directly out of the box, and the parts degraded far faster then modern tech would. I have PSone games, but the PSone laser was low grade and burned out easily. Neither of those are made anymore and you have a right to use your legally purchased goods which the industry has determined is no longer a physical presence but a digital one, so use your code and play your games.

Captcha: Take a Survery .... WTF is a Survery?

 

[Gone Rampant]

I hate to brag, but even the 360 has backwards compatibility. I play KOTOR and Republic Commando on it every now and then.

But sorry to hear that Sony are being bigots.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Yeah, like how film companies have to offer you free DVDs of every video you bought!

Oh wait, it's almost like that's not how the world works at all.

No amount of whining and bitching is going to get rid of this. Backwards compatibility is a pain in the arse to programme (so I'm told by other people on this site) and I personally am just happy that some poor old worthless peon low down in the company somewhere is doing it at all (for 360 at least)

Things get harder to read/play/find as they get older. Books which are out of print can be ridiculously expensive if you damage your copy, old videos that never made it to DVD can be near impossible to find working copies of, and you need a no-longer-mass-produced piece of equipment to play them. Why should games be any different? Just because gamers have the internet and a tendency to ***** more?

And as has been pointed out, there are ways to get these games if you're dedicated enough. So if you were really such a fan of these games as you claim then you'd take the 'I'm dedicated' option, instead of the 'I don't want to do any of the work myself, I want someone else to do it all for me, then if it doesn't work (another problem with BC) I'll ***** and moan about that instead' approach.

If I want to play FFVIII (for example) I hook up my PlayStation 2. It takes perhaps 30 seconds since it sits right next to my XBox with the SCART cable ready to go. I change one socket at the mains, and one socket on the television. Bam, I'm playing my old PS1 and 2 games. That's not inconvenient.

 

[Innegativeion]

Yeah, I honestly don't know what Sony was thinking... picking backwards compatibility of all things to reduce the PS3's price base.

Like you said, it was what they were advertising most about the thing, and sony set the trend for consoles to use BwC with the Ps2. They weren't the first, but they popularized it. Now it seems everyone does it except them.

Kind of a pain, especially when Ps2 displays look like ass on an HDTV.

That said, it's not a HUGE issue if you already own a Ps2. I think two console generations from now, if we still have consoles by then, the big three will have most of their game libraries digitized anyway. Hell, most of their libraries HAVE been digitized by the emulator people. Yeah I know, like you said you don't want to rebuy them, but it's an issue that's sorting itself out.

 

[synobal]

Just get a PC not only can I play 90% of all my old games, but I can emulate most the old console games, and even the latest handheld games, for the DS/PSP.

 

[tippy2k2]

I wonder if people on the internet will ever realize that starting your discussion by insulting those who have differing opinions is not the way to start a rational discussion...

I'm sorry that you feel that people who don't give care about backwards compatibility are "soul less douchebags" but I could not give less of a shit about backwards compatibility. If I want to play a game that is not on my current system of choice, I will either keep said game or re-buy it for the new system.

And no, it's not just something they take out because they want to screw over their consumer base. The PS3 hardware can't just run the PS2 games; it used a completely separate set of chips [http://www.semperthree.com/backwards-compatibility.html] in order to run the PS2 games. By removing these, they are able to drop the price of the system. This shit isn't free and I'm surprised that there are still people who just don't understand that.

But hey, what do I know? I'm just some "obsessed fanboy" justifying the raping of your wallet that Sony is doing, right?

 

[Xdeser2]

......360 has almost perfect backwards compatability

 

[Beffudled Sheep]

......360 has almost perfect backwards compatability

I have 20 Edit: (hard derp was hard) original xbox games. Only 5 are Bc..........................

 

[targren]

In fact, let me bring up just one of the many fragile justifications they use.

My favorite was actually "The new hardware isn't capable of emulating the PS2."

Flash-forward...

PS2 games on PSN! Outed...

 

[chadachada123]

They're not much better. I know, I play on the damn thing. While sites like GoG [http://www.gog.com/], which is awesome and deserves all the money by the way, makes things easier, you still have the classic computer problems which are caused by the game itself/operating system/drivers/phase of the moon which then take you across the internet to a backwater forum where someone had the same problem as you, and there's no solution posted. It's almost always "Oh, I fixed it" without explaining how or no solution presenting itself.

But at least on the PC we have the option. With enough determination, you can more-often-than-not get something working. More than can be said for consoles, where you get the games they give you and have to deal. Still, at least they'll work without much of a problem.

With Nintendo consoles the games from the previous console (WiiU will play Wii games, Wii plays Gamecube games, 3DS plays DS games, DS plays GBA games, GBA plays GB games) will work on the next. Which, admittedly gets ridiculous when you have lots of systems. Better than the PS3/360 though.

The PS3 is only BC with PS1 games. Earlier models have full BC, but good luck finding those. And that's better than the 360, which stopped making things BC back in 2007.

Hm, seems no matter what system you have, it boils down to "pick which batch of problems you feel like dealing with."

Videogames, folks!

That's a bit disingenuous to say that Microsoft "stopped" making things BC in 2007. With the 360, they had to patch every single original Xbox game personally in order for it to be playable, for technical reasons. They made hundreds and hundreds of games, though generally only for the more-popular ones, backwards compatible that are still backwards compatible today.

It is by no means their entire library, no, but it's over half of their full library, and nearly all of their top-sellers. I'd say it's better to give the same BC-opportunities to all of their players than to pull a Sony and only give FULL BC to their first few batches of systems, and none or nearly-none for the rest. And given that it took actual resources to make stuff BC for the 360, I'd say it's a step up from Sony. Not that it's a pissing match or anything, but at least Microsoft had a reason for it.

Still, I'd wish that they could have just kept or developed a way to use the original Xbox framework as an emulator so that you wouldn't need to patch each game individually, and that could be a legit argument towards greed/laziness on their part.

......360 has almost perfect backwards compatability

I have 20 Edit: (hard derp was hard) original xbox games. Only 5 are Bc..........................

I have eight Xbox games, most bought during the original Xbox days, and six are backwards compatible (the seventh works but doesn't save games correctly). *Shrug.*

With just over half of their games being BC, that sounds like shitty luck or buying lots of obscure games. Unfortunate, to be sure, but a statistically uncommon case.

And, again, this isn't a case of "we have an emulator but we're arbitrarily deciding to not include it," it's a case of "we have support for over half of our original Xbox games now, that we patched personally to run on 360, but it's no longer financially wise to continue patching continuously-obscure or difficult-to-patch games."