No Backward Compatibility? So What?

[Jopoho]

Because backwards compatibility allows for several things for those with a comfortable, but not overly so, financial situation:

With backwards compatibility, I can trade in an old system to try and offset the cost of the new one, while still maintaining my library of games.

If I decided to go with a different companies console, one in which I never had the previous generation, I can experience games I never got the chance to. Maybe these games end up as download, but maybe not.

Old games are a great way to have fun on a budget. I still, probably buy as many gamecube an xbox games as I do 360 ones, because even if used games are offered at pretty absurd price points sometimes, they are still less than a retail game.

 

[runic knight]

-snip-

Don't forget the handheld consoles, most every gameboy was compatible to the generation previous.


I'd mention pc, but that comes off a little unfitting. A multi-media, all in one device that plays not only upcoming games, but backwards compatible back to the start is just impossible in a box hooked up to a tv. Well, unless you just hook the pc to the tv itself...
Why does anyone want the xboxone again? Oh, right, the exclusives. Wonder if microsoft will ever realize that the reason people by game systems is for the damn games.

Ah well, hopefully their market strategy of concentrating on an increasingly shrinking player base of the "dudebro" will backfire and wake the rest of the damn industry up a little. Comic book industry of the 90's all over again.

 

[DrOswald]

Okay, I see people getting pissed about the Xbox One (and the PS4) not being backward compatible. You can't even use the same controllers on the new consoles.

Why are we complaining about this? Consoles have never been backward compatible, have they? Not truly. I mean, I grew up playing on Nintendo consoles, and those were always radically different each generation. Hell, the cartridges were different shapes from one to the next. The discs were different sizes once they started using discs.

Do people really feel entitled to backward compatibility in the games they buy? Why?

--Morology!

My views on backwards compatibility and why it is important:

From a personal point of view: Newer consoles don't last as long as old ones. I fully expect my Xbox 360 to be a brick in 5 years while my Super Nintendo will still work as well as it did ten years ago. This is no ones fault. The new consoles are far more complex and therefore break much easier. But it does mean that backwards compatibility is far more important. When my Xbox 360 dies, my massive collection of games will instantly be worthless. I don't want that to happen, but because the Xbox One is not backwards compatible it is already a certainty.

From a wider cultural pint of view: Without backwards compatibility all the art of video games that has come before is lost. Imagine if every 10 years all movies were lost. Imagine how it would cripple the growth of film as an art form if no one could ever again watch Citizen Kane or The Godfather. Art is often advanced by looking to old ideas for inspiration. An old idea is imitated, twisted, changed in some way and something new is created. Historically, this has been important to all forms of art. Backwards compatibility is important for the continued growth of video games as an art form.

 

[wulf3n]

]There's no such thing as a HDMI splitter (yet)

Yes there is, there has been for a while.

Just Google it.

 

[Vegosiux]

From a wider cultural pint of view: Without backwards compatibility all the art of video games that has come before is lost. Imagine if every 10 years all movies were lost. Imagine how it would cripple the growth of film as an art form if no one could ever again watch Citizen Kane or The Godfather.

Unless they still have that VCR thing that plays videotapes, that is. And a black&white television. And...

Yeah, those entitled whiny brats, why can't they appreciate all these action blockbusters they're being force-fed all the time and the shiny effects and...

...say why would you even want to watch that 3-hour thing that contains one explosion and at most two shootouts, if you can watch RDJ punch bad guys in the face...in 3D!?

Sheesh!

Get on with the times, people!

[/sarcasm]

 

[The Enquirer]

If a new system did have backwards compatibility I would consider buying it. It would mean that even if there was no game I wanted for it at the time when I bought it, I still have a monstrous ps2 and small but fun ps3 library. Backwards compatibility would encourage me to take a chance on a next gen console, or at least more seriously consider it than I am now.

 

[slobolobo]

Backwards compatibly isnt much of an issue because its not as if you need a subscription to go online with the 360, and will probably need a new one for the Xbone. Essentially what there saying is they dont care and they will probably enjoy the double money coming in.

 

[slobolobo]

double post

 

[JagermanXcell]

So what?
It makes people happy.
If it were announced it would absolutely sell like hot cakes.
I would totally be supportive of console that plays it's games and the games on the console before it. In my opinion at least I think a lot of people besides me would.
Sure putting emulators in consoles is hard and takes A LOT of money, but think about it: its an investment.
That kind of compatibility will sell, they will make the money back.

But I'd be lying to my self if I didn't say thats just how this gen of gaming is. Run by idiots in big suits who don't know crap about investments/what people want/like.

 

[Roxor]

Why do people want backwards compatibility in consoles?

Because every PC has had it for the last 30 years.

Thats one of the things people give up when they choose to be console gaming peasants!

Hell, PC can even play their old games while they cant!

OT: As a PC gamer, I dont much care. I have a number of Xbox games, but I dont plan on junking my 360 when the new generation comes out, so I will always be able to play them again if I have the desire, or I could get a lot of them on my PC.

Man buying Mass Effect on xbox was a mistake..

As a lifelong PC gamer who has never owned a games console, I see backwards compatibility as something you just have. It's like a basic right of computer users, and I don't think console users should be denied that just because their machines cost $300 instead of $2000.

 

[RA92]

snip

Dude, it's kinda funny how you cropped up right around when the XBone is revealed and every single of your posts are about defending it.

Just sayin'.

 

[Sansha]

The problem is online capability for the 360 might not be forever (or long), and eventually support for the console and system won't be there.

Eventually the 360 will break down and be irreparable. They're not built like bunkers, like the consoles from the 80's. That means all those saved games and the library of games themselves will be useless.

It seems odd to me that with how much Microsoft is trying to make it a be-all end-all entertainment system, it's not backwards compatible... as in to play your 360 games you still have to swap them over.

I'm surprised and shocked that anyone thought this thing was a good idea.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

For some of us who didn't buy a PS3 or Xbox 360, it'd be nice to play what we missed out on last gen. Plus, things break. It doesn't help that my 360 is more fragile than my N64.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

My xbox is from 05 and ringed once. still going like a champ, probably will forever because I take care of my things.

Obviously you don't take care of your things if you got an RROD.

Obviously you know nothing about 1st gen xbox, jon snow.

Obviously you're ignoring all the valid arguments on this board and running after the straw-man comments while insulting people as you're at it. Guess you have to get your kicks where you can.

OT: I can get the arguments that BC isn't possible on your new console, but if you're not going to implement it:
1. Don't insult everyone who wants it.
2. Don't whine about the extra costs for adding something people want, when you add a whole lot of pointless crap that noone asked for.
3. Realize that people actually use BC as reason to buy a console. Whether they own games from the last generation or they like the idea of playing games they missed from the last generation (e.g. if I have a Xbox 360 I like the idea of playing the old games on my new XBone, but if I buy a WiiU then I like the idea of playing Wii games I want but missed because I don't have the cash to burn on multiple consoles in the same year).