PlayStation 4 Abandons Backwards Compatibility

[Sniper Team 4]

Annnnnnnnd...(face hits computer desk) *Sigh*

Well, guess I won't be buying one at launch then. Throw in the fact that the PSN isn't transferring over right away, and that's two of the three things I was hoping for down the drain.

(Looks to Microsoft) Your move. Do this right, and I'll buy yours first.

 

[OZAuCkn7J28sHLCv]

I don't think anybody should be surprised by this. The only way the Playstation 4 could be a decent improvement on the the Playstation 3 whilst keeping within the price bracket of a launch console is to move to a well established PC architecture, and when changing architecture, you need to recompile everything from scratch, i.e. games need to be republished at the publisher's expense.

It's keep your soon-to-be-worthless in resale PS3 in a cupboard somewhere, or pay beyond-console prices for an upgraded Cell processor.

Edit: also, the cell processor is not more powerful than anything like a desktop core i5 upwards. A Processor which cost $200 5 years ago is not better than a recent processor of the same price range. IF that were true, PC gaming *would* be dead.

 

[dragongit]

People remember the PS3 fat, how it was backwards compatable, bulky, and 600 dollars? Would you perfer if Sony released the PS4 and tacked on a mini PS3 inside of it, at the cost of another 600 dollars? They cut it out because compatability issues because the PS3's architecture was unusual with it's processing cells. Developers didn't know what to do with it. So as they progressed to this new generation, I assume PS3 games wern't simply working outright on the new rig. BluRay discs in and of themselves will hopefully still work, but the way games are read may be different.

People dont' seem to ***** how current PS3s can't do backwards compatability. People will just find any reason to ***** for the sake of bitching. I get it, you want to have all in one like they promised. Perhaps they will devise a system using cloud gaming where we can "rent" games. Subscribe to a service like netflix or in this case, the PSN+ and with a specific fee, can play a library of games so long as the subscription persists. For the sake of owning games we still have our old consoles. I get some people want to trade them in for the sake of a new console, but sony decided that improving the core system and the games that it will be designed to play would be the focus, instead of making sure the library of games would be open during it's transitional period. Agreed that it will make first day perchases more limited, though it could potentially save us a lot of money from them trying to "fix" the backwards compatability issue.

I'm going to be keeping my PS3 for the time being, I still own my old PS1 and 2, and when I want to play those games I lug them out and play on them. If I recall the Xbox360 had horrendus backwards compatability, and people arn't bitching about it anymore. This will be the same. If you want to wait for a price drop, go right ahead, don't count this system completely out until it's been released, maybe it's launch lineup will be good enough to warrent a buy.

 

[Therumancer]

Pretty much what I figured was going to happen, it allows them to re-sell things people already own. If they take the PS-3 out of circulation it's an even bigger coup for them, if people ever want to play older games.

That said my old Backwards compadible PS-3 is still kicking, I've got a PS-2 in reserve/storage, and when the price drops I'll probably now have to put another PS-3 into storage.

This kind of greed is what's killing the industry to me. Why make a system backwards compadible, when you can wait a few years and charge people another pile of money to re-buy games they already purchused....

 

[Megacherv]

No mentioning of GaiKai then? The thing that they mentioned last night would be a possibility for streaming all the old games?

 

[Ghonzor]

I'm getting pretty tired of consoles pulling shit like this.
Screw it, I think I'll just stick to PC this generation.

 

[jericu]

Yeah, no.
They have no excuse not to have a ps2 software emulator with all the processing power that thing has.
But then again, why have that out of the box on day 1 and give me an actual reason to consider getting that thing to finally replace my ps2.

It's not just a matter of processing power, it's a matter of hardware. The Playstation 4 is using very different tech from the PS3, and while that does mean the PS4 will be more powerful than the PS3, it also means that making games meant for the PS2 and PS3 work on the system is a major drain on time and money. If anything, avoiding backwards compatibility may be the difference between whether or not the system is affordable, though obviously we can't know for sure since Sony hasn't announced a price yet.

I think people are getting a little bit too angry about this. I understand how important backwards compatibility is to people, but it's not like the PS4 is gonna come out, and all previous Sony consoles will instantly stop working. No one's stopping you from playing PS3 games on your PS3.

 

[OZAuCkn7J28sHLCv]

I'm getting pretty tired of consoles pulling shit like this.
Screw it, I think I'll just stick to PC this generation.

If your computer can currently be described as mid-range, you're good to go.

 

[loa]

It's not just a matter of processing power, it's a matter of hardware.

If my 5 year old computer can run a bloody ps2 emulator, the ps4 should very well be able to do the same.
There is no excuse.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Ehh I don't get rid of my old consoles anyway, so no backwards compatibilty isn't too much of a problem for me. Sure it's more convenient to be able to use the newer console instead of reconnecting the old one, but that's really not too much trouble.

You know the gaming community makes such a big deal over backwards compatibility but they seem to forget that the PS2 was really the only console that offered it. (not counting the Wii, but then I prefer to pretend that there were no new Nintendo consoles after the GameCube)

 

[cerebus23]

ps1, ps2, ps3 were all cell based, ps4 is going to be pc based for the first time.

being pc based it is entirely possible some of the emulators might be able to be run on it, think pcsx runs on windows and linux already.

running cell based ps3 games on a pc based system would take heavy emulation, maybe pcs could do it in a few years using quad+ cores and the like and given enough time and effort to recreate the cell processor functions and memory functions of the ps3, hence why the ps4 just might not be powerful enough, or just take too much effort on sonys part given the specs of the thing, to effectively emulate all the complexities of the ps3 in the background while running a game.

could be they just want to resell your old games in ps4 hd format later on for 20 bucks or w/e.

try running the heavier games like mgs snake eater and etc in pcsx2 on pc in high res and it takes a pretty beefy super pc to not chug emulating the ps2 heavy graphics games.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Why is everyone so livid about this? Software emulation is glitchy garbage and hardware emulation adds a lot to production costs. Back in 2006 Sony made sure their new media box played every frisbee with a Sony logo on it and that made them charge $600 for it, which hit them with market share loss and insultingly hilarious internet memes for the first fews years. The Vita has too much crap that adds to the cost that in reality is just a gimmick that will be used once or twice just to check it out. Maybe Sony is slowly starting to learn
from that.

I know some are on a budget and want to trade in something for another thing that serves the original's purpose and does more. If I wanted a PS4 day one and it had backwards compatibility I might trade in my underused PS3 because I'm tight on cash right now and have little room in my cabinet for more stuff, especially 2 dumbass convex-topped boxes.(Please Sony don't design crap like that again; you're shiny logo is jammed right under a shelf anyway.)

But, think about this: PS4 was BC and people traded in their PS3s for it, now what little you can get in trade-in value is going to drop a lot as surplus used PS3s pile up in the game store's stockrooms if they would still accept them after getting a certain amount. Right now PS3 trade in prices should not plummet because a new system is on the horizon. My opinion is the loss of value in that economic snafu is not worth getting a new system with few games and possibly losing playability with some games because of oversighted hardware issues or glitches because Sony isn't gonna test the entire PS3 library.

Plus, Nintendo's first console with BC out of the box was the Wii and now they dropped gamecube support from the Wii U because that would have added at least to development costs. They realized that they needed to cut some fat, otherwise the price would have been higher than what they thought would sell the Wii U.

 

[Frostbyte666]

Well seems like I'm not going to bother with any of the next generation consoles. I can understand their not including backwards compatibility (though I disagree with that) what gets me is how the actual games have become more of an afterthought compared to social networking.

 

[Quiotu]

PS1 mips cpu

PS2 mips cpu (backwards compatibility with PS1 super easy)

PS3 Power cpu (backwards compatibility only possible with PS2 with PS2 cpu included result increased cost = complaints of it's too expensive so it's dropped and sales increase).

PS4 X86 cpu (same as with PS3-PS2 only possible with additional hardware and increase in cost so they don't bother as people complaining on the internet does not effect sales cost does

Pretty much this. Sony's clearly seeing the issue and trying to resolve it by going to X86 architecture and staying there, making it really easy to make their consoles BC in the future. But it won't help the PS2 or 3, which pretty much sacrificed BC at the cost of making the systems really tough to crack with their goofy hardware. Like I said before, Sony can't retroactively make their previous hardware not suck at being emulated.

Streaming is pretty much their only option, which is what they're doing. Now they just need to announce later that people can stream for free what they've purchased digitally on PSN and have access to through PS+, perhaps stream for free any PS3 game they own and can insert in the PS4 drive as well. Price points will be key here, and we won't know that until later.

 

[Harker067]

Ok that makes my choice easy. Pick up a cheap ps3 at the end of its run and start working through that catalogue instead of the ps4.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

If Sony releases it without backwards compatibility people will ***** about that.

If Sony had released the PS4 with backwards compatibility it would have raised the price and people would ***** about that.

You just can't win with those kinds of people. I'm aware we still don't know how much the PS4 will cost but building PS3 hardware into it would not be free.

Truer words have never been spoken. The ps4 is using a different type of processor than the ps3 so it would be pricey. I'll just keep my ps3. Problem solved

Captcha: keep more money. I think I will

 

[Doclector]

For crying out loud, did Sony learn nothing from the Vita? This is the reason the Vita is constantly being out sold by the PSP.

So wait, even the goddamn vita doesn't play psp games?

Seriously sony, stop underestimating people's desire to play older games.

And no, emulation at a later point isn't good enough unless you find a way to make it free. People do not like having to pay twice for their games, this should be obvious.

Have to say, apart from that, PS4's not looking too bad, but this is a major slip.

 

[Quiotu]

For crying out loud, did Sony learn nothing from the Vita? This is the reason the Vita is constantly being out sold by the PSP.

So wait, even the goddamn vita doesn't play psp games?

Seriously sony, stop underestimating people's desire to play older games.

And no, emulation at a later point isn't good enough unless you find a way to make it free. People do not like having to pay twice for their games, this should be obvious.

Have to say, apart from that, PS4's not looking too bad, but this is a major slip.

I have 7 PSP games and 9 PS1 games working on my Vita, so I have no idea what Zouriz is talking about.