Sony May Add Backward Compatibility to the PS4

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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Sony May Add Backward Compatibility to the PS4

According to tipster Ahsan Rasheed, local PS2/PS1 support on PS4 with native 1080p rendering for select titles is coming.

Tipster Ahsan Rasheed, who has a pretty impeccable track record when it comes to leaks, has stated over Twitter that PS2/PS1 backward compatibility is coming to the PS4. He added that 1080p rendering for select titles would also be available, and that the PS4 is going to get some upgrades to its Bluray and media player.

[tweet t=https://twitter.com/thuway/statuses/448330251878531072]

In a PlayStation Now [https://twitter.com/thuway/statuses/448330517675782144], which will also allow streaming of PlayStation 3 games.

He then talked a little about Project Morpheus, Sony's new VR initiative, stating that the company wants to hear as much criticism of the device from third-party developers, most likely to help improve the product.

Backward compatibility is one of those things that console games had kind of accepted isn't going to happen anymore. The PS3 was initially backward compatible by a single generation, and the Xbox One and PS4 have ditched it completely. Only the Wii U is natively backward compatible.

But if what Rasheed is saying is true, then that's huge news for fans of legacy titles, as it would mean the PS4 would be backwards compatible a whole three generations, second only to the PC in terms backward compatibility.

Source: VG24/7 [https://twitter.com/thuway?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vg247.com%2F2014%2F03%2F25%2Fps4-to-get-psone-and-ps2-support-with-native-1080p-rendering-new-vr-demos-inbound-insider%2F&tw_i=448330251878531072&tw_p=tweetembed]

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Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Jul 18, 2009
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Very promising, BUT I'll hold my cheers till I see at what quality these games will run. I had a couple of PS2 games run on my PS3, with some of them getting their frame rate cut in half, and others having the screen vertically smooshed.

So if these games actually play well with no visual downgrade, then I'll bring out the fireworks.
 

bunnielovekins

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Mar 1, 2013
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Holy crap, I might actually get one if this turns out to be good. Depends though, if it's just "selected titles", i.e. those that will sell the best, because I own a LOT of PS2 games and PS1 games I'd like to play on a reliable console.
No alundra, no sale.
 

Kingjackl

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Nov 18, 2009
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I'll wait til I hear more. Personally, I'm more interested in the PS3 streaming idea. I never owned a PS3, but there are a heap of games on it that I'd love to play.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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Steven Bogos said:
Backwards compatibility is one of those things that console games had kind of accepted isn't going to happen anymore. The PS3 was initially backwards compatible by a single generation, and the Xbox One and PS4 have ditched it completely. Only the Wii U is natively backwards compatible.
The PS3 was also played PS1 games. In fact, they still do, to my knowledge.

Still, if true this is amazing news. But I think I'll hold off celebrating until it's announced for real.
 

alj

Master of Unlocking
Nov 20, 2009
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I hope this is correct, now we have a console that's not less powerful than a pc form 2004 we should be able to do some decent post processing on the PS1 and PS2 games, inject some AA and AO and make them look as good as you can make them look on an emulator. It is quite impressive the level of detail that is in the models of most PS1 games, you just cannot see it on PS1 native hardware, its not going to make it look amazing but i will try to dig up some of the screenshots i have of RE1 running on an emulator on my pc vs PS1 native and show you what kind of improvements you can expect if Sony do the job right.

Oh and on PS3 backwards compatibility why not have it so if you have a PS3 disk in the derive then it will let you stream the game OR let you download an updated version to your PS4 that will run but you have to have the PS3 disk in the drive so you cannot just sell it.
 

mirage202

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Mar 13, 2012
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I have been waiting on the PS4, biding my time to see what release come down the line.

This though, if this is true and as other have said, isn't some half arsed half baked measure, then I'm sold on the PS4 as of the time it happens.
 

Squilookle

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Nov 6, 2008
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"Report: PS4 to get PARTIAL PS1/2 Backwards Compatibility"

Come on, call it like it is. If they say 'select titles,' don't hype it up as being anything better than, say, the lousy xbox 360 partial backwards compatibility effort.
 

iseko

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Dec 4, 2008
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I wanted to buy a ps4 for my gf. Problem is that she has a fuckton of ps2-ps3 games. Most of them she wouldn't be that pissed off for if she could not play them. But the god of war series and oblivion... Yea she'd be pissed. If those games work on the ps4 then you have just gotten yourself a sale.
 

Unit72

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May 5, 2010
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Sony is a huge mega corp. How hard would it be to hire a few independent programmers who specialize in making emulators free for the public. Its just a matter of putting a few of those corporate tendrils out to find these people and add them to their payroll for a bit. Mabey offer a royalty for every system sold or something. People have been emulating for the older gens for years now and for no pay. What if those people were solely dedicated to their emulation job and had the full software support of sony to develop it?

Imagine the money coming in. The ps2 was the best selling system ever and now those people may just want a ps4. Mabey those who don't already own a ps3 or smart tv would like to get into the multimedia/gaming box that is the current playstations now with no fear of having to swap systems for their older gen game fix.
 

Eruanno

Captain Hammer
Aug 14, 2008
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"Media player updates"? As in, DLNA support? Because that would be quite nice, thank you very much.
 

MrBaskerville

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Mar 15, 2011
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If it worked in a satisfying manner (meaning, if all my games would work, even the obscure ones) then i´m buying a ps4. Let´s see what happens, this could get interesting. Though it is a bit sad that my only reason to own a next gen console is to play blu-rays and to replace my aging ps2 (2003 and still going!).
 

bluegate

Elite Member
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Dec 28, 2010
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iseko said:
I wanted to buy a ps4 for my gf. Problem is that she has a fuckton of ps2-ps3 games. Most of them she wouldn't be that pissed off for if she could not play them. But the god of war series and oblivion... Yea she'd be pissed. If those games work on the ps4 then you have just gotten yourself a sale.
Would you take away her PS3 and PS2 when giving her a PS4 then?
 

Shalok

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May 28, 2012
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If the PS4 has backwards compatibility that might actually tip me over the edge to buy a console for the first time in 10 years