Thread: Playstation 4
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Old 02-24-2013, 04:36 AM   #274
Tom Guycott
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mitt Rogney View Post
If you accept backwards compatibility now, then what happens when you have to release the PS5 which combines the PS1 emulation, the PS2 emotion engine, the PS3 cell and the PS4's architecture? what about the PS6? Their job is to make the system that makes the most sense now.
The BC problem is that they used it as a MAJOR selling point to get people to buy a PS2.

There, the base question was "Why would I update to a PS2 when I already have a perfectly good Playstation? Oh, I can play the shit I already got? Cool!" The true boon in that release was the out-of-the-box DVD playing ability, since it was like getting a "free" DVD player, since at the time, they were about as much as just getting a PS2, which could then also play all your old Playstation games AND any new ones. Instant gold.

Sony tried to make lightning strike twice with PS3, pimping it instead as a "free" Blu-Ray from jump... but this wasn't the same era as the DVD boom. Most people aren't as hardcore about "the best picture". In this case, it was more "DVD works fine. But it might be worth my while if I can play all my PS2 games that I already own..." That somehow turned out to be a fiasco for Sony, who somehow decided that a major selling point for their previous system could somehow just be swept under the rug for the current one. Who cares if it can play PS1 games? Most people getting a PS3 are upgrading from a PS2. Can't afford them the same luxury again, huh?

The "resell in HD" is lazy and greedy. Having the OPTION to buy something you already may own again is a nice feature, and if it is good enough/loved enough, it is possibly worth doing (hell, I OWN Symphony of the Night for PS1 and still downloaded it on my XBOX) but making it MANDITORY is just stupid. Especially from the company that set the standard in making home consoles backwards compatable. Pretty sure people don't like being FORCED to buy something more than once... especially if they didn't lose it or have it stolen.


Nintendo actually got this one right with their handhelds... pretty much every generation had a stop-gap for the previous gen cart and the newer one, and only did away with them on re-designs of the same system later in its cycle. Game Boy Color could play original GB titles, the Advance could play GBC (and by extention, original carts) until the relase of the Advance SP, the DS did away with the older Game Boy playability, but kept the Advance for awhile. Pretty sure they continued this trend with the DSi and the 3DS, but I still use my original tank DS/Advance Wars Dual Strike combo to accomplish any time passing needed). They lead in with people being able to use the older stuff, then get people addicted to the new. Then, they tie THAT format to the newest system, and then get people on the new format. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Sony, on the other hand, seems content with the strategy of "LOOK HOW POWERFUL OUR NEW (X) IS!!!" ... and ignore anyone who ever had anything for their previous forray. It almost smacks of "Oh, hey, you like our PS3? Well fuck you, we're on PS4 now. Catch up." Meanwhile, average Joe Q. Consumer (who isn't to be confused with Mr. Early Adopter) is weighing what they already have and spent on his game library against an upgrade. If you can't play what you already own from jump, and Sony doesn't subsidize that with a true first party must-have killer app, that guy is going to wait for a system price drop. And that guy is a larger market than the one who just has to be the first kid on his block to own the next hot thing.

Sony doesn't NEED to emulate PS1 shit. Too old. PS2 is even questionable at this point... but PS3 would make sense. You're asking people to fork over launch price money because a couple of cool looking vids and supposedly better controller. What about people who have "yellow lighted" systems (hardware failure is still a thing, even after the slim redesign). What about people who don't have Bill Gates money? Would be nice just to woo them to the new console instead of asking them to either buy another PS3 or just start all over again on a PS4.
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