PC gamers, you can look away here and this topic has never been an issue for you. Luckily you guys get to play everything.
Hell, even if you want to head back to the awesome MS-DOS days you can. Being mainly a console gamer, the biggest issue I have, and I hope some of you agree here is the lack of backwards compatibility.
Why is this an issue now you ask? Well apparently Sony are working on the PlayStation 5, to be announced sometime next year. While a new console generation sounds awesome, there is this constant fear these days whenever new hardware comes out that our games collection will be irrelevant when it does.
I lost dozens of great PS3 games when the PS4 was released, as my PS3 slowly gathered dust and so did the games.
But there is so much more to backwards compatibility than just having your games on a new piece of hardware, and in recent months Sony and Nintendo proved just how behind they are compared to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 support.
We do have some sort of backwards compatibility support on PS4 in the form of PlayStation Now, but sadly the service does not support SA and requires a decent, if not impossible internet connection here.
Again, even if it did work here, we would still need to pay a premium subscription to use the service. Yes, pay to play our old games.
A little backstory
Before we get ahead of ourselves, take a step back and remember the PS2 era. All three versions of the console played PlayStation games without fault.
We then moved into the PS3 generation and it was the same, for a while. Sony’s first generation of PS3 consoles ie: the 60GB models, all played PS2 games, but then suddenly when the PS3 80GB model was released, they cut the support and the price by R1,000.
We spent the rest of the generation without a way to play our PS2 games, besides the usual emulation methods on PC. Enter the Nintendo Wii, and Wii U.
The Wii had Gamecube support until the slimmer model released, and the Wii U had Wii support until the death of the console. The same goes for the Nintendo 3DS, which held its own by supporting the DS up to now.
The latest console from Nintendo however, has thrown everything out the window, and the most you are going to get from your backwards compatibility is repurchasing games as a “Deluxe Edition”, which leads me to my next point.
Million Dollar Industry
I cannot help but feel there are games that I have played a dozen times on different platforms. Kingdom Hearts is one of these as the latest collection just re-released on PS4.
On the PS3 we had two games in a space of a year release that contained a collection of games, which I dare say released on the PS2.
Looking at my collection of games, I was dumb to think that this was something new I needed, as I owned the entire Kingdom Hearts series, yes, even the ReChain of memories which never released in EU, I imported.
So I bought both the 1.5 and the 2.5 ReMix. A few years later, two to be exact, the game released again on PS4, but now both games are in one bundle.
This means we went from no new Kingdom Hearts games on PS3, to having the same collection re-release twice.
Remastered collections are also becoming a major issue, as I used to be the person who was always down to play anything.
The issue here is that after you have played Jak on the PS2, then on the PS Vita, then on the PS3 remastered, and now again on the PS4, things get a little dry.
Jak is a perfect example of how this lack of compatibility is ruining the industry. The collection has been released four times now, with the latest release being direct ports of the PS2 versions.
Yes, Sony did not even bother putting them together this time and making them pretty. They are sold separately and for around R200 each.
When is a series done and not worth releasing again? You can edit a trailer as many times as you want, but those PS2 visuals are only going to get you so far.
It is a case of every time there is a new resolution or technical feature in the industry, developers re-release a game to take advantage of it.
HD PaRappa the Rapper, then 4K PaRappa the Rapper. Should we expect an HDR version soon too?
The fact is, remastered games and re-releases have made up a huge chunk of this generation’s games, and I am sure there will be more to come.
I cannot point much blame at Nintendo right now expect for the fact that the Switch needs games, and the Wii U games just do not work on the console.
They could have gone the route of Microsoft, and yes I know I am no developer, but I am sure Xenoblade, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Smash Bros would sell like hot cakes on a console with a very limited offering of games.
With the Wii U’s sales, I bet millions of gamers lost out on its library.
There is a justified re-release like Mario Karty 8 Deluxe, and then there is simply milking it like Sony are doing with Jak.
However, the way it should have been done in the first place is by giving gamers the ability to keep their past hardware’s games like our dear friends did at Microsoft.
Nintendo is not innocent, however, as they have milked gamers with their backwards eShop for years.
If you bought a Virtual Console game on the eShop on your 3DS, you would not own it on you Wii U. The game is available on both the 3DS and Wii U, but you will have to buy it twice.
Now with the release of the Nintendo Switch, if Nintendo does ever release that same game you bought twice on your 3DS and Wii U, you will have to buy it again as the license does not transfer to your account.
Get ready to spend a fortune on Super Mario World games again.
Microsoft have done it right
I love how Microsoft think, like logical people.
Millions of gamers all over the world have a digital library of Xbox 360 games, so let us let them play them on the Xbox One.
What! Can it be possible that a console can actually play games from its predecessor?
Why this was not a priority at first is still beyond me, but I have to take my hat off to Microsoft for doing this.
This feature enabled me to play all those games I spent thousands on during the Xbox 360 era, and not waste them all like I did when the PS4 released.
Even if you don’t play any of your Xbox 360 games, the idea that you still have access to them is a godsend, and this fear of wasted money is something you never need to experience.
I regret spending all that money on the PS3 sales, yet I will still go and buy a Xbox 360 title on sale just because it plays on the Xbox One.
Will I ever get to play it? Probably not, but I still own it and the option is there.
The future of backwards compatibility
Microsoft pretty much has this feature nailed down, but the issue now is will it stay this way in the years to come.Will Sony’s new PS5 have the ability to pop a PS4 disc in and play?
Well if they do leave the feature out, then chances are we will get a new Jak collection that we will have to buy again on the console.
Oh, and let us not forget the Uncharted Collection, Horizon Zero Dawn, and more. Whatever happens, Sony will make sure we always have the ability to repurchase our games again.
Just sit back for a second and think about all those games you have repurchased again this generation.
Expect to do the same next generation too.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Let us know in the comments and forum.
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