MCV: PlayStation on Xbox backwards compatibility

In previous generations, yes. Difference is that people have vast XBLA libraries they will be able to access now on XBO, and will assuredly use.

It's not the same as going in to your loft and pulling out your dusty old PS3 games from time to time.

BC is a much bigger deal this generation. Also diminishing returns means last gen games still hold up well today.
Yeah, having your digital games suddenly pop up on the dashboard is very cool. And while I probably wont replay something like Mass Effect, playing a few rounds of Geometry Wars or Supermeat boy is always great
 
The problem with BC on consoles is that the games run just as well (or terribly) as they did on the console they're from. BC on the computer benefits from beefier hardware, giving increased resolutions, framerates, LOD's, draw distances, etc etc.

BC on a console is a great way to get people to advance from one platform to the next however, as it makes that transition easy, I just imagine it's a bit late for MS now. Had they included this at release it would have made a much more significant impact.
 
Call me crazy but i'll take cheap remasters over BC. Too many games suffered because of the long dragged out generation. Not saying it's a pointless feature because obviously i would like to have it but if PS3 emulation really is that difficult, i'll rather they focus on other stuff. Look how long suspend play took, obviously this shit isn't as simple as everyone makes it seem
 
Disappointing response, but:
...if you are seeking to upgrade 360 owners to Xbox One, it is a very logical approach to take.

Yep, I never considered an Xbox 1 before this announcement. Now I'm fairly certain I'll eventually have one, one way or the other. May be a dumb reason to a lot of people, but I'm running out of space in the entertainment center. If I can buy a new console that does a ton of new things and also replaces one of my current aging systems, that's huge for me. Otherwise there's too much overlap between PS4 and X1. But if I have a PS4 and X1+360, then it's a more worthwhile combination.
 
I don't see what's "bullshit ass" about it. They literally can't emulate Cell with a reasonable amount of effort. Of course they have to use another strategy.

Cause he's downplaying the importance of backwards compatibility while charging for the same service.

If the percentage of people who want it is so small, why are they even trying with PS Now?
 
It will be used on XB1 simply because of digital games which have never been in play before. They are just there staring you in the face, you don't need to do anything.

Also he brings up the OS where MS are way ahead of Sony regardless.
 
He really shouldn't be telling us what we want. I'd love to know how they have analysed the use of backwards compatability since the only console capable of such analysis was so short-lived.

PlayStation has one of the richest back catalogues in console history. Absolutely ridiculous to suggest it wouldn't be used.
 
Personally I don't really bother with the feature.

Usually I only buy a new console after I finish everything, or almost everything, I have on the previous console. So I buy the new console only to play the new games.
 
This is the era of users having massive backlogs of games. BC is far more useful for this generation of consoles than the last.

True. The rise of digital makes the capacity for backwards compatibility so much more attractive. I would get a ton of use out of it, personally.

But yeah, assuming the PS3 is simply too difficult to emulate to be worth it, at the very least PS4 users should eventually be given access to the same retro library the PS3 had.
 
As usual Ryan is right. It's hard to find time to replay old games, let alone new ones, especially now that most games these days are just iterations of their predecessors, but improved, so there's less draw to go back.
 
"Our fans don't want that, just like they don't want EA Access. We're just looking out for them."


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It's very impressive what MS has achieved. I do not believe Sony could pull off something similar (thanks Cell). Hopefully MS commits to really going all the way with it.

He really shouldn't be telling us what we want. I'd love to know how they have analysed the use of backwards compatability since the only console capable of such analysis was so short-lived.
What else can he say? I do not believe they could pull it off technically. It's out of the question.
 
When my friend asks me what system to buy for her Xbox 360 owning child, I have no choice but recommend getting an Xbox One. And I never would have made that recommendation before the BC announcement. It would have been brilliant strategy to have ready at launch. Now it's just a way to stop the hemoraging of 360 gamers over to PS4.
 
I think some people are forgetting that PS Now isn't just exclusively some paid backwards compatibility solution for PlayStation 4.



It is its own platform, that offers PlayStation titles on Vita, Smart TVs, tablets, phones, and maybe even PC at some point. PS Now was always aimed to be larger than just allowing you to play old PlayStation titles on PS4.


I dont really think you can compare Microsoft offering backwards compatibility on the Xbox One to what Sony has in PS Now.
 
Call me crazy but i'll take cheap remasters over BC. Too many games suffered because of the long dragged out generation. Not saying it's a pointless feature because obviously i would like to have it but if PS3 emulation really is that difficult, i'll rather they focus on other stuff. Look how long suspend play took, obviously this shit isn't as simple as everyone makes it seem

you're crazy
 
The problem with BC on consoles is that the games run just as well (or terribly) as they did on the console they're from. BC on the computer benefits from beefier hardware, giving increased resolutions, framerates, LOD's, draw distances, etc etc.

BC on a console is a great way to get people to advance from one platform to the next however, as it makes that transition easy, I just imagine it's a bit late for MS now. Had they included this at release it would have made a much more significant impact.

I've played a few games on my X1 using BC so far and honestly they perform great.

I think platform holders are going to start to NEED to invest in BC. The new consoles are basically PC's as it is.

With so many digital games too, upgrading may make a lot of users hesitant next gen. Trade in your xbox one/ps4 you lose all those games. Unless its BC
 
I don't want to defend the Sony PR guy but i very very rarely use BC for new consoles.

Actually, i'm only interested in Super Meat Boy, Shadow Complex and Outrun from my 360 and i'm not even sure these titles are compatible right now. As for the rest, i absolutely don't care for the other titles as they are old and most of them didn't age well.

When Phil Spencer announced the backward compatibility, i thought it was good for PR but didn't do much for me personally and i'm sure a lot of people feel the same.
 
Used little, maybe, but a huge incentive for current 360 owners to upgrades.

Would have been a bigger incentive 2 years ago though. MS has to be kicking themselves for not including this as a launch feature instead of allthe $$$ wasted on Kinect. It probably would have made a lot of people that jumped from 360 to PS4 think twice.
 
So many have been downplaying the XBO One getting backwards compatibility. Come on, that is major win for gamers and not really like the 360 getting XBox compatibly as the 360 had a vastly superior library of games.
 
If it's a underused feature why have they wasted money making PS Now?

Different things, PSNOW is looking to open up to smart TV's and tablets etc, it's also a way of future proofing for things like PS4 when the PS5 comes out or dare I say it, getting rid of the concept of consoles in the far away future.

That said, B/C is one of the most used features I use in the first couple of years in a generation, and given this years E3 I think MS are a little late to bring B/C that would have a meaningful impact this generation looks to finally be in full swing from this holiday onward.
 
It will be used on XB1 simply because of digital games which have never been in play before. They are just there staring you in the face, you don't need to do anything.

Also he brings up the OS where MS are way ahead of Sony regardless.

That's not slighty true, they have a few things sony has a few things. Best OS feature this gen MS does not have ,, share play. PS4 is also faster, more responsive, and easy to use.
 
Wasn't happening, no way to properly emulate Cell.

Would have been a bigger incentive 2 years ago though. MS has to be kicking themselves for not including this as a launch feature instead of allthe $$$ wasted on Kinect. It probably would have made a lot of people that jumped from 360 to PS4 think twice.

MS should have kickstarted for BC support before launch.
 
So if you already own a game on PS3, can you stream it on PS Now to PS4 for free?

Back in the early days of the PS Now closed beta you could. Sadly, when they opened it up and set prices for everything you wre no longer able to stream games you held a digital license to for free. That's the main reason why I don't really use the service anymore. I'd rather just turn on my PS3 than pay $5 to play a game I own. Most of the time I realize that I didn't really want to go back and play it in the first place.
 
Would have been a bigger incentive 2 years ago though. MS has to be kicking themselves for not including this as a launch feature instead of allthe $$$ wasted on Kinect. It probably would have made a lot of people that jumped from 360 to PS4 think twice.

Definitely. I bet if Spencer was head throughout the entire development of the XBO, things would be different.
 
People are massively overstating how many boxes Microsoft will move as a result of this announcement, and subsequently how much post-launch interest Microsoft will put into this project.

Prediction: the launch line up (ie the games available when this feature leaves preview) will consist of at least 66% of the total number of 360 games being made playable on the Xbone over the console's lifetime.
 
I don't see PlayStation bringing PS3 BC to PS4 anytime soon or at all for that matter as the PS3s architecture is quite a bit more complex and more difficult to emulate, it's probably possible but extremely difficult and time/cost consuming. I still think PlayStation should really bring PS1 & PS2 BC to PS4 though as they are much easier to emulate (the PS3 was powerful enough) and more feasible, but don't charge me for the same game again Sony!
 
A lot of the time, the solution of "Oh just keep your old consoles around" isn't desired. I know for me personally, I want to keep the games, but reduce my physical clutter to a minimum. I'm not a collector, I don't have walls of video game cases or a room dedicated to old consoles. But I do want to continue playing the older games I have bought, on the minimum amount of hardware I can own. I appreciate BC, even if I don't actively use it as much as playing newer stuff, I truly appreciate that it's there.
 
I bet doing the same thing for PS4 would be agonizing due to PS3's architecture.

Microsoft doing this is awesome no doubt.

Its agonising on the X1 as well yet Msoft is doing it...

People are massively overstating how many boxes Microsoft will move as a result of this announcement, and subsequently how much post-launch interest Microsoft will put into this project.

Prediction: the launch line up will consist of at least 66% of the total number of 360 games being made playable on the Xbone over the console's lifetime.

Well, they have said their emulation actually works on all of the softwares present in the 360, the publishers are the one deciding which one is to cockblock the emulation due to Licensing (or the remastering potential)
 
I bet doing the same thing for PS4 would be agonizing due to PS3's architecture.

Microsoft doing this is awesome no doubt.
Agreed, but what MS achieved wasnt a walk in park neither. MS considered BC important over other opportunities, while Sony didnt and have looked elsewhere to invest is the way I read that statement.

Knowing how important BC is when weighing up moving to the next generation its a great strategy for MS. Personally I went out of my way to get a BC PS3 but tbh I never used that function beyond a few games.

The thing is its still a feature that would have a major impact to my decision making even if I didnt really end up using it. I think a lot of people think the same...

I dont see PS Now as a replacement to BC, more like a proof-of-concept of the potential of game streaming, you dont invest into Gaikai and Onlive just to use that tech just for BC

ps3ud0 8)
 
What's the point of appeasing poor people who can't afford new games? Sony is doing the right thing.

.... ok....

Actually its not about Sony doing the right thing, they are doing the only thing they can do. Software emulation isnt possible, and a $600 PS4 would have probably sunk the entire corp.
 
Just my opinion here, of course...

The backwards compatibility announcement was great for MS, but I feel that it's a little overblown for a few reasons. This is coming from a former 360 owner, btw:

1. In the grand scheme of things, there really aren't that many timeless classics in the 360 library that aren't already being remade or have been remade for the XB1. You have the Master Chief Collection, and now Gears of War. The 360 had a good library of games for sure, but a lot of them, I feel, don't have a high replay value.

2. Microsoft and third party partners have a history of almost totally abandoning their previous generation console as soon as the new one comes out, and the same is true for the 360.

3. I'm seeing parallels to when the Virtual Console idea was first announced on the Wii. People were immediately stoked because the idea was that nearly every single classic Nintendo title, and most big titles on other retro consoles, would be made available. Of course, the problem with that was with licensing agreements and things of that sort that meant a very slow rollout of coveted titles, and some titles never making it in the first place. To me, the proof is in the pudding how closely XB1 BC is going to compare...I think a huge red flag should be raised that games have to go through an approval process initiated by the content owners (this is how I heard it during the press event, please correct me if I'm wrong).

So, yeah. It's probably a pretty cool upgrade incentive for people clutching to the 360, but I don't see this as being a huge megaton type thing.
 
PS Now is there 'response' to the lack of BC with PS3 software....so there really isn't much for them to comment on :l; the PS3's Cell is needed for proper PS3 emulation on PS4 hardware and without the Cell, its close to impossible to do :(.

The best thing I could see them doing is offering a 'free upgrade' system for PS3 owners that got the digital versions of games; if you won the Uncharted series digitally, get a steep discount on the Uncharted Collection or get part of that collection for free. Own Last of Us on PS3? Get the PS4 version for free or get the Left Behind content for free while the Last of Us core game is heavily discounted.

They also could finally add PS1 and PS2 Classics support for the PS4 and pay some companies like Sega, Capcom, ect for PS4 ports of PSN tittles.
 
Definitely. I bet if Spencer was head throughout the entire development of the XBO, things would be different.

Spencer has been a top player at xbox for years, please, he was as involved as any and behind the x1 as much as anyone. He was also behind their lack lustre first party for years. THis Spencer worship is odd and makes no sense. All MS was behind X1 not just mattrick , it's not how business works.

Have you seen the new upcoming XB1 UI? It's pretty slick.

Yeah but ps4's is already.
 
When I had my fat PS3, I never used the backwards compatibility. Honestly I don't care to play PS3 games on ps4. But to each his/her own I guess.
 
In this summer drought, BC is exactly what I need. If I could pop in skyrim or borderlands 1, tahrs be heaven. Plus I didn't get to play Stick of truth and I doubt they'd remaster that
 
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