Backwards Compatibility (Or Lack Thereof) A Big Deal?

[Jon Tees]

Does it make a difference whether the latest, greatest generation video game console is backwards compatible with the console you currently have? Would it not having backwards compatibility cause you to consider not buying it as it would mean that you can't just get rid of your current console as a space saving measure and still play the current games that you've collected.

[Ty]

For me it is a big deal even though I dont have systems. If I were a gamer, I wouldnt want to buy a system and not be able to play the games I already have. Lets face it, at the price those things are, I could only afford a couple games off the get go and after I get bored of them, my 600 dollar machine would be useless til I got moar games

[Stoner]

A big argument against backwards compatibility is that older systems were not backwards compatible, so why do these ones need to be?

The answer is that they don't need to be, but it is a very useful feature that we have become spoiled with.  Look at the Playstation 1.  Its probably pretty hard to find one, let alone one that works, at a decent price.  Then look at the PS2.  Easier to find, probably for cheaper, and can still play all of the PS1 games you can find.  Playstation 3 pops up and(at first) played PS1 and PS2 games, meaning that both of those systems were made obsolete.  This isn't a bad thing!  For one, those two older systems, if you played them like I did, were probably getting tired of being played.  I know that at the end of its life, my PS2 was having problems playing any game more graphically advanced that Fire Pro Wrestling Returns or Disgaea 2.  Having the option to play those on a more advanced system was a bonus that, if I had the money, I would have taken in a heartbeat.  Yes, it saves space. It also saves time, which is something that we all can be happy about.  Time you don't have to worry about sorting out what cords go to what system* when you plug them into the TV, making sure you have the right controllers(unwrapping them if they have cords), among other things.  Yes its all small things, but its a lot of small things which becomes tedious after you've done them for the fifth or sixth time in a day.

With backwards compatibility, the only time you have to spend in changing discs.  That's it.

Not having backwards compatibility also leaves players still enjoying current gen games without the option to trade the current gen system in for the next gen system, making the next gen system "more expensive" by proxy.  The argument to this is "$500 is $500 no matter how you look at it."  But with BC, its $500, minus the trade-in value of the older system(Gamestop offered a 30% bonus to Trade In value of original XBoxes for the 360, I don't see why they wouldn't do something similar here).  And you were assured you would have games to play with the system at release via your old library.

The way it is with the new Sony and MS consoles you have to pay the cost of the console ($400 and $500, respectively) plus the cost of a game or two($60-$120).  Otherwise you've bought yourself a brick.  A shiny brick, but a brick nonetheless.

*The solution to this problem, in case you are wondering, is to color code what cords go to what system.  I used to use bread ties, but now I use colored tape.

[Cory]

I think it is a big feature....but at the same time I have no problem just using my old system to play the games.

[Stoner]

I think it is a big feature....but at the same time I have no problem just using my old system to play the games.

As implied by my previous post, the same is true for me.  But not so for the vast majority of players.

I've also learned that its easy to trade in the console for a descent deal and then buy a vastly reduced-price copy of the console I sold later on.

[Kirk]

I've still got all of my old consoles lying around somewhere, so it's not an issue for me. All of the old games will be available to download eventually... it just sucks that you'll have to pay for them.

[Crazy Kyd]

I like the option of backwards compatibility and I do own a PS2 but my brother currently has it. It isn't a big deal but it is just a convenience to have the current system have backwards compatibility.

[Mike Powers]

If the new system is backwards compatible, cool.  If not, then just keep the system that plays the game you like.

[Stoner]

If the new system is backwards compatible, cool.  If not, then just keep the system that plays the game you like.

WiiU is the only Next Gen system with backwards compatibility, and only for games from the original Wii.