All I'm saying is that at this point in the PS4's, and PS3's life, we got real generational exclusives. And there are more PS5s in the wild now then there were PS4s or PS3s back then. I understand there are reasons. But making excuses because of a hardware supply constraint or an install base do not track with what was economically feasible for every generation before now.
I'm not unhappy Sony is doing this. I have no PS5, but I do have a PS4. So it's great that I can play some games I thought I would have to buy a new system for. In fact, I'm grateful for the support. I'm simply saying that Sony's hand isn't being forced because they haven't or couldn't move enough PS5s. They have, as proven by past generations.
It's all about the business and removing the unprofitability around the launch window of a console. With typical hard generation shifts you see a massive drop in software (game) sales whenever a new generation arrives which leads to a massive drop in console revenue. Here we see both Sony and MS have either flat or increasing console revenue. The reason? Almost all software (game) sales are playable on both the new and old generation of consoles.
That's the whole concept behind rolling generations and what game developers have been asking for. The actual game developers that care about whether their company can remain profitable through a new console generation launch and whether their company will even still exist after the loss of revenue that accompanies a hard generation shift. The comments we see from developers that don't like it are ones that just work there and don't even think about the financial hardships that accompany new generation launches since they get paid the same salary regardless of how profitable the company is. Well, until the company becomes takes on too many losses and either has to close or gets sold to a large publisher.
For Sony it obviously isn't about whether their studios will have to be closed or not. It's all about not having that massive 2-3 year decline in console revenue that has always accompanied a new console generation.
They obviously knew this was the plan ahead of time as you don't just implement cross platform support after a game has been in development for multiple years. However, Sony have always been about telling gamers only what they feel the gamer's want to hear ... or to think of it another way, not telling them things that they feel might have bad PR connotations.
Especially if they see negative reactions on the internet if their competitor has already stated they are doing X thing which Sony also plan to do. In this case, Sony just won't talk about it, or if their plans are different they'll make sure
everyone knows they are doing it differently and even take snide jabs at the competition ... even if they think they'll also be doing it at some point in the near future.
In this case, MS announced their games would support the previous generation consoles and a vocal minority on the internet started gnashing their teeth. So, Sony, just felt it would be better just to not say anything about it and focus on what a wonderful new generation the PS5 would be and how it enables wonderful new experiences.
It's all about the PR. But, while they could do a better job with just telling gamers what they are going to do, at least they are doing what I would consider the "right" thing by allowing people that can't jump to the new generation (whether due to finances or supply shortages) the ability to play the games regardless of whether they are still stuck with a PS4 or not.
Also, as people will find out as the generation goes on, cross generational games don't necessarily mean sacrificing quality if the next generation was targeted and then made to work on the previous generation. Not all game's or game types can really leverage all the additional CPU power in such a way that CPU intensive effects can't be reduced to enable it to work on the previous generation.
It'll be the very rare game where the CPU is so integral that there is no way to reduce it enough. MS mentioned Forza Motorsport, but this is likely just really minutely detailed physics simulations for the vehicle and its components, likely being modeled at 120 Hz or higher, likely extended to multiple vehicles. Something like HZ: FW would never in a million years require anything like that. So anything CPU, GPU, or I/O intensive in that game can easily be reduced such that it would work on the PS4 without compromising the PS5 version of the game. And even in Forza Motorsport's case, if Turn 10 wanted to, they could likely reduce those simulations for the XBO while still keeping most of the "feel" of driving.
Regards,
SB
