*spin-off* Importance of Backward Compatibility Discussion

I think Arwin means on the server side. Being x86 could simplify forward compatibility for new generations of cloud server platforms.
 
The effort put into backwards compatibility is effort not spent on creating a better experience for the new platform.

Go the Sony way and include hardware or go the Microsoft way and spend several developer man-years getting titles up and running on the new platform. In the first case you add cost to every unit sold, regardless if BC is used or not. In the second case, you have a huge fixed cost up front, as well as spending valuable developer resources in the most critical phase of the consoles life, just before launch.

In both cases money and effort is spent on something that won't generate revenue, and will impact schedules, cost and reliability negatively.

BC is a boat anchor around the neck of a new platform!

As for ensuring platform affinity: MS and Sony could (should) set up trade-in programs; Get 100 MS points for every XBLA and Games on Demand title bought . Similarly for PSN, receive credit for every $ spent.

"You bought 60 titles? here's 6000 points, go nuts!". It would create incentive to buy the new platform as well as create instant traction for new titles from launch (getting developers on board)

Cheers
 
Interesting idea on the credit to new purchases thing, though would they then remove the game from your account.. hmm. I still think that it will make people a lot more wary of future digital purchases though.
 
Interesting idea on the credit to new purchases thing, though would they then remove the game from your account.. hmm. I still think that it will make people a lot more wary of future digital purchases though.

They don't have to remove the old game. Let people access them on the old platform. So not really a trade-in, more like a frequent flyer bonus equivalent.

Cheers
 
The real problem with BC arises when you have classic titles that you really do not expect to purchase again for a new console. I already bought Sonic 1, 2, and 3. I consider those classics. When I get an Xbox 720, I expect to be able to play those games without buying them again. I invested actual money into those games. If people don't feel confident that digital content will travel with their account instead of effectively being tied to a console (specifically a console generation), then you're going to get a vote of no confidence on new digital titles because no piece of hardware lasts forever.

Also, you can only do the "HD remake" once. No one's going to pay money to see a Xbox 360 game redone for the Xbox 720 that ACTUALLY runs at 720p now instead of 640p or whatever gimp resolution was picked at the time.
 
Also, you can only do the "HD remake" once. No one's going to pay money to see a Xbox 360 game redone for the Xbox 720 that ACTUALLY runs at 720p now instead of 640p or whatever gimp resolution was picked at the time.

Why? I would pay money for a real 1080p Outrun 2.
 
Also, you can only do the "HD remake" once. No one's going to pay money to see a Xbox 360 game redone for the Xbox 720 that ACTUALLY runs at 720p now instead of 640p or whatever gimp resolution was picked at the time.
Depends on the price and wether you already own the game. By that logic noone pays for a "PS3 Essential" or the xbox equivalent since those games are just plain rereleases.
and having eg. Uncharted 1-3 on a single bluray instead of 3 has some appeal to me, even if I already own all 3 of them.
 
Depends on the price and wether you already own the game. By that logic noone pays for a "PS3 Essential" or the xbox equivalent since those games are just plain rereleases.
and having eg. Uncharted 1-3 on a single bluray instead of 3 has some appeal to me, even if I already own all 3 of them.

I would hate to see the market flooded with 1080p HD "remakes" of current gen games. That's kind of being lazy.
 
remakes or not, the start of "next gen" will be have some prettier "current gen" games, and very few that really push forward. Cant see how those remakes hurt, as long as they dont take dev resources from "next gen" games away.

in that sense, having either the full catalog through BC or "HDHD" Remakes would be a big plus.
 
Recognizing that I'm an anomaly with my multiple thousands of dollars spent on digital goods between XBLA/XBLGOD/XBLIG/Movies/Music but there is no way I'm moving to the next system on launch day without BC for a couple reasons.

First being that I would want to purchase two of the new consoles and I would want all of my sons purchases (mostly funded by me) to move forth as well. Second, while I certainly had no expectations of BC (I was even moderately against BC at the start of this gen) from PS2/XBOX to PS3/360 I ABSOLUTELY expect that the paradigm shift which has taken place, to ensure that BC is something that is highly envisioned to be implemented for at least one new generation.

Since I'm not a hardware collector I have no desires to keep my 360 around once I've moved on.
 
Assuming the current consoles were to stick around for a while longer, how much do you guys think adding BC would cost if it were a separate chip-only module and they decided to do another die shrink to 28nm? $100? $150? $200? I just don't see real hardware BC being an option unless its a separate SKU where it's clear you are paying extra for it.
 
The effort put into backwards compatibility is effort not spent on creating a better experience for the new platform.Cheers

No effort on BC… No quick adoption for the new platform, and also a good point to go to a more "green field".
No BC, with all the digital content buy by people on current gen, is a really bad and danger move for the product who don't have it…
Maybe some, like you, love to buy the same product many time.
 
Maybe some, like you, love to buy the same product many time.

Most people, like me, don't play old games on new hardware.

How many XBOX games have 360 owners on this board played? How many PS2 games did launch PS3 owners play?

And there is *zero* difference between digital download and physical media in this context.

Cheers
 
Most people, like me, don't play old games on new hardware.

The problem with this line of thinking is that there was a rush of old games being sold on live. By old I don't mean "xbox".

Many of the digital download games I don't think most even consider to be "xbox360 games". They are clearly not on the level of what most would consider AAA games and were simply ported to the xb360 even though they were natively on another platform (PC, android, xbox, snes, etc).


None of this even gets down to the bigger issue of the more popular multiplayer live games (COD, etc) and how they will handle this transition...
 
None of this even gets down to the bigger issue of the more popular multiplayer live games (COD, etc) and how they will handle this transition...
Have COD Next-Gen at launch and sell a truckload of new consoles and game discs at the new $70 RRP.
 
The question is will COD be THE big game next gen? Remember, the previous gen it was Madden and going into this gen there was no reason to think it would be anything but Madden. IMO, COD only needs to come out with an underwelming nextgen version to lose its mantel. That's exactly what happened to Madden.
 
Have COD Next-Gen at launch and sell a truckload of new consoles and game discs at the new $70 RRP.

Transition being the key word there.

How many are going to buy the new console while their friends are all on the old one and buy two versions of the same game as well?

Not many...
 
Most people, like me, don't play old games on new hardware.

How many XBOX games have 360 owners on this board played? How many PS2 games did launch PS3 owners play?

And there is *zero* difference between digital download and physical media in this context.

Cheers

I've played something like 10 old discs on my launch PS3, plus a handful of remasters from PSN, fwiw.

Remember the long tail.. I may have been the only one to have put Risk for PS2 into my PS3, but there are a lot of odd older games that will never be re-released but that are nonetheless someone's personal favorite.
 
Heck I play mario kart every now and then on my n64, which I have to get from the top of my closet, dust if off, plug in and everything for some good old local multiplayer split-screen action. And I have to do it everytime, which is at least a couple every year. If either Orbis or Durango came with a n64 cartrige slot ( I know this is never happening ) It would be a deal maker for me. No kidding. Fuck Virtual Console store, I have bought the game before, I'm not buying it again.
 
By the way, do Xbox Live Arcade and PSN games have the same low level access to hardware that disc-base titles do or is it somewhat abstracted away?
 
Back
Top