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XBone v. Backwards Compatibility

http://gameological.com/2013/05/for-our-consideration-backward-compatibility/

A really interesting article about how expensive backwards compatibility really is and why the next generation of consoles is ditching it, and why they're still dicks for doing so.  Especially since, as I've noted, I've been playing a whole bunch of "living in the past" PS2 games via the PSN like Sly Cooper, the God of War series and Jak & Daxter without crumbling into dust due to technological regression.  

Comments

  1. cabspaintedyellowMay 30, 2013 at 8:13 AM

    While backwards compatibility would be nice, I've never been one to be that upset by the lack of it, if only because it's not all that different from how gaming was as I was growing up. It used to be that once you moved on to a new system, that was it. If you wanted to play your old games, you had to hook that system back up and boot up the games yourself. So I'm probably deliriously short-sighted, but I don't really see what the problem is in doing that still, unless you sell your system or trade it in towards the new one. In which case, yeah, that sucks.

    However, many of my old PS1 games are now up on PSN for pennies on the dollar. I mean, it's still not perfect or anything, but at least it'll only cost me $10 if I want to play Chrono Cross again. Considerably less since I'm a PS Plus member (another advantage that really makes siding with PS in this more of a no-brainer).

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  2. I have a PS3, but I went out and got a SNES/NES a month ago. Since then, I've been spending most of my time playing Super Metroid + other classic SNES/NES titles.

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  3. I like having backwards compatibility and the ability to not have 3 or 4 consoles plugged into my TV.

    I know it's been said, but let's dumb it down further: backwards compatibility isn't cost-effective. Never mind the costs involved (and I have a hard time believing that 500,000 license can't be bought for less than $2 each, but that's besides the point), but why would you buy and play a new game if there are ones in your library you haven't gotten to yet? It forces you to go for the current generation rather than living in the past.

    Everything the XBone has done has been war with your wallet. What companies fail to realize is that best tech =/= best sales. The Wii is so inferior to the 360 and PS3, yet it printed money. PS2 didn't have as much as the Dreamcast, but it still sold dozens of millions of consoles.


    Again, I'll pass on the next gen.

    BTW, that "if you're backwards compatible, you're just backwards" comment from Microsoft really stresses the point of how they feel about their consumer base. And ultimately, it'll be what helps to put this market into a freefall.

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  4. Yea, I see myself playing my old SNES or N64 over the current systems almost every time

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  5. I keep reading the new system as "ex bone" - and I really think that sums up the new XBox pretty well.

    The biggest question I have about the backwards compatibility issue is, why does it also seem to apply to digital purchases? If I buy a game digitally over XBox Live, or PSN or Nintendo's Virtual Console, do I still have access to it when I buy a new system? If not, why not? Use the same ID Tag for whatever system you used to have for the new one and download them.

    I switched from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 5 this year. All of the games/apps/music I had on the old iPhone ported right over to the new one, at no cost to me. Shouldn't this be done with the consoles, too?

    Now, if I'm wrong and there's no issue there, I take the position of Gilda Radner's SNL Weekend Update character:

    "Never mind!"

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  6. You can still access your Nintendo Wii Virtual Console stuff on the Wii U because it has Wii hardware built in.



    You will NOT be able to access your XBLA content on the XBone because it's not capable of running 360 games.



    Dunno about Sony yet.

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  7. Honestly the biggest issue is that modern consoles are much less reliable than older ones.


    The SNES is a tank that will still work 50 years from now, but you can't necessarily count on your 360 surviving another decade, especially if you have an older model.


    The only solution if you want to make sure you have access to your 360 games decades from now is to snatch up a couple back-up 360s when it reaches its lowest retail price point before discontinuation and keep them in storage.

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  8. I think, like all past consoles, it won't be long before most xb360 games are available in emulators. PCs are getting faster and cheaper, so playing PS3 and XB360 games via said emulators will be a cinch.

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  9. I'm not very much into the emulator scene, but last I knew weren't there still a fair amount of problems easily emulating stuff from the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube generation? I know my laptop at least isn't powerful enough to even run the emulators that do exist for them.



    I have no doubt that eventually those problems will be sorted out over time but still, those are well over a decade old.

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  10. Emus are always about 1.5 generations behind. PS2/Dreamcast are reliable now for the majority of games on those systems (just played through a few old PS2 jrpgs at work over the last few months) but original xbox emulation just isn't working at the time.

    Supposedly PS3 will be a total bear to crack so I wouldn't count on that for years. Nobody's even within shouting distance of getting a PS3 emulator to play games yet and it doesn't look like that's going to chance any time soon.

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  11. I feel like the durability of the SNES is more a Nintendo thing than a situation of past technology simply being built to last. I remember a story of two mountain climbers taking their DSs with them up Mt. Everest, and while their mp3 players froze, their hard drives were fried, and their transistors imploded, their DSs still worked like a charm throughout.

    I don't know that I've ever had a Nintendo product break on me, come to think of it. Yet I can't say the same of any other game company, whether it was a Genesis, Game Gear (stop laughing), a PSOne or an XBox.

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  12. PCSX2 (ps2) and Dolphin (GC/Wii) are high functioning. Technically Dolphin can actually outperform the consoles it emulates which says more about Nintendo than the emulator itself.



    Neither require anything top of the line hardware wise. I don't own a gaming PC, just a cheap storebought POS and the "modern" emus run nicely.

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  13. Maybe so. This Game Boy survived a Gulf War bombing and still works

    http://media.techeblog.com/images/game_boy_2.jpg

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  14. You could make the case that a lot of modern tech isn't really built for the long haul. It was simpler when all you had to do was blow on a cart - now, red rings and yellow light? Where am I, the circus?

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  15. My original Nintendo Game Boy that I got for Christmas in 1990 still works. It drains batteries like a son of a bitch, but it still works.

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  16. It's like they didn't learn from Sony's arrogant borderline-insult-the-consumer shit back at all the 2006 PS3 expos.

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  17. My original XBox is an emulation workhorse that runs SNES, Genesis and N64 perfectly. God bless the creator of Avalaunch.

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  18. Just got my NES refurbished, so I've been playing the shit out of Ninja Gaiden and Zelda II in recent days.

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  19. Final stage of Ninja Gaiden on the NES brings back some serious nightmares for me.

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  20. That sounds awesome. I'm sure a link will pop up somewhere, mysteriously showing me how I can achieve such gaming bliss.....

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  21. They learned - they learned that most consumers are sheep. You can insult them, defecate on them and call it mashed potatoes, but show them something shiny and they'll break out a fork.

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  22. You can also convert a gamecube into a pretty kick ass emulator that will play mostly anything PS1, SN, N64 and Gamecube. Google is your friend.

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  23. I had an Intellivision that worked 20 years after purchase (and may still work today, it is stashed somewhere at my parents). I still have 2 working NES systems. People still have working Pong and Atari systems. It's not just a NIntendo thing but rather better craftsmanship and a sturdier system using cartridges rather than discs and a laser to read them.

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  24. I just beat Zelda II for the first time ever a month ago. I seriously felt like I solved a 35 sided Rubicks cube.


    Fuck that game.

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  25. 4th/5th stage of TMNT One on NES gives me the hee-bee Jee-bees!

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  26. ". I don't imagine I'd be playing much online multiplayer if I had to pay $60 for the game, then another $60 for the right to get teabagged and yelled at by drunk 22-year-olds for a year"


    This guy gets it.


    Xbox is a fucking rape.


    Plain and simple.

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  27. To add on to that, the sheer memory you will need to play said games will be extraordinary




    PS2 games eat up alot of HD space. just think about how much some of those PS3 games will be.

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  28. that comment really seemed like something a WWE spokesman would say.

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  29. exactly. and PS2 emulation not only took years but if you look at some videos of it doesn't run 100% smooth (on most systems, at least).

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  30. Fucking TMNT 1, that was balls hard.


    And now that post makes me want to go play TMNT 2: The Arcade Game, so excuse me =)

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  31. I'm fine with it, I love my ps3 games and I currently have 2 consoles plugged into my tv and i barely touch my xbox and it will likely be swept off in lieu of the ps4, i have no problem with having the ps3 and ps4 on my desk. (not like im getting a wii u or an xbone)

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  32. Am I dreaming? There is no comparison between Xbone and Backwards. XBONE is the best. I have tried free virtual games kids this one too. But this is really not that cool.

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  33. PS3 need some modification. Like free virtual games kids has done it's modification and now came up with new cool features. And PS should also reduce it's cost.

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