EA: Next-Gen Consoles Probably Won't Be Backwards Compatible

Backwards compatibility is a great thing to have as it reduces clutter in your gaming area (no need to have multiple consoles in a single area).


I am betting backwards compatibility will be cut in order to reduce costs. If anything, older games will probably be digital downloads in the future.

Considering how crappy the PS3 was at backwards compatability (glitching within certain games and what not), I wish I hadn't sold my PS2 slim.

Do you forget how bad Xbox was at backward compatibility? I don't want it anymore. Last time they did backwards compatbility they ****ed it up. I just don't wanna go through that again

I think backwards compatibility is important. For me, it was one of the reasons I bought my Ps2, Wii, and to a lesser extent, my 360 (most of my games worked at the time). Not only does it reduce clutter, like wildmario said, it is almost a no-brainer for purchasing it at that point.

"Oh, this can play all the games I have now, plus newer, cooler ones? I'll take one, please!"

The downside is hardware makers sometimes remove it later in the console life cycle, to reduce costs, again, like wildmario said.

One other thing I forgot to mention is at some point, developers have to cut off backwards play because if you are going by physical form, we will be building up on two gens or more worth of hardware that developers have to shove into a current gen console.

Given how CERTAIN PEOPLE are trying to gut the used games market, this makes a lot of sense. Sadly.

Backwards compatibility is huge, but I wouldn't expect either of them to do it. Ha! Yeah this news coming from EA is a big surprise. "Backwards compatibility probably won't work because we need you to PAY!"
I would think this would be a huge opportunity for one or the other companies. If MS didn't have it but Sony did, that would make the choice for some much easier

That is true

I have emulators on my pc. Isnt that backwards compatibility? :D

Hell yeah! But one of my biggest disappointments ever was finally beating Road Rash 3 on my PC, and then... NOTHING HAPPENS!!! no cutscene (well, what passed for cutscenes back then!), not "Congrats", it doesn't even role credits! Glad I didn't beat the game when I was little, probably would've cried haha

I'm uninformed, but shouldn't backwards compatibility be only a software thing? I mean, isn't a dev kit nothing but a PC running some sort of emulation?

I don't need full backwards compatibility but last gen compatibility is a must or I won't be buying a next gen system for several years after release. If the life cycle of the consoles was as advertised (10 years) then I could see no backwards compatibility but as they haven't hit that mark I don't see why not. Also, their was a shift in media from CD-Roms to blu-ray which will not be the case this time around. I am seeing blu-ray plus a more robust digital offering but I think the comments it's super difficult to do or not cost effective is a bit of a cop-out. Particularly for the first iterations of nex-gen systems when the library will pale in comparison to 7+ years of current gen offerings. Just saying

Backwards compatability is the ONLY reason I bought a Wii U, I have a MASSIVE backlog of games to play in this console cycle so it's really important to me to be able to play them, and there are only so many consoles you can hook up at one time. If the next gen isn't backward compatable, I'll probably turn to PC gaming more and more, because it doesn't matter if you buy a game released today or 10 years ago, you can still play it on your PC. I like having all my games in once place and already have a PS3, PS2, Wii U, 360 and PC hooked up to my rig. I won't be buying next gen consoles for a while if I can't play my old games