12 Stupid Gaming Moments That Unwittingly Defined The Last Generation

7. Backwards Compatibility Goes Bye Bye

Looking back at the PS2, we clearly took backwards compatibility for granted, because the seventh generation of gaming deemed that the feature wasn't useful enough to include as a system seller, what when Sony and Microsoft can just charge us again for a digital or streamed version of the title. Early models of the PS3 would play both PS1 and PS2 games, but this model was soon enough nixed due to the cost of producing it, and so the later models would only play PS1 games, whereas PS2 games were available digitally. The Xbox 360 played some Xbox games through software emulation, though this was not a particularly reliable way of being able to play your favourite games. This is all indicative of the way the industry is moving, because as the eighth generation begins, it's clear that backwards compatibility is simply no longer something we as gamers are able to expect, for both the PS4 and Xbox One are not supporting backwards compatibility of any kind. Instead, Sony are instead going to promote playing classic games through Gaikai streaming, an ambitious but risky proposition given that many parts of the world do not have super-fast fibre optic Internet, and may suffer with bandwidth caps also. Backwards compatibility was a great, novel feature that meant my old consoles could stay dusty under my bed, whereas now, I have to lug them out to play a classic game, unless I want to give Sony or Microsoft another £10-15 for the pleasure.