As talk of the new generation of consoles has begun to heat up, there's been two particularly powerful rumors swirling about. Rumors that if true could prove more damaging to both the Playstation 4 and the new Xbox than any other snafu in the history of gaming. I am, of course, talking about the continued lack of backwards compatibility and the possible end of used game support. Talks of both of these features have featured at one point or another during the gaming industry's continuing narrative on the Next Generation, but more and more fervently we've been hearing these rumors that both of these features will be disabled. Some have cited the new PC-esque installation process that next gen games supposedly will require as the end to Used Gaming support; and as for Backwards Compatibility...well, Nintendo is the only one still using it, and Sony dropped it a while ago. As a gamer and as a consumer, I think it's a terrible idea to discontinue such features. While both do not directly give money back to the heads of industry, it could ultimately return more of an investment back to them. Especially when you take into account the strong secondary market for video game consoles, peripherals, and software that keeps classic consoles in our minds and in our hands. With all due respect to Sony or Microsoft, here's five reasons why they're wrong to think about eliminating both Backwards Compatibility and Used Gaming Support.
5. It Worked For The Playstation 2
All hail the King of backwards compatibility, the PS2! Before the Wii and the Wii U kept the game going, the PS2 was the first (if not one of the first) backwards compatible console in current gaming history. You know all of those PS1 games you horded from 1995 until 2000? Well, guess what? You could totally buy a PS2 and still be able to play those games if you decided to get rid of your PS1 or if it broke and you didn't feel like buying a new version of an old console. Of course, Sony dropped the ball they ran with after their overhaul of the Playstation 3, which originally DID have backwards compatibility, but had it disabled/bred out due to "
compatibility issues with games for both systems". So you mean to tell us that Nintendo figured out what Sony couldn't? And somehow Nintendo is still getting creamed in the console wars? If we're voting with our wallets, I'd strongly suggest diverting your votes to Nintendo for a spell. They could use the help, and maybe Sony and Microsoft will change their tunes and offer some sort of way that we can play our XBox, Xbox 360, and PS 1 & 2 games without having to drag our old consoles out. (Don't worry guys, Call of Duty and Halo will still be there when we get back.)