Playstation 4: 5 Reasons We Need Backwards Compatability And Should Have Used Games

3. It Further Encourages Upgrading, Especially Among Early Adopters

Biggest Game Collection Imagine you had the biggest game collection in the world, like the one shown above. Now, for sake of argument, let's focus on your Playstation and/or Xbox collection, which you would have started in 1995 or 2001 (respectively) if you were an early adopter. 12 to 18 years worth of games, games you're probably pretty fond of, considering you didn't trade them in at Best Buy or GameStop. You're going to want to play those games again, and while you have the vintage consoles now, they aren't going to be something you're going to want to risk damaging to the point where you have to buy a new one. The point I'm getting at is this: if you have a collection that extensive, you've kept it for two reasons: the games are rare and are worth a fortune, and/or you've got a couple classic games that you still like to play from time to time. Old console hardware, no matter how long you keep it around, is going to break if you use it enough. So here we've got an important segment of gamers holding on to old software, being given a choice to either let go, pay for all of these games again digitally, or use the old hardware and risk damaging it beyond repair. What are they to do when it comes to playing their favorite games of old? Naturally, they'll buy a retro console, like this one on the market that plays old cartridge based games. It's only a matter of time before retro consoles are devised for PS1 and PS2 games, at which time you'll start to see gamers possibly migrating to these non brand retro consoles. This diverts all of that sweet nostalgia money that big game companies could be earning if they started to do the same thing. Imagine the "Sega Throwback", the "Sony Yesterstation", or the "Microsoft EX-Box": a generation of consoles, built by game companies to keep their retro gamers happy and put money back in their pockets. It solves a practical problem, allows companies to rebrand/relaunch classic consoles, and avoid the scourge that is the Secondary Market.
Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.