Sony should do this for PS3 backward-compatibility* on PS4

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
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If you have PlayStation Plus (should not require PlayStation Now), the system should detect the PS3 game you insert and let you stream it from Sony -- playing remotely via the same GameLive technology already used by the built-in game share and PS Now features.

It would be another value-added perk for PS Plus subscriptions for sure. People would see how PS Now works and it would probably also help to sell PS Now unlimited streaming subscriptions too.

Seriously, Sony. Get on this right now.
 
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zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
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It's something everyone has been asking for ever since the Xbox got its backwards compatibility. I'm sure if Sony was in second place in the console race like Xbox is they would do that but them being ahead I don't think they care all that much.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,181
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I really want my friend to play Shadow of the Colossus HD on his PS4.
I still have that game for ps3 but I never got a chance to finish it. Would love it if the current system would be backward compatible. I would probably go back and play the god of war series too since I have most of them.
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
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It's something everyone has been asking for ever since the Xbox got its backwards compatibility. I'm sure if Sony was in second place in the console race like Xbox is they would do that but them being ahead I don't think they care all that much.

I'm not sure the PS4 is powerful enough to emulate the PS3 well. Naughty Dog said is was pretty difficult porting their games from PS3 to PS4, so it doesn't sound like PS4 has enough power to just brute force PS3.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
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I'm not sure the PS4 is powerful enough to emulate the PS3 well. Naughty Dog said is was pretty difficult porting their games from PS3 to PS4, so it doesn't sound like PS4 has enough power to just brute force PS3.
The suggestion we are discussing does not require the PS4 to emulate a PS3.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
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Has there ever been a reason given why the newer consoles don't offer backwards compatibility? One of the greatest aspects of the PS2 is that is can seamlessly play PS1 games as well. I know the 360 can play *some* XBOX games and the first-gen Wii can play GameCube games, but it seems pretty silly to limit the libraries of newer consoles.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
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Has there ever been a reason given why the newer consoles don't offer backwards compatibility? One of the greatest aspects of the PS2 is that is can seamlessly play PS1 games as well. I know the 360 can play *some* XBOX games and the first-gen Wii can play GameCube games, but it seems pretty silly to limit the libraries of newer consoles.
The special PowerPC-based "Cell" CPU had something like 7 cores. Many were only for certain types of math. It would be very difficult to low-level emulate that.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
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Is there a reason the PS2 gen was able to pull it off while the newer ones can't? I know more about PCs than consoles, so I assume they are using technology that isn't compatible with older games, but I was always running under the assumption that the hardware just pushed out performance while the drive is what actually read the game.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
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Is there a reason the PS2 gen was able to pull it off while the newer ones can't? I know more about PCs than consoles, so I assume they are using technology that isn't compatible with older games, but I was always running under the assumption that the hardware just pushed out performance while the drive is what actually read the game.
The PS1's hardware wasn't nearly as complex. I don't even think it had a distinct GPU. They probably included actual PS1 components in the PS2.

They definitely included actual PS2 components (CPU and GPU) in the PS3 at first. Then they eliminated one of the 2 chips to reduce cost, which hurt compatibility badly. Then they eliminated both and nixed PS2 compatibility completely. PS1 compatibility remained, but it was purely software emulation.
 

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Is there a reason the PS2 gen was able to pull it off while the newer ones can't? I know more about PCs than consoles, so I assume they are using technology that isn't compatible with older games, but I was always running under the assumption that the hardware just pushed out performance while the drive is what actually read the game.
And similar goes for Nintendo's backwards compatibility. The Wii U is still at heart mostly the same as the Wii, which again, was just the Gamecube. Xbox360 was just a PowerPC based computer (which is why XboxOne doesn't have full backwards compatibility, as not every function-call can be brute forced on an x86 platform at speeds fast enough to play... well at least not with the CPU/GPU used in the XboxOne that is, there are plenty of much faster CPUs/GPUs which would be able to do it).
 

nurturedhate

Golden Member
Aug 27, 2011
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The PS1's hardware wasn't nearly as complex. I don't even think it had a distinct GPU. They probably included actual PS1 components in the PS2.

They definitely included actual PS2 components (CPU and GPU) in the PS3 at first. Then they eliminated one of the 2 chips to reduce cost, which hurt compatibility badly. Then they eliminated both and nixed PS2 compatibility completely. PS1 compatibility remained, but it was purely software emulation.
That's exactly what they did. The processor in the ps1 was used for I/O in the ps2.
 

ImpulsE69

Lifer
Jan 8, 2010
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And back then they weren't as concerned about milking the same games over and over on newer platforms with barely touched 'HD' versions. Now it represents practically half this generation.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
And back then they weren't as concerned about milking the same games over and over on newer platforms with barely touched 'HD' versions. Now it represents practically half this generation.
Remasters or ports have been going on since the dawn of the gaming