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Next-Gen Xbox To Lack Backwards Compatibility?

Posted by simoniker on from the little-birdie-told-me dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Biz news site Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Microsoft's Xbox 2 won't be backward compatible with games for the current Xbox, and quoting 'sources close to Microsoft's senior Xbox executives' explaining some of the thinking behind the decision. All very cloak and dagger, although I guess whoever told them would probably be in line for a firing if they found out... So, is Microsoft right or wrong on this one? Have any Slashdot readers ever actually used the backwards compatibility on their PlayStation 2?"

42 of 842 comments (clear)

  1. one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by garcia · · Score: 4, Interesting

    According to a source close to the project, internal Microsoft figures suggest that only 10 per cent of PlayStation 2 purchasers were interested in the console's ability to play titles developed for the original PlayStation.

    This is also coming from the company that did consumer research that found their controller was superior. I am apparently one of the 10% of people that thought that the PS2's backwards compatibility was important, apparently one of the small minority of people that believed the XBox controller to be clunky and uncomfortable (in fact caused serious cramping after short use), and that small group that seriously believes that part of the reason that MS has dominated the market place on the PC side was for backward compatibility with their products.

    MS is changing the architecture, the design, and the graphics chip (ATI, no HD, and non-Intel) which will obviously force emulation (which, according to the article, was being planned) but I would think it would be far more worth it just for a base of titles. I believe the PS2 did *so* well because of the large base of titles that came from the PS1 and I can't imagine that the XB2 will be debuting with any base if they don't have backwards compatibility.

    1. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 5, Insightful
      emulation... would be far more worth it just for a base of titles.
      Let's put it this way: If the Xbox2 won't play my Xbox1 games, requiring me to keep both an Xbox1 and Xbox2 connected to my TV, then why should I buy an Xbox2? I'm free to buy any other console that won't play my Xbox1 games: PS3, GameSphere, whatever -- even a PS2, which will be like free by then and have about 100 times more titles.
      --
      If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
    2. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by pegr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is THE lesson they learned from the PC. While backward compatability severely limited the potential of the PC, it was absolutely required to maintain continuity (check OS/2 sales for reference). The game market is different. If you really need a box for your old XBox games, get an XBox (for prolly >$100 by then).

      This will cause some consumer backlash, however. Maybe it will affect sales, maybe it won't.... Since when has the game (or PC, for that matter) market been directed by technical truth rather than marketing FUD?

      Hey! Now there is poetic justice! Good luck, BillyBoy! ;)

    3. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by ron_ivi · · Score: 5, Funny
      Not backwared compatible? Does that mean it won't run Linux?

      bummer.

    4. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by gabebear · · Score: 5, Interesting
      reminds me of Microsoft's Get the Facts crap. I actually ordered their free Windows/Linux evaluation kit. Funniest thing I've ever seen, and it cost them $3.82 just to ship the crap to me, not to mention the cost of materials. I'm now using the folder they gave me for my Comp-Sci classes.

      I imagine they backed themselves into a hole by going with an Nvidia chipset. They don't own licences to emulate all of Nvidia's shader stuff on ATI hardware, so they do a "study" showing how it doesn't matter. Sony on the other had has licenced (or cross-licenced) pretty much everything in the PS2.

    5. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by VividU · · Score: 4, Funny

      Exactly. The Xbox controller has taken on a mythical status all its own.

      It's by far the most ergonomical of all controllers.

    6. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by Jtheletter · · Score: 4, Insightful
      apparently one of the small minority of people that believed the XBox controller to be clunky and uncomfortable (in fact caused serious cramping after short use)

      Are you talking about the original controller? If so then I think it's safe to say the majority of gamers (read as: humans with human-sized hands) agree it was a POS, but the scaled down s-controller is perfectly comfortable.

      In my experience, having lived with 5 roomates with varying console preferences and having both a PS2 and an Xbox on the same communal tv, the PS2 users cause their hands to cramp up using the xbox because they insist on keeping their fingers in the L1L2 R1R2 positions when those buttons don't exist on the xbox controller. If you relax your hands and approach it as a different controller - not as a poorly designed PS2 contoller - then there shouldn't be any trouble at all.

      --
      -- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
    7. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by foidulus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you make your console backwards compatible, it helps your consumers out by a) reducing the amount of space they have to dedicate in their entertainment center for consoles and b) reduces the rats nest of cables that is bound to be connected to said TV. Plus, the original X-Box isn't very "stackable"
      Blech! I'll just keep my little gamecube.

    8. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by gabec · · Score: 4, Interesting
      One point to think of, regarding "How many of you Slashdotters have used the backwards compatibility on Playstation 2's" is that, well, actually making use of PS2's backwards compatibility is most likely quite rare, but when it was a *new* console it meant that the console immediately had 100x the games of any competitor.

      Backward compatibility only helps you get people when the console is new. I remember the arguments when XBox first came out: "Well, I could get an XBox but it has *no* games! What am I going to do, play Halo for the next two years waiting for real games?"

      Of course, it turns out that most of my friends *do* solely play Halo... :P

      For XBox Next it's a matter of the lesser of two evils: do we cut out the possibility for hacks (Linux) or do we cut out our feet off *again* by having a virtually non-existant game library? Of course, with the massive changes to the hardware that are coming backwards compatibility would have an extremely high price anyway.

      Have there been any consoles other than PS2 that offered backwards compatibility?

    9. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by molarmass192 · · Score: 5, Informative

      No man, it's a different CPU endian since they're going PPC instead of Intel for XB2. They'd need to emulate an x86 CPU to get the XB1 game bytecode to run on the XB2. That's fine for normal proggies but for graphics instensive, CPU optimized code like games, it would take a hell of a lot of CPU horse power to make the games enjoyable under an emulator.

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
    10. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by ev1lcanuck · · Score: 5, Funny
      First, thanks for the link to their get the facts - I had them send me the evaluation kit just so they could pay for it. Plus I get that warm fuzzy feeling when I get mail.

      Second, I definitely agree with you, that they've backed themselves into a hole in more than one way. They've decided to change the entire architecture of the system, removing HDDs, going for a different chipset etc. It will be next to impossible for them to get the licenses and then make the thing emulate in time for release.

      Third, backwards compatibility was a huge advantage for the PS2 when it came to the market. It meant that people could buy their console and go home and play some excellent games from the PS1 instead of being forced to suffer through some of those horrendous launch titles. Having the backwards compatibility simply adds more value to the purchase.

      Looks like Microsoft made some bad decisions here. Surprise, surprise!

    11. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by gfody · · Score: 4, Funny

      reminds me of a screen shot I once saw of a funny error message when starting windows:
      "cpu not detected. using software emulation"

      --

      bite my glorious golden ass.
    12. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by Teppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If leveraging a previous library works, then maybe they should make the XBox 2 backwards compatible with the Playstation 2

    13. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by Aqua+OS+X · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Of course, it turns out that most of my friends *do* solely play Halo... :P" :) hehe, ya I own an Xbox and a ton of games.... but I only play Halo. Although the other games I own are quite fun, console Halo is video crack.

      I know at least 4 other people in a similar situation ;).

      --
      "Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
    14. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by boarder8925 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      How many of you Slashdotters have used the backwards compatibility on PlayStation 2s?
      I'm one of them. After my PlayStation broke, I was very grateful for the backwards compatibility.
      --
      Keep your eyes to the sky.
    15. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by Creepy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I had thought this might be one of the reasons MS bought VirtualPC - at least, I did when I heard that the CPU they were going to use was PowerPC. Now I'm not so sure - emulating/overriding the nVidia graphics subsystem may not be possible. I was thinking they'd port the API layer and only emulate instructions as necessary (like the WINE on PPC proposed - probably much easier to do with the original source code).

      The main reason to switch to the PowerPC was the "computer on a chip" tech that makes building them MUCH cheaper. Rumor has it that Sony and Microsoft may even use the same multi-core chip (and Nintendo a similar one). Not that it matters much - the GPU(s) is going to matter more for polygon count.

    16. Re:one of the reasons they prospered w/the PC? by -noefordeg- · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Don't underestimate the power of backward compatibility....

      Tekken, Rayman, Final Fantasy, and a some other titles are still frequently used in my PS-2.

      "Backward compatibility only helps you get people when the console is new."
      -No. Not 'only'. It also helps when the developer creates the SAME game for the new console. With maybe a few more lens flares. Well. Lens flares have never made a game good and seldom better.

      If what you say should be true we would have to relay on the developers to release the same games over and over or almost the same games, just a bit better, AND we would have to be stupid enough to buy them over and over.

      I see it as more or less having to replace me CD collection every 4-5 years. Which is just no-no.

      It's been this way with Windows and Office too, but lately it seems like it is going to stop. Or.. Maybe MS will add some lens flares to the Office Helper :p

  2. Used it? by cbrocious · · Score: 5, Informative

    I think I've played more PS1 games on my PS2 than normal PS2 games.

    --
    Disconnect and self-destruct, one bullet at a time.
    1. Re:Used it? by swerk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I bought my PS2 basically as a DVD player that also would play bargain-bin RPGs, e.g. all those PS1 titles I missed out on before. Since then I've bought a few PS2 titles, but most of my playstation library is made up of cheap old PS1 games.

      Never having had a PS1, backwards compatibility on the PS2 was a big deal for me, it was like getting two systems in one. I don't have an x-box, and I'm not likely to get the next one of that line either but the ability to play a bargain-bin Panzer Dragoon Orta or Halo certainly would be appealing.

      Game Boy has been the best example of backwards compatibility; the fanciest GBA SP of today and even the dual-screened Gameboy of the future will still play the original circa-1988 games. Granted, the Game Boy evolved in small increments, but apart from HDTV resolution and more megahertz, what's the next x-box going to do that the current one doesn't?

      Even for folks that don't actually take advantage of a system's backwards compatibility, it's a strong selling point. The device seems more universal. AMD's x86-64 is cool for some of the same reasons. It's the new hotness, but the old and busted stuff still works on it.

    2. Re:Used it? by twilightzero · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Same here. I never owned a PS1 at all but that was a HUGE part of my deicison to get a PS2. I wanted some games from the PS2 *coughfinalfantasyXcough* but I loved the fact that I could go back and play all these PS1 games that I missed. Several of my friends have huge PS1 libraries so it was heaven for me to go through and experience all this stuff I previously wished I could play.

      --

      "Christ what a design! I could eat a handful of iron filings and PUKE a better emergency pump than that!"
    3. Re:Used it? by zariok · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have a 1st generation PS2 (ie got it the DAY it came out)... it barely plays ANY PS1 games.

      I noticed when purchasing the DVD Remote, it "upgraded" the DVD software by placing a new version on the memory card, but have yet to find something what "updates" the PS1 emulator/driver.

      I started picking up some oldie, but goodie, games that I can't even play due to not owning a PS1 anymore. Those include the afore mentioned Castlevania, various Mega Mans and MK Trilogy.

      Any thoughts?

      --
      -zariok-
  3. Bad Move for MS by (54)T-Dub · · Score: 4, Insightful
    In the article Microsoft claims that only 10% of the PS2 owners care about backwards compatibility. They are probably right, but what percentage of people who bought the ps2 in the first year cared about backwards compatibility. I think backwards compatibility makes it easy to justify the high cost of buying a console early if you know that you can still play the golden oldies and you won't have to fork over $50 a pop for each game, especially if your old console is starting to show some wear and tear. If MS wants to take an early lead they had better reconsider.
    I thought this quote from the article summed it up nicely.
    "We do expect Microsoft to launch its console first, perhaps as early as 2005," says Pachter. "Should it choose to do so without backward compatibility or significant third-party software support, we expect to see its first-mover advantage evaporate."
    How many people, do you think, held out for the ps2 over the dreamcast because of backwards compatibility?

    I wonder if this was the real reason that they dropped the backward compatibility:
    Speculation about the backwards compatibility functionality has been rife since it emerged that Xbox 2 ... will have radically different hardware to the original system, with a non-x86 processor, no hard drive and an ATI, rather than NVIDIA, graphics chipset ...
    It was widely believed, however, that Microsoft had retained a team of hardware emulation experts to work on the problem - although concerns over the viability of such an endeavour were voiced by some experts, especially regarding the company's ability to emulate the functions of the graphics unit in the Xbox without violating NVIDIA's intellectual property rights.
    --

    "I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
    1. Re:Bad Move for MS by Mordaximus · · Score: 4, Funny

      10% of PS2 owners is Xbox's entire market share!

  4. GameBoy! by Kjuib · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That is what made the 2nd edition Gameboy such a hit... and the 3rd.. and 4th... and #th version of Gameboy because you could still play your old classic games on them.

    --
    - Your stupidity got you into this mess, why can't it get you out? -Will Rogers
  5. Use PS2 Backward Compatability? Absolutely! by abcxyz · · Score: 4, Informative

    We probably have a 50/50 mix of PS1/PS2 games. The old ones were left-overs from the long since dead PS1. My son regulary pulls out some of the old RPG games (and PS1 memory card). Still running just fine and now on the 2'nd PS2!

    Backward compatability was and still is a huge selling point for the Playstation 2.

    -- Rick

  6. That sucks by ayf6 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am a avid xbox gamer and would consider an upgrade if I could play my old games on the xbox2. I also would have loved to see a way to transfer the saved settings from my xbox->xbox2 perhaps over the ethernet cable but I guess that will never happen either. This is a very sad article to read given how superior the xbox is to the PS2 for graphic and sound quality. The xbox was truely an inovative game console.

  7. Thats it.... by kpansky · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is not good for MS. Releasing two consoles so close together without backwards compatability? Wow. If they kept the compatability I would actually predict XBOX2 to make a splash, but early adoption, lack of development tools, and no backwards compatability? Can you say Itanium?

    --

    --Kevin
  8. Duuhhh... by MarkGriz · · Score: 4, Funny

    quoting 'sources close to Microsoft's senior Xbox executives' explaining some of the thinking behind the decision

    3. Profit!

    --
    Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
  9. You gotta be fucking shittin me.... by greymond · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "Have any Slashdot readers ever actually used the backwards compatibility on their PlayStation 2?"

    Um yeah who the hell doesn't?! I play all my PS1 games on my PS2 and look forward to playing my PS2-PS1 games on my PS3 when it comes out. As much as i'd hate to see the Xbox go the Nintendo route and fuck over their consumer base I think MS should....

    The reason is the Xbox is great, but it's so freeking easy to pirate the games on it, and I understand if they want to make it more secure/proprietary. As it is now, you put your mod chip in and a larger drive, flash the bios and install the new dashboard and from then on any game you rent you simply hit "copy to hard drive" and its yours. You NEVER buy games...EVER...

    With the PS2 yeah you can mod it to play burned copies, but then you got to fuck with your burner software and be picky about your cd media. Also the mod chip for the PS2 is a solder only and not a "stick and screw" chip like some of the the xbox ones.

    --
    Ave Molech Setting
  10. Major architectural differences? by MisterP · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm sure I'm oversimplifying things, but I don't see how it would be possible to emulate a P3 700 class CPU on a 1.xGHz processor of a completely different archecture. They don't even share endianess (is that a word?)

    When IBM and ATI announced they be supplying the parts I thought right away there would be no backwards compatibility.

    Maybe they'll sneak an XBox1-on-a-chip in there?

    1. Re:Major architectural differences? by melatonin · · Score: 4, Informative

      They don't even share endianess

      Actually, any PowerPC chip can run in big-endian or little-endian. The reason is, back in the PReP days (then CHRP), PPC was supposed to be The Chip to use for All Operating Systems, as AIX, Solaris, NT, Apple's Copland, and most importantly, Taligent, were supposed to be able to run all on one computer (one box). Ah, those were the days. Computing was expected to have a very different future.

      Pre-G5, PPC chips had instructions to convert between big and little endian data or something, or maybe address different endian data. This is why Virtual PC for G5s doesn't exist yet; G5s are missing endian-related instructions that are used by current versions of VPC.

      --
      Moderators should have to take a reading comprehension test.
  11. I never had a PS 1... value gamers by mekkab · · Score: 5, Interesting

    BUT I have PS1 games for my PS2. So suck on that.

    For gamers who need to be up to the minute; backwards compatibility is not important.

    But for the value gamer; the ones who wait until PS2 games are re-released as "Classics" with the red boarder and sell for $20 (instead of $50)- these are the people who will pick up older games and play them on their modern system.

    Cheap skates of the world, Unite!

    --
    In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
  12. knee-jerk by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

    "So, is Microsoft right or wrong on this one?"

    They're wrong, of course! Uh.. later I'll come up with a reason, I was just a little short on karma.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  13. Re:Foot, meet bullet by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And yet, you have a GameCube, even though it wasn't backwards compatible with N64, which wasn't compatible with SNES, which wasn't compatible with NES..

    Backwards compatibility is nice, but not if it compromises the new features of the machine.

    I'd rather have a cutting edge console than something that'd been watered down so it can still run old stuff.

    There were a lot of disgruntled PS2 early adopters who found its low-res graphics (an artifact from PSX days) to be less-than-impressive. In fact, the first run of games didn't exactly blow away the PSX versions. There was also much ado about the handful of PSX games that were incompatible. It gave them an early black eye.

    I'll buy an Xbox 2 for the same reason I've bought any other console: It has some kick-ass games that i want to play. If all it had going for it was compatibility (ie; PS2 for the first year), it'll sit on the shelves.

    Compatibility is nice, but not a selling point by itself.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  14. Xbox vs. Playstation 1 by daveo0331 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I bought my Playstation 2, I didn't particularly care about backwards compatibility. Why not? Because I already had a PS 1. This is relevant because the current installed base of Xboxes is a lot less than what the installed base of Playstations was when PS2 came out -- which means there's more people that could benefit from Xbox 2 backwards compatibility than were able to benefit from Playstation 2 backwards compatibility. I would be more inclined to by an Xbox 2 if I knew that by buying one, I could also play all the Xbox games that I can't play now because I don't have an Xbox.

    --
    Remember the days when Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility?
  15. Yeah me too, funny that... by Simon+Carr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In fact anyone I've spoken to with a PS2 has brought up the backwards compatability thing. It was even one of my considerations when I got mine, and I didn't have any PS1 titles.. I just knew they'd be out there. Granted, since I bought it I've only taken in 3 or 4 PS1 titles, but I still consider it an advantage. When (I guess it's when now) I buy a PS3, backwards compatability with my PS2 games will be one of the selling points since I've invested $TooMuch on my game library.

    If I had an XBox, I wouldn't want to have two devices milling about in my entertainment center, especially two devices the size of XBoxes. And then, on down the line, will Live be an Xbox2 only service? If so what happens to everyone who likes playing the original Halo online?

    Funnily enough MS seems to think it can afford to do research that supports what it wants to believe is true. I guess technically they -can- afford to, but not if they want to make money on any future ventures. It's a company wide problem from what I can see that needs to be solved.

    And yeah the XBox default controllers are huge.

    --
    -- The unsig...
  16. Well I dunno by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    History seems to be on their side. As far as I know, the PS2 is the ONLY popular console ever to be backward compatible. I mean let's run down the big successes console wise:

    Atari 2600: First gen.

    NES: First gen.
    SNES: Planned to be backward compatible, not implemented in release.
    N64: Not backward compatible.
    Gamecube: Not backward compatible.

    SMS: First gen.
    Genesis: Not backward compatible.

    PS1: First gen.
    PS2: Backward compatible.

    That's all of the most successful consoles I can think of. Of those, only ONE was backward compatible. Even most of the lesser consoles were not compatible with anything else.

    Saturn: Not backward compatible.
    Dreamcast: Not backward compatible.
    Neo Geo: First (and only) gen.
    Jaguar: Not backward compatible.

    Now maybe backward compatibility is now huge, amybe now that Sony has started it, it is the one thing that no one will live without. That, however, remains unproven. History indicates that non-backward compatible consoles can be successful. Current evidence seems to support this too. Despite competition from the PS2 and X-box, and lots of raging on graphics quality, the GameCube has done quite well for itself.

    1. Re:Well I dunno by gamgee5273 · · Score: 4, Informative
      Wait - you are forgetting three systems here: while clearly not as popular as the systems you mention above, the Atari 7800 was backwards-compatible with the 2600 (but not the 5200... go figure) and the Turbo Duo was backwards-compatible with the TurboGrafx 16 and the TG-CD.

      But the third one is the most popular series of "consoles" of all time and the grandaddy of all backwards-compatibility: the Game Boy. The GBA and the GB Player for the GameCube can play almost all Game Boy games going back to 1989. Pretty impressive, and a huge selling point, IMHO. I think Sony is modeling their console plans on Nintendo's handheld strategy - and it works. I play PS1 and PS2 games on my PS2 regularly. Now if Nintendo can follow that course for the GC's successor...

      To get back to the Xbox, however: I believe that Xbox Next will be fundamentally flawed if it does not allow backwards-compatibility. I don't currently own an Xbox, but if there were a few games I had to have on a Xbox Next, I might buy one of those if I could pick up the three or four Xbox games I want. However, if I can't go backwards... then there is nothing that could compel me to buy either the Xbox or the Xbox Next... except for Shenmue III (if it ever happens).

  17. Trade-in, Trade-up by DeadBugs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A lot of people either traded in or sold their PS1 console to buy a shiny new PS2 console.

    Not only did they get money back (or at least a discount) towards a new console, they already had a library of games to play while getting in on some early new console action.

    This may not affect sales of the XboX2 in the long run. But a lot of gamers (including me) will wait for the 2nd or 3rd price drop to get a new XboX2. However, by then they may have invested too much in a PS3 and just skip MS.

    --
    http://www.kubuntu.org/
  18. Using Backwards Compatiblity by pyrrhonist · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Have any Slashdot readers ever actually used the backwards compatibility on their PlayStation 2?

    YES! In fact, I have used it for several games, for the following reasons:

    • It just flat out took me a long time to finish the game (Final Fantasy series, MGS VR Missions), because I got distracted with other games/work/bright lights
    • The game has a fun head-to-head mode (Soul Blade, Syphon Filter II)
    • The game is fun to play more than once (MGS, Syphon Filter)
    • I keep the game around for nostalgic purposes (Doom, Warhawk, Original demo disks)
    • The game is only available for the PSOne (Final Fantasy IV-VIII)
    It's good to be able to sell the old hardware, but keep the games you like to play for use with the new hardware.

    BTW, the PS2 can speed up disk access and perform smoothing on some PS1 games, which is kind of neat.

    --
    Show me on the doll where his noodly appendage touched you.
  19. Re:It's just a bloody name by The-Bus · · Score: 4, Insightful
    To wit:
    • Nintendo Entertainment System
    • Super Nintendo Entertainment System
    • Nintendo 64
    • Nintendo GameCube (different media, natch)
    • Sega CD
    • Sega Saturn
    • Sega Dreamcast

    I don't think ANYONE expected backwards compatibility, and it hasn't really been an industry standard. Playstation/Playstation 2 was THE major exception in U.S. console gaming.
    Nintendo has actually made it a business model to resell and repackage old games. Super Mario Bros. for the NES has been re-released a number of times for many systems, including the SNES and the Game Boy Advance/SP. Names are used for branding. People will associate it with something... whether it be cool graphics, Halo, XBox Live, etc. Name association may mean backwards compatibility to some, but only if you started playing during the Playstation era.
    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  20. Best $20 ever by Psymunn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having never owned a PS1, i was over joyed to find FF7 for $20 down at the local EB
    Backward compatability is awesome beacuse, quite frankly, with my NES, SNES, n64, and PS2, i am running out of space and outlets around my tv
    And some people might say 'ditch the old systems' but I can tell you that, on more then one occasion, my buddies and i have consumed a case of beer and a friday evening reveling in the glory of blades of steel and no newfangledshinyassxbox2 is going to convince me that it isn't an awesome game

    --
    The Neo-Bohemian Techno-Socialist