If the press are anything to be believed every time a new console launch is announced a throng of angry Mothers shout "Will it be able to play his old games?" from the top of their voices. A lack of backwards compatibility, as it's known, has become a major sin in the console world, manufacturers are supposedly disrespecting every previous customer if they dare to leave it out.
The question I always find myself asking is "would I want to listen to the first record I ever bought I bought 15 years ago on my new hi-fi?" Probably not is the answer, The Farm haven't really managed to stay current or timeless like some bands (that's what releasing 1 song ever five years will do for you - Ed)! In this article I'm keen to explore the world of backwards compatibility, especially in relation to the current band of 'next-gen' consoles.
The decision of whether or not to include backwards compatibility, and to what extent, is one that must be taken by listening to both consumers, but also accountants. It costs a lot of money in the production of a console to include full backwards compatibility, and to many working in the industry it seems illogical to spend extra money making sure their new console can run lesser quality games, not just from a previous console but sometimes from 2 generations ago, in the case of Playstation 3 accepting most Playstation 1 discs.
So how much time does the average consumer want to spend playing Playstation 1 and 2 games respectively on their Playstation 3? In my own experience, and in conversations with friends we reckon the numbers to be approximately 5% PS1 and 10-20% PS2. It should also be noted that these numbers represent our thoughts in the first 6 months after the console launch. The importance of backwards compatibility is surely most prevalent during these early stages, a consumer doesn't want to be going from a catalogue of 20 playable games to 2 because that's all they can afford to buy with the console.
Now, approaching Xmas 2008, in the case of Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 we see a growing range of Platinum and Classics games available, meaning consumers can purchase genuinely good next-gen games at rock-bottom prices, in order to flesh out their collection somewhat. With 10 good PS3 games across multiple genres the number of times you'll reach for a PS2 game is hugely marginalised.