Why I Don't Care About Backwards Compatibility Anymore

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Bear with me here.

When I got the PlayStation 3, backwards compatibility was undoubtedly my most-wanted feature at the time. I got the PS3 at launch (which, by the way, I would never have done had it not been for work purposes) and besides Resistance: Fall of Man, there really wasn't anything I wanted. Plus, I still had a bunch of PS2 games I wanted to play and hell, Final Fantasy XII had just arrived. I didn't want to have both the PS2 and PS3 hooked up at the same time; I was basically out of room, what with the Xbox 360 already taking up one spot in the entertainment center.

But as time went on, the last new PS2 games I wanted to play petered out. It didn't take very long, either. Furthermore and more importantly, something else happened- I found I didn't have much desire to go back and play any games in my PS2 collection. While at the same time, I always have the urge to go back and play some of my PS1 titles. ...but why? On the surface, it shouldn't make any sense. Obviously, going back and playing old games is dictated entirely by nostalgia, and I'm all sorts of nostalgic over certain PS2 titles. So what's the deal? How is this possible? Why, outside of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Final Fantasy X, do I just not care about playing my PS2 games? 

The answer is clear: Because the PS1 games I want to go back and play - mostly old-school turn-based RPGs - offer experiences I can't really find anymore. Yes, I'm aware I could turn to the PSP at times but I can never fully embrace handheld gaming; it just isn't the same to me. And for whatever reason, the turn-based games I had in my PS2 collection (Suikoden III, Legaia 2: Duel Saga, etc.), just weren't tweaking my nostalgic heartstrings. Maybe it was the unparalleled glory of Squaresoft in those days, or the fact that even games like Twisted Metal 2 and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are just lodged in my memory banks as being unapproachable.

Thing is, the PS3 just made a lot of what we had on the PS2 better. It wasn't about creating entirely new gameplay experiences; it was just fine-tuning the 3D action experience even more. So why would I want to play the lesser experiences when the gameplay is virtually the same? And when the PS4 gets here, I see more progression but games should play very much the same way they play now. So in looking forward, what reason will I have to go back and play PS3 games? Why? Will I really want to play Uncharted 3 again after playing Uncharted 4 on the PS4? GT5 after playing GT6? Killzone 3 after playing Killzone 4?

I suppose I might want to go back and play Heavy Rain again but beyond that, I can't really think of a game or gameplay style in the PS3 era that won't simply get better in the new generation. That's just how I see it.

Tags: ps4, playstation 4, next generation, backwards compatibility, ps4 bc

9/27/2012 9:51:40 PM Ben Dutka

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