Sony Files Backwards Compatibility Patent

[Mavrick]

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...cerny,+mark%22

Absolutely no idea what the details mean, or even if this pertains to PS4 or if it is for use with PS5.

Personally I would much rather this be a feature for PS5 making it able to play every generation of PS software would be a pretty decent selling point.

[Musashi]

Guess we'll see. Many patents are filed that don't end up being used for anything.

A PS5 with full-on backwards compatibility would be nice. I could picture it playing PS4 games with Pro-like enhancements if it uses an AMD APU. For PS3, it would likely need a Cell, but by 2020 it could probably be produced cheaply and possibly used like the ARM processor in the PS4: for background tasks. Or be available as an add-in card. PS1-2 could use software emulators; those have come a long way in recent years.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Personally I would much rather this be a feature for PS5 making it able to play every generation of PS software would be a pretty decent selling point.

More than likely this might mean they're going custom chipset for the 5 and don't want to erode the base they have now by saying "sorry, can't play your PS4 games on this one."

But nobody uses back compat anyway so why would SONY be interested in it all of the sudden

[Batman90]

Sony and Microsoft better do something amazing with their next consoles I wasn’t impressed at all with the PS4 or X1 the PS3 and 360 can still do more then what these consoles still can’t do. Next gen consoles should have Every feature that previous consoles has out of the box without waiting for updates. I shouldn’t have to download a Bluray app to play Bluray or connect my consoles to the internet so they can play Blurays and they should have external hard five support out of the Xbox as well.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Batman90

they should have external hard five support out of the Xbox as well.

The Xbox was the first to have external HDD support.

[Batman90]

Originally Posted by dyne

The Xbox was the first to have external HDD support.

Not out of the box still had to wait for it to be added. This gen was a complete joke. If new gen consoles cant do what the past consoles did out of the box then what’s the point in making a new console?

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by dyne

But nobody uses back compat anyway

Actually, some of us never forgave Sony for ridding their systems of it.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by 20th Century Boy

Actually, some of us never forgave Sony for ridding their systems of it.

Oh trust me, that was a very tongue in cheek comment by me. I'm absolutely loving the back compat on my X. The 360 games that have X patches look amazing.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by dyne

More than likely this might mean they're going custom chipset for the 5 and don't want to erode the base they have now by saying "sorry, can't play your PS4 games on this one."

But nobody uses back compat anyway so why would SONY be interested in it all of the sudden

To be honest I haven't used any back compat on the Xbox. It was the same with PS3, I never finished FF XII because the PS3 came out right around the time I was playing that and I just couldn't go back to it once I'd started playing games in "HD" on my new 1080p Bravia.

So for me personally it wouldn't get much use regardless but as a selling point for Sony it would be ideal just like it was for MS.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

To be honest I haven't used any back compat on the Xbox. It was the same with PS3, I never finished FF XII because the PS3 came out right around the time I was playing that and I just couldn't go back to it once I'd started playing games in "HD" on my new 1080p Bravia.

So for me personally it wouldn't get much use regardless but as a selling point for Sony it would be ideal just like it was for MS.

I totally get that. It's funny because people either really love BC or don't at all. There's no middle ground. I'm not a graphics snob by any means (not to imply you are) and can still look at PS1 era games but I have to say that what the X does with the 360 games when patched is amazing. Gears of War 3 and Forza Horizon are crazy good looking. Honestly I'd say 80% of my Xbox time is spent in a back compat game. Mostly because I got rid of my 360 and was heavy into PS3 for the last two years of that gen.

Things like this are goodwill towards people entrenched in an ecosystem and I think the remaining 2 companies could get some value by incorporating BC somehow. Nintendo is the one I think that has a lot of ground to gain on that issue particularly for the VC if it ever comes. Not sure how many times they can expect people to shell out for the same 8 and 16 bit games every time they get a new Nintendo system.

[Zivouhr]

I'd like to be able to play all the PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 I have collected over the years on a single machine with PS5 games taking the spotlight. It would be so much simpler with less wiring. If this turns out as an option, it would include a disc drive on a PS5 if that was the case. All speculation, but interesting.

[Frank@Chicago]

I'm still hoping Sony will sell their PS2 emulator (for PS4) in the PSN store, I have almost 150 PS2 games on disc and I'd love to load/play them on PS4.

If the emulator has fairly broad compatibility, it would be worth $39-59 depending on performance.

My understanding is the emulator runs PS2 games at 4X normal rez and jaggies are gone.

But no, I'm not rebuying all my PS2 games over again.

MS approach is OK too, I bought a cheap X1 mostly for BC and a few Exclusives.

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I'd like to be able to play all the PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4 I have collected over the years on a single machine with PS5 games taking the spotlight. It would be so much simpler with less wiring. If this turns out as an option, it would include a disc drive on a PS5 if that was the case. All speculation, but interesting.

Not necessarily. They could prevent the system from recognizing PS1-3 discs (I doubt they're stupid enough to block out PS4 discs) and require you to buy them again as downloads. It would suck, but they could do it.

I do expect the PS5 to have a disc drive though. Sony's probably still gonna keep trying to push UHD, and it would be beneficial to developers since we're already getting games that are straining against the 50GB limit of Blu-Ray.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by NegaScott128

Not necessarily. They could prevent the system from recognizing PS1-3 discs (I doubt they're stupid enough to block out PS4 discs) and require you to buy them again as downloads. It would suck, but they could do it.

I do expect the PS5 to have a disc drive though. Sony's probably still gonna keep trying to push UHD, and it would be beneficial to developers since we're already getting games that are straining against the 50GB limit of Blu-Ray.

I see what you're saying. That would be a way for them to cash in on old games most gamers have already bought, as with what they're doing with the PS2 on PS4.

[NegaScott128]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

I see what you're saying. That would be a way for them to cash in on old games most gamers have already bought, as with what they're doing with the PS2 on PS4.

Honestly, I'm really disappointed in some of Sony's practices this generation. They used to be really good about backwards compatibility and advanced features, but lately we've been getting significantly better support for BC on the Xbox One than anything we've been getting on PS4. Admittedly, emulating the PS3 is likely beyond what the PS4 is capable of, but the small number of PS2 games and the total lack of PS1 games is just ridiculous. Even from a business perspective, it doesn't really make much sense. There's a ton of potential revenue in making those old games available, and it's a lot cheaper than doing a proper remaster, but they're just leaving all that on the table for no reason.

[Mavrick]

I expect the PS5 to be fully compatible with all PS4 software. I even think that "PS5" games will work on PS4 too, there's no reason they wouldn't and it would benefit game development immensely if PS5 games worked on PS4 the way Pro games work on a standard PS4.

PS5 will have the best performance output, lets say, True 4K60fps. Whilst the Pro could run it at checkerboard 4K30fps with lower res textures/lighting etc, and the base PS4 runs it at 1080p or less, 30/60fps.

This would mean that the devs can take bigger chances on new IPs rather than release a shit load of remasters from last gen to bulk up their profits.

Imagine being a dev wanting to take a risk of a new IP for a new console. If it was limited to just PS5 launch then your potential user base is limited to however many consoles are sold at launch and even less depending on what percentage of that userbase buys your game.

Now if that game disc also works on PS4 as well, then you instantly have a potential 80million+ userbase which makes it a lot less risky to take a shot at a new IP.

This all depends on how Sony go about building the PS5. I would have thought that based on PS4 and Pro they would have had many talks with developers and taken on board lots of information from them. Making the PS5 so it is an easy prospect to build scaleable software to run across multiple hardware platforms would certainly make game developers happy. 1 disc working across 3 platforms rather than having to develop the same game separately to work on PS4 and PS5. It's the future.

Sony know they make the lions share of their money from software sold not the hardware so there is not really a reason for Sony to NOT let this happen. PS5 sales aren't the be all and end all. All they have to do is make it a big step up from PS4 Pro which would mean making more powerful than the One X, make sure it plays UHDBDs and it has a great UI with lots of Media and App support and I could easily see myself dropping my Pro for a PS5.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

. 1 disc working across 3 platforms rather than having to develop the same game separately to work on PS4 and PS5. It's the future.

Sony know they make the lions share of their money from software sold not the hardware so there is not really a reason for Sony to NOT let this happen.

The only unknown is if either company can get a real wow factor at a decent price out of what's on the PC roadmap right now. If not they'll be forced to go custom which could throw a wrench into compatibility without a software solution.

Also you have to consider, why take out a patent for backwards compatibility? If it's done through hardware (i.e. backwards and forwards compatibility) I don't think you'd need that. Seems to me that it'll be software based and could point towards a custom setup.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by dyne

The only unknown is if either company can get a real wow factor at a decent price out of what's on the PC roadmap right now. If not they'll be forced to go custom which could throw a wrench into compatibility without a software solution.

Also you have to consider, why take out a patent for backwards compatibility? If it's done through hardware (i.e. backwards and forwards compatibility) I don't think you'd need that. Seems to me that it'll be software based and could point towards a custom setup.

Only thing that concerns me with custom build would be finding ourselves in a repeat of the PS3 where devs absolutely hated the the hardware and was a dog to port to.

BUT

At the same time it could save them money but also having custom chip sets can be more expensive since they aren't already mass produced.

Whatever they do though they should include backwards compatibility, ideally all 4 generations so they could really milk the 25th anniversary by being able to play all the old games.

Another thing they could do is introduce some of the Gaikai tech they have failed to utilise. I'm sure I remember them saying at one of the presentations that the plan was to be able to browse the store and instantly be able to start playing a demo of the game you liked the look of. So basically instant access to everything that is on the store. All games could have an instant 1 hour trial with the option to buy and download.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Another thing they could do is introduce some of the Gaikai tech they have failed to introduce. I'm sure I remember them saying at one of the presentations that the plan was to be able to browse the store and instantly be able to start playing a demo of the game you liked the look of. So basically instant access to everything that is on the store. All games could have an instant 1 hour trial with the option to buy and download.

Yup, the Gaikai acquisition was supposed to allow demos of every game. Sad that what it became was half assed streaming BC. A SONY machine where I could play all previous generations would be an instant buy for me as long as they (eventually) honor all of the PS1, PS2 and PS3 games I already have that are digital. If MS can do it there's no reason SONY can't.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by dyne

Yup, the Gaikai acquisition was supposed to allow demos of every game. Sad that what it became was half assed streaming BC. A SONY machine where I could play all previous generations would be an instant buy for me as long as they (eventually) honor all of the PS1, PS2 and PS3 games I already have that are digital. If MS can do it there's no reason SONY can't.

I hate that digital content didn't follow over from PS3. Same shit with Nintendo, except they are even worse for it in my experience.