Will the PS3, GameCube 2, and XBox 2 be backward compatible?

[Squall]

Will the PS3, GameCube 2, and XBox 2 be backward compatible? I sure hope so. Ever since the days of the NES & Super NES, I was hoping for a console that was backward compatible. I was overjoyed when the PS2 came out! :D

I hope the PS3 will play all (or the vast majority, like 95%+) PS2 and PS1 games right out of the box. I hope the GameCube 2 will play original GameCube games right out of the box; and I hope the XBox 2 will play original XBox games right out of the box.

I would also like to see all three consoles play DVDs and audio CDs right out of the box as well. :D

When will we find out all this news I'm hoping to hear? Or has this news already been out for awhile?

[Paper Geno]

I know PS3 will only play PS3 and PS2 games, sorry about that :-(. And Concidering Nintendo made all the gameboys backwards compatibale iam sure thell do it with GC, As for Xbox who know. ( Iknow this sounds like a Fanboy statement, its not iam just teling the truth, Microsoft are money hogs so you never know.....)

[Nin-Nin69]

*claps for Thrax's statement* :)

[Conekiller]

I hope so! I wanna still be able to play my GC gmaes once the system is defunct (mine's already giving me issues with disk reading....grrrr)

[William C. Maune]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Nintendo did. As already mentioned they have always done in with each incarnation of the Game Boy. When it comes to home consoles this is really the first chance they have had to feasibly make a backwards compatible console. At least I assume that it is a lot easier to do it with discs than big cartridges.

As far as CDs and DVDs, CDs probably wouldn't be too hard to do, but I'd personnally (and I'm probably in the minority) rather Nintendo continued to leave the DVD player out of the system. If I'm buying a game system I want all the money and hardware in it directed towards gaming. When I'm buying a DVD player I want all the money and hardware in it going towards the best DVD presentation possible. If you try and have a system do too much something is eventually sacrificed whether it be cost or quality.

[Jundaunted]

The SNES was actually planned to be backwards compatible with the NES. Early prototype units actually had a Famicom/Super Famicom switch that would allow users to change between 8-bit and 16-bit modes. However, the inclusion of such switch would've driven the price of the hardware up, so Nintendo decided agaisnt it.

Later, they made plans to release a converter instead, but nothing came out of it.

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/oroti/famicom/mab01.html

[The Falcon]

this would be awesome. but i've been thinking. why not go all the way?

here's what i've been thinking (i own a gamecube)

the gamecube 2 design will be essentially the same as the original gamecube with some minor adjustments. gamecube 2 and gamecube games will be played on top of the unit, gameboy games underneath. nes and snes games will have ports on either side of the system and a n64 port will be in the back. TA-DAAAAA!!!

Falcon

[Squall]

Doesn't it make good economic sense to be backward compatible these days? Nobody wants to have a TV surrounded by console after console after console. Also, being backward compatible means that older games for the previous console won't just sit on store shelves and collect dust (such is the case for the PS1 games in the PS2 era; for example, I recently bought Final Fantasy Origins for the PS1 to play on my PS2). Also, backward compatibility leads to the video game console makers saying that the number of games available for their console is a large one (albeit from the previous console, at first) on the day it's released in stores! :)

[Mist]

XBox 2 probably will, since the Ps2 will be doing it. Sony & Microsoft copy off each other a lot. XD

I just hope the XBox2 game discs are as fragile as the XBox1's..
My poor poor MGS2.. ;_;

[Nimbleness]

Playstation was originally a supernintendo addon, until Nintendo and Sony bonds broke down. This was to counter Sega's 32x addon. Not that this has to do with anything.........

XBox 2 probably will, since the Ps2 will be doing it. Sony & Microsoft copy off each other a lot. XD

I just hope the XBox2 game discs are as fragile as the XBox1's..
My poor poor MGS2.. ;_; Why would you want them to be fragile?

[Paper Geno]

Playstation was originally a supernintendo addon, until Nintendo and Sony bonds broke down. This was to counter Sega's 32x addon. Not that this has to do with anything.........

Why would you want them to be fragile?

I think hes being Sarcastic.....

[The Falcon]

As long as development and manufacturing costs aren't too high, yes. As in, what Blue Falcon wants will never happen.
yeah. i was kidding by the way. it'd still be cool though

Falcon

[Conekiller]

or forgot to add "not"

I've done that before......

[The Falcon]

or forgot to add "not"

I've done that before......
no, i'd REALLY like to see it happen! i'm not being my usual sarcastic self here. if i possessed the technology and the know-how, i'd take all the past nintendo systems and hook them together somehow to form the NINTENDO X-TREME!!! a hybrid of all systems

Falcon

[Znath]

backwards compatibility is generaly a smart thing to do
it worked exelently for the GBA and increased it's capability tons

whats the downside to this?
cost

when you add the other systems chipset to the new one
you still kinda have to pay for em
the thing about the GBA was that the 8bit GBC processors and stuff
could, with todays technology, be produced 10 times easier
so it realy didn't change costs that much for it to matter

so making future Gamecube type systems reverse compatable
would cost a bit more most likely unless you simply
upgraded the capabilities of the old system as opposed to changing format entirely

so it all depends on what the makers wanna do
it the Gamecube 2 was compatable with my old games
then chances are i'd get one immediately
otherwise i'd have to make sure i could afford a game or two

so that's where the compatability helps
as long as doing that doesn't make it cost too much more
then i imagine they'd do it... but if it's too complex probably not :\

[Joe Mama]

I like the backwards compatible thing, but doesn't that raise the price a bit? Not to mention DVD player being built in would also raise the price.

[Skiptastic]

Backwards compatible systems only benefit those that did not put any money into the original system. If you already own a PSX, what good is it going to be having a PS2 that plays it? "Oh, but Skip, now you don't have to have two systems hooked up". That's ridiculous. It takes all of three seconds to hook up another system into your television. If you are too lazy to actually do that and would pay an extra 50 dollars to avoid doing that, you frighten me. I don't know if the next gen systems will be backwards compatible, but I really don't care. I will own the system eventually, and then I will play the games on that system. End of story.

[Joe Mama]

If you already own a PSX, what good is it going to be having a PS2 that plays it? Actually I have both Playstation systems, hooked up to different Televisions, that way I could play Playstation 1 game with my friends on the PS2, and my little brother can play a PS1 game with his friends on the PS1 itself. When it comes to wanting to play a PS2 game though we have to fight over who gets to play the system first. http://forums.toonzone.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[Mist]

I meant to say aren't. c.c

[Beat]

If PS3 is backwards compatible through emulation, does that mean the quality of PS1 and PS2 games will suffer?

[Killtacular]

I thought PS1 backwards compatibility was through emulation too. Ala the VGCS emulator..

PS3's emulators could do a much better job though... play the games at a higher resolution and framerate, add on some fancy effects and anti-alias..

[RKillian]

No. If I recall correctly, PS2 sound chip or something is pretty much the entire PS1 chipset combined.

[MJC]

I actually hope GC isn't backwards compatable, if only so Nintendo won't use another stupid-ass format.

[Mynd Hed]

I actually hope GC isn't backwards compatable, if only so Nintendo won't use another stupid-ass format.

1.) If you think that ANYTHING can stop Nintendo from using a nonstandard format, you don't know too much about Nintendo. (-:

2.) There probably wouldn't be any problem with a next-gen 'Cube using DVD or some other "standard" format and still being backwards-compatible with Gamecube games, as long as both formats are optical disc-based. It's the same theory that lets DVD players play CDs.

[William C. Maune]

To add to what Mynd Hed said, besides DVD players being able to play CDs, either of those can also play the mini-CDs (CDs the size of a GameCube disc). As long as the GC uses any type of spinning disc format there shouldn't be any problem.

[MJC]

Didn't know that. *changes opinion*

I still hope they don't use a stupid format (it may be a lost cause though)...