(I'd originally planned this as a reply to last week's show but I thought I would just start a full-on forum topic thread for this)

On backward compatibility, let me just say this. When I got my Wii U, I was so glad to be able to just unhook the wii and toss it in a box somewhere. I don't own any gamecube games anyway so it's not like I see myself needing to dig it out again. All my digital games are still there on my Wii U, if I ever decide to go back to them I can just go back and play them. I do kinda wish they'd been able to upgrade more of the Virtual Console games, though but that's a whole other rant for another time.

Admittedly as time went on I didn't really use the backward compatible stuff as my Wii U collection grew, but early on it was nice for the games I hadn't been able to start yet. (Didn't get around to La-Mulana's Wiiware version til a few months after getting the Wii U the previous holiday.) Your mileage may vary though, I mean if you're like my dad who has almost 100 XBOX 360 games, you shouldn't force them to keep using the old system (where it may or may not break down depending on the model) instead of just sticking the disc in The BONE and playing it that way.

And that brings me to the retro-style argument. I just think that those types of games are the easiest to create for an indie startup that wants to make a name for themselves on Steam Greenlight. And usually for the right kind of game you get just as much playtime for $10-15 as you would out of a $60 AAA title for PC/PS4/XBONE. (Going back to La-Mulana I racked up about 65 hours overall playtime, and that was from a $15 game!!)

That's just where I'm at personally on that particular call from the show last sunday. what say you guys?

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OLRmy since 6/23/2002!
OLR Wikia | OLRChive (now with Vanilla skie episodes!) | OLR: Best Hits Volume 1 (highlights from our first 30 episodes) out now! | OLR: Best Hits Vol. 2

Just finished catching up on this episode yesterday, heh.

From a developer's perspective, yes, you want gamers to throw money at your new stuff, not be distracted by the old stuff. And yes, it's true that if you only have 2 hours to play today, and you spend them playing and enjoying Kameo, then there's no need to spend money to put those 2 hours towards Arkham Knight.

But the reality is that the vast majority of gamers are looking forward to the new stuff enough to not let the old stuff distract them. Want proof? Despite the fact that we now have almost 40 years' worth of video games to choose from, the most popular new AAA games still sell millions of copies. That's great success in the face of stiff competition. And while those millions of gamers enjoy the new games they've been waiting for, then turn around and trade them in to GameStop 2 weeks later, the rest of us can maximize the investments we've already made, so really, everyone wins.

Well I don't know if Arkham Knight is the best example (I'm sure once they fix it though, it'll be just fine) but I do see your point. I'm just thinking about all the games people have on their old systems, maybe there's some they still haven't finished yet?

I did hear something about Ubisoft saying they would be on board for the backward compatibility, say for new fans of the Assassin's Creed franchise, they could launch the next game in the system, and say 'hey if you like this new game, you should check out the previous installments (and catch up on the story you missed) on 360 if you get those you can still play them on your new XBOX One!

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OLRmy since 6/23/2002!
OLR Wikia | OLRChive (now with Vanilla skie episodes!) | OLR: Best Hits Volume 1 (highlights from our first 30 episodes) out now! | OLR: Best Hits Vol. 2