Dear Playstation

Seems Legit.

Guess who's back.
Back again.
B.C.'s Back.
Tell a Friend.

It's the age old romance, spanning generations of consoles and leading up to the E3 conference in June, the month of my birth, where I got a surprise present of Backwards Compati-fucking-bility.

That's right, bitches.  It's back on the Xbox One!

Well, mostly.

Apparently their method of "place disc A into tray B and allow download C to play disc A on console D" demands the rights from different publishers/developers before they can just go batshit letting everyone get all the games.  Which is a shame because I would like to immediately be able to fob off my Xbox 360 for the upgrade knowing full well that any of the Games For Gold I downloaded over the past year would be perfectly fine for play.

Sadly, I missed the opportunity to trade in my 360 for $150 credit and get an extremely cheap Xbone because of my insecurities.

That, and money.  Who has $200 sitting in their bank when they're saving for 5k tickets across some water?!

But fingers crossed the offer will come again when the list has expanded and I can know at least the Majority of my games will be freely playable.  That and that the console will get a bigger harddrive than a single Terabyte.

My history with Xbox has been short though.  I've only been around for a single generation, and while I've enjoyed the hell out of it I've got a longer history with Playstation.

That is what irks me.  While I like the fact that I have a Playstation 4, and that the games coming for it will be fucking phenomenal, I can't help but wish that I could have a throwback week when I load up a PSOne game that I wanted to revive.

Like Vagrant Story.  I've spent days playing through that, finding new things that I had overlooked before, or just did not know about.  Even just levelling up my Halberd (My favourite weapon in the game) was spent over the course of a day or two just whacking dummies until all stats were at 100.

I can only wonder what that game would look like if they remade it, boosted it up to the visual effects of todays games.

I guess we could use Final Fantasy VII Remake as a standard of excellence once it's finished up and shipped out.  I might actually finish that game after all.

I still have my problem though.  I have a console that is capable of so much more, but nobody will let it.

I may never get to play some downloadable games that I have had my eye on because of it.

All I ever wish is for a console to replace its predecessor, and be interactable with it's siblings.  Is that so much to ask?  To get a Playstation to play everything?  From PSOne to PSP?  Maybe to PSVita?

Please Sony Playstation.  Give me the all father.  Or All Son.  Fob off the PSTV, and just let me play my Games.

Dropping an F-Bomb on VG Social Networking

Not a Happy Camper

Everyone and their mother knows I've moved to Australia. And everyone I have met has been very amenable to that.

Like Xbox. When I called them up with my tale of romance, they said "Alright, we'll change the region of your account quicker than you can say "Bob is your mothers Brother."

Things were different in the Marketplace. There was Indie games that developers made games using your Xbox avatar, though they were a little cheap. I didn't have to worry about download codes I got in the US, because I could only use them now.  And when I get back home with Jenny, I can call Xbox again and say "Can you change it back please?"

This Xmas passed, I got a PlayStation 4.  I tore open the wrapping and shat myself as I marvelled at the box.  I had games I wanted, like GTAV, The Last of Us - Remastered, Little Big Planet 3, and The Evil Within.  I was ecstatic!

It wasn't until after hours of begging for permission that I was allowed to run downstairs into the basement lounge room to hook it up and play.  The first game I wanted to play though was GTA for one simple reason: First Person View.  And I was pleasantly entertained.  I still remark how phenomenal such a small thing can change your entire perspective of the game.

But there was one thing I had to do.  And that was load my Playstation Network account.

...

It wasn't until a couple of hours later, well after giving up and assuming that the PSN was flooded with new PS4 owners doing the same thing on their Xmas morn, that I was told it was Hacked.  Outrageous!  What kind of a mouth breathing fuck knuckle would ruin so many peoples day by hacking that?  The only thing you're promoting is playing offline, which I was going to do anyway!

The repercussions were there though and stuck around like a bad smell for the better part of the week. Xbox bounced back pretty well, but Playstation was down until the end of the weekend.  And I had to figure out my account.

I tried all the usual emails.  Gmail, Hotmail, even Bigpond!  I plugged in password after password to the point of blocking one account, possibly two.  But didn't I feel the horses arse when I found I wasn't even looking at the right email prefix in first place.

I was in though.  I had my entire account: Trophies, Profile Picture, purchase history.  They were all for me to grab and enjoy at my leisure.  And in my hand was the one game I was really excited to play: The Last of Us Remastered.

But it was in the form of a code.  It was a downloadable game, easily redeemable in the Playstation Store.  Just fit in the 12 digits, press X and say "Bob's your mo-"

"This code cannot be redeemed from your country."

"My fuggin wot?"

Oh, right.  I hadn't told them about how long ago I met jenny, how we began talking and continued to do so, and that I had moved across the planet to live with her finally.  That explains it.  Well, easily sorted!

I had the 1800 number in my phone, so I flipped the bugger open (yes, it's a flip phone. So Retro.) and buzzed them.  I was confident in how quickly this would resolve, considering my experience with Xbox.  Heck, I may just give the code to the customer service person and save me the trouble from plugging it into the PS4 again.

It took a half hour but I got through to an Indian Gentleman named Gary.  And he proceeded to tell me that the Region of my account cannot be changed and I must create another account if I want to Purchase or Redeem games from a US Playstation Store.

"I fuggin wot?"

You mean to say that my single account which I have built up over the past four years cannot expand on it's Library?  That I will have to get someone from Australia to purchase redeemable codes and subscriptions because my account cannot accept and American Credit Card?  That any game that I was eager to purchase for said Digital Library that is available on the US Store cannot be obtained?

I don't want another account.  I want my account.  I want to get The Last of Us Remastered on my PS4 using MY PERSONAL ACCOUNT.  That is apparently not the way of Playstation.  It was bad enough that I can't change my Gamer ID to remove the silly prefix I initially added so long ago, but now I have to do international trading to get something so simple as a Subscription.

Fuck you, Playstation Network.  I have to stick to buying Disc games until I can organise such a Ninja.  But I really want to redeem this code.  Can you do that, Muhamm-I mean, Gary?

"No, it cannot be redeemed on this account."

Well Fuck You again.  Now I have to make a new account.  If I download it with one, can the other play it?

"No."

FUCK YOU.  WHAT CAN I DO.

"You can use your new account with a wide variety of options, from purchasing Playstation products, to playing online with your friends."

FUCK YOU.

I'm a bit late to the show, but I got there

It's so close to the truth.

I heard about Playstation TV a while ago and quickly brushed it off as a Sony Clone of Apple TV.  While I wasn't far from the truth, since it does provide services that Apple TV does, I did not realise that it could also play Playstation Portable and Vita games.  And that's gotten me interested in it.

I've been desiring for a long time to be able to play my PSP games on the TV, believing whole heartedly that the big name consoles should be able to provide that support.  It shouldn't be too difficult to provide an Inbuilt Emulator, right?  Just download it in a patch or something.  That'd do it.

Alas, my beliefs were pushed back by arguments of lacking hardware compatibility to match the system requirements.  Sure the console might be more powerful but it's like mapping the thoughts of a dog to a cats brain, to put it crudely.

So I sighed and dreamt of such a device that would do that.  There was a moment of optimism when I saw a patent for an external device that would do such a thing for the PS3, but that was just them covering their bases.

The last I even heard about any form of backward compatibility was the Playstation Now, where you hire games for an exorbitant amount of money, and you can simply stream the game from their servers onto your TV through your console.  While I can appreciate this, that's just too much money for what I want.

But this Playstation TV, a little device that has the similar area to a deck of cards, will give me what I want out of a console.  The ability to play my Playstation Portable games on the Big Screen.  I may have to re-download a couple of them, such as Tactics Ogre and Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's exactly what I want.  It won't kill my neck playing them from looking down because I'll be staring straight on.  And the feel of an actual controller will be sublime.

Credit where credit is due, though, I won't be able to play certain PSVita games due to the lack of compatibility between the Game and the PS3/PS4 Dualshock Controllers.  But I'll have that completely under consideration when the time comes.

If only though I could play the PSTV through my PS4 when I get it, like the Xbone can do with it's HDMI Input and the Xbox 360.

Backwards Consideration

PlayStation probably have the highest consideration for their enormous catalogue of games over the last two generations. What they're doing is a streaming service called PlayStation Now.

Its going through Beta at the moment, and they're primarily focusing on PlayStation 3 games. I think that's fair since that will have the largest workload to it for streaming.  Once you have the biggest problem overcome, everything else is a cakewalk.

I watched the video above and I immediately have my problem with it.  Its an online hiring service.  Paying to play a game for a short period.

Its not an unfounded idea. Go down to the local V2 or Blockbuster, and you'll hire out a game for the week (if they offer that, its usually a few days) and for a pretty cheap price too, usually about a fiver.  Then for that period of time, you can play to your hearts content, possibly flogging the shit out of it if it's a big game like Grand Theft Auto.

But there's a physical disc involved. The store needs insurance that it'll come back.  And that sort of thing happens all the time.  Even I'm guilty of that, having been charged a large amount for a game I forgot to return.  So it's fair enough that it can get a bit pricey.

But judging from the prices on Playstation Now, they're expecting you to start reselling the game and making a profit from them!  I'm not the only one who thinks this, I've spied many other articles regarding this saying their largest problem is that the games are simply too expensive for such short time periods that you may as well buy the game itself.

Just to point out the obvious though, this isn't "Send this disc to your front door".  But you don't have to download it either.  It's streamed.  So you send the commands to a server and sends the image back to your console.  It's a fantastic concept.  It saves on having to worry about backwards compatibility hardware, because it's just done from a server room.

But...  it doesn't absolve my biggest worry.  I've purchased a handful of games from Playstation Network.  They're all designed to be played on the Playstation 3.  So what about those purchases?  Will I be able to download and play them?  Would I be able to stream them?

What about my old games?  Could I slot them in and have the system detect what game it is, then stream it from the servers?  Because that is the dream.  To get replace my consoles.  To have a reason to go into a Brick and Mortar Store to get a discount on a new console by handing my old console to them, to send back to Playstation so they can recycle the parts to make more current gen consoles or whatever you can do with them.

And yet, they'll never change.  I'll have museum pieces for years to come because of their inconsideration.  Bastards.

Next Gen Consoles

I sit here drinking a Roy Rogers from the limited edition Batman Cup that I got from the Dark Knight Disappoints, and I think about the next generation of Consoles. Because it pisses me off.

Now mostly it’s rumours going around. Only a few days from now will there be an announcement/presentation on the Playstation 4 and will eliminate any misconceptions for it, so that we know what the hell we’re getting out of it.

The biggest pain I still find is that reporters who are cogitating on the upcoming systems seem rather obligated to state immediately that there likely won’t be any backwards compatibility. That still pisses me off. I’ve said to myself again and again “Why is it not standard practice?”

“It’s not a selling point” has been stated before. Sure, that’s true. I wouldn’t base my purchase on whether my library of games from previous generations of consoles would be usable on a new console. It wouldn’t have been a thought at all.

But now it’s one thing I have to ask when I look at a new console. Because I have a collection of games for my PS3 and my Xbox360, all games that I have gone over again and again, that I would like to have not go to waste. But I would rather not continue to have more and more consoles connected to my TV because I have no reason to simply replace my old consoles.

That’s another thing I’m worried about with this DRM feature that’s been heavily rumoured and speculated. The DRM Restriction is like buying a game from Steam. Once you buy it, you own that copy of it for as long as that account exists. The Rumour is that Consoles will be going along a similar line. Once you’ve played a game on a particular account or console, you can’t trade in that game or loan it out. It is restricted to that account.

The reasoning behind it is that it will potentially eliminate the Used Game market, which is apparently making a significant impact on the developer market. How big an impact, I have no idea. I know through a friend that as a technical writer, he has a massive worry about it since there are many who require his books and a large portion of that market are simply finding the torrents and downloading them for free.

So I’ve got mixed feelings about it. While I would like to buy a game and then trade it in to get a discount on a new game (especially if I don’t like the game I’m trading in), it’s unfair to the developers because they’re not getting anything out of that game being resold. But then the brick and mortar shops are losing a rather large market because they are getting all profit from those games.

These two things tie in largely, and that worries me. I have games on my Playstation and Xbox accounts, all of which I can re-download if I have to replace my consoles.

So what about these future consoles?  Digital Distribution is becoming a household feature, so assuming using the same account, but if the console isn’t backwards compatible, what about those games in your Library from your PS3/360 days? Will there be any point in downloading those games again? Because without backwards compatibility, you have games on your account that you can download just to use up the space on your Console.

Or you could do what is expected of you and make room for a new console and keep your old console sitting there to collect dust?  Cos fuck that for a PC that can still download and play COMMANDER FUCKING KEEN.

Musings of being Bored

"Where'z da Any Key, Boss?"

Thinking is my biggest thing lately.  What with being unemployed and spending most of my time applying for jobs that don't have the decency to respond with an email saying I had been declined for an interview, I spend the rest of my time playing video games and considering my move to the 'zoo.

I've been making room for my video games for the big move by Min-maxing my stuff.  I'll be taking two consoles with me, my PSP and my Xbox, and working around taking them.  Like getting a CD Wallet and filling it with my Xbox games and favourite movies and TV shows. (Firefly was first in line)

When I chose my Xbox, I thought about how I wanted to continue interacting with my friends at home as The Boys all have Xbox's, so that was an easy choice.  But The Lads, they're a different kettle of fish.  They're mostly PC players, and the biggest game we have in common is Bloodbowl (though a few do stand out of that particular group).

I hope that'll be easy to sort out, because I have Blood Bowl on my PC and so do most of The Lads (I'm pretty sure).  So I would love to see the Blokenstein League start sometime not long after the move, but we'll see.

Though it brought me back to my Xbox because I remember when I was living with Richard, he had a copy of Blood Bowl for Xbox and then it went on to Cross-Platform compatibility, and while it does come down to nobody fighting fair, it's still a thought I indulge.

Playing Blood Bowl in the loungeroom, playing in a League with my friends in Australia, relaxing while I move my pieces around (only to get thwarted, naturally).  However that wouldn't be possible even the Cross-Platform compatibility was possible simply because the Xbox version is still behind by about 3 updates.  It has gone completely unsupported.  It would be easy to sort out, what with Downloadable Content being a large factor in the development of games today, but it comes down to what the developers can and can't do.

Downloading games is a massive thing now.  The availability, the range, the variety.  I just spent the Australia day long weekend downloading entire games for my nephew's Xbox because I promised them to him.  And conveniently, he had vouchers for a free copy of Skyrim and a Free month on Xbox Live.

I remember going through the Playstation Network Store months ago, just having a browse, and found that I could get the Monster World series.  I didn't purchase it, because I had it on my computer as part of an Emulator, but it still made me think how so many games from the past are still available.

Though I still resent the fact that I still have Playstation 2 games that I can't play on my Playstation 3, unless I want to buy them again.  Which I do not.  Backwards compatibility, in my opinion, still remains to be a standard feature.  But I would also like to see the option for the same game on multiple systems.

Playstation have that, with the PS Mini's, games that are playable on both their portable and home systems.  The games aren't complicated, they aren't fit to max the system of the Playstation 3, but they're there for the fun.  The way I look at it, PSP games are much the same.  They're not graphically able to max out the PS3, and they're really good fun.

So what's the harm in letting them play them on the Big Screen?  Heck, I would love to play Patapon on my TV.  I'd play while my nephews watch and order me around, or I could feel like i'm playing the original Final Fantasy Tactics like some of my friends have.

Same goes with other Companies, like Nintendo.  They offered Gameboy Advance games on your TV through an attachment on your Gamecube.  And they still offer many Gameboy games on the online store.  And with the release of the WII U, how difficult would it be to play a DS game through it?  If you can download it onto your system, you could easily play it without a hassle.

Though I wouldn't get myself a WII U, simply because I just don't have any inclination to, I do think about what I'm missing out on.  I have a Gameboy Advance emulator with a large set of games, and I've thought how nice it would be to play these on the big screen.  Especially Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, one of my favourite games, which I would like to see as a DLC for the PSP game.

But once again, I bring around the point that these are simply musings of a Gamer who wants the world.  If we ever see any of these in the future, I'll be happy.

Oh wait, the Steambox is coming.  It's a Console that allows you to play games from your Steam Library.

Close enough.

Heck, I may even be able to play World of Warcraft through it too.  Though I don't want to pay for it any more.  I think about when the game will actually die, and how much of a waste it will be to have a game like that closed up, and how cool it would be to have Blizzard make a stand alone RPG in it, covering all the significant events that cropped up, from clearing out the training grounds of enemies, to finding out what happened to Magni Bronzebeard after Arthur took Frostmorne, to the Cataclysm.

That or do a storyline on specific character combos.  Like the Orc Warrior, the Night Elf Hunter, the Human Mage, the Goblin Engineer, etc etc etc. But that'll have to wait for WoW to die out first.  I'm still waiting for Starcraft Ghost, regardless of it's Indefinite hold.

"Everyone and their Mother is Backwards Compatible"

Many moons ago I had a very angry rant about Backward Compatibility, using the above quote as a joke to push a point across, and directing the anger towards the Playstation 3 console.

In the period of time since then, I have attained myself a PS3 Slim and have enjoyed what I can on the console whether it's playing a major classic such as Gran Turismo 2, to playing newer games such as Army of Two: The 40th Day, and I've enjoyed it all.

One of my favourite Playstation Exclusive games was Ratchet and Clank. I still remember one of the first stages where the Terrific Twosome are trying to have a meeting with Captain Qwark, Hero of the Galaxy, and warn him of the immenent danger and having to make full use of the Swingshot to reach him.

I finished that game 10, maybe 11, times to gain enough Bolts for the R.Y.N.O. (Rip Ya a New One), an extremely difficult weapon to attain that cost 9,999,999 Bolts! Now that was a hard number to reach, even with the Bolt Detector on hand! Sifting through each of the levels like an old man at the beach with a love of treasure in his heart. It was great.

Most recently I was given as a Xmas present “Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction”. Boy did it bring back memories. The fast pace, the fun guns, the crazy enemies and the visually entertaining levels. It's been too long, but I believe every game has a city set in the sky, or in the midst of skyscrapers, with nothing below the platforms but oblivion.

I still have those games. Even the dodgy port of the PSP game “Size Matters” to the PS2. I've finished each of the games at least once, collecting and levelling up each weapon, giving them upgrades that they have earnt, and laughing again and again at the jokes they pull out.

To play them again would be fantastic.

But alas, I have difficulty. My Playstation 2 console, a loyal friend and so dear to my heart it is, is nearing its time. I have had him for 8, nearly 9 years. I remember picking him up for $400 with a platinum copy of Gran Turismo 3, telling Dad that I needed a memory card and a second controller as well and we were set. I loved Gran Turismo, and having borrowed my brother-in-laws PSOne to play GT2 over the summer holidays was one of the highlights in my gaming career. Until that point, I was still playing the Sega Mega Drive, mastering Sonic 3 and Knuckles, trying my hand at Boogerman, and occasionally putting in the clunky Game Converter to fail at Dragon Crystal, or to play Wonderboy In Monsterland and run out of health in the Labyrinth.

With the coming of the PS2, I had a new range of games available to me, much prettier games than the 640x480 quality stuff that was being pumped out on Mums old TV. No, now it was cleaner at 1024x768 pixels, almost doubling the detail that could be thrown into a game. I didn't know the specific details at the time, I just knew that it was going to be prettier and I was going to enjoy it. But what games were on the PSOne that I did enjoy, I wasn't going to miss out on them because the PS2 could still play them!

I still have the memory card in my PS2 from the day we brought it home, and a recording of something that still entertains me to this day. Dad wanted to have a go at playing Gran Turismo 3. We had a multiplayer game, me driving against Dad. I explained the controls to him, but after about 2 minutes he gave up. I know it was 2 minutes, because that's how long the recording of our race went for. He floundered and drove straight into the wall, and got stuck. I giggled for a little bit and helped him out, but he gave up anyway. I kept the recording as a momento.

Come to 2006. The Playstation 3 was released, a new generation of gaming had begun. They weren't likely to win the games race, what with the Xbox being released about a year beforehand, but that didn't matter. They were contenders, and a well based contender at that. They've got games dating back to 1994, over a decade ago, able to still be played on the PS3 so they weren't losing out on their range at all! To top it off, they added a unique aspect to the system: Blu Ray, a new disc format that includes higher quality videos and more information available for game discs! Their PS3 exclusives would be absolutely Phenominal!

However, there was bound to be a problem. And that problem was cost. The initial price tag for the 20gb Playstation 3 was around the $1000 mark.

$1000? Who could afford that here? I certainly couldn't. I'd just started my current job so I certainly couldn't afford it for quite a while. But I was still content. While the PS3 was just released, they were still bringing out PS2 games, and I could handle that with the knowledge that eventually the price will drop to something I could afford and I could, for want of a better word, Upgrade my PS2 to something more up to date along with expanding my range of games.

So Patiently I waited for the price to drop. And it dropped slowly, but at a serious cost. The elimination of Backwards Compatibility with PS2 games.

“What? Why” I question to myself as to the motives of the Sony Corporation Playstation Division. "How could you become a Eunich so willingly? Especially with such an impressive endowment?"

The range of games for the PS2 is phenominal! My computer freezes when it tries to load up the Wiki page! And the number outshines any other console on the market, and of any other previous market, and continues to do so!

For years after I had hope, hope that they did make a mistake and they're bringing back the compatibility that I appreciate so much, a signature aspect for two generations of an entire console family! Built in Backwards Compatibility! Not many consoles had that before the Playstation 2. In fact, I don't think there were any aside from the Sega Mega Drive Converter!

Then my heart shattered.

During an interview for the new model of Playstation 3, the PS3 Slim, the spokesman was asked about the backwards compatibility with Playstation 2. And he laid he cards on the table and said "it's not coming back. It's just not a selling point any more."

"Not a selling point? Of course it isn't! Everyone and their Mother is backwards compatible!" I howled in outrage. "How could he be so stupid! He keeps the PSOne games, but PS2? Oh no, that's no good for the PS3 is it! Really brings down the generation there, dunnit!" (Sometimes I get a bit Pommy when I get angry)

It confused me, even the other reasons behind it made no sense. 'Difficult to integrate into the system'? You had 2 variations of it: Hardware Integration and Software Emulation. I can understand the Hardware Integration. That increases the cost of the actual device and the lack of profit would be staggering. But then you made a Software Emulation! It didn't work properly with certain games in the end.

So you have a Software Emulator installed to the 60gb PS3. Fair enough.
It's really buggy. Fair enough, nothing's perfect the first time.

So what's wrong with organising a division of the Playstation Department to work on these bugs? Refine the Emulation and occasionally update with the updates. Better yet, release the Emulator for all consoles so that everyone has access to the Backwards Compatibility! That would be a grand idea! Nobody misses out except those who don't have access to the internet.

It was at this time, when the Spokesman made his declaration, that I gave in and bought the new PS3 Slim. At half the original price tag, it was at least within a range that I could afford. And the console exclusives were slowly growing with some real golden pieces in there. InFamous is a good example, a Comic Book hero Sandbox game. Think GTA but add in climbing and balancing acrobatics with electrical attacks. And instead of doing lots of bad things, you can choose to do lots of bad things or lots of good things! It has nothing to do with the movie of the same name.

But I still have my PS2. My almost 9 year old PS2. So dust filled that even air in a can may not be able to help (Although that isn't a bad idea anyway). The Memory Card Slot is practically broken, although the card doesn't get taken out for years at a time. I wouldn't be surprised if they have rusted together. It all still works which is good, and if I want the old feel of the original hand controllers, then I can easily go over to a shop and buy a new one. Frankly, the Logitec Controller is a little too small for my hands and makes playing it uncomfortable after a little while.

If nostalgia really takes my fancy to an extreme level, then I'll probably return to the Ol' Gerry and have a crack at some of the games I haven't finished, or just want to have another crack at.

The only other thing I would wish of the PS3 is Reversed Remote Play. Currently, the Remote Play function allows your PS3 to be played through the PSP, allowing access to PSP games, and the occasional PS3 game. It also allows you to play music and videos through it as well, optionally with the sound through the PSP or through the PS3. Works well if you have the PS3 set up through a sound system.

But the Reversed Remote Play? Well, I have a range of PSP games. Unfortunately, I really don't like the handling of the PSP Controls, I find it just too janky to actually use without getting frustrated. I would love to play it through my PS3 on my TV with something that sits comfortably in my hand, specifically the PS3 controller. Were it on a TV, I could see everything clearly too. The lower Resolution is fine because my TV has trouble handling the graphics on most PS3 games anyway. The Lower Resolution will be a small grace on my eyes that strain sometimes to see what's going on in the crazy frenzy of the PS3 games.

I would love to play my PSP games, like Dungeons and Dragons Tactics, Locoroco, Patapon and whatever else I have that I've lost track of. An external UMD drive to plug into the PS3. That would be grand, for sure. But, that will only remain a dream.

Explicity Deleted

http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200908/N09.0820.1413.00424.htm

Dead is it?
DEAD?!
What the FUCK is he talking about?
When Sony created the Playstation 2, one of their biggest selling points was to have backwards compatibility with Playstation 1 games!  Now he says that it's DEAD?!  It's not a SELLING POINT ANY MORE!?

Who the FUCK is he kidding?

Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii are backwards compatible with MOST of their range!
What separates them from Sony?

Many conspiracy theories are floating around for WHY its not backwards compatible.

Too expensive to incorporate into the hardware or software;
It keeps the sales for the PS2 increased due to overstocking themselves;
Some stupid twat is trying to bring Sony down from the inside by convincing them of stupid ideas;

I'm willing to lead with the latter, since this bloody idiot has affirmed that it is not coming back and is confident in his statement that it will remain that way.

Okay, sure.  Backwards Compatibility isn't much of a selling point these days.  Every one and their mother is backwards compatible (That's really not a safe analogy).
But does that mean you should take it away?  Would removing something that has become so standardised really keep things the same, or even make it better?
In the words of a friend of mine: "Know your place, Peon".

Sega was a leading star in Backwards Compatibility.  They made the Mega Drive Game Converter, the clunky cartridge that you jammed into the top of your console so you could play the Master System Games you loved so much, like Wonder Boy and Dragon Crystal!

Since then, the consoles have worked from Discs and backwards compatibility has simply been incorporated into the system because all upgraded forms of Disc have been able to work with their predecessors.

Its not like it's fucking hard.  A few 0's and 1's here, a under-clock setup there, and a few graphical adjustments with this, and BOOM!  Backwards compatibility.

You know what?  I'm still going to get one.  I still want to play their exclusive games.  I might even trade in my almost-9-year-old PS2 for a new PS2 as well, but I doubt that now.

But I DEMAND that Playstation make a downloadable or purchasable program to allow PS2 title compatibility.