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[fvng]

I understand that PS4 and PS5 are not backwards compatible with PS3 due to technical hurdles. But if they can launch a virtualized PS3 environment for the games on their cloud gaming service, then I should be able to launch a virtual session for the PS3 games I purchased a license to play.

It would be great to see my visible game library on PS4/PS5 instantly increase with all the games I purchased/redeemed during the 7th console generation. (Definitely over 100 when I include monthly PS Plus freebies + my actual game purchases)

I would rather they develop a decent PS3 emulator but if streaming a game is the only option, it's better than nothing, since I've long retired my PS3 console to a neglected spot somewhere in my closet.

Other incentives:

1) adding additional value to PS Now service. Instantly expanding the content selections for longtime Playstation customers.

2) developers/publishers can continue to sell previous gen games, monetizing long dormant games that likely don't see much sales.

 

[Cornbread78]

Might be helpful:

Find Your PlayStation Content on a PC

In late October 2020 Sony updated the PlayStation Store website in preparation for the launch of PlayStation 5. This severely limited the functionality of the store.playstation.com website and remo…

delistedgames.com

 

[fvng]

Might be helpful:

Find Your PlayStation Content on a PC

In late October 2020 Sony updated the PlayStation Store website in preparation for the launch of PlayStation 5. This severely limited the functionality of the store.playstation.com website and remo…

delistedgames.com

while this is definitely a problem for selling more games in the future.

It shouldn't interfere with making my digital ps3 library instantly streamable on ps4/ps5.

Closing the web store shouldn't really interfere with adding my digital ps3 library to ps4/ps5, but it definitely makes future sales a bigger hassle than it needs to be.

Also I remember seeing an alternate URL that makes the web store UI behave the way it did prior to its redesign. I have that URL saved

edit: here it is:

https://store.playstation.com/en-us...mes&platform=ps3&psappver=19.15.0&smcid=psapp

 

[Cornbread78]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

 

[fvng]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

Same, and many games still look good. It's not jarring like it is sometimes with previous gen games.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I think they’ll just keep pushing and pushing until they call it good. They’ll make money off ports and remakes. They aren’t exactly in the business of giving you a platform to play your old games on. They’re in the business of making more money off existing products. The whole “free upgrade to next gen” makes me think they’ll use that as a way to leave behind their legacy content. They’ll kill PSP, Vita, PS1-3, and PSN digital titles. I’m going to miss all my PS1-PS3 games I own digitally. A lot of them I’ve had my time with, but still. It was the cheapest way to get some of those games. I’ve kept my CE of MGS4 for PS3 and they’ll probably try and I guess they will make money off that someday on a whole other platform.

 

[Tschumi]

Gutte idee brohan

 

[Kagey K]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

They decided that wasn’t a priority, and it should come back to bite them, but it probably won’t.

 

[fvng]

They decided that wasn’t a priority, and it should come back to bite them, but it probably won’t.

I feel like they only prioritize what their customers complain about, so if anything the onus is on the playerbase to complain to Sony about lack of access to their previously purchased content... especially when Sony has a platform that can launch these games on the fly. They can't really blame the shitty cell architecture as the reason we can't access our ps3 purchases on their modern platforms anymore. I'd take PSNow access over not being able to play games I spent money on.

 

[Kagey K]

I feel like they only prioritize what their customers complain about, so if anything the onus is on the playerbase to complain to Sony about lack of access to their previously purchased content... especially when Sony has a platform that can launch these games on the fly. They can't really blame the shitty cell architecture as the reason we can't access our ps3 purchases on their modern platforms

MS had to make old Intel/Nivida games work on XB1 and they didn’t complain it was too hard.

It’s not like there isn’t president of taking an old code and recompiling it for new chips.

It’s literally Sony just not giving a fuck, because their audience tells them they are doing everting right all the time.

If you actually stopped and thought about what you wanted as a gamer, you would see they aren’t doing what’s in your interest.

 

[fvng]

MS had to make old Intel/Nivida games work on XB1 and they didn’t complain it was too hard.

It’s not like there isn’t president of taking an old code and recompiling it for new chips.

It’s literally Sony just not giving a fuck, because their audience tells them they are doing everting right all the time.

If you actually stopped and thought about what you wanted as a gamer, you would see they aren’t doing what’s in your interest.

Right that's why I laid the responsibility at the customer's feet to complain loudly and frequently because like you said, if they only hear praise but no constructive feedback they'll stop trying to innovate and please their base

 

[fvng]

I think they’ll just keep pushing and pushing until they call it good. They’ll make money off ports and remakes. They aren’t exactly in the business of giving you a platform to play your old games on. They’re in the business of making more money off existing products. The whole “free upgrade to next gen” makes me think they’ll use that as a way to leave behind their legacy content. They’ll kill PSP, Vita, PS1-3, and PSN digital titles. I’m going to miss all my PS1-PS3 games I own digitally. A lot of them I’ve had my time with, but still. It was the cheapest way to get some of those games. I’ve kept my CE of MGS4 for PS3 and they’ll probably try and I guess they will make money off that someday on a whole other platform.

To be fair what I'm suggesting satisfies the publisher's need for revenue, especially since older games are suddenly being sold again. They either get paid by Sony to get older games on PSNow or they can continue selling PS3 games on the store without the added costs of having to port or remaster the games. It's basically passive revenue source for them. What's not to love?

 

[Max_Po]

Sorry OP, SONY does not own you fucking shit.

You bought digital PS3 games to play on PS3.....

same as I bought Outrun on Xbox360 Arcade.

I hooked up my xbox360 to play my old games. ...

 

[Panajev2001a]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

Oh agreed, I did not have space in the entertainment center for the PS3 and the PS5, so I had to disconnect the PS3 for a while (until I figure something out, I want to use that TV for the PS3).

There are some games I had on PS3 that are not available on Xbox 360 BC catalogue on XSX, but not a huge list outside of the Sony exclusives and otherwise I ended up taking advantage of the Holiday deals pre-Christmas and got a huge swath of titles from the OG Xbox and Xbox 360... loading times are a transformative update for some of them, you realise how much they improve QoL. Not all seem to support resolution improvements, but now most of not all have 16x AF which can help change the look of some 3D games where there may be lots of textures seen at oblique angles (think waking around in Morrowind... it could be so sooo cool if they made a 16:9 patch for it).

MS got a good amount of purchases out of me for those BC titles (even if they were on GamePass or EAPlay, the key titles I wanted associated to my account and not possibly removed at will by the publisher). Sony could have had the same if they tried to sell me or make the back catalogue accessible through BC. Yes, somewhere I had the discs for the OG Xbox and Xbox 360 games, but cannot really travel to pick them up and the deals were quite good.

 

[Raekwon26]

They decided that wasn’t a priority, and it should come back to bite them, but it probably won’t.

Why the hell should it?

 

[Pallas]

It would be nice OP, I’m still wishing that PSN PS3 store would naked it’s way to the PS4/PS5 someday. There are still older games I’d love to play and revisit even from the PS1-PS2 era.

 

[Warablo]

Sony believes in generations, so you better find a PS3 on ebay.

 

[fvng]

Sony believes in generations, so you better find a PS3 on ebay.

they believe in generations so much they let me play and buy previous generation games on PS3. Not to mention PS4 on PS5.

 

[Fake]

They have resources to do it. I want to replay my PS2/PS3 as well, but... they always follow money.

 

[Ulysses 31]

“Why would anybody play this?” says Sony’s Jim Ryan about backwards compatibility​

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Yeah, Sony made a big deal about cross-play and cross-purchase and cross-save, not just during the transition from PS3 -> PS4 but also on the Vita. A unified subscription that puts all your stuff under PS now streaming, PS2 classics, PS1 classics, etc etc would've been a great preemptive version of what Microsoft is offering now.

Too bad Sony have almost completely ceded the "old library / backwards compatible" market to their competitors.

 

[fvng]

Sorry OP, SONY does not own you fucking shit.

You bought digital PS3 games to play on PS3.....

same as I bought Outrun on Xbox360 Arcade.

I hooked up my xbox360 to play my old games. ...

Uhhhh, they don't "own" me shit? Thanks for the tip homeslice. In any event I'm fully within my rights to request features beneficial to myself and other customers. You're acting like if they allowed you to play Outrun on Xbox One or Series X you would be devastated.

There are no downsides to incorporating this, if anything it's pro consumer and gives people another reason to subscribe to PSNow.

Your bullshit logic could be used to shoot down any new request for features or any backward compatibility in the future, so keep your opinion to yourself, thx

 

[D.Final]

I understand that PS4 and PS5 are not backwards compatible with PS3 due to technical hurdles. But if they can launch a virtualized PS3 environment for the games on their cloud gaming service, then I should be able to launch a virtual session for the PS3 games I purchased a license to play.

It would be great to see my visible game library on PS4/PS5 instantly increase with all the games I purchased/redeemed during the 7th console generation. (Definitely over 100 when I include monthly PS Plus freebies + my actual game purchases)

I would rather they develop a decent PS3 emulator but if streaming a game is the only option, it's better than nothing, since I've long retired my PS3 console to a neglected spot somewhere in my closet.

Other incentives:

1) adding additional value to PS Now service. Instantly expanding the content selections for longtime Playstation customers.

2) developers/publishers can continue to sell previous gen games, monetizing long dormant games that likely don't see much sales.

If I remember correctly, they have also removed the PS3 games from the PSN.
I've never checked this

 

[Agent X]

I feel like they only prioritize what their customers complain about, so if anything the onus is on the playerbase to complain to Sony about lack of access to their previously purchased content... especially when Sony has a platform that can launch these games on the fly. They can't really blame the shitty cell architecture as the reason we can't access our ps3 purchases on their modern platforms anymore. I'd take PSNow access over not being able to play games I spent money on.

They have resources to do it. I want to replay my PS2/PS3 as well, but... they always follow money.

The problem here isn't a technical matter, but rather business and/or legal obstacles.

Sticking a PS3 game on PS Now isn't a difficult task for Sony from a technical perspective. If I recall correctly, they make little to no changes to the original code.

The reason why Sony does not allow this is that they do not have streaming rights to all of the games. These rights have to be negotiated on a per-game basis. It's the same reason why only a limited number of the Xbox Game Pass games are available on Xcloud. It's the same reason why some publishers chose to yank their games from GeForce Now.

It's possible that Sony and/or Microsoft might have amended their licensing agreements to include streaming rights for newly published games from this point forward. Unfortunately, these rights weren't negotiated for PS3 and early PS4 games, or Xbox 360 and early Xbox One games, because streaming wasn't a "thing" that was in consideration at that time. That is why so many of those games are still restricted.

I do think they should try to make deals for more of the older games to be included on PS Now and Xcloud, and allow users to "buy" individual streamable games (similar to purchasing games on Stadia). I agree that this would be easy money for the publishers and developers, as well as the platform holders. Just keep in mind that it might take years for them to get a significant number of those games approved.

 

[GHG]

It would be nice if they just let everyone play whatever PS3 games they want honestly. I shouldn't have to resort to using RPCS3 when I have a PS5 sat right there.

 

[buizel]

It would be nice if they just let everyone play whatever PS3 games they want honestly. I shouldn't have to resort to using RPCS3 when I have a PS5 sat right there.

God i wish the Playstation was backwards compatible, like wtf, consoles are getting worse for that. series x would be perf if it wasnt a monster

 

[Kokoloko85]

Yeah while your at it tell Nintendo to let me play all those Wii and Wii U games including virtual console on my Switch

 

[Aenima]

If only there was a console that could run PS3 games...

 

[fvng]

If only there was a console that could run PS3 games...

Yeah you are so right, maybe you can spearhead a campaign to remove PS4 BC from PS5. They already made a console that plays PS4 games. This asinine logic is embarrassing. discouraging innovation, growth and more options for consumers is not bad thing yet here you are arguing against it. Shameful

 

[Patrick S.]

I have a fat PS3 with bc that I'm telling myself I need to keep around to be able to play the couple of PS3 exclusives I still own. I basically kept it for Demon's Souls, Metal Gear Solid 4, the Killzone and Resistance series, and Eternal Sonata.

In reality, I've last turned it on like five years ago to play Demon's Souls for an hour or two. I might get rid of it and all the PS3 games I still own, because I'll probably never touch them again anyway. 99% of those games I have on PC or PS4.

 

[intbal]

Don't worry. I'm sure a PS3 core will be added to Retroarch pretty soon.
Then you can play all your PS3 games on your Xbox Ser... oops.

 

[StateofMajora]

Technical hurdles my ass, they just don't care. I bet there was an internal discussion on whether or not to even bother with PS4 BC and somebody at the top didn't want it. It's a miracle Ps4 BC works as well as it does.

 

[fvng]

Don't worry. I'm sure a PS3 core will be added to Retroarch pretty soon.
Then you can play all your PS3 games on your Xbox Ser... oops.

Piracy and emulation will always be the impetus for a lot changes. So as expected, it will need to come to more mainstream downloads of PS3 emulators before Sony decides to counter and react to that in some way. So yeah it's ultimately a good thing that pushes Sony to expand the services and options given to customers

 

[Patrick S.]

Don't worry. I'm sure a PS3 core will be added to Retroarch pretty soon.
Then you can play all your PS3 games on your Xbox Ser... oops.

Yeah, I forgot about that. Last time I played Demon's Souls was on RPCS3 at 60 fps. I do have a PS5 now and can play the remaster.

 

[The_Mike]

If only there was a console that could run PS3 games...

So you don't see it as a problem the machine can't run older games?

So, when you buy your next iPhone or Android, you'd be fine with none of the previous apps are working on it?

Or when you buy a new pc, you have to buy everything on Steam etc.

Your butt licking is what causes Sony not to give a damn about stuff like this.

Keep telling that what the other platforms has and "we don't need that shit" is whats making Sony thinking "gee, nobody wants this so let's make a streaming service where people can rent it".

What is the problem with having all the features?

 

[Andodalf]

They already have your money why should they do anything else for you?

 

[fvng]

So you don't see it as a problem the machine can't run older games?

So, when you buy your next iPhone or Android, you'd be fine with none of the previous apps are working on it?

Or when you buy a new pc, you have to buy everything on Steam etc.

Your butt licking is what causes Sony not to give a damn about stuff like this.

Keep telling that what the other platforms has and "we don't need that shit" is whats making Sony thinking "gee, nobody wants this so let's make a streaming service where people can rent it".

What is the problem with having all the features?

I honestly don't understand people who actively shoot down pro consumer ideas that don't negatively impact anyone. I think corporate bootlicker applies here

They already have your money why should they do anything else for you?

for more money Sherlock

 

[The_Mike]

I honestly don't understand people who actively shoot down pro consumer ideas that don't negatively impact anyone. I think corporate bootlicker applies here





for more money Sherlock

Yeah I don't get it either.

BC was a wanted feature, until xbox did it. Then it was shit.

It was good for consumers that Sony didn't want cross play. And it was good when Sony added it.

Same with Bethesda. Became shit when Microsoft acquired it.

What about making some demands to get a better product. As long as a consumer just says everything Sony does is good, then nothing changes.

While Microsoft still does a lot of things wrong, they've done stuff right because they from time to time lolisten to their community.

Drm got removed because of the huge backlash. Bc became a reality because many wanted it. Microsoft also pushed cross play together with Nintendo while Sony said no.

The thing about these things is people either complained or wanted this features, and so Microsoft added it. Granted, if they were dominating like Sony, and got a hardcore player base that just agrees with the company, then we wouldn't have gotten these things.

Competition is a good thing. If Microsoft had no competition, then xbox players would have had Drm and other anti consumer features.

If Sony had competition, then we would've maybe have seen cross play sooner, and then Sony might have worked harder to get BC as a feature because people wanted it.

And maybe Sony would focus less on heavy story games. Not saying theae games are bad, they are just not for me, but saying "I don't care what Sony does, just give me more single player games!", then guess what sonys focus will be...

This isn't a rant on Sony in any way, if anything it's a rant to their hardcore fanbase, that should want more from the platform as it would only have personal gains for them.

Imagine if Sony had everything from the competition mixed with what they already have. I know Sony has most, but it wouldn't hurt if they had it all.

Sony has enough money and man power to do both. But as long as people are fine with it then nothing new happens.

 

[The_Mike]

A perfect example is here I just saw.

Microsoft got a huge backlash and reversed what they fucked up.

Meanwhile everyone was cheering that Sony games would go 70 usd and 80 euro because Greatness costs money.

If people were mad about paying extra for games then Sony might reversed it.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Jim Ryan wasn't entirely wrong.

I've had 100's of retro games over the past few gens probably, and only a small handful I return to if possible. And then I play them for what, like a few hours tops only to cast them aside again. Then you have the games that are available, but not upgraded. I play that for a bit, hate the IQ and framerate and wish its been remastered before deleting it.

If PS3 games worked, I would only play a handful. Infamous 2 as I quit about two thirds in and thus never beat on PS3. I did play it briefly on Now, but the aforementioned issues made me quit. I would play Outrun 2 SP again, as its one of the most fun quick fix arcade games out there. The most relevant games have been remastered, others aren't worth my time anymore.

I also have Xbox and GP, but I barely play the 360 classics save for NG2 basically. And I bought Orta for it.

I have a fat PS3 with bc that I'm telling myself I need to keep around to be able to play the couple of PS3 exclusives I still own. I basically kept it for Demon's Souls, Metal Gear Solid 4, the Killzone and Resistance series, and Eternal Sonata.

In reality, I've last turned it on like five years ago to play Demon's Souls for an hour or two. I might get rid of it and all the PS3 games I still own, because I'll probably never touch them again anyway. 99% of those games I have on PC or PS4.

There it is. I have Demon's for PS5, but I had no desire to return to the PS3 version before this one was announced. R3 and MGS4 I also played on Now, as well as KZ2. All I did was asking for remasters of those. I love all these, but beat them on PS3 when they launched. KZ2 MP is dead anyway. Those games play and look terrible nowadays, they move 30fps or lower, and they are sub 720p. Not to mention the load times. Its quite a hurdle.

 

[sn0man]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

X86 emulation of the PS3 scene is already here.

Sony should be selling the PS1, PS2, PS3 library back to millions of PS5-owning adults one $5, $10, $15 digital purchase a time on the back of nostalgia driven feel good campaign with a token “put the disc in, it still works, no executable to download like the other guys” for the tens of thousands of us (or less) that collect those coasters.

 

[sn0man]

Don't worry. I'm sure a PS3 core will be added to Retroarch pretty soon.
Then you can play all your PS3 games on your Xbox Ser... oops.

Optimistic me will cite that moment as the one when Sony goes “oh shit, installing emulators for our first 3 platforms would be a win win for us and consumers” but for some reason they haven’t.

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

Technical hurdles my ass, they just don't care. I bet there was an internal discussion on whether or not to even bother with PS4 BC and somebody at the top didn't want it. It's a miracle Ps4 BC works as well as it does.

Imagine playing your favorite old games with ray-tracing and other bells and whistles.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

After spending a ton of time with my Series X, I really wish Sony spent more time/money to figure out an emulation solution for the PS3's Cell processor and getting it to work on the x86.

I have such a huge PS3 backlog still, lol

Man, forget about PS3, I just want them to implement PS1, PS2, PSP, and Vita back compat

 

[MetalRain]

No they don't. If Sony would allow any old PS3 owner to play any of their purchased PS3 games via PSNow that would increase their server costs without any extra income. So it's terrible business and waste of money.

I think they could do it with some kind of subscription model, but even that is probably not worth it.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I buy hardly any digital games via PSN nowdays because of this very reason. Most of my digital titles are via Xbox Live. If Sony doesnt consider my past purchases going forward I wont consider my purchases via their store in the future

It's that simple.

 

[trikster40]

My dream: they are working on PS1, PS2, and PS3 emulators for PS5. Find some way to convert physical copies to digital, and let me play all the games I own.

And trophy support for full catalog.

 

[Agent X]

Yeah I don't get it either.

BC was a wanted feature, until xbox did it. Then it was shit.

It was good for consumers that Sony didn't want cross play. And it was good when Sony added it.

I get what you're saying, and while you do have a valid point, it's also unfair to make a blanket statement about the user base of a particular system.

I remember back in late 2015, when PS2 games were first made available for download for PS4, many PS4 owners were hoping that Sony would also enable users to insert their existing discs and play. That didn't happen. Then, many of us said, "Well, at least they'll let us carry over the digital PS2 games that we bought for PS3 for no extra cost...right, guys?" And that also didn't happen. Believe me, there was plenty of outrage from people in the PS4 camp, as you could see from some threads here around that time.

Sure, there were some people that were dismissive of backward compatibility, and downplayed the feature (especially after a competitor began emphasizing it). But, that's not representative of the whole user base...just a small (but vocal) portion that tends to march in lock step with whatever the company's current stance happens to be.

The same could be said for cross-platform play. I've been here long enough to see the policy shift differently among all three major console manufacturers. And again, at various points in time, there was a small portion that would align themselves exactly with whatever their favorite company was saying at that moment...but really, there were a lot of people that wanted cross-platform play all along. It's just that the reasonable voices were drowned out by the aggressive bickering of the hardcore system fanatics.

Sony should be selling the PS1, PS2, PS3 library back to millions of PS5-owning adults one $5, $10, $15 digital purchase a time on the back of nostalgia driven feel good campaign with a token “put the disc in, it still works, no executable to download like the other guys” for the tens of thousands of us (or less) that collect those coasters.

You're right. I truly don't know the reason why they never bothered to do this, even on the PS4. The PS2 and PS3 were really good about disc-based compatibility (aside from removing PS2 disc support in later PS3 models).

In my eyes, the PS3's ability to play PS1 games is still the gold standard for how backward compatibility should be accomplished in the age of digital downloads. You've got near 100% compatibility for existing discs, and in case you can't get your hands on the original discs, you've also got a large catalog of games available as digital downloads for very affordable prices.

 

[MistBreeze]

I really wish I can play old game without hooking up my ps3 to tv

sony needs to bring ps3 emulation for disc and digital ps3 games

but Im not optimistic about that

 

[Agent X]

No they don't. If Sony would allow any old PS3 owner to play any of their purchased PS3 games via PSNow that would increase their server costs without any extra income. So it's terrible business and waste of money.

I think they could do it with some kind of subscription model, but even that is probably not worth it.

They could do it with a subscription model. That's exactly what they're doing now...and you don't even need to own the original games.

Server costs would be a concern to some extent, but that's true for any game on the service. There's almost no difference in cost between streaming Horizon Zero Dawn versus some bottom-tier shovelware game from the PS3.

The bigger obstacle that's holding them back is what I described in post #24 above. Sony simply does not have free reign to stream "any old game". The streaming rights have to be negotiated individually for each and every game.

If there were absolutely no legal ramifications, Sony could toss another thousand PS3 games up on PS Now by tomorrow morning, just in time for breakfast.

What you might be suggesting (and what fvng suggested in the OP) is that they enable other games outside of the curated PS Now catalog to be streamed. Sony already experimented with limited-time "rentals" that could be purchased through PS Now without the need for a subscription. It was similar to purchasing a game on Stadia, except that the user's access to the game expires after a certain amount of time. This would be the same concept, but without the expiration date attached.

While I think this would be great for Sony to do (as I also said earlier), it would probably take a very long time for them to negotiate streaming rights to a large enough group of older games to make it worthwhile. I also doubt Sony would allow users to stream arbitrarily "purchased" games outside of the paid service in perpetuity, without any restriction. At this point, if Sony gets streaming rights to any more PS3 games, they're probably better off adding them directly into the PS Now library, so that all of their subscribers could enjoy them.