This policy differs largely from the Xbox 360’s backwards compatibility, with a large number of original Xbox games simply working on the 360. While, admittedly, the architectures of the PS3 and PS4 are wildly incongruent, Sony doesn’t offer a substantive alternative. The Xbox One has a list that grows every day of compatible Xbox 360 games, free to owners of the original titles, while Sony continues to offer purchasable ‘classics’ on their store in conjunction with their streaming service, PlayStation Now. PlayStation Now offers backwards compatibility… of a sort… for a price.
Then there’s the Vita. Sony doesn’t seem to recall the PS3’s mobile sibling, even going so far as to say, over a year ago, that they had no first-party titles in development for the platform. Granted, they did backpedal on that statement somewhat, saying no triple-A games were in development for the Vita, but that there still would be first-party support of some kind. But if you look at the list of first-party Vita games released by year, you’ll see a steep, steep drop off, especially since 2015, with no meaningful first-party support whatsoever for the Vita this year.
As first-party support dwindled, so has third-party support, with the Vita getting less and less attention from any developer. Every year the Vita comes closer to being a fancy paperweight than a serious gaming device, which is in stark contrast to Nintendo with their 3DS. Last year, in fact, Nintendo released a snazzy new 3DS with a faster processor, improved 3D, and a new stick, cleverly dubbed the ‘New 3DS,’ while promising to continue supporting the device even after their mobile-console hybrid device, the Switch, releases next year.
With the Pro’s release, now is again the time for consumers to consider purchasing another console. The Wii U released in 2012 (the first major console release since the original Wii and the PS3 released in 2006), and the Xbox One and PS4 released in 2013. The PS4 Pro is the first new console the world has seen in 3 years, and it doesn’t seem to have a target audience beyond players who can shell out $400 for uneven graphical improvements on games exclusive to Sony’s console. With significantly more graphical firepower to tap into, multi-platform games (and Microsoft’s first-party offerings) could likely look and perform better on the Scorpio. And even for a die-hard Sony fan, justifying another USD $399 purchase, following the PSVR release mere weeks ago, is tough.
Even still, if 4K gaming isn’t your thing, or you’re not all that concerned with graphical fidelity, then Nintendo’s upcoming Switch is a far more interesting proposition. While details are admittedly scant, the Switch is a console with many possibilities that you can pick up and take on the go.
Everywhere you look, other companies are doing what Sony’s doing, but they’re doing it better: if you want to play older games as well as newer titles, you’re better off with an Xbox; if you want to mod on a platform other than PC, you’re again better off with an Xbox; if you want a well-supported mobile gaming device right now, you’ll want a 3DS. If Sony wants to remain the dominant company of the eighth console generation and onward, they’re going to have to start doing things better, or differently, than their competition.
This post was originally written by Ruben Circelli.
