How would you rate Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft at making their past games available?

[oni-link]

How would you rate Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft at making their past games available?

Personally:

Nintendo: Classic consoles are nice, as is the online service, but both are a step down from the VC. I can't see the online service games collection growing much over time as once subscriber numbers plateau there will be little reason to keep adding more titles (unless they have data to show loads of people are playing older titles)

Sony: Looks like they have given up on PS2 classics, which were not great to begin with, and the PS1 classic has been underwhelming. Current support is poor and it's worse than what was available on PS3/Vita

Microsoft: The gold standard. Older titles for sale, many of them running with improvements on their current systems. Tons of older titles being made BC with games from all Xbox generations represented

What do you think, Era?

Edit: So yeah, you can now click to see who voted for each option in polls

 

[Lant_War]

Nintendo 8/10 counting the Virtual Console.

Microsoft 9/10, BC is amazing

Sony 3/10. No need to explain.

 

[Deleted member 12833]

Any answer besides MS is wrong

 

[JusDoIt]

MS great.
Nintendo not great.
Sony not great.

 

[Nexus2049]

Microsoft's amazing job at BC is the reason I still own my Xbox One X. Lots of fun playing older games on a modern system. Sony is lucky I love their exclusives so much or else the PS4 wouldn't be anywhere as attractive to me as it currently is.

 

[Brazil]

Microsoft is miles ahead. It sucks that their back catalogue doesn't hold a candle to Nintendo's or Sony's for obvious reasons.

Nintendo's conservation efforts peaked during the Wii era, and I doubt we'll ever get anything like that system's Virtual Console from them ever again. The 3DS Virtual Console is still pretty cool, though, and offers a lot of games that aren't available anywhere else.

Sony is miles behind. Outside of PS Now (which barely works even in the few supported territories), they've completely given up on putting up their old games for sale.

 

[Terror-Billy]

Microsoft. Everyone not following on their footsteps come next gen is dead to me. There's plenty of PS4 game I didn't play and I'd love to play them enhanced for PS5.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Microsoft easily.

Nintendo has disappointed me by not adding the virtual console to the Switch. Even before that, it was annoying you had to buy again what you bought in the Wii VC.

Sony had the right idea with the PS3, PSP and Vita but then screwed it with the PS4.

 

[no1]

Microsoft is literally the GOAT at past games being usable on their platforms. I mean this is the company that does backwards compat for programs on W10/7/Vista/XP.

So it makes sense to see them absolutely crushing it with BC.

 

[Spyounet]

Yeah Microsoft is clearly the best in this category for that generation, 360 games in 4k its pretty wild and xbox classics games are super polish. I enjoy too compilations like Halo Master Chief ou RareReplay.

On the otherside, PS4 is really poor in PS2 games and the Nintendo Switch have nothing to offer instead "classics" games we have seen one hundred times in the past.

 

[NSA]

Xbox is obviously the best, but still with room to improve with back catalog stuff still not available (not all their fault though). How long before they secure the rights to re-release Sega Saturn/Dreamcast titles?!

 

[Deleted member 10795]

Microsoft haven't just made previous generation games available, they've essentially given out free remasters with some of the X enhancements. Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One X is stunning. I've played uglier current gen games.

Sony and Nintendo just aren't at the same races.

 

[JD3Nine]

Coming from PC, they are all pretty bad. MS has made big improvements. Sony and Nintendo seem to be going backwards.

 

[Zelus]

Microsoft by far. I seriously hope Sony turns it around in this department next gen.

 

[Papercuts]

MS is handily winning that category.

Nintendo has made a decent effort but I can't stand how the console transitions have gone. The idea of the virtual console was fine for the wii, but the lack of an account system to tie things into making that stuff not properly carry forward was a huge blow for them. Now the Switch has basically not had a peep of something like that coming back, and their online NES thing is just weak as hell to me. They really regressed.

Sony...I don't know. They hopefully will be PS4 onward from this point but the legacy stuff hasn't been handled well.

 

[oni-link]

Microsoft by far. I seriously hope Sony turns it around in this department next gen.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I really hope they take note of what Microsoft have done this generation and go down that route with the PS5

As a PS4 owner I'm looking at those 4k 360 ports with envy

RDR1 in 4K looks so good

I'm expecting PS Now to be all we get though

 

[Alex840]

Microsoft - A (The Xbox One contains almost the entire worthwhile Xbox library at this point)
Nintendo - C (Good support from time to time, but it's inconsistent and they take away as frequently as they bring back)
Sony - D (On the right track with the OG PS3 model, but now only Vita has PS One games and PS4 has a poultry PS2 selection. They've done a decent job with remasters and collections, but I hope PS5 is powerful enough to emulate PS3 and they put effort into bringing PS 1/2/3 games back).

 

[CopyOfACopy]

having to hook up the wii or ps3 to have access to my older purchases is pure balls

xbox by a marathon

 

[Deleted member 8593]

Honestly, Nintendo's and Sony's "efforts" come off as straight up amateurish in comparison to what Microsoft is doing. I don't know if it's going to "help" them in the long run but they deserve mad props.

edit: this poll is a joke

 

[Ghos]

everyone but microsoft gets a fat F

 

[JimJamJones]

MS is the best by far.

Nintendo has done well, but needs to up its game with Switch.

Sony... yeah.

 

[Sylmaron]

Microsoft is doing a very good job at this. Both Sony and Nintendo are doing very poorly in comparison.

 

[Kneefoil]

Nintendo started out the best in the Wii era, but in the current generation, Microsoft has done a lot of work for making their past games available, while both Nintendo and Sony's efforts have left a lot to be desired. Kind of interesting how both Nintendo and Sony have taken steps backwards in this regard, while Microsoft, the company that was doing the worst job at this going into the XBO/PS4/WiiU era, is now at the top.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

Microsoft wins. Nintendo and Sony have been terrible at this.

Sony is clearly the worst. Their management talks shit about their classic titles like Gran Turismo 1, they half-ass PS2 releases on PS4, completely ignore the existence of PS1 on PS4, and subsequently release another shitty mini console with bad emulation and worst of all, PAL versions.

And when the Mini PS1 fails to sell due to bad worth of mouth, they will say gamers don't want PS1 titles and will continue to ignore their legacy when the PS5 releases.

Mini consoles are the worst thing to come from this generation.

I want to play N64, Gamecube and SNES games on Switch. And I want to play PS1, PSP and PS2 games on my PS4.

 

[WestEgg]

MS the best. Shorter history, but admirable job keeping software alive on their platforms alive, which makes sense as a software company.
Nintendo fairly good counting 3DS/ WII U VC, improving Switch online library.
No opinion on Sony as I don't have a current platform or afffinity for their backlog.

 

[Bear]

MS: 9/10. Really a phenomenal job.
Nintendo: 6/10. Retro consoles but no great solution for people who don't want another piece of hardware.
Sony: 3/10. No PS3 BC.

 

[Deleted member 3010]

Nintendo and Sony leaves a lot to be desired.

Microsoft is setting an example this generation and deserve nothing but praise for their BC plan.

 

[Deleted member 7130]

MS, but to be a bit fair to other companies, MS probably has it easier. They don't have worry about extremely niche games on tricky architecture as much and they have the shortest generational span.

 

[Bunkles]

The people who vote for Sony...

 

[Lothars]

Nintendo and Sony leaves a lot to be desired.

Microsoft is setting an example this generation and deserve nothing but praise for their BC plan.

Click to shrink...

Yup, It's one of the things that Microsoft has really hit out of the park and Sony and Nintendo need to follow.

 

[Acquiescence]

Funny how Microsoft has the worst legacy, yet they're doing the best to preserve it.

The mere fact that there's no PS1 support on the PS4 alone is laughable.

 

[JusDoIt]

Honestly, Nintendo's and Sony's "efforts" come off as straight up amateurish in comparison to what Microsoft is doing. I don't know if it's going to "help" them in the long run but they deserve mad props.

Click to shrink...

It's a great feature to have, but not really among the most important. That said, the only time I've really used my Xbox One this year was to play RDR1. So it's worth something.

 

[KaCo]

From what I see and hear about Microsoft's BC, they're at the top right now in letting people play old games.

Sony/Nintendo not so much. I really do hope we get a better BC option for next gen.

 

[Deleted member 7130]

Sony and Nintendo are bad enough... then there's Sega.

 

[Becks']

Microsoft. Nintendo and Sony can't get rid of the greed factor when it comes to older games.

 

[oni-link]

The people who vote for Sony...

Click to shrink...

I'm genuinely curious to hear their reasoning

 

[Dougieflesh]

Microsoft is the only answer here. They've done an amazing job at making past games available. You gotta be some special level of fanboy if you vote for Sony or Nintendo.

 

[Prine]

All I can say is that I expect the same standard from Sony and Nintendo as MS, a system agnostic library to play all my old games, free and upgraded to fit the system capabilities.

 

[Deleted member 2321]

Would the 7 people who voted for Sony please stand up and explain themselves?

 

[PetrCobra]

As a Nintendo fanboy who recently got into the Sony ecosystem (I'm playing catchup so mostly use PS nowadays) and doesn't own any MS consoles (not counting my two OG Xboxes because I don't really play anything on them) I can't even imagine saying anything but Microsoft. Even their approach could surely use some improvements but they're still way ahead of the two others.

 

[no1]

Xbox is obviously the best, but still with room to improve with back catalog stuff still not available (not all their fault though). How long before they secure the rights to re-release Sega Saturn/Dreamcast titles?!

Click to shrink...

I would absolutely love this. Imagine MS having Backwards compat for other consoles on their system. Now that would be something to brag about lol.

The people who vote for Sony...

Click to shrink...

I mean come on PSNow isn't that the best Backwards Compatibility out there? You just need to rebuy all your games, and can't play the majority offline. But it's way better then what Xbox is doing.

 

[tatotiburon]

this thread is for making fun of people who voted sony?

 

[JimJamJones]

Oh man I just realized we can now see who voted for what. That could turn hectic.

 

[Deleted member 4532]

Microsoft gets it.
Last gen (counting Wii U as last gen in this case) both Sony and Nintendo had this down, but things change I guess.

 

[Kemono]

MS great.
Nintendo not great.
Sony not great.

Click to shrink...

This right here.

 

[Thrill_house]

Microsoft has been doing a flat out fantastic job with BC

Sony is a fucking joke in regards to this. The fact I can't play the ps1 games I bought last gen on my ps4 is just crazt.

If you have a switch and are waiting for VC maybe you'll have access to the full library by the time your fucking 90. Buy a classic, hack it, never pay for their shit again imo. Nintendo doing a piss poor job

 

[Ghostbound]

Microsoft is the obvious answer.

Would the 7 people who voted for Sony please stand up and explain themselves?

Click to shrink...

Haha I was thinking the same exact thing.

 

[krlitros87]

Microsoft: awesome
Nintendo: decent
Sony: :facepalm

 

[Thatguy]

BC clearly a PR win for MS. No way to tell if that PR win has translated to a financial win though. The argument against BC is that it's poor to very poor gamer money:time ratio. They don't want you replaying a game you already own. They don't even want you playing a game from last gen at a steep discount. They want about $2 per every gamer hour minimum. With BC they get next to nothing for those hours played. And whats worse, although there are very vocal supporters of BC on internet forums, in reality most people try it for a little then go back to new games. Microsofts stats only show many people trying it IIRC.

For me every time I have used BC it was tom play a game from the previous gen that I missed. But again, I bought those games at a steep discount. The current classic console trend is perfect for game companies because they get to sell plastic, have retail presence, and charge $100. And they're probably getting $10/hour on average. I have barely touched my classic consoles.

All that said, BC is going to be a big deal next gen I think. PS4/XBO was/is a huge generation with tons of big games. At the start of the gen momentum and PR is everything. It also reassures the consumer they will have a big library day 1. So yeah I think BC will be a thing at the start of the gen, then later they will drop it in the slim models.

 

[Dyle]

Microsoft is the clear leader, even though their old library is probably the least interesting. Nintendo was doing fine, with some hiccups here and there, before 2016 but since then their offerings have become fewer and rarer. Sony's efforts were ok for a while but fell off a cliff with the PS4, they don't seem to understand what their users want at all unless it's a limited edition console with a retro skin.