Backwards Compatibility Would've Been Better Than PS Premium
Sony recently announced PS Plus Premium for the PlayStation 5, but what the console is truly missing is backwards compatibility across the PS3 and PS2. There is a wide variety of Sony games that the PS5 is currently incapable of playing, and that's a disappointment, given the Xbox One and more recent Xbox Series X can play discs intended for the Xbox 360 and original Xbox. Backwards compatibility is a welcome addition to any console, yet the PS5 is missing this crucial advantage.
Backwards compatibility is the ability for a console to play games from previous console generations One of the earliest examples was, ironically enough, the PlayStation 2's ability to play games for the original PlayStation. It gives a console even more value because players can keep playing their old games on the new model, making it feel like a better investment. In fact, Xbox's backwards compatible games show improved performance on the new console. It's an especially useful feature when highly praised or popular games come out near the end of a console's life cycle, and sometimes saves the need for a remaster or for players to pay for a new port of a game they already own.
What PS Plus Premium does is give subscribers access to a wide selection of games to play for free with the price of admission, It will also provide other perks such as exclusive discounts on various games and apps. It is somewhat similar to the Xbox Ultimate Game Pass service on the Xbox One. PS Plus Premium is set to replace the current PlayStation Now program, and provide more content than that service. Unfortunately, unlike Game Pass, the new premium PS Plus won't have day-one launch games. This is disappointing in its own way, but arguably more frustrating is that Sony is yet to crack the ability for PS5 owners to play the PS2 and PS3 games they already own on the company's latest system.
The new PS Plus Premium library will include some PlayStation 3 games. However, this pales in comparison to what the Xbox One and Series X are providing at the moment. In addition to the original Xbox and 360 games available through Game Pass, a significant number of those titles can be played on the newer consoles if the owner has the physical disk. The same cannot be said for the PS2 and PS3 for those who own a PlayStation 5. Although most PlayStation 4 games can be played on the PS5, the fact that so many classic games for the PlayStation 3 and 2 are unplayable on the new system is a shame. Sony's focus on generations has hurt the PS5, as players still have to own a PS2 or PS3 to play their previous-gen games, or pay again for a remaster or a new PS Premium subscription to stream something they already bought years ago.
Retro gaming is a part of the market that PlayStation's competitors have been much more successful at capturing. The Xbox One has its aforementioned backwards compatibility combined with some classics available through Xbox Game Pass. Nintendo has also been offering some of its classic games on the Switch, either through rereleases or via its own online services. Without backwards compatibility, Sony is not only missing out on potential sales from the retro gaming fandom, but also owners of older PlayStation consoles who were considering an upgrade. Considering that people have played over 1 billion hours of backwards compatible games on Xbox One, it's obvious just how big an omission this is for the PS5.
Backwards compatibility is something that is always lauded as a function for a new console. The ability to keep playing older games on the next console generation has immense value, especially given that older hardware can sometimes be prone to faults or errors. It's clear that backwards compatibility would be a bigger draw for the PlayStation 5 than PS Plus Premium, but at least at the moment, it doesn't seem like Sony will be following that route.