The PS4 really should have backwards compatibility!

[The_Liquid_Laser]

VGPolyglot said:

The_Liquid_Laser said:

How much does backwards compatibility matter?  Well lets look at the performance of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft consoles.  Some of them had BC and some didn't.  Below I've ranked each console based on hardware sales and market share on a 1-10 scale.  Obviously I left off consoles that were firsts in their line (NES, PS1, etc...) and I left off Switch because it's so recent.  Here are the results:

Console	Sales Performance (1-10)	BC?	Console	Sales Performance (1-10)	BC?
SNES	7	N	Wii	8	Y
N64	4	N	Wii U	1	Y
GCN	2	N	GBA	8	Y
Virtual Boy	1	N	DS	10	Y
PS3	5	N	3DS	7	Y
PS4	9	N	PS2	10	Y
PS Vita	1	N	XB360	5	Y
			XB1	3	Y
Average	4.1		Average	6.5

There certainly is a strong correlation between BC and market success.  It doesn't guarantee market success, but it sure doesn't hurt either.

Actually, now that you mention it, a lot of successful consoles had backwards compatibility. The PS2, PS3, Wii, GBA, DS, 3DS, 360, MD, etc.

I know right?

If nothing else, consumers really favor consoles that are consumer friendly, and BC is one really nice, consumer friendly feature.  The PS4 got away with not having it, because both the XB1 and Wii U seemed even less consumer friendly at launch than the PS4 did.