Well...  I can't sleep...  So, I have a question to ask.

PS3, in the beginning had PS2 backwards compatibility, and later, through emulated PS2 games on PSN.  Sony really did everything they could, stuffing everything they could into PS3 to make it one expensive box, only to take features away to fight hacking and a high price point.

My question is:  Would you think it would be a good idea for Sony to do what they did with PS3 in reverse?  As in, lauch PS4 initially with no backwards compatibility, then later, release a PS4 with backwards compatibility for PS2 & PS3 games?  No emulation?

We know that both the Xbox One and PS4 are more similar to PCs in terms of hardware.  Would it be safe to assume that as we move closer to digital media becoming normal, they wanted to ensure PS5 and next box would be backwards compatible?

We sometimes get unbelieveable features with each new generation... I wouldn't be surprised if we saw forwards compatibility.  PS4 & PS5 versions of the same game, in one game.  Just a few settings changed depending on the console the disc is running on.

Anyway... forget all that (or not, I don't mind)  The questions I want to know is, "Will it be a good idea for a fully backwards compatible PS4 in the future," and,  "Would it be safe to assume the next generation of consoles will be backwards compatible with the current?"

"Would it be safe to assume the next generation of consoles will be backwards compatible with the current?"

It would be much safer to assume that only Nintendo will provide true backwards-compatibility going forward. Especially since Sony is figuring out how to charge PS4 owners for the ability to play PS3 games on their new consoles.

Not really cause in the future, the ps4 will have enough games that many wont really care about the ps3 games so releasing a ps4 that can play ps3/ps2 gamed in the future = added cost which I doubt people are willing to pay for. The reason why BC is great to have in the beginning however is cause as we wait for next gen games to come out, we can keep our selves busy with more last gen releases. And that is specially important for those that traded in their ps3s for ps4s

Well, I sure did use my PS2 a lot to play my PS1 games. You know what else? I use my PS3 to play PS1 games too. I don't think that the only reason people play older games on new consoles is to wait for new games to come out. Why not keep the old console until those new, shiny games hit?

The farther you go, the less important backwards compatibility becomes. Definitely would've bought a 600€ PS4 with BC at launch like I did with the PS3 but now I don't care anymore.

Many companies are trying to push cloud based streaming services as the convenient replacement for backwards-compatibility. If the service took off, I don't think we will see backwards-compatibility again. The exception might be Nintendo for next generation, until they catch up with their online services

You're assuming that Nintendo will go with the same type of processor again?  Interesting.

Don't you see all the remakes? No need for PS3 emulation
Well, yes, I believe if PS5 and Xbwo will release they will be x86 again and it'd be quite easy to make them backwards compatible to the current gen.
Generally, if you want to play PS2 games, buy a good PC and emulate the games. Upresd graphics, better filtering, everything.
I won't bet on any efforts from Sony to implement anything PS3,PS2,PS1 gaming on your system with existing discs.

Sony did it with PS3 - just put the other processor in the package (or even the GPU).

If Nintendo uses the same GPU architecture (with a lot more power and modern architecture and features) and higher memory bandwidth, they could put in the tri-core PPC in the package and this CPU could even be to offload general tasks for games. It's definitely not ouf the way technically and Nintendo has a certain tradition with backwards compatibility.

It only feels important when you first purchase your console, as you don't have much to play. You look for other games to play and those other games are on the console before. It would be nice if they all worked on the same machine. The more games for your new console you get the less likely you are to go back to the last ones games.

This said, I do think they'll try and do PS2 bc on PS4, PS1 via discs I do not think is possible due to lack of CD drive architecture and PS3 because of the Cell but PS2 via software emulation is a possibility. Both PS1 games and PS2 games will appear on PSN as it's easy money.