I don't get why people are trying to downplay it. Sony can't even get PS1 games on the PS4 and they are wanting us to double dip with PS2 titles. Nintendo also doesn't have it on the Switch.

2-gen retrocompatibility is actually pretty great.

So, when you say physical you mean non-emulation? Like what the original PS3s had?

Physical BC made sense so long as the format lent itself to it. Last gen saw rather weak physical BC (only launch PS3s had it, 360's BC was far from perfect), and this gen nobody seems to want to let you just play old games off a disk - you either buy a digital remaster, buy a remake, or insert a disk once to add a digital remaster to your library.

"PS3 is too complex for an emulator, they don't want the games designed for CRT stretched out over an HD resolution, thess old games would look.terrible anyway"...nah, these corporations want your money for digital versions & remakes. (At least MS being generous in this regard, but I wonder if they figured enough people would just buy the digital versions to make up for those who still have physical disks.)

I doubt it's dead. I think Sony is going to make the PS5 B/C with the PS4, but with enhancements like the Pro. One, because they are sticking to the same architecture and chip manufacturer, so it'll be easier. And two, because it'll allow 100M+ PS4 gamers to move to the PS5 more smoothly and willingly. It would be nice for them to add PS1 and PS2 B/C, but I doubt they will.

Oh, and 1998? How old are you? Physical B/C (and done by the system, so no adapters) started in 1986, with the Atari 7800.

This comment blows me away, either you have not used X1 BC with X360 games or you really didn't notice how the console does it?

How to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One

To play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One, first make sure your game is supported for Xbox One gameplay. Games supported for backward compatibility are listed in the Xbox 360 catalog.

Next, just pop the Xbox 360 disc into your Xbox One console. Or, if you own a game digitally, look for it in your games list under Ready to install. In both cases, the game will download to your console. For disc-based games, the disc is needed to play the game.

Even if you own the disc... your harddrive is getting filled with those games still.. downloaded so you can play them on the system.

To be fair, in terms of physical BC Sony is so far the only platform holder that managed to give true 2 gen BC. MS is trying to close the ranks but I'd consider their X360 BC a bit too inconvenient to count.

Physical is going away altogether, and thats awesome. Just like movies, before long we will be streaming games as opposed to downloading, that is just the way of things.

Maybe I should clarify. I know how it works, and I know that it downloads to the hard drive. It's just that I prefer actually owning a copy of the game, if you understand me. It's nice to have an icon in the store that says "Owned", but I prefer to either have a physical copy on disc or a downloaded game on the hard drive. In case of BC, it installs the game and after I've finished, I can delete it, but I still have my physical copy, not only a reminder in the store that I own the game, which, btw, doesn't appear if the game was on disc.

On the other hand, it enables me to clear my full 360 HD of all the DLC that I can download on the XOne. Ehh, maybe I'm complicating things too much. In any case, it's useful for my personal use.

Ok, the 360 one is a bit of a pain since they have to manually add support, but at least it's something. The OG XB one looks great. Sony already did better with BC, but this gen they are lacking.

The Atari 7800 could play physical Atari 2600 games back in 1986.