Should PlayStation make all of their backwards compatible with Spartacus?

[Kane99]

With the recent news of PlayStation possibly making their own Gamepass competitor called Spartacus, there was a mention of PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP games being featured. Do you think that this will include all of the catalog of games being backwards compatible? Or will it be like with gamepass where they can only license a few of the games from their back catalog to put up? 

I think if Sony could actually make that a reality, it would be a huge blow to Xbox, because they are only making a small portion of games backwards compatible, but if Sony can do all of them, and not have to worry about licensing, then they have a great console on their hands with the PS5. 

[Oblivion Knight]

I'm pretty sure that licensing will be an issue, because it always is.. Just recently the PS2 era of Metal Gear Solid games got taken off the PS3 store and PS Now service due to licensing.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/11/metal-gear-solid-2-and-3-hd-removed-from-ps-store-today-temporarily

..but regardless of that, there's also a lot of dross that gets released for consoles too. It makes no sense for some titles to be available that might only get downloaded once or twice in a year - if that. Of course, if Sony said they're just making "the most popular" games available, there's also the problem of everyone having their own opinion of what are the most popular games.

[Darth]

I doubt it but I would love for some of the more popular games to be made available through Spartacus. GTA IV is the main one of me really. It is available on Xbox but I really do want to play it on the PlayStation instead which is why I haven't bought it again. They could make a lot of money as well if they can find a proper solution

[The Blackangel]

On 12/8/2021 at 10:00 AM, Oblivion Knight said:

I'm pretty sure that licensing will be an issue, because it always is.. Just recently the PS2 era of Metal Gear Solid games got taken off the PS3 store and PS Now service due to licensing.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/11/metal-gear-solid-2-and-3-hd-removed-from-ps-store-today-temporarily

..but regardless of that, there's also a lot of dross that gets released for consoles too. It makes no sense for some titles to be available that might only get downloaded once or twice in a year - if that. Of course, if Sony said they're just making "the most popular" games available, there's also the problem of everyone having their own opinion of what are the most popular games.

You're spot on with that. The only way they gauge what was the most popular is by the money spent to buy the game when it hit shelves. If gamers spent 60 million in the first week on Game A, and 20 million in the first week on Game B, then they will assume that Game A was the most popular one. What they don't factor in is how many bought it because the box looked good, but in turn ended up hating it and wanted their $60 back from GameStop. Also the price of the game matters. Game A may have hit the shelves at $60, while Game B hit the shelves at $40. But they don't care. Bigger numbers=higher popularity. Higher popularity-bigger profits. What we think and want, unfortunately doesn't matter to the ones at the top. AS long as we keep spending our money, that is all that matters.

For example one of my all time favorite games is Blaster Master. It's an NES game. It was virtually unnoticed when it was released. Now the only ones that even know of its existence are those of us that played it in 1988. It's also one of the most difficult games ever released. The gamers of today will have one hell of a hard time with it. Sunsoft made several follow ups to the original, but they were largely overlooked.

Now, (with the exception of Nintendo Online) they wouldn't even be legally allowed to try to port them to a Switch due to the licensing, if Nintendo hadn't acquired Sunsoft in the early 2000's.

It seems to me that it all comes down to money, and ownership. If you have the money, you can own whatever you want. And stop others from enjoying what you own, if you're so inclined.

[Kane99]

On 12/8/2021 at 11:00 AM, Oblivion Knight said:

I'm pretty sure that licensing will be an issue, because it always is.. Just recently the PS2 era of Metal Gear Solid games got taken off the PS3 store and PS Now service due to licensing.

https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/11/metal-gear-solid-2-and-3-hd-removed-from-ps-store-today-temporarily

..but regardless of that, there's also a lot of dross that gets released for consoles too. It makes no sense for some titles to be available that might only get downloaded once or twice in a year - if that. Of course, if Sony said they're just making "the most popular" games available, there's also the problem of everyone having their own opinion of what are the most popular games.

Yeah that's the sad truth. Sucks, because there's so many games that I'd love to see backwards compatible on the PS4/5. I just wish they could make it where the system just plays the game. They don't have to release it digitally. But of course, Sony would want to make cash on those games instead, so they'd either license them again or let them die out.