# An Easy Question for PS4 Owners **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 21, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416 "2017-02-21T21:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/1 "2017-02-21T21:47:43Z")
As we are officially only one month away from the newest edition of my beloved Mass Effect, I have a question for the PS4 people in the audience. I want the new game, and I will definitely sell my 3 (and my games) to get it, but I don’t want to lose the original trilogy! Is the Mass Effect Trilogy able to be downloaded from the Playstation store and onto the system? If so, is the downloaded game the complete trilogy, will all the DLCs attached? Or will I have to get those separately? This will heavily influence my decision whether to sell the PS3 and the games to get the 4, or if I have to just live with two systems. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/2 "2017-02-21T22:16:10Z")
Bad news. It looks like the Mass Effect trilogy is [PS3 only](https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-ca/games/mass-effect-trilogy/cid=UP0006-NPUB31093_00-STOREBUNDLE00123). ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/3 "2017-02-21T22:32:37Z")
PS3 only. The nature o the beast when it comes to consoles… unless they’re in distant second, then they tend to make an effort in terms of backwards compatibility. Unluckily for you, Sony is winning this gen. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/4 "2017-02-21T22:45:47Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > PS3 only. The nature o the beast when it comes to consoles… unless they’re in distant second, then they tend to make an effort in terms of backwards compatibility. Unluckily for you, Sony is winning this gen. Ya know, I always thought Sony and Microsoft were basically neck and neck, in regards to consoles, with Microsoft tending to have a slight lead if anything. Just looked up sales - PS4 has twice the sales of XBox 1. Talk about being wrong. As to the OP, my PS3 is still around only for the fact that my FF games are on it. If they ever updated them to PS4, the 3 would be out of the door faster than an ex-girlfriend. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Smit01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mac\_Smit01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Smit01)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/5 "2017-02-22T13:52:45Z")
I can’t understand why the PS4 is ahead when you have to pay for backward compatibility. As for the Xbox One, as long as it is on the list and you have the Xbox 360 disc you can play it. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/6 "2017-02-22T14:11:24Z")
Damn. I was hoping for that boost. Oh well, looks like I’m keeping my 3 for a while huh? Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/7 "2017-02-22T20:15:23Z")
> [@Mac\_Smit01](#): > > I can’t understand why the PS4 is ahead when you have to pay for backward compatibility. As for the Xbox One, as long as it is on the list and you have the Xbox 360 disc you can play it. Because backwards compatibility costs money, and adding $50 to the price of your console costs you WAY MORE BUYERS than backwards compatibility gets you. Most people who want to play old games ALREADY HAVE an old console, so all backwards compatibility offers them is a margin of convenience. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/8 "2017-02-22T21:50:34Z")
> [@Mac\_Smit01](#): > > I can’t understand why the PS4 is ahead when you have to pay for backward compatibility. As for the Xbox One, as long as it is on the list and you have the Xbox 360 disc you can play it. $100 cheaper at launch, still $50 cheaper. Halo sucks. Out long before the One. No DRM debacle pre-launch. Halo sucks. Better graphics. User-upgradeable hard drive. Halo sucks. Just kidding, I hate all shooters on console. They’ll never compare to a mouse and keyboard setup. And the backwards compatibility is not for all games - barely a quarter of them are playable on the One, so far. I only got rid of my PS1 and PS2 because I didn’t really care about the games - the newer versions were already out (I’m a rather late adopter). My PS3 sits in the stand though, because I lurv me some FFX, and I’m not ready to give that up. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/9 "2017-02-22T22:06:35Z")
Good news si some progress is being made on a PS3 emulator. It’ll be a few more years though, probably. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/10 "2017-02-22T23:35:46Z")
With all the games that have been remastered in HD for the latest console generation I’m astonished that never happened for the Mass Effect Trilogy. A definitive HD edition with all the DLC would have been a license to print money I would have thought, but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/11 "2017-02-23T13:54:56Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > With all the games that have been remastered in HD for the latest console generation I’m astonished that never happened for the Mass Effect Trilogy. > > A definitive HD edition with all the DLC would have been a license to print money I would have thought, but apparently not. Apparently Bioware just patently refuses to do it. They claim it’s because they’re “looking forward and not behind”. Fans have been clamoring for it for a good long time because an HD remix will not only make the game look prettier (and 3 is already an absolutely gorgeous game), but it will fix some of the more annoying video/audio lag problems. 90% of the cutscenes in 2 show the gun going off, and THEN the sound of the fire. Or a dude being shot, and then the FWITT of the bullet. I agree that it would absolutely print money, but I think they just don’t want to put the resources towards it. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/12 "2017-02-23T14:42:57Z")
And the last two comments are exactly why backwards compatibility isn’t going to happen. They want to keep selling you your old games as many times as you are willing to shell out for them. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/13 "2017-02-24T14:56:27Z")
Most players don’t finish games at all, let alone do multiple playthroughs. I remember being really pissed off when Sony stripped backwards compatibility from the PS3 shortly after launch (I hadn’t bought mine yet), but I never actually missed it. I kept my PS2 around for several years after buying the PS3 and only rarely bothered to play anything on it. Wherever that PS2 is now, it probably still works. That machine was a workhorse. Anyway, the vast majority of console users do not care about being able to play their favorite last-generation games over and over again. Sony was not the sales leader when they stripped backwards compatibility from the PS3, and the gamble paid off. Nobody really cared, or at least not enough cared for it to matter. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/14 "2017-02-24T15:31:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > I remember being really pissed off when Sony stripped backwards compatibility from the PS3 shortly after launch (I hadn’t bought mine yet), but I never actually missed it. I kept my PS2 around for several years after buying the PS3 and only rarely bothered to play anything on it. Wherever that PS2 is now, it probably still works. That machine was a workhorse. Exactly. Most people are in this situation. Backwards compatibility does not in fact make you want to play your old games any more often. > [@](#): > > Nobody really cared, or at least not enough cared for it to matter. And more people cared about the price cut, yes. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/15 "2017-02-25T23:30:11Z")
Don’t have one myself, but Microsoft have gone into backwards compatibility in a big way with the Xbox One and I’m told it’s been very well received. Also there are several old PS3 games I would love to play on the PS4. The original Infamous games for a start. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/16 "2017-02-26T06:53:11Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > PS3 only. The nature o the beast when it comes to consoles… unless they’re in distant second, then they tend to make an effort in terms of backwards compatibility. Unluckily for you, Sony is winning this gen. The big problem with backward compatibility for PS3 is the cell processor, not the fact that Sony is winning. It’s much harder to emulate than what the XBox One has to do. They’d pretty much have to have included a cell processor in the PS4 to pull it off, and since they’re a speciality item that never got widespread adoption anywhere else that would be pricey. If you want to play PS3 games, buy a second hand PS3, they’re easily available for around $60-$80 now. Personally I very much doubt the attempts to emulate PS3 will ever let you play AAA games at decent frame rates. ---
**Author:** ![Unpronounceable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de0a6/32.png) [@Unpronounceable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unpronounceable)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/17 "2017-02-26T15:16:10Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The big problem with backward compatibility for PS3 is the cell processor, not the fact that Sony is winning. It’s much harder to emulate than what the XBox One has to do. They’d pretty much have to have included a cell processor in the PS4 to pull it off, and since they’re a speciality item that never got widespread adoption anywhere else that would be pricey. > > If you want to play PS3 games, buy a second hand PS3, they’re easily available for around $60-$80 now. Personally I very much doubt the attempts to emulate PS3 will ever let you play AAA games at decent frame rates. That’s why the pseudo-backward compatibility that’s available is actually streaming the game over the internet (Playstation Now). I wish they had made the service free for anyone who had a physical copy of the disc in their system OR the subscription for access to the greater library. That would have solved a lot of complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/18 "2017-02-26T15:35:12Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > The big problem with backward compatibility for PS3 is the cell processor, not the fact that Sony is winning. It’s much harder to emulate than what the XBox One has to do. They’d pretty much have to have included a cell processor in the PS4 to pull it off, and since they’re a speciality item that never got widespread adoption anywhere else that would be pricey. > > If you want to play PS3 games, buy a second hand PS3, they’re easily available for around $60-$80 now. Personally I very much doubt the attempts to emulate PS3 will ever let you play AAA games at decent frame rates. Pretty sure the Xbox one needs to emulate the PowerPC architecture of the 360 too. Somehow I doubt they’ve got a bunch of PS3’s hooked up for PlayStation now. It may be that the Ps4 doesn’t have the power to run whatever hardware emulation they got going acceptably though. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/19 "2017-02-27T05:17:19Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Pretty sure the Xbox one needs to emulate the PowerPC architecture of the 360 too. Somehow I doubt they’ve got a bunch of PS3’s hooked up for PlayStation now. It may be that the Ps4 doesn’t have the power to run whatever hardware emulation they got going acceptably though. The cell processor is “weird”, its not a CPU and it’s not a graphics card, it’s an 8 way vector processing unit that was really designed for super computers. Why Sony choose it for the PS3 is a bit of a mystery, it’s really not that good for games. So software emulation on the PS4 would have to emulate both the PPC processor on the PS4’s AMD cpu AND emulate the Cell processor. You’re right it’s just not fast enough to do both. For running PSNow, they designed a custom motherboard which is 8 PS3’s on a single board, and thats a 1U rack mount item. So again it’s not software emulation they’re using 8 Cell processors on that custom motherboard as well as 8x the rest of the PS3’s chips. > **[Sony's PlayStation Now uses custom-designed hardware with eight PS3s on a...](https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/175005-sonys-playstation-now-uses-custom-designed-hardware-with-eight-ps3s-on-a-single-motherboard)** > > Sony is developing new PS3 server hardware with eight consoles per board to combat lag and space limitations. You can argue that Sony should have put a Cell processor inside the PS4, if thats what they needed to get backwards compatibility, but the PS4 has become the best seller of this generation without backwards compatibility, so I’d argue that proves they were right, most consumers don’t care that much about it. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416/20 "2017-02-27T19:38:43Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > Don’t have one myself, but Microsoft have gone into backwards compatibility in a big way with the Xbox One and I’m told it’s been very well received. There’s a big difference between “well received” and “actually causing anyone to buy an Xbox One” though. Basically this is the thing on backwards compatibility: Everyone seems to think it’s a great idea, and claps a lot when a company does it, but it has shown time and again that it doesn’t make any money. Especially not when compared to making HD re-releases. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-easy-question-for-ps4-owners/780416.md?page=2)