I really think PS2 was only so successful because it ...

Was one of the cheapest and most reliable DVD players on the market at the time?

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Both systems were dicks about backwards compatibility, and I think it hurt them both. I really think PS2 was only so successful because it was a direct upgrade to PS1 without requiring a brand new game library. Same for Xbox 360 upgrading original Xbox. I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

You understand how the backward compatibility worked in the ps2 right? There was literally ps1 hardware inside. This was possible only because even at the time of release, the ps1 had inexpensive generic chips. The emotion engine of the PS2 was custom designed for the system. It wasn't a mass produced R3000 that was in tons of other stuff. That means putting a ps2 inside a ps3 would be hard. Putting a ps3 inside a ps4 would be even harder.

it was scrapped because it'd be too damn expensive, and emulation can't keep up! We are just barely getting PS2 emulation working, and you think Sony could have a PS3 emulator run on a PS4?! Emulation of 8 way parallel processing is beyond impossible right now at playable speeds.

I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

I think the reason they did that initially is that for both companies, they still saw their last-gen systems as active platforms. They're still selling them, selling games for them, and supporting them. From their point of view, they assumed people who want to play PS3/360 games will simply have those systems on hand. That, combined with the not-insignificant engineering effort needed to make an emulator which functions well enough for commercial use, led them to conclude it wasn't necessary.

I think what they didn't take into account is that those last-gen systems will eventually fail and no longer be available (probably very soon), and people want to be able to continue to play their old games if/when that happens.

100% agreed. I feel like the Xbox One has always offered a lot more than the PS4, but because Microsoft's launch focused almost exclusively on the new stuff and ignored that - at its core - the system is still a gaming platform, it suffered dramatically in the press.

All pretty much true. Whether the XBone offers more is a matter of opinion and probably not universal for everyone, but what is definitely true is that Microsoft's marketing message out of the gate SUCKED. And Sony definitely took full advantage of that - remember their outright gleeful tone at last year's E3? It was painful to watch as an XBone owner.

They've been changing that story for over a year now, and it really shows during this E3.

Yeah. Somewhere along the way, Microsoft realized they had shot themselves in the foot. That seemed to coincide with Phil Spencer becoming head of XBox. Perhaps everyone else was clueless, they brought Phil in to fix things, he realized the marketing sucked, and subsequently changed it. Or perhaps others figured out the problem on their own, and just realized Phil was the best person to push the gaming agenda. Either way, things were terrible in the MS camp, and now they're less terrible.

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

Agreed, mostly.

I bought a PS4 solely for Destiny. I wanted to get the "definitive" Destiny experience,a good chunk of friends was going that direction (and Halo was on the decline) so I chose to follow.

3/4 of a year later, I have mixed feelings. At this point, if I would have done Destiny on XB1, I'd be fine. I don't feel the exclusives were anything substantial. But I'm happy I took a step back from Xbox gave the PS4 a spin. I still dislike the controller, but the change of scenery has been wonderful.

Regardless of this, I'm happy for the competition between MS and Sony- it is very good for us.

Agreed - it is very good for us. I feel like Microsoft and Sony are really fighting for our attention, and that keeps them honest and striving.

I feel very fortunate that I don't have to choose.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

Spotty library, no peripheral support, two years after launch.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

It's a nice-looking checkbox, but will it actually mean that much to that many people?

What peripheral support is needed for the 360? I guess if you don't have enough XB1 controllers? Asking purely out of curiosity.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

Guilty.

When I made the jump from Xb1 to 360, backwards compatibility was a big deal for me. I couldn't afford to outright buy a 360 at the time, and I wanted the Elite model- bad. For me to get it, I was going to have to trade in my Xb1.

So when BWC was announced for most of my games, I felt a weight lift and I made the jump.....and never went back to play the old games, again!

(except for Halo 2 and 1 for LANs)

I've learned my lesson. If I want to play the old games, I hold onto the old console. So, when MS finally announces they are putting the kibosh on 360 productions, I'll go out and buy one.

Just in case.

Also LANs. Might not be able to wrangle a PS4\Xbone LAN these days, but dammit, I know people will for 360.

Did you miss the part where they said 100 titles by Christmas, hundreds soon after, and all first-party titles?

The only obstacles beyond the already-mentioned peripheral limitations are licensing agreements and publishers saying no.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

Spotty library, no peripheral support, two years after launch.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

It's a nice-looking checkbox, but will it actually mean that much to that many people?

It absolutely does. I would buy an XBone today if it had full backwards compatibility. If I only had to deal with one console (I don't have any of the PSs right now) I would be very happy to join the current generation.

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As far as the press conferences go, I think Microsoft had a far more impressive overall presentation. Wide range of titles coming out before the end of the year, and Hololense looks like an amazing piece of technology. Backwards compatibility is a huge crowd pleaser, although I agree with others who have said that it is a feature everyone asks for and then rarely uses. I'm interested in the new controller... I've asked to get one sent to me for review, so we'll see if that happens. Interested to see how much of an improvement it is over the standard Xbox One controller, of which I am not a fan.

Sony's presentation was also very good, although I do feel like they were trying really hard to distract us from the fact that they have almost nothing coming this year.

Looking at Sony and Microsoft's total respective packages, the Xbox One does come out looking really good. But personally speaking, I just enjoy using the PS4 a lot more. Everything feels more streamlined, everything works a little more smoothly. I still get apps crashing and locking up on my Xbox all the time, on top of the general sluggishness of the UI, loading times for apps, all that stuff. I do prefer the PS4 controller as well, which is a total 180 from my preferences in the previous gen.

Fair enough. I find that both consoles flake out more than they should. I find the PS4 interface much more responsive, but I'm hoping the next Xbox dashboard update takes care of that.

Still like the 360 controller better than either of new ones. I hope you get a copy of the new fancy elite one--I want to know what you think of it!

Oh Levi! You're always so negative! ;)

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

No opinion on the Sony side of things, but I'm just waiting to see what the full details of backwards compatibility entail. Say they bring Reach over. Will I get to play it on Xbox Live all the same as if I had it running on my 360? Same goes for other games that get the okay from third party publishers.

Phil Spencer spoke about this a little on the Giant Bomb E3 Day 1 live show. Basically, when you play a 360 game on your Xbox One, your One is disguised as a 360 to the game and to Live. The game thinks it is being played on a 360, achievements track as if you were on a 360, even Live itself thinks you are playing on a 360.

The Xbox One launches a "360 backwards compatibility" app, and the 360 game is then run inside that app. The app is a complete emulation of the 360.