PS5 Is 'Not Just About the Future, But Also About the Past', Insider Claims

We've had zero confirmation but if Bluepoint do give Demon's Souls the SoTC treatment it is going to be something else! Imagine a non janky Demon's Souls complete with raytraced lighting and sound (raytraced sound needs to be talked about more because it is stupidly impressive when implemented properly)

if DemonsSouls remake comes to ps5 its gonna steals Bloodborne II"s tunder n rain on its parade, it would make more sense if it comes to ps4 where theres 100mil install base, not everyones gonna jump to ps5 day1..plus i dont trust any1 who does a souls game unless their name is FromSoft..

It’s the way it needs to go. There will be huge gaps in the library for legal and technical reasons, but it’s important for Sony to get their history available.

After this gen, I would guess it will just be “PlayStation” rather than a numbered console.

Don't really care, I like the PS4 BC but that's it.
For PS2/PSX games I prefer Remakes/Remasters

@pimpjuice there will never be bloodborne 2

@Amppari They’d have to do a Dark Souls 2, I reckon. Plot wise, it would have to be its own new thing set in a new area or at least in the future. Hopefully it wouldn’t follow Dark Souls 2 in other areas

Compability with ps1, ps2, ps3, psp and psvita will be great

I really only care about moving forward and playing new games. New IPs, new sequels etc. If i wanted to play old games id just dust off my old systems. For convenience sake sure, itd be nice..... and convenient lol but not necessary.
And how much would yall flip if by "backwards compatible" they were just talking about an updated PS Now?

WipeOut 4 confirmed!!!

I have said many times that Backwards Compatibility is a lot more difficult than just turning it on/off - even if its running the same architecture. PC guys know that often upgrading to a new generation GPU often requires drivers to make some games run properly - and that's still keeping with the same brand like AMD or nVidia.

Its even more complex when it comes to consoles where games are tuned and licensed to that specific console. Even things like Music can be a problem. Its different for PC as games are licenced to PC which is much more generalised than being licenced to PS4 or PS3. Its also made much more complicated with the iterative PS4 Pro as the PS5 would require at least 3 different running modes - the PS4, PS4 Pro and PS5 modes - the Pro has to have different running modes too to work with ALL PS4 software and half the GPU is switched off for games that don't have any Pro support.

If the XB1 can claim its Backwards Compatible with a small fraction of XB360 and a smaller selection of Original XB console games, what's to say that PS5 wouldn't claim its BC with a fraction of PS4 games - what fraction though remains to be seen. Maybe it will be full, maybe it will be a fraction like all the Pro enhanced games, all the Exclusives - who knows. Sony also hasn't enabled all games to run as they released on PS4 with games being turned off from any online features and some games have been removed from the store. Driveclub for example...

PSNow could be their GamePass or their solution to Backwards Compatibility. If you don't subscribe to PSNow for example, putting in the Disc (or owning the licence from acquiring digitally) may let you play games on PSNow and play via streaming instead of natively on PS5. Its one option that also wouldn't affect the hardware design of the PS5...

Whatever decision Sony make, I don't think its really worth worrying about. Its not as if you don't have the means to play PS4 games now and nothing says you have to throwaway or trade in your PS4 once PS5 releases. Whether its partial or full BC, to me its a 'bonus' feature - like it is on XB1 for me. The more games, the bigger the bonus the feature is but I would buy PS5 regardless as I want to play the new games at the best possible console standards...

@get2sammyb Agreed. Though truth be told, PSX and PS2 are more than doable, if Sony wills it. It's the PS3 which will probably be problematic for the PS5.

They should announce the Demon's Souls remaster alongside Bloodborne 2 and offer it as a pre-order bonus.
They should also give me $10,000 for coming up with that idea.

@Mintie as long as World Tendency remains, I'll be happy.

demons' souls isn't even a very good game... it was rough around the edges and the infancy if the souls series. dark souls and bloodborne are 100% better in every regard so why so much crying for a demons' souls remake? if such people actually care enough, they would play it on ps3. this is such a tiring topic... time to move on. at best, it deserves a barebones remaster on ps4 but nothing more.

@BAMozzy it really does matter since there is no excuse for lack of 100% b/c on the ps5. none whatsoever. people have invested thousands of dollars in ps4 software and it should run on ps5 out of the box. we bought the arguments of ps3 b/c not being doable and there are many good reasons for that... but we won't buy that argument a second time when the architecture is the same ths time around. for those who do not own a ps4 pro, they will want those benefits on ps5 i.e. i should be able to get a performance boost on ps5 when i pop in a ps4 game. that goes without ssaying at this point.

@roe funny enough, it is actually a lot more expensive for sony to re-release classic games from the ps1/ps2/ps3 era (on ps now or psn) since they have to pay licensing fees. however, if they make the ps5 hardware b/c with those legacy consoles, i don't think they need to pay any licensing fees whatsoever since sony is not re-releasing new games... sony is merely allowing the option to play old physical games. at that point it is up to the consumer to decide what they want to do... and if that means playing their old ps1/ps2/ps3 discs it is in their right to do so.

There is a loud minority online yelling for Demon Souls but I hope BP is not working on it. For as popular as the Souls games appear, sells are good, but not great.

@Porco - While I disagree that Demon's Souls isn't a good game I absolutely agree that it deserves a PS4 remaster at best. Launch PS5 games should definitely not be remasters from 2 generations ago.

BC is great for early adopters, and I for one would love it for digital PS3 purchases, but I'm far more focused on new games and moving forward. I welcome BC, don't get me wrong, but if I haven't played/completed a game yet the most likely scenario is I won't ever. At least not until the gaming industry does something that makes me stop buying anything current and focus entirely on past generations, which is looking likely with Microsoft's anti-consumer push into services and features rather than games.

Any consumer that supports streaming subscriptions as a viable future needs to be effectively stricken of gaming, you're ruining the hobby for those of us that care about it.

all i expect is BC with ps4 games.

BC with ps1 and ps2 games would be great but i don't think that will happen. would be great if it did ofcourse.

but if does have ps1 and ps2 BC than the ps3 would be the odd one out since i don't think it will be so easy to do because of the inner workings of that console.

Compatable with the SNES CD-ROM!

I'm seeing news pop up now on twitter that it could have ps1,ps2,ps3 backward compatibility as well, if true that would epic.

I hope it is bc with all generations of PS as there are a tonne of JRPGs I would like to play without having to plug in different consoles. But I don't think that is really realistic. But it better be at least bc with PS4.

JRPGs are pretty much the main reason BC is important.

@Porco Its that kind of ignorance and lack of knowledge that can leave people disappointed. Its NOT the same at all even if its the same family. The Pro couldn't use a Puma CPU for example - the newer version of the Jaguar as that in itself would cause problems with existing software. The Pro had to be engineered to run PS4 software without issue and why the Pro exactly like a PS4 for the games that were not enhanced for the Pro. After Sony added the boost mode - basically the same as a PS4 but using the clock speed of the Pro's - but still only using one half of the GPU, it still caused issues with some games.

Upgrading from an AMD Radeon 7870 to an AMD RX480 still causes issues with games that ran well on the much older but still same 'architecture' and same family - you have download drivers to get the games running at or better specs. Some games don't benefit at all from new CPU/GPU's because the games weren't built with multi-threading in mind - still al x86 architecture though...

As for running better, there is certainly NO guarantee you will get any better performance in games. Those games that were not enhanced for Pro will only run at the specs the Developer opted for. It takes the developer to patch in different specifications. It also depends on the way Sony implement there BC, it could be as a 'virtual' PS4 (emulation) and so games run exactly the same as they did on PS4 inc all the frame and resolution drops. Certainly the same games visual settings so if they opted for low res shadows, they will still be low res shadows because the Developer is the ONLY one that can patch in different visual settings.

Until we know more details you cannot assume that Backwards Compatibility will be total and improve on the way the PS4/Pro versions ran. Expecting this is much more likely to lead to disappointment and anger. Everyone bought their games to play them on PS4 and nothing will stop anyone from continuing to play them on PS4 long into the PS5 era - in fact you can still play all your PS3 games on a PS3 - at least all the offline components as numerous games have had there online functionality turned off - but nothing has stopped anyone from playing any of their games on the console they were purchased for!!

@BAMozzy i wouldn't bring the pc situation into this conversation. the pc space is completely and utterly fragmented due to the myriads upon myriads of configuations developers need to consider. it is far more complicated to even get a game optimized on pc hardware, let alone keep legacy titles compatible on newer components in the pc space. if sony cannot figure out how to get 100% b/c compatibility based on a single sku from the ps4 generation, they will come across as incompetent and lazy. there is simply no way for them to escape a severe backlash if that were to happen. there is no reason to become complacent and simply accept excuses from them either. sony got b/c working on ps2 and even on ps3 with the early models. it is compeltely possible, but the will needs to be there. based on all the b/c patents that have been leaked, i am very certain sony will in fact deliver 100% b/c with the ps5 — at least with ps4 games. that is the bare minimum. they might even try for ps1 and ps2 b/c as well which would only work in their favour and sway more gamers to purchase their platform. if sony needs to put in a jaguar cpu into the ps5 to make it happen, then so be it.

@Shigurui I disagree entirely. Remasters/remakes SHOULD be at least two generations old.

@Porco I find DeSo to be the best Souls game by a decent margin, with Bloodborne right up there with it.

@get2sammyb They were clearly talking about games, not just branding, if you listen to the discussion. Whether they actually know anything legit or not is another question.

@Porco absolutely nailed it and it's Exactly what I've been saying to friends at work...I really think Sony are being vague about ps5 and from reading around it's seems they still haven't decided what they want to do with ps5

@doctommaso - Think you missed my point, I genuinely don't care how old a remaster is but aiming to make Demon's Souls remaster a launch title for the PS5 (if true) is setting the bar pretty low. New hardware should be shipping with new games.

@JoeBlogs Because it really affected the PS4 sales by not having BC and really struggled to sell consoles when their rival implemented it...

Anyone would think that the PS5 will suddenly make their PS4's stop working and all thus need all the games that they bought to play on the PS4 not have a console to run on.

I bet if MS hadn't introduced its limited selection of Backwards Compatible gaming, no-one would care. It would be just like 2013 with no one making such a fuss that there PS3 games wouldn't run on the newer console - the console that was the fastest selling PS without the need to offer BC.

@BAMozzy If "PS4 Pro Enhanced" is an indication of things to come, then Sony can give gamers a real reason to upgrade even when the catalogue of launch exclusives are weak.

If it plays PS4 games, I'll be happy. I've still got my PS3 but it's rarely used, and as much as I enjoyed PS1 and PS2 during their era, I've no interest re-playing the games, especially considering how crappy they'll look upscaled to 4K or even 1080p. PS1 games looked bad enough on the PSP and Vita.

I would like to play games from PS2/PS1 on it, but only if they continued with the trophy support they were doing a few years ago with those PS2 games.

@Paranoimia you would be surprised how great ps2 games would look at 4k... even at 1080p they look great in many cases.

@Porco I did play some PS2 and PS1 games on my 60GB PS3 on a 720p TV. They were... not great. Upscaling only works to a degree, especially with the comparatively low-resolution textures of PS1/PS2 games. At some point, you're just stretching a low-res image beyond what is reasonable.

Even so, there are few I'd wish to go back to these days. I'm just not that interested in retro gaming. Some of my favourite games were on the C64 and Amiga, but I just can't play them these days... they rarely live up to - and therefore tarnish - my fond memories.

I've never really been bothered about b/c previously, as the improvements of each generation have been so big that I've found the older games tough to go back to. But as the improvements of each generation get less and less, I find myself thinking b/c becomes more desirable.

Personally, I still don't consider b/c essential, as I'm happy to buy a new system purely for the new games it will offer; if I want to play the old games, I'll keep the old system. But PS3 is about as far back as I'd currently be interested in. As I said earlier, I still have my PS3 connected to my TV and ready to use... but it's been used maybe 3 times since I got my PS4.

That being said, it's highly unlikely that PS5 will offer PS3 b/c; they're not going to include a Cell in the system due to cost, and even software emulation is virtually out of the question.

@Shigurui Actually, I did get that point, as well, and I also disagree with it. A DeSo remake on PS5 would be a major exclusive that would sell at least a few million copies and would strongly tempt Souls fans that remain on other systems to purchase a PS5. I'm sure Sony will have a couple other appealing exclusives, as well; I highly doubt we'll get a PS4 launch repeat. I do also want to see new games, I'm with you there.

@shyhh If you don't know, the PS4 Pro had to have games patched or already set for the enhanced Pro benefits. If not, then the Pro itself ran exactly like a regular PS4. That wasn't just switching off half of the GPU but it also down-clocked the CPU and GPU to ensure that every 'non-enhanced' game ran on the Pro without any issues.

Months later, Sony did add in the option for a boost mode with a disclaimer that some games could experience issues. Boost mode still switched off half the GPU as before but kept the CPU and GPU clocked at the same speed as the full Pro. Boost mode essentially upped the GPU to 2.1Tflops from the 1.84Tflops the standard PS4 runs at.

There were a number of games though that exhibited issues, crashing for example as one of the worst cases because the games were optimised for the specific clock speeds of the Jaguar CPU and/or GPU - being faster, it messed with the tick rate of the games which caused problems.

For total backwards compatibility on the PS5 without causing issues with some games, Sony would have to ensure the PS5 can run exactly like a PS4 - or at least emulate that in software. If they also want the Pro enhanced games to run like they do on the Pro, then Sony would also need to ensure the hardware can run exactly like the Pro did or emulate it in software. If you also include the 'boost mode' as well, then you have 4 different configurations that the hardware must be able to do - at least 3 if you discount the boost mode.

Sony could do something similar to the Pro - ie have a GPU that can switch off sections depending on the game - PS4, Pro enhanced or PS5. They could patch (or allow devs to) in PS5 settings for existing games - change U4 to 4k/60 and tweak any visual settings that maybe can be pushed up to ultra for example.They obviously have been running PS4 games (Spider-Man, GTSport) and the most 'logical' (in my mind) would be to patch these games to run on PS5 and take advantage of its hardware. The problem though is the numerous games that perhaps won't be patched and, to keep them available on PS5, the PS5 would need to run like a PS4 and Pro too - if it runs locally of course. Another option could be streaming so Sony wouldn't need to worry about building the hardware to run like a PS4 and a Pro because the games are running in the cloud instead. It will be interesting to see what they do, whether its full or not and the way BC is implemented...

As nice as it is to have the options, in truth, I couldn't give a crap about all the past games. I have a vita with a good selection of ps one games, and I use exactly none of them (haven't even charged my vita in about a year and a half). I buy a new console for the games that system offers, not to play games from yesteryear that just aren't as I remember them in the first place. Bring on the new stuff, leave the past behind.

No just ps4 so it doesn't go obsolete straight away. And some digital games maybe for ps2 but if u can afford a ps5 then why bother with really old games nowadays yeah I get the retro vibe but move forward with the times. So yeah ps4 games only please

@doctommaso - A Demon's Souls remaster will attract very few that haven't played it by now. Nobody will pay £500 to play it when a PS3 with a copy of DeS can be had for about £50. I'm not saying it won't sell on PS5 but it won't sell PS5's.

@Shigurui True Souls fans will leap at the chance to play DeSo on a new generation machine, and many of them never played the PS3 version, because they owned a 360 and/or started the series with Dark Souls. Let's also not forget that DeSo online play is shut down on PS3. I'm not saying DeSo alone will sell millions of PS5s, but it most definitely will make the PS5 more appealing if it's out at launch with some other solid titles. The buzz it's creating alone is worth something.

I would buy the PS5 for 1 Million pounds if it had FULL PS1/2&3 discs playback I can't see it happening tho which is a shame. Oh well.

Super stoked for the ps5. Would love to see some inclusion of backwards compatability for the ps2. If they are all about history of gaming, that console made them what they are. Sales numbers dont lie

Love to see full BC from the PS5.

Maybe you could hold PS1/PS2/PS3 discs up to PS camera...

And then Sony could use image recognition to unlock a 48-hour license.

That way you could scan-in your old games and play as need with Sony in the loop to prevent people from just playing burned copies.

@Dominator2885 I'd say PS1 made them what they are first.

@GamerDad66 Neat idea. Since I no longer have most of my PS1 games, I'd prefer digital downloads be available.

@doctommaso yes ps1 was there first console. However I was more referring to the fact that the ps2 was such an incredible console and touted as one of the best consoles ever. I'm sure there will digital versions of ps1 and ps2 games to buy but being able to pop in an old disc would just be epic... we shall see

@doctommaso - True Souls fans have already played it. Guess we just agree to disagree on this. I see a PS5 remaster bringing absolutely nothing to the table whatsoever.

@Shigurui Yeah, I guess so. For the record, I've seen plenty of posts from people who love Dark Souls who never played DeSo. In any case, I'm happy to get a remaster/remake of it.

@Dominator2885 Yeah would be great for both. I personally preferred the PS1, but to be fair my life was way too busy during the PS2/Xbox/GC/DC generation to give the PS2 a fair shake.

I can relate to most people here that don't care to replay old games and prefer to go forward with new stuff but I strongly believe that preserving old games is important classic games should be available on modern systems for the people that never played them or the people that do want to replay them I never had a PS1 a PS2 a PS3 or a PSP and Vita and I shouldn't have to buy all these old systems that are getting harder and harder to come by just to play those old games they should all be available on one system