I’m pretty old for this hobby, hence the “Aging Gamer” moniker. I know there are older gamers out there, but it seems that they are becoming fewer and fewer. Maybe they are growing up, or they’ve had a life event that has stopped them from gaming as much. I’m pushing 40 and try to at the very least beat 20 games a year. It’s my second favorite hobby and I like to dabble in newer and retro games. Backwards Compatibility use to be a common occurrence with older systems; now you have to pull teeth for the big three to include their old titles with the newest system.
The Death of Backwards Compatability
It looks like Nintendo’s 3DS will be the last backwards compatible system. Microsoft is trying to make their Xbox One a system that plays all their titles. But, they have a LONG way to go. And Sony has pretty much told everyone to screw off and play their new games unless you were lucky enough to get a fat PS3 you have to rely on your PS2 to do all the dirty work now. I enjoy playing my old games, sometimes I think games were better way back then; they were more inventive, funnier and original. Perhaps the companies don’t want us to remember what we had and instead want to shovel us the same “man-shooter” over and over.
From a More Compatible Time
I come from a time when the replacing system would usually play the last system’s games with little fuss. The PS2 played PS1 games, the Wii played GameCube games, the DS played GBA games and so on. Oddly enough Microsoft is the only one who really didn’t have THAT much backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360. It is trying to make amends for that now with the Xbox One.
The Compatability of Knights of the Old Republic
I LOVE the fact that I can pop in Knights of the Old Republic into my Xbox One and play a slightly upgraded version. It makes my Xbox One a little bit more important seeing that if my OG Xbox fails I can at least play a handful of original games on it. At the end of April, Microsoft released about thirty more games to be backwards compatible. I already have a copy of Jade Empire in my collection, but I went ahead and purchased it again just to show Bioware that we need a sequel and to tell Microsoft to keep the goods coming. I will finally knock this game off of my Pile of Shame!
Without The PS3
Unfortunately, I don’t have a fat PS3, I would like to buy an 80 GB one so that I can let my PS2 rest a bit in its retirement, but right now it is hooked up to my main TV via a component cable. I was quite surprised when I got the cable plugged into my television and fired up Shadow Hearts. The PS2 filled out my flat screen and to be honest with you, the game looks better than it did with just my A/V cables on my smaller flat screen. I’m happy that I can easily delve back into my PS2 library, but there is always that nagging feeling that my PS2 may crap out since I’m playing it a lot again.”
Saving The OG Xbox
I’ve taken very good care of my systems but that worry is always there. A few years ago I saved my OG Xbox from death by having someone replace the disc drive and remove the “time capacitor.” This “capacitor” was a battery on the motherboard that allowed the OG Xbox to remember the time and date. Little did Microsoft know that it would leak about 15 years into its life-cycle and ruin many of their systems. I saved mine, hopefully, you guys can save yours.
Like what you read? Check out more of my Aging Gamer series on BagoGames.
