Still better than the Wii U.

I think Ninetndo is under the false impression that what makes their handhelds a massive success is what will make their living room consoles a massive success. You'd think their terribly attach rates would have helped clue them in, but they don't seem to care and maybe they have no reason to care, I don't know.

I think it could only possibly work if games could be bought though DD once they'd gone from the retail shelves or else, when people get round to getting the console later in its life they're going to find that its actually impossible to pick up the latest iteration of Project Gotham, Soul Caliber etc.
The other question is how long will it be before MS switch of Live for 360 and the opportunity to buy DLCs and marketplace games for it will be gone forever?
Yeah, that sound like someone exclaiming at a bad smell!

Evidently, though I don't completely understand it, there were some serious technical issues with keeping the old marketplace around. I don't think we'll see the same thing with this generation, MS has had the chance to learn from fucking it up the first time and they generally actually bend over backwards in other areas to keep people on old copies of their products pretty happy.

I could still be proven wrong but I don't think they'll be doing themselves any favors long term by not keeping it up as long as possible.

but killing it enables them to "revive" 360 content as "Classic" titles and make people but it a second time if they want to continue playing something that they like.

just like Sony is doing with it's PS2 titles that were supposed to be backwards compatible on the PS3.

You know the PS2 still sells as well as the PS3, right?

yep, but finding QUALITY copies of good games is getting harder and harder.

just this weekend I had to go on a certifiable quest to find a copy of Radiata Stories that lacked major gouges.

either way, the PS3 was SUPPOSED to support backwards compatibility. something that Sony dropped because it was just too hard to get working with physical medium, despite them making a killing off of the digital versions sold through PSN that work just fine.

Sony is kind of a bunch of screwheads when it comes to software, so I'm not terribly surprised. Yes, it's just now getting hard to get PS2 titles... like what? 7 years later (minimum time, actually much longer for some games)?

I know what I'd do if I literally couldn't find something for sale, but that's up to you.

PCSX2 is kinda bitch to get running smoothly and I'm not about to give my CC info to a random guy on the internet selling mod chips.

even so, kinda getting off topic, how marketable do you really thing Halo 1 HD would have actually been if people could still fire up multiplayer on their Xbox versions?

It practically sold itself HD or original graphics (not the uprated graphics you get when you put the original disc in) achievements and new hidden consoles that expand the story they not only took a classic game they made it better except where updates would have broken it (you still get the 3 shot pistol because it wouldn't be the original halo without it for example). They even added live support rather than the original which was systemlink only. So in effect you CAN still fire up the original for MP just not on live which was never available anyway.

All in all Halo aniversary was an automatic success with or without the MP side.

Part of the life of the console market is the ability to trade in games you have enjoyed, for newer games or other used games. The day they try to pull this stunt, all games sales will cease because who wants to buy a console game and not even have the ability to trade it in for something better. You will have to buy the game and be stuck with it forever. I know this happens with PC games especially those with DRM, but with PC games it does not matter as much, as 9 times out of 10, the games you buy ARE worth it. When you buy a console game, it is ok for a while, till your bored and want something better.

Many a time I used to buy games, and trade them in for something better a week or so later, less if the game was too easy to complete. But back then it was snes games, and playstation games.

This is my personal opinion anyway. I honestly think that the console market will crash for the specific company that try's to implement this and the company will go under quickly.

Don't tell me you think that emulation of all games is somehow the same as being able to port games to a platform?

The PS3 originally shipped with perfect PS2 backwards compatibility because the PS2's emotion engine (PS2 cpu) was in the actual machine. That's a lot easier than software emulation too. Unfortunately it drove up the cost of the machine.

In defence of sony, the first party HD re-releases are fucking amazing. 60 or 30 fps constant, native 720 or 1080P output, AA, enhanced geometry, textures or Cutscenes,trophy support and 3D stereoscopic output to boot.

But the 3rd party HD re releases? Bag of junk.