Despite initial panic, PS5 backward compatibility is pretty amazing

Hey look! We can all finally stop being all doom and gloom for two seconds.

Remember when people were concerned about backward compatibility on PS5? I know I was for a short time, I even wrote some words on why Sony was doing itself no favors by being cagey about which PS4 games were backward compatible. Despite constant reassurances that an “overwhelming majority” and “approximately 99%” of PS4 games were backward compatible on PS5, it never helped that Sony wouldn’t clarify exactly which games — and more importantly, how many — weren’t… until now.

According to Sony, only ten PS4 games won’t be backward compatible on PS5, and they’re not exactly titles that anyone will lose sleep over. While it’s unclear why these titles won’t make the jump over to PS5, I don’t think too many people will care.

• DWVR
• Afro Samurai 2 Revenge of Kuma Volume One
• TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2
• Just Deal With It!
• Shadow Complex Remastered
• Robinson: The Journey
• We Sing
• Hitman Go: Definitive Edition
• Shadwen
• Joe’s Diner

Thanks to the PS5’s console Game Boost feature, backward compatible games may also benefit from higher and smoother frame rates, too.

The state of PS5 backward compatibility has been a thorn in Sony’s side for months now, making the company an easy target for Xbox fans, and understandably so. In contrast to Sony’s approach, Microsoft clearly stated from the beginning that all Xbox One games would be backward compatible on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. What’s more is that some Xbox 360 and original Xbox games are playable on Microsoft’s upcoming consoles as well, provided they were already backward compatible on Xbox One. That’s four generations of games playable on one console.

The PS5’s backward compability solution clearly isn’t as good as Microsoft’s, but it’s also not as terrible as many people feared. In fact, it’s pretty damn amazing. Your PS4 library will even automatically show up once you sign into your account on PS5 according to Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President of Platform Planning and Management at Sony.

We know our fans have invested a lot of time building their collection of PS4 games, so library portability is critically important. When you sign in to PS5 with your account, you will automatically see your library of played PS4 content through the menu.

Now whether this makes the PS5 better than the Xbox Series X is an entirely different story. Even when comparing the PS5 Digital Edition to the Xbox Series S, it’s clear Microsoft has a lot working in its favor, what with programs like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and all. This isn’t to say: “Look! Sony wins next-gen lol eat it Xbots!!” This is more to say: the backlash surrounding backward compatibility on PS5, and the subsequent trolling online, was blown way out of proportion. (And for the record, I’ve used an Xbox as my primary console since 2002. I’ve also pre-ordered the Xbox Series X in addition to the PS5.) ?

So, yay! I’m sure we can all stop arguing and the console wars are over now, right? Hold on, I’ve been regrettably informed that it only gets worse from here folks. (But for real, they’re pieces of plastic. Stop arguing and let people play whatever they enjoy.)
Sony plans to release the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition on November 12, 2020 and you can buy the PS5 right now. Stock is a little hard to come by, so once you see the PS5 up for pre-order, it’s best to purchase it right away.

Next-gen awaits

PS5

$499 at Amazon
$499 at Target
$499 at GameStop

Get your hands on it before it sells out

PS5 is the place to be for exclusives like Spider-Man and Horizon Forbidden West. Get yours before they sell out. The standard PS5 boasts a disc drive so that you can play 4K Blue-ray DVDs and use your physical PS4 games through backward combability. This comes at a higher price tag than the Digital Edition.

All-digital

PS5 Digital Edition

$399 at Amazon
$399 at Target
$399 at GameStop

Get your hands on it before it sells out

Cheaper than the standard PS5 but lacking a disc drive, the PS5 Digital Edition can still deliver the very best exclusives entirely digitally. You may not be able to play physical games, but the future is digital anyway. The PS5 Digital Edition features an 825GB SSD.