Sony PlayStation forms a game preservation team

New consoles and games continue to come out every year and greater efforts are needed to properly preserve video games in this growing and overwhelming industry. We live in a constant oversupply of games and it is impossible to play everything that comes out. It is impossible to release the ‘backlog’, we carry it and accept it with honor.

There is a past, however, and we can’t turn our backs on it simply by playing the game of fashion or capricious surrender to FOMO. Legally, saving the story is a bit more complicated due to licensing issues as we rely on three titans like Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Just talking about the main platforms.

Still, it’s the first time we’ve heard of the formation of a preservation team within Sony PlayStation, citing engineer Garrett Fredley via Twitter. Sony is preparing to bring its classic library from PS1, PS2, PS3 and PSP to PS5, thanks to the PlayStation Plus Premium subscription service. An especially interesting fact after the closure of the PSP digital store and the postponement – perhaps not for long – of the closure of the PS3 and PS Vita digital stores.

Today is my first day as a Senior Build Engineer at @PlayStationworking as one of their initial hires for the newly created Preservation team!

Game Preservation was my first career passion, so I’m ecstatic that I get to go back to those roots 😊

— Garrett Fredley (@SomeCronzaGuy) April 25, 2022

Regardless of whether companies continue to charge for classic games, it is their business and they have the legal right to do so as long as their price offer is decent. What is relevant is precisely the accessibility to video games regardless of whether they have existed for decades. They may offer them separately or in a “premium” service, but offer them first.

While Microsoft is betting on backwards compatibility on its latest machine, even with physical drives, it’s a tougher story for Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo formats go through cartridges and discs not compatible with Switch. The same goes for Sony, as old CDs and UMDs can’t be used in a PS5 Blu-ray drive. The solution is the digital route and through it is that they have seen a way to promote their ‘online’ platforms

Some classics get re-releases in the form of anniversary sets, compilations, or remasters. The same does not happen with another abysmal amount of titles that could be lost forever. Yes, we are aware that emulation exists but that cannot be the answer for everything that has to do with preservation. When it is the responsibility of the same companies.

We will see how the Sony project progresses, for now it is a step.

Via: Destructoid