Other than Nintendo, there’s probably no other company in gaming as beloved as Sony. The Japanese software giant has been one of the industry’s most important innovators ever since the release of their original PlayStation console in 1994 and continues to enjoy tremendous success to this day, with the PlayStation 4 now the company’s fastest-selling console ever. Basically, Sony makes reliable hardware and puts out great games; what’s not to like?
Well, a company as big and influential as Sony doesn’t get to where it is today without making some mistakes along the way, and Sony’s history is dotted with some serious blunders. While the PlayStation division has been Sony’s driving force for quite some time now, it’s also fallen victim to some poor decision-making over the years, with the following 10 instances representing Sony’s worst PlayStation decisions.
10. Mishandling PlayStation Classics Library
Nintendo gets a lot of flak for the mishandling of their Virtual Console service but when it comes to making their back catalog available on newer systems, Sony is just as bad. Sony may not have as deep a library of classics as Nintendo does, but gamers still have a lot of nostalgia for the PS1 and PS2 era, so you’d think Sony would be bending over backwards to try and sell those old games to people. Yeah … not so much. While the company made a concerted effort to establish PlayStation Classics as an important fixture of the PS Store on the PlayStation 3, they have largely given up on re-releasing old games on the PlayStation 4, which still has no way to play digital PS1 games nearly four years into its lifespan.
Hilariously, the Vita still has support for PS1 games but it’s randomly selective, as certain games — like the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series — simply aren’t available to download for no discernible reason. As for the PS2, Sony introduced PS2 remasters for download on the PS4 with updated HD visuals and trophy support; a great idea in theory but one whose potential will likely never be realized if Sony continues to release games at trickle. To be fair, Sony has made it clear that their focus is on new experiences, not backwards compatibility and older titles, but to ignore their legacy games almost entirely just seems absurd.
https://www.polygon.com/2012/10/2/3445998/over-40-psone-classics-added-to-vita-store-in-psn-update Source: Polygon