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No Backwards Compatibility in the Future: Difference between revisions
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** Even the smarter Maximals can't figure out how the Ark was ''made'' in the first place.
{{quote|'''Optimus Primal:''' "Die-cast molding. [[Mythology Gag|It's a lost art...]]"}}
* Subverted in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. Apparently technology in the future (or at least Skul Tech) is still eligible for Tucker's PDA to hack through. Lampshaded when Tucker declares his hacking skills are ''just that awesome'' or just very, very sad.
* Averted in the ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' episode "Mega X", where the eponymous future robot [[Mega Manning|scans and copies]] the weapon of Snakeman, an older robot. He can actually improve on the originals, too, as a single shot utterly destroys Wily's weapon.
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* A good reason why backwards compatibility may be hard to come by is that the manufacturer chooses a different hardware platform each generation and can't find a way to recycle the old hardware (if they can still use it). Software emulation could make up for it, but this gets harder to implement as features get more rich.
* Unfortunately for owners of the [[DS]], the different chipset in use means that their old [[Game Boy]] titles won't work with their new systems. Game Boy ''Advance'' cartridges, however, will still work with the DS "Phat" and DS Lite models.
** It is worth noting that, through the use of a GBA Gameshark, one can in fact play Gameboy games on a DS. Basically, the GBA Gameshark emulates the input system of a GBA cartridge, which was designed to be compatible with a socket that also accepted Game Boy Games. It doesn't read the Gameboy game as a Gameboy game, but a GBA game. If you're confused, don't worry. Just get a GBA Gameshark, plug it in to your DS, and use it to play Pokemon Blue.
** This also applies to ''[[Pokémon]]'', where the fundamental differences ultimately made it impossible to transfer your [[Mons|critters]] from ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Gold/Silver/Crystal]]'' to the Advance Generation (Generation III), making it much harder to successfully [[Gotta Catch Them All|catch them all]]. Thankfully, [[Nintendo]] avoided such a problem with the fourth generation of ''Pokémon'', as owners of the first-wave DS and DS Lites can '''migrate''' their parties from the Game Boy Advance games into the Sinnoh-based games and the Johto-based remakes.
*** Unfortunately, the DSi sacrificed its Game Boy Advance port for more gadgets, so DSi-using Trainers will need an older-model system on hand for all of their migration needs.
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** The [[Wii]], however, is not only capable of using a lot of the [[Game Cube]]'s games, but can even utilize some of the [[Game Cube]]'s peripherals (like the microphone and the [[Game Boy Advance|GBA]]-[[Game Cube]] link cable). However, support for [GameCube] peripherals and games were dropped entirely from a new "Family Pack" model introduced in late-2011.
*** The inbuilt Virtual Console seems to be an inversion as it runs a ''lot'' of classic games, even those from [[Sega]], the old-era rival of Nintendo. Unfortunately, the only way to do this is to re-buy a (often slightly tweaked) digital version game direct from Nintendo. Your old carts and CDs will not work with the current hardware.
*** The [[Wii U]] will retain backwards compatibility with [[Wii]] games and controllers, but is losing the ability to play [[Game Cube]] titles. Virtual Console fodder to come, perhaps?
* On the [[Sony]] side of things, the [[PlayStation]] 2 avoids this, as it has actual hardware capable of running PS1 games inside.
** ...for the most part. ''[[Gradius]] Gaiden'', for instance, has a stage that runs just fine on a PS1, but will slow down more than an average round of ''[[
** While the [[
*** [[wikipedia:PlayStation 3#Slim model|Certain future models]], [[Hilarious in Hindsight|you say?]] [[I Knew It!|Oh, my!]]
*** The first year models for the North American, Asian and Japanese markets have hardware-based BC. The 80 GB models that came out later had software emulation for the Emotion Engine, while the Graphics Synthesizer was run on a chip. The 40 GB models and later 80 GB models dropped all BC, but there are rumors of full software emulation on all models for firmware version 3.0.
*** Frustratingly, the European [[
*** The [[
*** [[Crack is Cheaper|Too expensive, you say?]] [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]...
* Meanwhile, the [[Xbox 360]] can run ''most'' of [[Xbox|its predecessor]]'s games,<ref>reason being because unlike Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft couldn't put the predecessor console's hardware inside the 360 due to licensing issues</ref> but [http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/01/09/microsoft-winding-down-xbox-360-backwards-compatibility-updates/ Microsoft has long since ceased backwards compatibility updates], and has discontinued Xbox Live support for those games.
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* Betamax. AppleTalk. NetBIOS. SNA. DECNET. Good luck to you trying to maintain a system or workflow based on any one of those technologies; no matter how similar they may be to more successful tech, almost no one cares about backwards compatibility.
** Not to mention [[
** Vinyl records are making a small comeback. You might find one or two at your local big electronics store. New.
* The engineering schematics for the space vehicles used in the Apollo project were written in an early CAD/CAM application that ran on computers that no longer function. The US National Archive has all the data preserved, but have no way to read it as modern computers are incompatible with the format they are stored in & the archivists have not been able to get funding to have a conversion program written.
** This ''may'' apply for the 1980s diagrams of British traffic signs, as commercial CAD software ([[Key SIGN]], formerly [[Auto SIGN]]) for this wasn't launched until the early 1980s by Pete Harman and Geoff Walker working for Humberside County Council. Prior to then, it's not known what software was used for these. Older [[Key SIGN/Auto SIGN|Auto SIGN]] diagrams ''may'' be compatible with the newer 2011 versions, but [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on this.
* This has been a significant problem for the US military as the try to upgrade their computers yet keep compatibility with tech that may be 60 years old. One case study is the the schematics for the nuclear aircraft carriers, which when read were displaying dotted lines as solid and other such glitches.
** Military maps are prone to this. The [[wikipedia:World Geodetic System|World Geodetic System]], is the basis for all military maps used by most modern armed forces. The modern US military and most of NATO are on WGS 84. Our allies and some countries use older versions. Units can get lost, maps that don't match, weapons and navigation systems that can't talk to each other, it adds to [[Jurisdiction Friction]].
** It's not just software and hardware that falls victim to No Backwards Compatibility in the Future; it applies to physical materials too. Case in point, FOGBANK, which was an unbelievably-classified plastic used in Trident missile warheads. FOGBANK production ended in 1989. When the Navy wanted to refurbish its existing warheads, they had to build a brand-new factory to produce FOGBANK again - and discovered that the documented procedures didn't work. It turns out FOGBANK relied on an ''impurity'' included in the original batch, and this delayed the refurbishment by nearly ten years.
* 3 1/2 inch floppy disks are getting to this state, and 5 1/4 are pretty much already there unless you're an enthusiast.
** And just forget about 8-inch disks!
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* [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] XP often flat-out won't run games (or, indeed, other programs) from 2000 or older. Vista is even worse at it.
** This mainly applies to DOS games - some of them simply dislike running in Windows' protected memory spaces, while others require DOS components not found in versions of Windows released after ME. Most of this was caused by Microsoft leaving MS-DOS behind when they made the jump to Windows 2000 by using the Windows NT system structure, as all previous versions of windows have had some reliance on DOS components.
*** Considering that backwards compatibility is one of Microsoft's highest priorities, this just goes to show how difficult it is.
*** Of course, this is also why many DOS software could be run on machines running Windows 95, 98, or ME - they still had MS-DOS embedded in their foundations.
** To be fair, [[
** Windows 7 Pro's XP Mode can work with games that don't do heavy 3D rendering. It was more or less intended for companies to use their office applications.
** Also, 16-bit applications do not work in 64-bit operating systems (which are becoming more and more common those days, specially with people wanting to use more than 4GB of RAM).
** Of course, this whole issue is also gradually erasing itself as the increasing power of newer computers makes emulation and/or Virtual Machines trivial.
** If a pre-Win2000 (especially DOS-based) game had Redbook audio, such as ''[[Descent]] II'', it often required an analog audio cable directly connected to the soundcard from the disc drive, as opposed to the digital playback of later Windows versions. Fortunately, the ''D2X Rebirth'' sourceport/frontend for ''Descent II'' allows the CD music to be played digitally.
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[[Category:Time Travel Tropes]]
[[Category:We Will Not Use an Index In The Future]]
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