Stuck in the Past - Backwards-Compatibility

This is a reply to https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoNX/comments/4x7dns/just_a_thought_what_would_it_mean_for_sales_if/

This is just my hypothesis, but I would say that backwards-compatibility does not positively influence sales significantly. If anything, its inclusion in a system and consequent high sales-numbers of that system, is only a coincidence, and not a causation of high sales.

By the time Atari 5200 came out, its BC was inconsequential. Most people who wanted to play 2600 already had one and did not want to get a 5200.

Sure, PS2 had BC, but the vast majority of people bought the system for the DVD-player.

Wii had BC and VC, but most people bought it for Wii Sports.

In fact, the opposite conclusion that the absence of BC helps sales, and its inclusion hurts sales might be true.

With PS4, Sony dropped BC, reducing costs and allowing them to create a modern system-architecture.

With Wii U, the inclusion of BC hurt sales by mentally associating it with the polarizing Wii.

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