It's not always a simple task for gamers to get their hands on games from prior generations, although digital distribution and ports of older games have made it somewhat easier. New consoles often lack backward compatibility, or use a different media format than what the older console did, like how the upcoming Nintendo NX won't use discs. Additionally, some games simply aren't sold by their manufacturers any longer, leaving gamers in the position of hunting down used copies or simply giving up on the endeavor.

The easiest way to get an older game is buying it when it's sold as a digital download. However, just because a game is older doesn't necessarily mean its price will dramatically decrease, and some gamers may hesitate to play older games because they're still relatively expensive. PlayStation owners may be pleased to know that a sale on the PlayStation store is making these games a little more affordable.

Sony began a new PlayStation Store Retro Sale today, with steep discounts available on older games, as well as fairly recent indie games like Rogue Legacy and The Binding of Isaac. The sale includes some PlayStation titles going as far back as ports of games that originated on the original PlayStation, as well as hand-held titles for the PlayStation Vita and original PlayStation Portable. Discounts vary from 10-80%, and the sale is set to run from now until August 31st. Playstation Plus subscribers can expect their sale prices to be as high as 90% off, and PlayStation Rewards members can earn up to 3x points on purchases made through this sale.

Of course, due to the PlayStation 4's lack of backwards compatibility, owning a PlayStation 3 is necessary to play some of the titles that are on sale. Thankfully, games like Beyond: Two Souls will be ported to the PlayStation 4 soon. In some cases, PlayStation Now can be used to stream certain older PlayStation titles. Unfortunately, PlayStation Now's prices are often overly high for game rentals, leaving some gamers dissatisfied with the service. Despite Microsoft's plans to make the Xbox One backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, Sony has publicly stated that they have no intention of making the PlayStation 4 backwards compatible.

The lack of backwards compatibility probably doesn't come as a surprise to long-time fans of the PlayStation consoles. The PlayStation 3 Slim didn't support backwards backwards compatibility with PS2 games, and the PS4 simply continued the trend.

Though the scope of this sale is relatively limited, it's a good opportunity for gamers who've missed out on some older titles to check them out at a much cheaper price. With games ranging from two to twenty dollars, PlayStation gamers should check out the sale while they can.

The PlayStation Store Retro Sale ends on August 31st.

Source: PlayStation BlogPlayStation Store