Is it important? Of course it is...but not so much to me. Can I see how the next-gen systems may have major trouble accomplishing it? Yes. One simple fact can demonstrate why the XBox 360 won't be truly backwards compatible with XBox games: XBox = NVIDIA and Intel, XBox 360 = IBM and ATI. You can't magically make games work for completely different hardware unless you include an entire XBox system within the XBox 360 (which is ergonomically and financially impossible). The few games that will work on XBox 360 are simply being emulated...it's not even true backwards compatibility.
The PS2 played all PS1 games because a small modification of the PS2 chip allowed pure PS1 gameplay to occur at little extra cost.
Anyway, I still really like backwards compatibility, but it's not a must for me. I can't remember the last time I played a PS1 game in my PS2 or the last time I played a GB game in my GBA.
-Lasereth
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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert
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