And that’s just what Electronic Arts’ Chief Financial Officer, Blake Jorgensen, did at a recent Q&A session. While Jorgensen’s boss, John Riccitiello, has said the publisher was “investing heavily” in the next generation of consoles, namely the Xbox 720 and PS4 (sorry Wii U), Jorgensen spoke a little more about peripheral elements involving the next-gen.

Some of Jorgensen’s talk dealt with EA’s next-gen costs, but most of the more interesting tidbits were in regards to software. For example, Jorgensen revealed that Frostbite has become their de-facto, proprietary engine. Moreover, EA has moved Frostbite over to what they call “gen-four” (an internal shorthand for mentioning the next generation of consoles), which should make development that much easier.

One of the more interesting things that Jorgensen revealed, or at least speculated upon, is the backwards compatibility of next-gen consoles. It’s been such a long time that gamers haven’t thought about backwards compatibility, yet it’s likely to be become a hot button issue in the next few months.

Unfortunately, gamers will likely be hearing so much about backwards compatibility because it isn’t coming to next-gen consoles. Or at least that’s what Jorgensen thinks.

Jorgensen doesn’t clue gamers in to his line of thinking on the matter, but if there is anyone that might know it’s him.

Jorgensen also touched briefly upon the used games market and how it will be impacted by the next-gen. While rumors thus far have suggested both Microsoft and Sony are seeking out options that would block used games, Jorgensen doesn’t see that happening any time soon.

He acknowledges that used games hurt sales numbers for EA, but, at the same time, the best alternative – digital distribution – is not yet feasible for all consumers. Maybe as Internet bandwidth and speeds increase, and storage capacity is significantly ramped up, used games can be phased out effectively, but until then EA needs retailers support.

On the one hand, Jorgensen’s comments should please gamers concerned about the lack of used game support in consoles. But at the same time, talk of no backwards compatibility is likely to ruffle a few feathers. That said, whatever gives gamers the lowest cost, and the best experience, should win out in the end.

Would you be disappointed if next-gen consoles were not backwards compatible? Do you think used games support is a major issue?

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Source: Gamasutra