Destiny will initially be released on four different platforms: 360, Xbone, PS3, PS4.

We already know it won't be possible for PS4 people to play with Xbone people.

Question 1: Will it be possible for PS4 and Xbone people to play with PS3 and 360 people, respectively? Even if Bungie isn't doing that with Destiny, is it technically possible with other games?

Question 2: Even though Xbone and PS4 people can't play with each other, will/can the platforms share persistent elements at some level? Like, I don't know, if there's a billboard in The City that says how many people have completed a particular raid, in real-time. Is it possible for that number to reflect completions across ALL platforms? Or are the different platforms going to exist in complete isolation at all levels?

I'm doubtful there will be any cross-platform play. I'm hoping for saves across platform.

Same. I plan on getting Destiny for the 360, but I get the feeling that the expansions and sequels and whatnot over the next decade will be next-gen exclusive. This poses a problem when I want to switch from 360 to PS4 if I can't do a cross-platform save to Sony.

Question 1: Will it be possible for PS4 and Xbone people to play with PS3 and 360 people, respectively? Even if Bungie isn't doing that with Destiny, is it technically possible with other games?

Of course it is, on a technical level. You can design your network and server architecture however you like: its all going to go over UDP.

It's just corporate BS preventing it. Mostly.

Question 1: Will it be possible for PS4 and Xbone people to play with PS3 and 360 people, respectively? Even if Bungie isn't doing that with Destiny, is it technically possible with other games?

Of course it is, on a technical level. You can design your network and server architecture however you like: its all going to go over UDP.

Um. Ok. I'll rephrase: are the Xbox Live/PSN networks and server architectures set up such that Xbone-360/PS4-PS3 play is technically possible?

Question 1: Will it be possible for PS4 and Xbone people to play with PS3 and 360 people, respectively? Even if Bungie isn't doing that with Destiny, is it technically possible with other games?

Of course it is, on a technical level. You can design your network and server architecture however you like: its all going to go over UDP.

Um. Ok. I'll rephrase: are the Xbox Live/PSN networks and server architectures set up such that Xbone-360/PS4-PS3 play is technically possible?

According to Microsoft, no.

According to Sony, yes.

According to Microsoft, no.

According to Sony, yes.

Sounds like something Bungie should definitely support. Big Plus for Sony there. Imagine getting Destiny for the PS3, then later on upgrading to PS4 without having to get rid of your characters or get a new friends list? That's pretty huge if you can't do that on the xbox: you'd be stuck on the 360 version for ten years!

That MS guy is a marketing guy who doesn't seem to know anything about what he is talking about. It sounded to me like purchased games won't come over because of the hardware differences(DUH), but that has nothing to do with the whether multiplayer will work or not.

That MS guy is a marketing guy who doesn't seem to know anything about what he is talking about. It sounded to me like purchased games won't come over because of the hardware differences(DUH), but that has nothing to do with the whether multiplayer will work or not.

Yeah, I'm waiting for Microsoft to say it is possible, I was actually surprised they didn't say anything after Sony said it was possible on theirs this new generation working out the way it has.

I really hope your Guardian and his/her gear is abstracted to the cloud in a way that means it doesn't matter what you're playing on, you just have to sign in with your Bungie details [or the equivalent platform linked accounts] and it'll transform the Guardian data into the correct format for that platform.

Which to me sounds quite technically feasible. But I'm sure they must reasons for not talking about it yet. Either it's yet to be announced or not happening for some reason. Would love to hear them talk about if they considered it, and why it is/isn't happening.

While I definitely want this to happen, I would fear for the situation where people start "selling" Bungie accounts. Say someone starts a character on the PS4 and gets some exclusive content, then sells the linked Bungie account to someone on Xbox, who independently links their Gamertag to the Bungie account and now brings those exclusives into the Xbox realm. It might be unfeasible, but seeing as how people have managed to "monetize" Bungie's previous games in strange ways, I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen.

I'd like to think they'd hesitate on stopping the good stuff to block the bad stuff, especially as that could still be an issue with selling regular accounts, but yes, there would probably inflate that economy.
Or even deflate it, with multiple people sharing the one Guardian. Me playing my guardian on the PS4 while my buddy plays my guardian on Xbox 360.
Sounds like a fun problem to solve.