In a quite simply incredible turn of events, Phil Spencer announced on stage at E3 that the Xbox One will be receiving Xbox 360 backward compatibility later this year, set for holiday 2015. The gloves have come off, as Microsoft have determined to give Xbox One owners a simply vast catalogue of games to play, and it all runs natively on the console, without any fees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jijn3KOPs5I
If you own a game disc, you’ll be able to simply put it into your console and have it playable within the same Xbox One environment that XBO games play in, and games bought digitally will also start to appear on the store, though this step seems to be pending developer/publisher approval. That means you’ll also be able to record video, stream, use voice commands and so on. You’ll even be able to play multiplayer with friends still on 360.
Now then, can Sony match this for PS4 and PS3? Given the technical difficulties of developing for the PS3, it feels like this might be an advantage that Microsoft can hold onto for quite some time.
Bornindafire
Wow. Thats so cool. Hope ps4 catches up
Erroneus
“cast catalogue of games to play”
100 games to start with, so limited and Microsoft has to add support for more titles. It’s a cool feature, but it’s too late.
Erroneus
So far 19 games…
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/backward-compatibility/available-games
Starman
You are aware it’s in preview and not fully launched yet? Nit picking hoe many games are available when it’s only just been announced is kind of petty.
Erroneus
Yes I’m aware it’s in preview, but it shows my point brilliantly that it will be limited how many games will be compatible. They said 100 games at launch them self, thats 100 out of thousands of games.
Backwards-comparability is to late for me in this generation, I’m done with games from the last generation and it doesn’t matter if that Backwards-comparability is delivered via local software or streaming service.
beeje13
No, more a case of publishers have to allow, no work required to port or anything.
Erroneus
“no work required to port or anything.”
Ehm, thats not true. There are defiantly work for Microsoft to do, for this to work. They can’t just emulate older games with an app, without adjusting code and tweaking.
Or else they would have 200 of their own games ready by now.
Avenger
Erm, he meant publishers don’t have any work to do, not MS.
Starman
Great surprise, and one Sony won’t match.
tactical20
Wow! This is a big plus for me. Wish PS4 would do the same, but will NEVER happen. They want everyone to re-buy everything.
Jim Hargreaves
Amazing. As someone who currently only owns Sony platforms, that announcement has me seriously considering picking up an XB1.
Andrewww
At first I went ‘Wow, MS is really doing all they can, to get back in the game’. But, reconsidering, this isn’t really backwards compatibility, it needs a download (of the game?), it’s only few games (so far), etc.
However, the card is well played, definitely.
Avenger
I’ve constantly ranted about the lack of backwards compatibility, and the silly remasters that get churned out asking for more money. What a move from MS, and I will actually buy a few more 360 games knowing I can keep them and play them when I can upgrade. Definitely a plus when I get an X1.
MrYd
Wait a second. Your 360 games stop working when you buy an XBone? When did that happen? It’s certainly not the case with PS3 games. My PS3 hasn’t suddenly stopped working because I bought a PS4.
And it’s not going to stop remasters happening. It sounds like some games will be supported through some sort of automatic process to produce a new version. Presumably some won’t because problems occur, or the publisher doesn’t want it to happen. Maybe because they can make a better, remastered version.
It’s not really a feature many people wanted anyway, is it? Just something MS are doing because they don’t seem to have much else interesting going on.
Avenger
What are u talking about?
Did I say it would stop remasters, did I say my 360 games would stop working? Not that I can see.
I’m happy about it. Means I can carry games over to another console, I still like to play the classic gems on consoles.
Whatever your opinion on why MS are doing it, I think its great.
Starman
That last sentence is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever read. If there wasn’t much interest in last gen games Sony wouldn’t be doing Ps now. This totally trumps it.
Andrewww
Have to agree with MrYd on this, backwards compatibility is one of the most overhyped features in console history.
Everyone wants it, as it is always hard to let go of all those positive memories. But, having played through them, who is actually ever going back to one of those ‘old gems’? Almost nobody.
Especially as you’re constantly bombarded with more new games than you could ever find time to play.
Still, it’s a clever move by MS, to give people a feature they want but won’t use much.
Starman
@Andrewww the sales of the remasters says otherwise. TLoU, GTA5, Tomb Raider, Metro, Saints Row have all sold well. People DO want to revisit them.
Andrewww
@Starman: Remasters are quite a different matter. They are better quality, usually have more content as DLCs get added, and are bought a lot by people who never even experienced the original game on the previous platform.
Not a buggy version of an old game that aged badly, which is mostly the case, if we’re honest.
But now, off to EA…
Root Ginger
Sony had backward compatibility on the PS2. You’ll find that it’s not as good as playing the game on the original console – there are normally bugs and glitches compared to the native console. Almost no one is interested in it either, particularly this far down the road.
It makes a good story but the games that it works properly with will be limited I’d imagine but good on MS for introducing it all the same.
lambchop
The frame rate didn’t look too high on the very short bit of Mass Effect they showed.
JoeBoi
Early days though. I quite like this idea providing they add more games this could turn out well. Their support for the original Xbox on the 360 left a lot to be desired. As did Sony and the PS3.
hazelam
that line about not charging people to play games they already own, i’m thinking that was a dig at sony, subtle, but i think i caught it. ^_^
because when sony did BC on PS3, they only allowed it if you rebuy the games, even if you already have them on disc.
total dick move on sonys part, since it’s just emulated, and they have a drive perfectly capable of reading the discs.
i’d certainly be happier with BC done this way than the crappy way sony did it.
beeje13
Yeah I referenced that.
But you didn’t have to rebuy PS2 games to play on PS3…? They worked out of the box, albeit only on the BC equipped model.
hazelam
i had one of those, well the half crippled version we got in europe at least, but it died years ago.