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Xbox 360 Backwards Compatible?

Posted by Zonk on from the i-certainly-hope-so dept.

Gamespot is reporting that, on the OurColony.net 360 footage, current generation Xbox titles are viewable being played on the 360 console. From the article: "There is also a screenshot of the new Xbox Live dashboard with the words 'Xbox 1 Zone' clearly marked and an icon of the current Xbox title Fable. Finally, a screenshot of the forthcoming Xbox Live Marketplace clearly shows Halo 2 maps being offered for download. However, while such shots imply backward compatibility, such functionality is not yet official. Microsoft executives have said themselves they cannot address the issue until next Monday's media event at E3--at the earliest."

6 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. But (dare I ask) .. why? by justin_saunders · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Who cares? If you love your old XBOX games that much, just keep it and play your old XBOX games on it. This feature seems to be just another "tick" for the marketdroids to put in the box.

    I ask this in all seriousness. The only time I used it on my PS2 was to see if it actually worked (It did! yay! ..er now I'll go play GTA3).

    So is there a good reason for 90% of people to care about backward compatibility?

    ps I don't own an XBOX yet so I'm trying to be objective here.

    --

    "My cat's breath smells like cat food." - The Tao of Ralph Wiggum.
    1. Re:But (dare I ask) .. why? by screwballicus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who cares? If you love your old XBOX games that much, just keep it and play your old XBOX games on it. This feature seems to be just another "tick" for the marketdroids to put in the box.

      Believe me, for people like me, with seven gaming systems currently plugged into the home theatre system, reducing that number by one, especially when that one system is a system as space-hungry as the Xbox is worth something. If it doesn't cost much to make that possible, terrific.

    2. Re:But (dare I ask) .. why? by Jarlsberg · · Score: 4, Insightful
      So is there a good reason for 90% of people to care about backward compatibility?
      I rarely ever play PS1 games on my PS2, but that's because IMHO there are so few good PS1 games. The Xbox has quite a few good games that I could see myself playing some time down the road, so it's good if I don't have to keep both Xboxes plugged in (or at hand) at all times. 'Course, my xbox is modded and I use it for media playback all the time, so it's unlikely I'll part with it until the Xbox2 can be modded :).

      Nintendo is another good example. The Nintendo DS and the Gameboy Advance can load just about every game cartridge produced for the Nintendo gameboy line, and I really like that. You get a better playing experience on the Gameboy Advance SP than on the non backlit Gameboy/Gameboy color and you don't need to keep the old handhelds around (though I still do it, for nostalgia's sake).

      So, yeah, I think there are several good reasons for backwards compatibility. :)

    3. Re:But (dare I ask) .. why? by seinman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You seem to be assuming that everyone already owns the original Xbox. Backwards compatibility is for people who don't have the first system. I only have a GameCube now, and if I decide to buy the new Xbox, it would be nice to be able to play the already large library of games. You're right that it doesn't matter to current Xbox owners, but that isn't who the feature is aimed at.

    4. Re:But (dare I ask) .. why? by nathanh · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Who cares? If you love your old XBOX games that much, just keep it and play your old XBOX games on it. This feature seems to be just another "tick" for the marketdroids to put in the box.

      For people who don't already have an Xbox, backwards compatibility is a big selling point. It means that instead of a mere 20+ games there are potentially 1000s of games at launch.

    5. Re:But (dare I ask) .. why? by ignorant_coward · · Score: 2, Insightful


      Because the incremental cost of providing emulation is probably compensated by the increased sales resulting from that emulation. It gives the console a huge initial boost in games, it gives future XBox owners access to fun games that haven't been remade for the 360, and it provides "investment protection" for existing XBox owners who don't want to have both consoles hooked up.

      I'd bet the market for PS1 games on the PS2 was huge. I'm responsible for at least a half-dozen PS1 game purchases, which multiplied by potentially millions of similar buyers, is not chump change. Even though I bought them all on sale, it drives volume at the stores, at the manufacturers, etc. Everybody wins.