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Backwards Compatibility For Xbox One Launches
SlappingOysters writes: What is old is new again as backwards compatibility arrives on the Xbox One as part of a dashboard update. Finder has the full list of 104 launch games for the service, and has analyzed the origins of these titles. The site has determined that of the 104 games, only 28% ever released in boxed form, and of the remaining downloadable Xbox Live games, 36% are remakes of titles from previous generations. The site has also identified 60 games that were on the marketing material for Xbox One backwards compatibility, but were not on the launch line-up.
Run! Run far away!
Needs 1st Xbox as well come in's X86 based ruining an windows based os / dx
Considering the "backwards compatibility" list for the X360 to the original XBox wasn't all that accurate... I'm not holding my breath.
One of my favorite games for the original Xbox, D&D Heroes, is on a couple of compatibility lists... Yet it doesn't work at all in my X360.
I already own 140 /1600 Steam OS games and I don't even have a steam machine yet. I had 3 game boy cartridges, 13 game cube games and 1 ps3 game which was used twice as a blueray player. Pokemon for the win. I will never get an xbox. Well we'll see what my kids want but I'm going to seriously suggest they read books. 10 of my high school friends are unemployed gaming addicts. Just like gamblers they can not function. There parents should have bought them balls.
I've wanted to grab this for so long. But I knew that if I stuck it in my box, it wouldn't work. Now I can finally grab it and stick it in!
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
I have the recollection that at least some; but probably not all, of the downloadable Xbox360 games, especially the indie ones, were built in something that was confusingly a bit different from .NET in the PC sense(as is customary for Microsoft's deeply confusing platform strategies); but, like .NET, was markedly more limited in terms of native code and deep hardware twiddling than the big commercial disk releases where(where developers could work more or less as close to the metal as their budget, talent, and middleware would allow). This would presumably make the indie downloadables much easier to get running on a more powerful; but architecturally alien, system.
Is my memory going on this one; or am I recalling correctly that there was one class of games that had a relatively neat abstraction layer; and one class that was accorded extremely broad power with little or no abstraction(save anything specifically related to platform integrity and DRM)?
- Don Mattrick
The initial list of games supported through back compatibility is relatively disappointing. That said, MS have acknowledged they are working to improve it and, in particular, to address the current problem with support for multi-disk games. On that basis, MS deserves at least two cheers for making a good start.
But in terms of prioritising titles for support, I'd like it if MS could reflect on those titles where there is the greatest historical interest in ensuring they remain playable on new hardware. I traded in my 360 almost two years ago and was surprised at how little reluctance I felt in doing so. There was only a tiny range of games that I felt regret about not having access to any more.
In truth, there are relatively few 360 games that would genuinely benefit from preservation. The two categories that I would de-prioritise are:
Multi-platform games which remain available on modern hardware. This might be because they've had a "remastered" version for a current-gen console. In many cases, however, it is because PC versions remain available, on sale and playable. So a lot of the big cross-platform shooter franchises would not, to my mind, be a priority as they are generally cheaply available on Steam and/or Origin.
The next category of games are the instalments in iterative franchises which are effectively replaced by later instalments. So the FIFAs, the Maddens and, at a push, the Forzas (Forza 6 is a valid successor to Forza 4 in a way that Forza 5 wasn't). These are the games with no storytelling component, whose features are improved on a year-by-year basis and where there is really no particular reason to go back to the older versions.
That actually covers a remarkably large portion of the 360's library. I was struck when I traded mine in by how few really significant exclusives the 360 had; its strength was always as the "best console to play multi-platform games on" rather than as an exclusives machine. That said, there are a few titles I would dearly love to see rescued:
- Lost Odyssey (arguably the best JRPG of its generation and, in some respects, the "real" Final Fantasy 13. It's multi-disc, so that issue would need to be sorted.)
- Blue Dragon (not quite as good as Lost Odyssey, but still a seriously good JRPG).
- Ace Combat 6 (the final decent instalment in the series when it was still unafraid to be wacky, before it turned into Call of Duty with planes).
- Gears of War 2 and 3 (almost certain candidates for an HD remaster at some point, I guess).
- Deathsmiles (technically also available on mobile platforms, but the 360 port is the definitive version and one of the best bullet-hell shooters available for home consoles).
There is a much larger list of PS3 titles in need of rescue. My original highest priority, Valkyria Chronicles, is thankfully now on Steam, but I would dearly love to see the Ratchet & Clank games and a lot of those PS3-exclusive or best-on-PS3 JRPGs (such as Eternal Sonata) make it out from under the wire.
Until they let me play my already purchased xbox live games (arcade)... it's still not backward compatible.
The article title should read: Microsoft has not brought backwards compatibility but tries to spin like they did.
I've been waiting to buy the xBone until backwards compatibility happened. Apparently I'm still waiting...
I was very close to dropping cash on an XBOne when I heard about backwards compatibility. I've had a 360 since launch and have a pretty large selection of games and my 360 being a first gen lacks modern features like HDMI. Then I looked at the list to see what games I owned were on it. There are two. Sigh. I ended up buying a preowned 360 Elite which has HDMI and moved on. I already have a PS4 and PC so the current gen games are well covered so I don't think there's room for an XBOne until it can realistically cover the majority of my collection, especially Red Dead Redemption since we're never likely to see an HD remake of that.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"