Microsoft Adds Backward Compatibility to Xbox One

[immortalfrieza]

How can they just throw it in after the fact?
Is this something only new Xbox Ones will be capable of doing, or did the console have this capability to begin with and Microsoft couldn't be arsed to make use of it?

It's the latter. Backwards capability has significantly more to do with software than it does with hardware, which is why they're able to digitally sell 360 games for download to the Xbox One and they're able to function despite the hardware supposedly being incapable of it and why the existence of emulators is possible in the first place. Microsoft was always capable of making the Xbox One backwards compatible from the start, they just wanted an excuse to sell the the 360 games to their walking wallets-oops I mean "customers" as digital downloads at ridiculously inflated prices instead of having people just buy the physical disc for those games for 5 bucks somewhere and pop that disc into a fully backwards compatible Xbox One like they would be able to in a sensible world.

OT: It's official, they should've just named the console Xbox 180.

 

[votemarvel]

This is a video of Major Nelson talking with one of the guys who developed the backward compatibility.

In short what they are doing is getting a digital copy of a game, wrapping it in a 360 emulator, and that is the version you play.

The game works just like a real 360. You can't play a BC game on the One and be signed into a physical 360 at the same time, one will kick the other offline.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

I think It is awesome, been missing ME2 and DS1. The only downside I am not looking forward to is the games have to be installed. Xbone games take up massive about of memory as it is.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Porting is about backwards compatibility as much as emulation: A functional facsimile (at best).

What I find most amusing here is how Microsoft is still backpeddling a full 2 years after their disastrous Xbone reveal. They must have thought rather lowly of their customers then, given all the ground they've had to recover.

I wonder how much grumbling and growling goes on behind the doors at Microsoft today...

 

[Bad Jim]

How can they just throw it in after the fact?
Is this something only new Xbox Ones will be capable of doing, or did the console have this capability to begin with and Microsoft couldn't be arsed to make use of it?

What they seem to be doing is rewriting a bunch of 360 games so they work on the Xbox One. It must have taken a lot of time and money to do it, and they probably only started when they realised the PS4 would destroy their console unless they did something amazing.

EDIT No it's not it's an emulator. Still, they probably started writing the emulator rather late.

 

[Xerosch]

Guys, I guess I'm missing some info here. I've read that some games like Banjo Kazooie are already compatible an can be played on the Xbox One. The thing is, I can't seem to find it even though I bought it for the 360.

Do I have to wait until the respective patch is released or am I simply searching in the wrong places?

 

[votemarvel]

Backward compatibility is only available to those in the preview program at the moment. It'll be hitting the One for everyone closer to the end of the year.

 

[Something Amyss]

Porting is about backwards compatibility as much as emulation: A functional facsimile (at best).

What I find most amusing here is how Microsoft is still backpeddling a full 2 years after their disastrous Xbone reveal. They must have thought rather lowly of their customers then, given all the ground they've had to recover.

I wonder how much grumbling and growling goes on behind the doors at Microsoft today...

Worse, what does it say about their outlook on the console? They should have killer apps by now that sell the damn thing, and they're backtracking by taking their two-year-old hardware and saying "fine, we'll give you access to ten year old games!"

 

[JayRPG]

Backwards compatability? At no extra cost right?

Sure it's at no extra cost, but it isn't backwards compatibility so I have to answer your question as a whole as no.

( The anger in this next bit isn't related to your post MonsterCrit )

Seriously, I think I am going to explode if people keep calling this backwards compatibility.

Whatever this is, it is most definitely not backwards compatibility.

Microsoft are going to be releasing a limited and select amount of 360 titles on the Xbox One store for digital purchase. The only way this differs in any way to Sony's PS1/PS2/PSP classics, and Nintendo's Virtual Console, is that Microsoft will give you a discount (Granted it is a 100% discount but it's still just a discount) if you have a retail copy of 1 of the compatible titles.

The 360 disc you own and are putting in to the Xbox One tray is nothing but a coupon, it doesn't read any information from the disc except what game it is, it doesn't play from the disc.

Only 100 titles are set to be supported on it's launch, which is less than 9% of the total 360 games available, and I'd bet my life savings we will never see more than 25% of the total 360 games available on this service. Some people like to say "They'll get the big ones though", which is the furthest thing from guaranteed I can think of. Releasing games on a digital platform, even if they were available digitally on the 360, is a massive can of licensing worms. Developers have to come to new licensing agreements, renew agreements, and in some cases have to go back and edit the games to fit in with new or ceased licensing agreements. Anyone ever wonder why Crisis Core isn't available on the PSN? Licensing issues.

This is not backwards compatibility. Did anyone call the PS Vita backwards compatible because you could download PSP games on it? Did anyone call the DSi backwards compatible (the one that dropped the GBA slot) because you could download GBA games on it? Did anyone call the PS3 backwards compatible because you could download PS2 games on it? No, of course they didn't, because that is not what backwards compatibility is. Just because Microsoft are giving you a generous discount for owning a copy of the game already doesn't change the fact that their approach is identical to that of the other 2 big companies, and that it isn't backwards compatibility for fuck sake.

Apart from Microsoft purposely misleading their customers by calling this backward compatibility, they are also saying that the 360 games run 'natively' on the Xbox One, which is an even bigger load of crap.

The Xbox One emulates the 360 dash, which then plays the game. So the game plays natively... inside the 100% emulated 360 dash.