Microsoft Exec: "If You're Backwards Compatible, You're Really Backwards"

[metalslug10]

so the logic is : xbox one is all in one ... but if you want to play games from the original xbox ( wich i gues is not the number one ) or 360 you have to keep the other consoles ... even better ... you can place the kinect bar on top of the other kinect bar. All of that to play the next forza ,halo and call of duty that probably will be NOTHING like the ones we played before... makes sense ...

oh by the way i have a theory.. xbox ONE because it really is a number one .... they are literaly pissing on us

 

[Naleh]

He's totally right, you know. That's why PCs are never backwards compatible. Can't run a Windows XP program on Windows 7.

This is just the sort of deep insight I expect out of Microsoft.

 

[MammothBlade]

So your entire Xbox 360 line is throwaway. Congrats, you don't have any respect for current Xbox 360 titles, by shunning backwards compatibility altogether you're cheapening games as completely disposable. F**k you too, microsoft.

 

[sagitel]

seriously what the fuck is wrong with you MS?

first the Xbone revealing that had nothing to do with games, then the indie news that say you still wont let them self publish and now this? what the hell are you doing? you suddenly thought you have too many costumers and want to loose them? you thought MS is getting too big and want to make it smaller? because i cant think of any other reason.

really don? what the hell were you thinking when you called some of your potential customers (as small they may be) backwards?

 

[nymz]

Wouldn't it be possible to sell some kind of addon box that can be plugged in and used as an emulator? It probably wouldn't be cheap, but if the option of buying one existed, people wouldn't feel so wronged. It's the fact that they are basically saying fuck you to BC that is annoying. For example, I get that PS4 can't emulate PS1-3, but why not 1 only? I don't see why that isn't possible.

 

[VanTesla]

Well when your backwards compatability doesn't work right and many of the games can't even be played on the new console of course the percent of people that play will be low... Also since most console models that have been out don't even support backwards compatability his arguement on statistics being low is a no shit!... I understand the added cost and time to add backwards compatability and would be fine with not having it if they could have all the games able to be downloadable and transferable also playable offline once on the system...

 

[VanTesla]

What the hell? The backwards compatibility barely worked. The only reason I didn't use it was because none of the games I wanted to play were supported. Ugh, glad i'm sticking to my PC

Yeah his statistics are just completely coming out of his ass. Seriously if it doesn't work right or makes the game worse why would you play on it to begin with... They should atleast make it possible to maybe buy a seperate add on that can make playing older 360 or ps3 games possible for both systems. I think the market for that would show a revenue gain for them if done right...

 

[VanTesla]

seriously what the fuck is wrong with you MS?

first the Xbone revealing that had nothing to do with games, then the indie news that say you still wont let them self publish and now this? what the hell are you doing? you suddenly thought you have too many costumers and want to loose them? you thought MS is getting too big and want to make it smaller? because i cant think of any other reason.

really don? what the hell were you thinking when you called some of your potential customers (as small they may be) backwards?

They want to be like Apple, but fail to realize that the reason they even compete with Apple is for not having all the restrictions Apple have, but by doing this they will be giving Apple a bigger advantage yet...

 

[VanTesla]

Keep digging Microsoft, keep digging. That hole must be getting pretty deep by now.

Even though Sony is doing the same with the PS4 they can still look good if they just don't act like dicks to the consumer, have a good game start, and not having the dumb restrictions Xbone is going to have. Still sucks that there is not even a option to add backwards compatability for it could increase revenue if sold seperate, but then they would have to moddable which both companies seem completely against in any form.

 

[nodlimax]

You who doesn't have to care about backwards compatibility, a PC gamer.

I can still play the over 10 year old Half-Life² on my machine and many many other classics. And yes I still play some of my older games from time to time. Especially the HL² + Ep1 and Ep2 games are played at least once a year....

So much for not caring and never touching older games ever again...

 

[Indy_no]

One of the reasons I got the Wii U on release was because it was backwards compatible with Wii titles, so I could retire my old, tired Wii. It even got all the VC console games in the Wii-mode

When it comes to Xbone, I've not really concidered buying it, even though I have a Xbox 360. And when the Microsoft exec just keep pissing of us gamers with saying stupid things like that, it's just one more reason not to go Xbone.

I think the PS4 isn't backwards compatible either, but at least Sony execs doesn't say that many stupid things to piss us off. And I might get myself a PS4 eventually, because over the years I found I prefer the PS3 to the Xbox 360, and because of Microsofts ongoing stupidity and arrogance.

 

[Quellist]

Oh this is fucking hilarious. They make crappy backwards compatiblity in the xbox 360 then use the fact that people cant play a lot of their old games on it as a statistic proving people dont want backward compatibility.

/Facepalm doesnt cover it, there just aint that many facepalms in the world.

 

[loc978]

"Only 5% of customers"... one in twenty. So fuck those guys, since that's such a completely negligible number in a gigantic fucking market.

...I still use my first-gen "60GB" (it's a 320 now) PS3 for PS2 and PS1 games more often than PS3 games...

I do so love microsoft for creating this new travesty of a machine. With every generation, their ineptitude becomes more obvious. Delicious.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Yeah because every 360 on earth is totally gonna last 10 or more years right? Tell me how backwards I am when I'm out $2000+ worth of games and see how far you can run after I've entered blood-rage.

While it's not a perfect solution by any means, in 10 years you're probably going to be able to emulate them on whatever passes for a PC. My PSX died, I can still play the games, same with my SNES, & my Amiga, and if my PS2 had died and my ageing PC was up to it (which it isn't) I could play my PS2 games as well. We can't guarantee someone will come up with a decent 360 emulator but hopefully there will be options that don't involve buying the last working 360 off ebay for $1M. Though it would be fun to watch you eating this guy's liver in a berserk fury.

 

[Revolutionary]

Hurr people don't play backwards compatible. Based on what? How could you possibly collect that data?
I smell BS. Especially seeing as the ps3 wasn't backwards compatible and the xbox 360 was only partially backwards compatible.

 

[TheComfyChair]

This is why emulators on PC are important for preserving gaming history, because the console manufacturers themselves wont do it.

Don't worry, there'll be 360 and PS3 emulators on PC soon enough. They'll probably use decent-ish 6 CPU cores to run well, not because it needs the performance - a dual core PC from 2007 handily beats either console's CPU - but because emulating is much easier if you can tell a core to emulate a thread, and you'll need overhead related to emulation. The xbone and ps4 can't emulate because, well, their CPUs are pretty weak in the grand scheme of things, they are only expanded netbook parts.

 

[Longstreet]

This could get interesting, didn't the previous Microsoft penguin get sacked over a dumbass comment?

Anway, from a price / product / promotion point of view they are right. They have all the power to do with their product as they see fit. If they believe it will drive the price too high to be able to be a good selling product and not include backwards compatibility that's fine.

There are a few problems though.
- Don't call the playerbase idiots. He basically does that but uses the word backwards.
- Don't bullshit a number everyone knows is false (i'm looking at you 5%)

And don't overlook the fact that people WANT backwards compatibility because it is about 99.99% sure in a few years time the support for some if not all games will be dropped on the older consoles. (cue in another argument for why always online is bullshit)

Hell, backwardscompatibility might even justify they price raise they are talking about, if they handle it right

 

[ellers07]

Maybe it's not a make or break feature, but backwards compatibility is a good safety net. Most of the new features they've unveiled I really don't care about. They're cool in their own way I suppose. Voice activated commands would give me that rush of feeling like Picard, though I'm not sure that would last when I asked for Earl Grey and thoroughly confused the thing.

The point is, I'd be willing to risk some money on a new, fancy console if I knew I had my library of games to play on it. I know my 360 won't last forever, and it would be nice to still be able to play those games down the road. I never purchased a game and thought of it as disposable. Is that the new reality?

Sony made the same error of course. I recently borrowed my brother's PS3 and very quickly fell in love with it. I thought about buying my own, but I figured I'd wait for the new console. Why buy a PS3 they'll be phasing out when I could just buy the newest console? I'd catch up on all the PS3 games I'd missed while picking up new PS4 games that looked good as they came out... It was such a nice dream.

I guess it was silly to expect a Playstation to play Playstation games, or an Xbox to play Xbox games. I said this a while ago in another thread, but wouldn't it make more sense to just call these machines something different? That would get rid of a lot of the expectations. Instead of Xbox One, just call it One. Then we would know it wasn't built to play Xbox games, it was built to be a home entertainment system. I don't know what you'd call the Playstation, but something to indicate it's not a Playstation anymore.

Needless to say, this issue combined with many of the others means I won't be buying any new consoles in the near future. My hobby let me down. That kind of bums me out.

 

[Morsomk_v1legacy]

"If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards," he told the Wall Street Journal.

HAAAH!!! I see what he did there, he made a joke with the wor.....hang on a tick, DID HE JUST CALL ME AN IDIOT?!

Yup, just another day where a guy in a high position says something stupid and bad about something they dont like. Honestly, this has been happening for a while now. Is there like a competition or something going on right now?

 

[Lightknight]

So, not only are they not catering the to 5%'s needs, which is their call, but they are also now insulting them? Wow. I'd ask what happened to their PR/Marketing department but that line he spewed out was clearing the work of a PR brainstorming session that came to "If you're backwards compatible, you're really backwards," at 3 a.m. in the morning.

If it's only 5%, then why do both the 360 and PS3 have a robust classics game section in their stores? They seem to be selling quite well too. It's where I bought digital copies of games like FFVII and FFVIII and Front Mission 3 to play on my psp to occupy my business-travel time.

That being said, I've already stated that I wouldn't likely take advantage of the backwards compatibility even if it existed. Most of the older games I play now are more than one generation old and that was never on the table. But I'm speaking up against them now that they've decided to turn it into an insult.

"If you like x, then you're just dumb and your opinion doesn't matter". That's how I hear it.