PSA: Xbox One "Backwards Compatibility" Prank Is Bricking Consoles

[Deshin]

At first, but now even all the slim PS3s without the "backwards compatibility" can play a good two thirds of the PS2 library. So after a while they figured it out without adding an emotion engine chip to the motherboard.

Really? You could put a PS2 disc in PS3 and it would play? Thats news to me. (and that woudl be good news, as i think that woudl be a good thing).

All the "PS2 classics remastered" on the PSN store are just the basic files with a Sony-made emulator. People who have hacked their PS3s to run whatever they want are just using this exact same emulator from Sony (nothing tweaked) and running LOADS of PS2 games off of it. Even FFXII works (with a 0.5 second audio delay in the menu screen) and that's famous for being a bit of a resource hog.

I'd like to see proof of this as I have the slim and it doesn't play PS2 games, but it will play the Classic games you have to buy off of the Playstation store. If thats what you're talking about its not the same thing.

I can't link to it because it violates forum rules. Google search for it and you'll see what I mean. Those Classic games are just ISOs with a sony-made application running. There's no good reason they couldn't have just included the emulator application in a firmware update and let people play PS2 games but it's probably a licensing issue.

EDIT: Some links, I'm pretty sure these do not violate forum rules as they're only news sites and not hacking sites.

http://30lives.net/sony-lied-ps3-software-backwards-compatibility-hacked-to-run-any-game-1449

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/03/20/have-hackers-unlocked-universal-ps2-emulation-on-a-hacked-ps3/

 

[Strazdas]

At first, but now even all the slim PS3s without the "backwards compatibility" can play a good two thirds of the PS2 library. So after a while they figured it out without adding an emotion engine chip to the motherboard.

Really? You could put a PS2 disc in PS3 and it would play? Thats news to me. (and that woudl be good news, as i think that woudl be a good thing).

All the "PS2 classics remastered" on the PSN store are just the basic files with a Sony-made emulator. People who have hacked their PS3s to run whatever they want are just using this exact same emulator from Sony (nothing tweaked) and running LOADS of PS2 games off of it. Even FFXII works (with a 0.5 second audio delay in the menu screen) and that's famous for being a bit of a resource hog.

udos to sony for making a very good emulator then. Indeed i didnt knew you could use PSN store games emulator to play the regular discs. Then, that is more possible here due to how pwoerful PS3 CPU is. theoretically its the most powerfull commercialy available CPU in existence. pratically noone even used half of its processing power because cell infrastructure is bad to code to.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

I though people would already know that there is no possible way to make Xbox One to play Xbox360 games.
It's because its processor has a different architecture and reads different instruction sets.

Imagine different processor architectures to be like different talking languages.
What a game does is to speak to a processor on his own language. If you give a game written on a different language to the processor,the processor won't be able to understand the game's language and that's all. It's in another language the processor doesn't speak.To make the game readable by the new processor,the game's code language would have to change and be translated,and that essentially means the game would have to be programmed from point zero all over again. To be remade.

 

[Deshin]

Random thought: If Microsoft released a version of the Xbox One with the Kinect removed but with the old 360 CPU in place so it was backwards compatible and they were both the same price, which one do you think would sell more?

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

At first, but now even all the slim PS3s without the "backwards compatibility" can play a good two thirds of the PS2 library. So after a while they figured it out without adding an emotion engine chip to the motherboard.

Really? You could put a PS2 disc in PS3 and it would play? Thats news to me. (and that woudl be good news, as i think that woudl be a good thing).

All the "PS2 classics remastered" on the PSN store are just the basic files with a Sony-made emulator. People who have hacked their PS3s to run whatever they want are just using this exact same emulator from Sony (nothing tweaked) and running LOADS of PS2 games off of it. Even FFXII works (with a 0.5 second audio delay in the menu screen) and that's famous for being a bit of a resource hog.

I'd like to see proof of this as I have the slim and it doesn't play PS2 games, but it will play the Classic games you have to buy off of the Playstation store. If thats what you're talking about its not the same thing.

I can't link to it because it violates forum rules. Google search for it and you'll see what I mean. Those Classic games are just ISOs with a sony-made application running. There's no good reason they couldn't have just included the emulator application in a firmware update and let people play PS2 games but it's probably a licensing issue.

Yeah, I'd prefer not to risk bricking a PS3 just to get a functionality I have by turning it off and switching to the ps2 I already have, complete with memory cards with old saves, nor do I feel like buying peripherals from people to load the hacks on there. Not worth the risk, especially since the research I did seems that slims don't work very well with the hacks. So if it doesn't work well (low fps) then it isn't functional to me. Sorry.

 

[Denamic]

2) Why isn't the darn thing backwards compatible in the first place? There's no excuse.
No switch to vastly different architecture so soft emulation should be very doable and also no game library for the xone but I guess having something -anything- over the ps4 is against their pr strategy of being as incompetent as possible or something and that is saying something if the competition thinks proprietary memory sd cards that cost more and offer less are a-ok.

It is not doable, not even close. For every action taken by the CPU you're emulating, the CPU you're emulating on needs to take several, often 10 or more to achieve any semblance of accuracy. We can emulate the PS2 because its processors is only a 299MHz, and even then you need at least a 3GHz CPU to emulate it well. The 360 has a 3.2GHz CPU. To emulate that, even if you managed to do so with as little as 4 actions per action on average, which is literally IMPOSSIBLY low, you'd still need at least a 12GHz processor.

 

[smithy_2045]

How stupid do you have to be to fall for this in the first place. I have no sympathy for those who bricked their consoles.

 

[Zeraki]

"Nobody wants backwards compatibility" - Microsoft & Sony

Hate to break it to you guys, but if people are willing to risk their new $500 piece of harware just to activate the feature, you're wrong.

Granted the people who tried this are idiots for not doing further research before making the attempt. Anyone who was following the release of these consoles knew that backwards compatibility was sadly being phased out this generation.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Its like that thing where people send you info on how to destroy your PC by making you delete important files or drivers.

Thing is, if you pay attention to a stranger online to fix or change stuff, then your an idiot. Even more so for the XB1 BC thing, you would have to be a major idiot to believe MS added BC and then decided to block it. lol.

 

[RicoADF]

Really? You could put a PS2 disc in PS3 and it would play? Thats news to me. (and that woudl be good news, as i think that woudl be a good thing).

My day 1 PS3 is compatible with PS2 games, later versions (including the slim) are not. I would have happily paid twice the price I did for my PS4 to have it fully backwards compatible, ah well just means my PS3/4 will be sharing desk space together.

"Nobody wants backwards compatibility" - Microsoft & Sony

Hate to break it to you guys, but if people are willing to risk their new $500 piece of harware just to activate the feature, you're wrong.

Granted the people who tried this are idiots for not doing further research before making the attempt. Anyone who was following the release of these consoles knew that backwards compatibility was sadly being phased out this generation.

Actually Sony DID know that people want it and are looking at offering a streaming service via their Gaiki purchase to fulfill this, the reality is it would have pushed the cost of the console up probably another $200 (cost of a PS3), which I personally would have happily paid but not everyone would and after the serious losses they made from the PS3 at launch I can't blame them for not wanting to gamble with a higher price unit like that. Microsoft though did say "Backwards compatibility is backwards" and I've responded accordingly by blacklisting the XBO for a few years if not permanently.

 

[Something Amyss]

Really? You could put a PS2 disc in PS3 and it would play? Thats news to me. (and that woudl be good news, as i think that woudl be a good thing).

Well, yes. There are a ton of Ps3s where you can actually put a game in and play. There are also ones running software emulation for games on the PSN store. So even the ones that aren't backwards compatible are capable.

"Nobody wants backwards compatibility" - Microsoft & Sony

Hate to break it to you guys, but if people are willing to risk their new $500 piece of harware just to activate the feature, you're wrong.

Granted the people who tried this are idiots for not doing further research before making the attempt. Anyone who was following the release of these consoles knew that backwards compatibility was sadly being phased out this generation.

People are also chipping their PS3s. That should have been a hint.

 

[PunkRex]

Why cant we just have one version of the console WITH backwards compatibility which is more expensive and one without that is less expensive?

Well shit son/lass, you're just making to much sense now, arn't you.

*Loads shotgun*

OT: I can barely manage to navigate my 360's menu base, this sounds like an olympian feat.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why cant we just have one version of the console WITH backwards compatibility which is more expensive and one without that is less expensive?

Both console manufacturers not doing BC think we're so phenomenally stupid multiple SKUs frighten and confuse us.

So basically, they think that if we're presented with too many choices, we'll piss ourselves and run off to buy a WiiU or something.

 

[Grabehn]

I wonder how many people could tell the difference between a bricked Xbone and a "working" one.

That's an easy one, you can't... watch TV anymore?

 

[CriticalMiss]

I wonder how many people could tell the difference between a bricked Xbone and a "working" one.

A bricked Xbone doesn't spy on you, plus it plays TV.

 

[Something Amyss]

A bricked Xbone doesn't spy on you, plus it plays TV.

Oh, I'm sure they have the console set to spy on you even if the primary hardware goes down. How else could they milk yuo for ad revenue?

 

[Auron225]

Is it wrong that I find this friggin hilarious?

Even if you don't have any clue about programming language whatsoever, it does take a special kind of stupid to blindly follow instructions from the internet without first investigating whether or not it works. And why on earth would MS make it possible for backwards compatability to be an option, but only by figuring it out yourself by messing with the operating system? Believe me, if it was a feature you would know about it - MS would make sure of that!

 

[Dragonbums]

This prank seems more or less targeted at Xbox One owners as opposed to simply stupid people.

Especially considering how the PS4 also has no backwards compatible features as well.

I'm pretty damn sure that if this a similar ad ran on the PS4, just as many people would fall for it.

At this point there is a lot of antagonism towards people who bought the X1 simply because of policies they reversed months ago.

I feel this is more of a "punishment" prank than anything.

 

[Icehearted]

I think this demonstrates how much a desired feature backward compatibility really is. Too bad console developers so rarely give the people what they really want.

Every Sony console has been backwards compatible and I believe the Xbox 360 was as well, the only reason the new gen isn't is due to changing the hardware to x86 processors (which will make future consoles far easier to make backwards compatible to these ones). They had to do it to stay competitive. Still sucks though and wish they had of offered a 'special edition' console with the backwards compatibility (aka PS3/Xbox 360 built into the new machines) at a higher price point, I bet a few people would have gladly paid the premium price.

Naw dude, dude, naw. And it was dropped from the Playstation 3 after an early revision. As for the Xbox 360 it was only partial, and that was sketchy, and it too was abandoned.

Why the PS4 Doesn't Do PS3 Games
This in part says what I wrote elsewhere on this, which again points out why I'm not drinking the kool-aid on these excuses. This has all been done before, same rationalizing, same hidden motives, same excuses, same poor design choices (or past mistakes consequentially creating this problem).

 

[Product Placement]

Xbox's Major Nelson reminds everyone that the Xbox One is not, and never will be, backwards compatible.

Yeah, I've heard that before and have come to accept that but being one of those pricks that likes backwards compatibility, I must ask: Why is it so impossible to design an emulator that can run 360 games on the new console?

Edit: I guess the answer was already posted on thread.

2) Why isn't the darn thing backwards compatible in the first place? There's no excuse.
No switch to vastly different architecture so soft emulation should be very doable and also no game library for the xone but I guess having something -anything- over the ps4 is against their pr strategy of being as incompetent as possible or something and that is saying something if the competition thinks proprietary memory sd cards that cost more and offer less are a-ok.

It is not doable, not even close. For every action taken by the CPU you're emulating, the CPU you're emulating on needs to take several, often 10 or more to achieve any semblance of accuracy. We can emulate the PS2 because its processors is only a 299MHz, and even then you need at least a 3GHz CPU to emulate it well. The 360 has a 3.2GHz CPU. To emulate that, even if you managed to do so with as little as 4 actions per action on average, which is literally IMPOSSIBLY low, you'd still need at least a 12GHz processor.