Xbox 360 games for Xbone

[lassiie]

So I have been playing my Xbox 360 for the last few months since the Xbone has released, and not a single game has come out yet that I want to play, that isn't also coming out on the 360. Eventually, I will get an Xbone, but not for awhile.

We all know what will eventually happen, they will start releasing 360 games on the Xbone marketplace for $20-$40 (my guesstimate). My problem with this is I have a library of over 50 games on my 360, and I have no problem hooking my 360 back up anytime I want to play it. But why not offer a service, where you can register a game you own to an account, and be able to download it for free on your Xbone if you have Gold. Obviously, this would cost them some sales, but I would also go out and buy an Xbone this second if this was an option. I also would've bought an Xbone on day one if it had backwards compatibility. Even something like, you pay a $5 fee for the download, would be somewhat acceptable, as the company still had to do the work to get it on the Xbone.

Was just curious on everyone's thoughts on this, or if they have any better ideas for something similar to this.

 

[Roxas1359]

The reason that Xbox 360 games don't work on the Xbox One is the same reason that PS3 games don't work on the PS4: the architecture is too different. Both companies have never had their systems run based on a x86 system before, and the last gen systems had some pretty interesting architecture to put it lightly. Take the PS3 for example, it used a stupid Cell architecture that Sony pretty much regrets using and as a result it can't be emulated at this time, that is to say unless they were to put a whole PS3 in the PS4 and that would drive up costs like crazy. Same thing with the Xbox One when it comes to the 360, well minus the Cell architecture part because Microsoft didn't do something like that.

People question how Nintendo is able to do it and it's actually quite simple. Nintendo doesn't make new drives for their systems. The Nintendo GameCube was the first that used what would become a staple for Nintendo's home consoles, the Nintendo Optical Drive and the Nintendo Optical disc. When the Wii came out, it had backwards compatibility with the Nintendo GameCube (this was stripped in 2011, but it's software wise and not hardware wise), and the reason for that is that the Wii Optical Drive is only a slightly modified GameCube Optical Drive making the backwards compatibility seemless. So what about the Wii U? Well as you'd guess the Wii U Optical Drive is just a slightly modified Wii Optical Drive, same with the discs. As a result, the Wii U technically can play GameCube games, but it won't because Nintendo locked it out because one, there is no place to plug in a GameCube controller (can be easily remedied), and two, the Wii U's OS locks out mini-dvds and optical discs like the GameCube discs in general. It's the same program put in the 2011 Wii "Family" redesign really. The fact that Nintendo's core hardware is only slightly modified is the same on their handhelds as well, which is why the 3DS can still play imported DS games, but can't play imported 3DS games.

There is a danger with only slightly modifying the hardware each generation though. It opens up many backdoors that can lead to the console being hacked like crazy. This is extremely evident with the Wii U as you can still install homebrew programs on the system when going through Wii mode, and the 3DS' backwards compatibility has lead to some hacks being developed for the 3DS by exploiting the backdoors the DS had. Nintendo tries to patch them out, but over time that lockout gets overridden with a new hack. Eventually, once the console is no longer supported, it can be hacked even more with no fear of it being patched out. This article explains what I mean by hackers exploiting the old backdoors that these only slightly modified pieces of hardware leave in better than I can. (please note I do not advocate piracy at all, and the article is just to demonstrate what I mean)

At this time there are no PS3 or 360 emulators that work to my knowledge, so basically making one can be a pain. It's why Sony has been making PS Now so that the PS3 games can be streamed over to the PS4. Whether it works or not we do not know yet, but from the Beta I did is seemed functional, especially on my connection. Pretty much though for the Xbox One to have 360 games there can be 4 things done. One, remake the games to be compatible to the new system, which has practically been done for almost as long as the gaming industry has existed. Two, create an official emulator that the console can use it, such as the Nintendon't hack that someone made for the Wii U only Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo make an official one. Three, make a streaming service similar to how PS Now is theoretically gonna be. Or four, literally put a condensed version of the console in the new one (it's what Sony did with the PS3, and price went skyrocketing).

 

[lassiie]

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I guess I am just surprised Microsoft hasn't developed an emulator yet, doesn't seem like it would be that hard considering all they have at their disposal

 

[Roxas1359]

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I guess I am just surprised Microsoft hasn't developed an emulator yet, doesn't seem like it would be that hard considering all they have at their disposal

In all honesty I don't even know if there is an emulator for any of Microsoft's systems. One thing I can see being a hindrance to it though is how the Xbox line of consoles have their disc drives. Unlike regular disc drives and DVD-R/DVD-RW drives is that the Xbox and Xbox 360 both have the drive spinning in the opposite direction. It's possible for Microsoft to do it though, if they were to spend time on it. But at the same time, it doesn't seem as if they cared too much about it when going based off some of those interviews that were done about backwards compatibility. I'll never forget some of the Mattrickisms like "if you're about backwards compatible, you're really backwards." XD