Well, we certainly didn't expect it to happen, but it appears that Microsoft have stolen the show during their E3 presser, by announcing that Xbox 360 backward compatibility is coming to Xbox One.
Not only that, but the compatibility is native, meaning that your digital games will just appear in your catalogue, and you can just insert the disc for your retail games and (after a short download) start playing. As it stands, a stack of games are already queued up for Xbox Live Preview Program members, with the full functionality rolling out toward Christmas.
Developers and publishers don't need to do anything to get their games onto the service, other than give Microsoft permission. 100 or so titles are currently available to play from the 1,139 released titles, with more to be added as time goes on.
Comments 15
That's huge! Could push them to leading E3, especially with the fact that Sony is making people pay expensive rental fees (or an expensive subscription) to play PS3 games on the PS4.
Game. Set. Match.
I just want my only original xbox game to work, Toejam and Earl lll.
Yes, this is huge to me too since I never had a 360.
Will the 360 Games for gold titles be included? (If you've downloaded them in the free period)
@Dawntracker Eventually, yeah. Only 21 titles supported to start, but more will be added over time.
Looks like an Xbox One will be sitting next to my PS4 before year's end.
Great! That will allow us to play those old games and tremendously increase xbox one library!
Not only should this have been a feature available since day one, but they're half-assing it just like they did with the 360's backwards compatibility. I'm glad they're doing SOMETHING, and it's better than the PS4 has, but I'm definitely not impressed. It's like a kid who spends a whole semester failing a class and then brings his grade up to a D - yeah, it's definitely a welcome improvement, but it's still not impressive.
@ElkinFencer10 Can't say that I agree with them half assing it. The 21 announced games are for Preview Members only. By the time it actually launches to everyone at Christmas, there will be 100 titles, with more being added regularly.
They've even opened up a Uservoice poll so you can vote for the games you want to see!
For various reasons (mainly legal with the publishers), they're not actually allowed to just make every game available right away.
@SuperKMx
Poppycock. The Atari 7800, Sega Genesis, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Wii, Wii U, and every Nintendo handheld have all had full backwards compatibility. It's just a matter of adding compatibility with old games; there's nothing new to be published.
@ElkinFencer10 No, it isn't poppycock at all, regardless of how older platforms did it. On Xbox One, disc-based titles need to be downloaded digitally, for a start. This is to get around issues with the way the drive is accessed and the differences between the 360 and Xbox One. This means that the games will need to be compiled and republished into the Xbox One's digital package format.
Not only that, but what about patches? An amendment to the publishing contract will need to be made so that developers/publishers can patch their games on both formats. Or, so that when they issue a patch for the Xbox 360 version, it's tested with Xbox One as well. That wouldn't have been a requirement before. What about support? What happens when Microsoft just adds every game to the system and unprepared publishers (who maybe haven't dealt with requests about certain titles for almost a decade) start getting hundreds of support requests from players?
And regarding the fact that games have to be packaged and redistributed digitally - what about rights? If someone wants to play their disc-based game that was published by THQ, Microsoft don't have the legal right - seriously, they really don't - to just buy a copy of the game at Gamestop and then package it up for redistribution. Who do they ask, now that THQ are out of business?
It isn't just black and white, as much as we all want it to be.
Who's going to be that person who plays the original 360 Halo 3 when they they have the MCC?
In my opinion, this is the best thing Microsoft announced at their conference, which is kind of sad in a way what with the Wii U being a competitor that has had such a feature since the start. It also seems to be done in a strange way, I heard some mention of having to digitally download the game even if you have the retail copy, which if true really puts me off that feature. That said, still not as sad as PS4 still going about with no backwards compatibility.
While it sounds more messy than expected, this update is still a great thing to have, and I'm glad to see it announced.
@Utena-mobile Here you go....
http://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/298503-backwards-compatibility
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