Xbox Series X Has A Big Backwards Compatible Advantage Over PS5, Suggests Ubisoft

Not being funny but who wants to play ps1, ps2 and ps3 games anyway (a very select few that won't effect the market/sales) I had a whole 7 years each gen to play those games, along as the ps4 games are supported then I'm happy

@Medic_Alert

I completely agree. 👍🏻

I'm getting a PS5, Not at launch but i will eventually get one.. This doesn't bother me at all.. I'm mainly getting a PS5 to play all the upcoming exclusives and all the backward compatiple PS4 exclusives i missed out on this generation.. PS. I hope the Nathan Drake collection is backward compatible because i really wanna get into all the Uncharted games..

And no surprise here. Microsoft has been amazing about the backwards compatibility program. I play lots of 360 games that I missed when they were new, and they play better on my Xbox One.

And also no surprise that Sony is lacking here. Their buffoon CEO Jim Ryan said that “nobody plays old games”. But they’ll sell you a PS2 game on PSN for some of your $. 😂🙄

@playstation_king not all games are lucky enough to get HD Remasters/Remakes. Plus you get graphical enhancements for free even if you own the disc, so if you feel like revisiting your fav OG XBox games, you can just dust off your discs and see them in a shinier light.

Or maybe you got reunited with an old friend you used to play with a decade ago and decide to ride horses again in Red Dead Redemption just like the old days.

And you know, not everyone can have 4 XBox systems hooked up at once.

@playstation_king I’ve played through and/or finished 2 PS1 games and 6 PS3 games in 2020 so far - but yeah, probably not representative of the vast majority of gamers.

Backwards compatibility honestly wouldn’t effect my purchase decision (because I’m going to get a PS5 either way), but being able to completely replace my PS3 and PS4 under my TV with a PS5 would be ideal.

Not enough time in the day to even keep up with current gen games, hardly a deal breaker.

@playstation_king I’m currently playing through Ratchet and Clank : Nexus.

Although it’s not a huge issue for me as I own a PS2 & PS3 (***** brother sold PS1 and the games many years ago), PS5 really should support them.

It should never have been a case of consumers thinking will they won’t they. It should have been a case of how many games are we getting per console fully supported.

We’ll have to see now if Sony care to comment.

Again, it’s no deal breaker, I’ll purchase a PS5 regardless of whether it has BC or not, but it’s inexcusable for BC not to be a thing this gen. Props to Xbox.

For people who love preserving their games, investing in the Xbox ecosystem is definitely the best way to go. While Game Pass is going to be the way I'll play games in the future, I still would love to have the chance to go through my backlog on Xbox One and later on Series X instead of the original consoles. Not to mention that they've been patched in order to perform better. For example, I've been playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 on Xbox One with my brother for years now and having a great experience. The other day he came over and we played it on my 360 and the game was very laggy, something I never realised when transitioning from 360 to One. Playing most of these older games on a newer system is definitely way more optimal.

Also can't forget that BC games might even get added to Game Pass down the line, which is another good reason for Microsoft to invest in this since it just means more games to play overall.

@playstation_king
It's not about money. It's about respecting the purchases of gamers who have followed a company for generations, and most importantly it's about preserving the past.

Videogames have a history just as rich as any other media and for the longest time they not only failed to protect it but actively even worked against it (destroying source codes, losing files etc). Backwards compatibility is one of the greatest ways of remembering where games come from and allowing future gamers the opportunity to enjoy those games. We learn the origins of our favorite developers and experience how the industry has evolved over the decades.

@Bmartin001 yeah, nathan drake collection will work.

@Justifier I'm with you there. Currently replaying some of my old 360 games on the One X. Just about to start Lost Odyssey again...hopefully I can finish it off this time.

I just hope they keep adding titles from the 360 and OG Xbox when the Series X releases.

@playstation_king Why do people treat games as so disposable? No one has the same attitude towards books or movies

It's literally the reason I'm buying an Xbox Series X first. I need my 4K Blinx, SW: KOTOR, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, as well as those pretty pretty new textures for FF13. And Red Dead 1 looks like a full remaster on it. To play RDR1 on the PS4/5, I had to get PSNow and stream it, which ran HORRIBLY and looked like garbage. I'm a collector, so I have a lot of these games and I...still need to play them because I'm also an idiot.

@playstation_king Why do you want to play PS4 games, you've had 7 years to play them?

@playstation_king "as long as PS4 is supported I'm happy"

If you're happy enough that you had 7 years with ps1-3 gens, why was the 7 years with the PS4 gen not quite enough?

It's a weird thing to defend no support for three gens because nobody plays them, then openly admit you wanted another gen because it makes you happy.

Me personally, I was actually leaning towards a PS5 on launch when all the rumours were hinting at a PS console that was fully BC. I've platinumed five ps3 games this year, and completed (and given up on trophies with) a few others. I'm really close to finishing New Vegas now.

@Richnj because the ps4 is still being supported with games like cyberpunk and watch dogs and will get them on ps4 and carry on my save on ps5 when I get one in January. Plus there's still a few jrpgs I need to complete which are 60+ hours each so was hoping to get them and play them on the ps5, and I usually sell my current console to put towards the newer one.
Basically my comment was aimed at games that are more than 1 gen old

@HammerKirby sorry maybe that's just me, I've always bought games, completed it then sold it (unless I bought digital) same with any blu Ray movies I buy, only thing I buy and keep are my manga.

Microsoft's commitment to BC is one of the things that has me more determined than ever to buy all my multiplat games on Xbox.

The hope that 15 years from now, I still might be able to play OG Xbox classics is something I love.

As far as I understand, Xbox OS works on such a way that all games are running on their own VM that makes the game easy to keep compatible (simklar to DOSBox on PC keeping old games running.)

That is something I know I can't ever expect from. Sony.

Hell... With Console Streaming, Microsoft might actually get me to do the unthinkable: start buying digital.

@playstation_king for someone that is fighting against the all digital future, you are making it easy for companies to push it. Listen if you want to preserve the past, you need to embrace it. Remember that feeling you had the first time a song really spoke you? Staring at a photograph because there was something about it? How about a book you want to relive? Taking old games and experiencing them with better hardware allows us to both experience the past and something new. You should try it once it awhile

Sony better let me play all the PS4 games I bought then. And no sneaky censorship patches on the Japanese games the puritans who work there don't like such as DoA6, SoulCalibur 6 and Samurai Shodown.

@playstation_king I for one do, I'm currently 21 years old, never gamed as a kid because of poor family so for the last 2 years I've been trying to play a lot of the older games. With the ps4 never having had bc except for psnow which works horrendously for me, I would very much like full bc to be a thing on ps5 alas. Will just continue using my pc and xbox for that.

Haven't we known this for months? The deep dive only ever mentioned PS4 and Sony have never even talked about PS3 or before

I'm honestly okay with slightly fanboyish articles that point out positive features of a console. I say that in cases where it's rare and in this site's case, it is rare that they post fanboyish articles. The people at pushsquare are acting like this is nothing, which isn't surprising. Still, I can't help but wonder how they'd react at pushsquare if the shoe was on the other foot. My guess is the articles would be over the top and the comments would be equally cartoonish.

@playstation_king Like others that have replied already, I have played lots of old games during this generation in spite of having 3DS, Wii U, PS4 and Xbox One X. Microsoft revealed that around half of the players use backwards compatibility sometimes. The amazing thing about it is that all Xbox and some Xbox 360 games are 4K on Xbox One X/Series X and all have better frame rate. Some of them have been improved for both Xbox One S and X, e.g., Final Fantasy XIII has the original high-quality cut scenes restored. This is one of the reasons why PlayStation 5 doesn't seem as consumer-friendly and appealing as Series X. Microsoft offers the best backwards compatibility and it's free. PlayStation 5 has the mediocre PlayStation Now service and a handful of random PS2 games.

@IronMan30 lol 100% this, if PlayStation where doing bc like xbox is, we would never hear the end of how its just another reason why its the superior console... And xbox dropped the ball big time if they where doing what ps is with bc.

This is a big one for me. I have preferred playstation in general, but I love being able to go back and play old games, such as left 4 dead and the fable games, Sony has been lacking in this sense.

Only really had a PS4 as all my friends did also and wanted to play online with them, but with games beginning to become more crossplay friendly, warzone and rocket league etc, it’s allowing individuals to take more of a tailored choice in their system decision.

I’ll miss some great ps5 exclusive, or timed exclusives, such as FFVII remake or Death Stranding, but a new Fable game promised is a great system exclusive, hard to match with a game of similar pull on the ps side.

Systems I’ve owned at current level, I.e. not systems I’ve bought retrospectively:

Megadrive, PS1, PS2, Xbox 360, PS4, Switch and next probably Xbox Series X.

Last note, I’ve come to realise lately that Forza 7 is better than GT Sport.

Looks like I'm getting a PS3 just to play Ratchet and Clank games that I'll only play a couple of times! YAY.

@IronMan30

They do fanboy garbage articles on Push Square all the time. And that is a completely toxic website.

But to your point....this is just a good article pointing out that a publisher is saying that Xbox has better backwards compatibility.....which it does. It’s nice to hear a publisher praise Microsoft for it’s consumer friendly approach.

The only thing that will make this toxic is PS fanboys crawling over here from Push Square & complaining, as they always do.

Apparently, the PS trolls don’t have enough to do or enough games to play on their PS4. So they are on an Xbox website trolling. It’s sad & pathetic.

@KelticDevil "The only thing that will make this toxic is PS fanboys crawling over here from Push Square & complaining, as they always do."

When that happens, it's best to ignore and not engage.

@roe "However there are still flaws in Microsoft's approach. The vast majority of OG Xbox games won't play on Xbox One or Series X."

Sadly, MS approach only work by repackaging and redistributing the titles in question. Once added to the BC program, they seem to stay there forever, even if removed from the store due to licensing reasons, but to do it at all, they need the go-ahead of the rights holder, and many of of these might either no longer even exist. Other cases just can't do anything due to third party licensing rights. Even if Activision has gladly added their titles to the BC library, they can't greenlight the addition of their Spider Man titles because they lost that license, wich is a HUGE shame. From a preservation point of view, those titles are essential to understand the evolution of Spider Man video games.

I would had greatly preferred if MS simply shipped an emulator that ran content directly from disks, but it seems that each title added needs manual tweaks and repackaging. Maybe someday in the future they have powerful enough hardware to just allow any disk be inserted and Auto-packaged to run.

@Tharsman

Very true. That’s why I have hit that “ignore” button so many times on the PS trolls from Push Square.

But you do bring up a good point. I’ll try to stop giving them their sad validity through other people that haven’t ignored them yet. 👍🏻

@roe

There are a million licensing reasons why this can never happen....sadly.

@playstation_king maybe not in their current state but if the Machine can some how upgrade the games graphic. Then I do

Mmmm...

Im starting to lean more towards Xbox X this time. Its nice to revisit past games.
Same as what Nintendo does with Nes / Snes on the Eshop. I love to revisit those older games.

Sony is all about the money now...

So there will be no BC for old PlayStation discs.

MS is now the King of BC and that's a huge win for them.

I hope they restart the BC program and pile on the games.

Not ideal but I am torn whether it is the right thing or not. When they are coming straight out of the blocks with an all digital console as well full disc based bc would no doubt impact adoption.

I can forsee something being integrated into PS Now further down the line if the hype for it is there. Sony are notorious for being reactive and not proactive. Crossplay is an example.

Certainly not competition over as some say. But its nothing to be glossed over either.

It would be nice for Microsoft to add more OG Xbox and 360 titles to backwards compatibility, was generally one of the most exciting parts of Microsoft events from the initial backwards compatibility announcement at E3 2015 all the way to the final announcements at E3 2019. It would be even more exciting now with the recently added ability to buy OG Xbox and 360 titles with Xbox Gift Card balance on XB1.

@playstation_king I kind of get where your coming from but it would be a good for Sony to do, having all 5 generations of Playstation available would be massive and they could even go the Microsoft route and repackage them in PS5 cases. Its not a deal breaker for me ive never played older games on a new console but it would be great if I could drop Jak & Daxter into PS5 rather than setting up my PS2 or rebuying it from the store when it gets another port.

@KelticDevil right, PureXbox is fairly unbiased. Articles like this from time to time are okay, imo. Also, it really is a good feature to have. Sony fans would act the same way (probably worse) if that were the case for PS5.

As to what you said about PS fanboys and trolling, I say that all the time. For a bunch of people with a ton of games to play, they spend a lot of time trolling Xbox and Nintendo pages.

@IronMan30 They say that they have the best games in the world, according to them, PS4 exclusives are all GOTY and GOTG (Game of the Generation) but then you don't see them happy or enjoying them that much and many of those games are samey and duller skins of better third-party games.

@BlueOcean yes, one would think that every Sony exclusive descended from the heavens and was bestowed upon us by the creator himself. A lot of their exclusives are decent, but never did anything for me (Uncharted 1-3 and Ratchet & Clank are great, everything else is "meh" to me).

Anyway, Sony fanboys are pretty cartoonish and even Nintendo fanboys are more level headed when it comes to exclusives. That says a lot about Sony fanboys...

@IronMan30 @BlueOcean

I’m sure most of the PlayStation fanbase are ok & just play games instead of coming onto Xbox websites to troll gamers.

But it’s the hardcore, Push Square type crowd that are the toxic problem with that fanbase.

Most of them could care less about multiplayer games, so they play Sony’s 1st party single player, one & done, 3rd person action/adventure games and then they have nothing to do after they finish them.

They don’t have a service as good as Game Pass, so they get all bent out of shape because Xbox has done it better. Sony’s first party lineup needs more variety too.

They have no FPS franchises. No RPGs. No multiplayer (or crap multiplayer for the games that do support it). Etc. It’s just 3rd person action/adventure games. I had a PS3 & at least it had Killzone & Resistance.

Microsoft has great variety in their first party & have some big time games coming to XSX.

@IronMan30 I agree, Ratchet & Clank is fun, even Knack II is, the Wipeout Omega Collection is super, some Uncharted games are impressive, especially 2, 3 and 4 but at the same time the gameplay is clunky. Most other PS4 games are dull skins of third-party games that they're copying or of first-party games that they have released before. The Last of Us is the exception, it was recommended to me because I'm a Resident Evil fan but in reality TLoU are depressing interactive films with frustrating gameplay. They are more disgusting than scary.

@KelticDevil That's true.

@KelticDevil right, that is more who I meant when I said "fanboys". There are plenty of Sony fans that are fine. Calling them "fans" and "fanboys" is how I differentiate the people who prefer Sony and aren't loud about it and those who are just downright trolls. It does seem like the Sony fanboys have more of a penchant to be trolls than MS or Nintendo fanboys, which adds an extra layer of ridiculousness to Sony fanboys' nature.

@IronMan30 Most Nintendo and Microsoft fanboys are alright but so many Sony fanboys are demented, if PushSquare serves as example compared to Pure Xbox and Nintendo Life.

Microsoft’s backwards compatibility honestly wins me over for next gen. I’m definitely getting the Series X now.

@IronMan30 @BlueOcean @KelticDevil I agree with all three of you.

However I do think across this community at least that far too much emphasis on the Push Square community as a representation of the wider Sony fanbase which isnt great. They represent such a small portion.

Can only speak of my friends at least but surprising how many true decent PS fans are multiplat gamers.

@Jaxx420

Agreed. It was like that on the 360 last generation. It seems to be whatever is the most “popular” console brings out all of the trolls & fanboys, big time.

I had a PS3 & 360 last gen & I would go on Push Square quite frequently. And it wasn’t near as bad as it is now. Sure there were some tools in the bunch, but it’s much worse now.

I still see PlayStation fans saying “Xbox has no games!!”, which is completely ridiculous. 🙄 I play games almost every day & only own an Xbox One & 360. And I have a backlog the size of a small country. 😂

And that was even before Game Pass came around.

@Medic_Alert
Compleyely agree, Red dead and Kameo, and oblivion on X1X and so much more are damn amazing

@KelticDevil Xbox has games what it needs more of are franchises. They are what generate sales and subscriptions.

I getcha when someone says all Xbox has is Halo Gears and Forza it grinds the gears as the reality is different. But flip the other way and look at the casual gamers they are the three brands they will associate with Xbox. Thats the bit they need to address as franchises make the the most money.

I too remember the 360 fanboys who trolled just as badly sadly. Brings out the siege mentality amongst forum users on the "winning side" when they feel threatened.

Thankfully those trolls/users represent a small portion of their fanbase though. I think most true gamers know console wars is a dead in the water fad and casual gamers dont know it exists. Just that small group in the middle of that, that cannot let go.

@Jaxx420

Hopefully, The Outer Worlds & Hellblade turn into great franchises for Xbox since they will be exclusives going forward. Wasteland, as well. Psychonauts.

And bringing Fable back is huge because it’s a name people know & millions of gamers (including myself) loves those games.

Dead space and the first assassins creed would be cool on the Xbox series s/x I’m done with PlayStation after their lack of compatibility with the scuf controllers with ps5 games,but Sony isn’t interested in anything but exclusives