Xbox Claiming It 'Fights For Game Preservation' Is Met With Backlash

I wonder what percentage actually care about backwards compatability with games from 2-3 gens ago? I can't imagine myself playing playstation 1, 2, 3 or xbox original or 360 games now that I've played current gen games. And last gen games are playable on this gens consoles and newer titles can be upgraded.

If I'd have to guess I'd say the percentage who cares is most likely lower than 10%. If it was way higher than that then it would be more of a focus especially with Sony but they just don't care and no one kicks up a fuss

I do agree with the DRM issue it should be in place but not to the degree it is, I work in a mental health hospital where any sort of Internet access isn't allowed to the degree they take any consoles to a shop to permanently disable the Wi-Fi.
One of the patients somehow deleted his profile off his Xbox One X and there was no way to create a new one without the connecting to the internet... which I think is abit too much

But MS is doing fantastic with B/C and especially with FPS Boost It's really hard to play games at 30fps now XD
They could do with adding much more 360 and original XBOX Games would love to see Timesplitters 2 & 3

There hasn't been much going on for the backwards compatibility front recently. Last batch of new titles added was in June 2019 and the last batch of FPS Boost was in May 2021 (DS3 was a one-off in July).

Nobody is happy nowadays haha

The BC is awesome and I hope they add more to it. Everyone on the Sony side says they don’t want it; then can’t wait for things like Mass Effect LE. They always say they don’t want to play old games then want a RDR or FFXIII remaster lol. BC is actually so cool to have. But yea with every remaster it is devalued unfortunately; e.g. Alan Wake. That game still plays on Series X but yet we’re getting a remaster anyway…

The fact that Game Club played the original Xbox Psychonauts, some on their Series X, is just awesome.

The DRM thing sucks. But I think Playstation has it too right? There was a recent PSN outage and I saw the comments regarding not being able to access games. You just have to set your console to be your home console. But it does suck for the future when people try and set up a new console and can’t. No defending that.

I would love to see Fear and Fear 2 added to backwards compatibility (with 4k and 60FPS please) and Outun 2 and Outrun 2006. While the former is possible with the latter i'm more likely to go into a game store this year and pick up a shiny new Series X.

Game pass and the game pass model does exactly the opposite. Also they still haven’t found a way to draw up a contract so we can preserve Forza games….. all in all they are just as bad if not worse than the other major players. They just give it the big one and some people are fooled.

@Stocksy Game pass isn’t the opposite as it hasn’t replaced purchasing games. It is in addition to purchasing games. But the Forza issues are a huge shame unfortunately.

They do need to add more Xbox 360 games, I hope they do in the future. I know that made a lot of them backwards compatible but there's also a lot they didn't do too.

Max Payne 3 needed!!!!

@K1LLEGAL I’d argue GPU even if it doesn’t “hurt sales” it definitely shifts the market away from physical. If you have GPU you are being moved to a “digital age” a digital age that’s been here 15 years…. But digital hurts game preservation… and GPU definitely hurts sales. I am on quite a few forums and discords and it definitely changes the way people approach game buying

@UltimateOtaku91 10% is a big number. Most developers would be very happy if 10% of gamers purchased their game.

@UltimateOtaku91 I love it. Since I bought a series X I finished fable anniversary, 2 and 3 and psychonauts and I bought jade Empire, blue dragon and Lost odyssey physically and Rayman Legends and beyond good and evil digitally

I think the comment about Microsoft stopping BC additions is a little unfair. If memory serves me correctly, Xbox said it was taking a break from BC to focus on launching Series consoles and would get back to it eventually.

Now that was also pre-COVID. It's been difficult enough to get games launched on time and getting consoles in the proper hands.

If anything I would take Xbox response to the Meme with a little bit of excitement as maybe Microsoft has some new BC plans in the cooker.

@UltimateOtaku91 It's possible that a lot of people each have a few individual games they'd like to keep playing. And they are not all the same.

I play JRPGs so my list might be slightly larger than others, since those games tend to age better than others. However, even if say someone wanted 200 games to be available on modern systems, that's a drop in the bucket, and how many are going to be the same as everyone else?

If Microsoft ever tuned off xbox live none of the backwards compatibility games would work as they are all downloaded and not taking the data off the disc so lets not make out they are preserved

Much rather have the ability to jump between save files and games on console and pc. Much rather have DRM issues then Remakes/port issues. If a game leaves the internet for whatever reason then there are tons of other games. If Microsoft shuts off their servers, I think that last thing I'll be thinking about is what about my games? Remember microsoft also lets you use emulators on their systems. Nothing in the world is perfect for every single person. Luckily we have a bunch of options to cater to us.

I like my physical games but even many of these will be useless once the servers go down so they are no better than digital....
The disc's will often be useless in years to come..
Then there is day one patches just to make the game playable, once the server goes down and you buy the physical game down second hand for example the patch won't be available to make the game playable...
The future of game preservation is not looking good.

There's definitely more that could be done in regards to BC, but there'll always be licensing issues, and that's not Xbox's fault.

@UltimateOtaku91 I couldn't agree more. I will NEVER catch myself wanting to play an old game like that. I mean the nostalgia is fine and all, but that is what watching a youtube video is for. I for one, only want companies to focus on making new games with the newest consoles.

@Xenomorph_79 I agree with all your points but Sony have been called out for their approach in the media before but its been talked about to death lol.

Just Nintendo who got the free pass in the press, as always.

Given you can dev unlock your Xbox and install RetroArch I would agree with Microsoft

@UltimateOtaku91 Actually Sony's attitude towards backwards compatibility is the main reason I won't be getting a PS5 and have bought an Xbox this gen for the first time since the 360.

@Halucigens Microsoft don't 'let you use emulators on their systems'. Sure, there's a backdoor way to install Retroarch, but that's hardly the same thing. If they were that open about it, they'd upload official emulators to the store.

It's not perfect, but way better than what anyone else is doing.

@Alex79uk Yeah and Nintendo and others would definitely be happy that Microsoft has provided an officially sanctioned emulators for you to load with ROMs to your heart's content. As much as I would love this to happen, also understand that they have to work out deals with publisher rights and in some cases it is hard to determine IP ownership rights due to older companies no longer existing or to many ownership changes.

Game preservation seems largely solved. Software can be archived on computers and has already been preserved largescale across the history of gaming. Yes, online restrictions and DRM will be annoying but will no doubt also be overcome.

What Xbox has added (restored) is the idea that backwards compatibility should exist at the consumer level. I used to consider BC a "perceived" value in that people generally could keep older hardware if they had an attachment to the software trapped on it. My thoughts have changed since then due to the HUGE Xbox 360 library trapped on highly failure prone hardware. RIP.

@Casco Yeah, thanks... I am aware of the reasons why emulators cannot be uploaded to official stores...

I think you missed the point of my comment, which was that MS are not 'letting' people install emulators. There's a workaround, yes, but letting people do something and people finding a sneaky way of doing something are not the same thing.

@UltimateOtaku91 first of all: 2D games dont visually age, and there are plenty on all consoles. We still keep getting more even on current gen.

Second: the fact studios keep releasing remasters that are little more than ports is proof that the interest for older gen games is there.

I think Microsoft has been doing a great job, their biggest issue always seems to be the complexities of licensing and working with various publishers.

@Jaxx420 I'm going to say Nintendo gets what resembles a free pass because Switch's form factor doesn't allow it to play 3DS or Wii U games easily. Everything before then is fair game and gets a good amount of (deserved) criticism from the press and gamers alike.

I love the current offerings for sure, but also would love to see more original X-Box titles brought over for the Series X / XBox One. Mechassault would be awesome to see, along with many others. There's only 50 or so original XBox games available right now, I feel like that number could easily be boosted.

@IronMan30 form factor I do agree with you but in general they do get a free pass.

Look at remasters and re-releases for example. Sony handle that really badly releasing remasters at full price and quite rightly get some stick. Nintendo re release Mario Kart 8 and Mario 3D world at full price no such care given.

I probably worded my previous post incorrectly but Nintendo do get a free pass to an extent as trying to convince them to change their approach to anything is like talking to a brick wall.

Xbox is the whipping boy of videogames. They could be doing soo many things better than the other consoles, but everyone will nitpick the very minor issues it has and completely dismiss the glaring ones that the other ones have... But yes, let's dump on Xbox in regards to game preservation, when Sony and Nintendo are doing way worse at it...

Sort the DRM issues out and add some more back compat games and then will talk about supporting game preservation.

@UltimateOtaku91
I’m not a massive backwards compatibility fan, I think it is good for one generation backwards as it helps as those games could be new and also leads into the new generation.
I tried a few older games and nostalgia is a funny thing, it never seems as good as it was because things have moved on and generally become better.
Spend the dam time and resources making new games I say.

Another point if backwards compatibility was such a big sell then there would not be series s consoles sitting everywhere on UK shelf’s, remember the UK is a strong Xbox country.
The same could be said for game pass, which in my opinion is great value for money.
But when push comes to shove people want the top end next generation model the series x and new games to experience and show off on it and play.

BC doesn't matter until you have a particular game you want to play, then it means a lot.

Plus, perception is everything. I tried to play Psychonauts 1 before 2. I just couldn't. The old OG Xbox era was impossible to deal with, the camera, etc. Then I played 2. Finished it. I wanted more. So I jumped back into one. And darned if it doesn't handle just fine after familiarizing on 2. Sometimes the old games play a lot better if you just "break into" them with a newer entry.

@UltimateOtaku91 "I can't imagine myself playing playstation 1, 2, 3 or xbox original or 360 games now that I've played current gen games."

Didn't we just have a Quake remaster that people went mad for?

"If I'd have to guess I'd say the percentage who cares is most likely lower than 10%. If it was way higher than that then it would be more of a focus"

Less than 10% of an install base? Most definitely. Major exclusives don't interest 90% of an install base. God of War PS4 sold around 11m units on a system that has around 120m units sold. Even Spider-man "only" managed 20m, which is like 15%.

Different games have different audiences, and I think legacy games have their audience, and I think it's important to give new gamers a chance to find these titles that released before they were even born.

I think people are being cruel. I think this means more BC games are coming in the future. Microsoft said they would after the launch of the series x. Of course I also think Covid delayed this. It’s still impossible to find a series x. However just be patient everyone. Microsoft always listens to us and appreciates our feedback. I would love for skate 2, max Payne 3 and many others to become BC. But I’m being patient because I know it will come and Microsoft I’m sure is working on it. Licensing issues of course make it harder. Happy gaming everyone!

@NEStalgia tempted to do the same and go and try out Psychonauts 1. Just got 1000gs on the sequel and loved every second.

@K1LLEGAL Yeah, it's really weird. I just could not get into the first one going at it first. It felt so....old..... But after finishing the second one, the first feels like a continuation/prequel. Some dated aspects ,but generally feels like mostly more of the same with a somewhat jankier camera. I think getting my brain (haha) into the controls starting with the dated handling just wasn't clicking, but I could adapt to it easy after being used to it with a more refined modern implementation. So far, definitely worth going back to, and weirdly, easier to do so if doing it second.

It also works well as a prequel, I laughed out loud when encountering "references" to the second which were really, apparently, references to the first.

The DRM comment is off considering what Sony and Nintendo are doing (re-selling the same games to the same user accounts over and over, in case anybody is wondering). The tweets requesting games make more sense but Microsoft have explained 50 times that they can't add games unless the owner of the rights approves. Finally, the (free) download version is necessary for technical reasons.

@NEStalgia that is very cool - that the first game woks as a prequel, possibly just as much as the second game works as a sequel👌

@BlueOcean Yeah, I thought the DRM one was weird. I mean, I get that people want their discs to work alone without server dependency, but it's not really DRM, either, it doesn't attach any licensing contract to your account, it just downloads required code necessary to run on new hardware. You can use the same disc on 100 accounts, but only the one with the disc actually runs. Same as any cartridge. But there's no "rights management" digital or otherwise beyond the presence of the disc, same as on a NES. Not sure what they meant there.

But yeah, while there's lots of games that can't be added, and publishers now want to milk their old games and deny it, maybe beating their chests about preservation isn't the best move when they can't really do it fully because of publisher rights.

There are only a few Original Xbox games available, even though there was so many on playable on the 360. Microsoft has near infinite money so they should be able to pay for licensing if that's the issue. But who outside of older gamers like me really will go back and play 20 year old games?

@UltimateOtaku91 I enjoy it and make use of it. I was just playing Ninja Gaiden Black a few months ago.

That being said, BC doesn't need to be a priority for Microsoft. I don't really have a problem with the selection on offer in the Xbox Marketplace in terms of BC titles and I don't really think they need to add any more. A lot of the titles I would want were on the shop at one point and got delisted due to licensing issues anyway, so there's probably no hope in getting those back.

The XBox BC Program REALLY NEEDS to be brought back because there are still a lot of deserving games which never got in before Microsoft pulled up tent stakes in preparation for the move to Series X/S. Among my personal list of candidates:

1) OutRun 2006: Coast2Coast
2) Daisenryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics
3) TimeSplitters 2
4) TimeSplitters 3: Future Perfect
5) Namco Museum Remix

And while we're on the subject of "game preservation", they need to stop killing AAA games due to licensing issues, such as the Forza Horizon series. There needs to be some agreement that enables these games to be sold in perpetuity instead of disappearing forever; if it costs a bit more for those rights then get it done.

@RadioHedgeFund can you install ROMs as well or do they run off a usb?

For me, BC is a nice perk, but I rarely play old games, and it definitely isn’t the end all, be all for my future purchase considerations.

Okay I get Xbox is doing much much better so far this generation than last gen but how can you call a console which launched with zero games designed for it, a tremendous launch!

@NEStalgia
I also tried psychonauts 1, but it's not playable by today's standards.

It looked awful on my 55' 4k tv. psychonauts 2 is great!

Most games should be played in their era. System shock 1, 2 and deus ex 1, hitman 1 are some of my favourite games, but i don't think anyone could play them as they are today.

@WCB Both. You can FTP over roms via a local web interface or run them from USB. The X1 will do anything up to the N64 and PSP pretty well.

The Series S is an emulation powerhouse able to run GameCube and Dreamcast games at full speed.

BC is the reason I went for Xbox and got back into gaming after a 12yr break. Left4Dead 2 is still my most played game. Could they do more? Sure.. and who says work isn’t going on behind closed doors?

Digital Foundry saw gears of war ultimate running with AI upscaling from 1080 to a near perfect 4K over a year ago and it still hasn’t shipped so something is in the works. They’re certainly doing more then the other guys.

@bladerunner I think anything 360/PS3 era onward will be playable indefinitely and not feel "too old". OG XB, PS1, PS2, GCN it varies, but some games fare better than others. I agree that a lot of games from that era either look terrible, or control terribly. I think PS1 actually fares better than PS2 in terms of library replay-ability because it had a lot of 2D games still that don't get worse with time. N64 I found barely playable back when it was new let alone today.... though Mario64 is fun just because of it's uniqueness.

Same games work better than others. Old games work best if you played them in their own time though.

Psychonauts 1, though, my impression was the same as yours at first, until I went back to it after 2. Visually the game looks great, but that's due to the Series consoles kind of "soft remastering" the game a bit. And it went from "unplayable and ancient" to feeling just "somewhat clunky" after finishing 2. It has some ancient design elements that get annoying here and there. But the level design is solid. When I first tried it the visuals seemed blurry and the game felt like poor design and poor controls. After coming back to it after 2, and, honestly, after finishing Coach's mind mission which is the worst looking part of the game, the rest of the game feels pretty decent. The only real probem is the "2000 camera" - the camera that has a mind of it's own and gets caught on all the scenery that was the staple of 2000's platformers. It's.......(puts on sunglasses)....mind numbing...

@Angelus3K "how can you call a console which launched with zero games designed for it, a tremendous launch!"

Neither console launched with games "designed for it." Sony had new PS4 games with enhancements, and MS rolled out enhancements for existing games because their tentpole didn't launch at all. Objectively, Sony had a better software launch, having new games at all, but other than the tech demo of Astrobot, which really only demoe'd the controller, the console itself wasn't really utilized for much, it's arguable that PS4 had a better holiday than either PS5 or Xbox. Demon's Souls being locked to PS5 is obviously a business decision, not a tech limitation. Between both consoles, Flight Sim and Returnal remain the only games so far that really wouldn't have been possible on the previous gen without breaking it. If PS5

@SplooshDmg Yeah, it was such a sleeper franchise nobody heard of. PSVR put it slightly on the map with Rhombus, but it was still a sleeper. I doubt even MS saw this sequel breaking out into Sony levels of critical reception (Still funny that Push Square rated it a point higher than R&C Rift!) It's one of those rare games that releases and is just instantly cemented classic. I feel like it's been years since we've seen one of them release. Tsushima probably qualifies as well, so two of them in the past year, but none others for a long time.

It's funny, but I think they were throwing this one out the window to get it out, and Double Fine was moving onto other things next. Now that this one is this instant hit, I wonder if they're reconsidering returning to the series. I never thought Tim Schafer's top game would end up being a platformer, though!

@SplooshDmg TLOU2 (as is Naughty Dog's standard) is a standard "summer blockbuster." Big budget, big hype, big sfx, big buildup, then it'll be forgotten a few years later. That format has its ardent fans, but it's just not a lasting big title. The first one hit the pop culture status because it was the most movielike of all the moviegames, but the second one just kind of landed like any Michael Bay film. And the sales cliff and permanent discount kind of confirm that.

Tsushima, however, that piqued my interest from the last real Sony E3, and always looked special. That game will live a lot longer than the ND blockbusters, IMO.

@SplooshDmg I think that's true for even the most ardent of fans, really. And I think that's also part of Sony's price increase is they know nearly all their money comes from week 1 sales, and then after that it circulates the used market and they see nary a dime from it. That was technically the industry argument against single player games and for always-multiplayer. 7 years ago I loved Sony for the fact they were digging in to embrace the single player experience. But now they're getting greedy and want to make them these boxoffice spend-athons, and milk the buyers to pay for the used market it self-generates. Nintendo's, instead gone all in on GaaS to offset it, meanwhile EA is leaving GaaS/online games and going all in on single player. And MS bought freaking Bethesda. Weird times.

I'm glad Sony is putting their weight behind single player, I really am, but their nickel and diming makes it hard to support it. I don't think a story driven game needs to be a 1 and done movie. RPGs certainly aren't, though you spend so much time in them you don't need to play them again. Well, don't tell Todd that....

Sometimes the old story driven games are one and done, but then 20 years later you want to "watch it" again. I'd love to go through the original Max Payne again. Amazing game. But I only wanted to after decades went by.

But I agree, I want a game that the story enhances the action. On Sony's side, I'd say R&C hits that sweet spot. I didn't play it for it's deep emotional (baggage) story. I played it because it's a blast to play. Good old school shooter/platformer with crazy guns, fast pace, and things flying all over the place. Blast to play. Arcade on rails action. Fun collectibles to hunt down. The cinematic story helps bind it together and make it a fun adventure, but the gameplay doesn't merely exist in service to the narrative like ND games, and even GoW to a lesser extent do.) Or RDR2 (I know you like it) that decided automated shooting, slow as molasses movement, and horrible controls were "fun." But at least that game's not on rails and is mostly a cowboy simulator. Psychonauts really gets the bundle dead on center. Great story, great gameplay, and neither steps on the other.

@SplooshDmg LOL, I may be the bigger Toddiot than you. I have Skyrim (LE with the big dragon statue) on 360. Skyrim for PSVR. Skyrim for Switch. Skyrim HD for X1/XS. Will I upgrade to the anniversary edition? Heck nnnnnnnnnnnyes...... I really just want the XSX patch though which we get anyway.

Max Payne, I really don't want to see with modern graphics. That thing was dark. Like, really really really dark. Resident Evil IRL dark. I think I like it staying hitchcock without being too graphic. Fantastic game, and moreso for its time though.

Yeah, I'm with you on Marvel. And partly because it sucks creativity out of everything. Insomniac is a great studio. Sucker Punch did an amazing thing with inFamous. Spiderman feels like a great studio doing a copy of what Sucker Punch did, only doing it worse/generic/bland with more cutscenes, because Disney reasons. Probably the same reason it took 3 generations to get KH3.

I was sad with no Psychonauts 3...but....Brutal Legend 2? Yeah, I'd be down for preorders. And given Jack Black's role in Psychonauts 3 I think there's no question he'd be game.

Necesitamos mas juegos retro compatible de Xbox original y Xbox 360 yo creo que jason ronald pondran los nuevos juegos retro compatible de Xbox original y 360 en otoño

@NEStalgia Nintendo are a thousand years behind and still Microsoft is not doing enough. Heck, Super Mario 3D All-Stars was a time-limited purchase. Sony is somewhere in between. They release remasters and upgrades but with zero empathy and at a premium price.

@BlueOcean Nintendo was ahead before they were behind. That's the really sad part they had physical hardware BC for multiple generation cartridges! Controller ports! VC! They were leading the industry in real BC. And then just reversed course. OG Nintendo Play Station was an ode to bc. I know switch has no choice, but the port price is just offensive.

@NEStalgia Once upon a time, Nintendo was best at backwards compatibility and at developing software and even hardware. They've gone backwards since.

@themightyant The licensing deals with cars manufacturers are complicated but I expect Forza Horizon 5 and Forza Motorsport to have long-term deals.

@themightyant FPS boost is wonderful and so are the Xbox One X enhancements and Series X/S optimisations. It's like getting free remasters. This and backwards compatibility is why Xbox is best for gaming, in my opinion. The complaints about the slowdown of backwards compatibility are reasonable but Microsoft can't add games without permission. The requests should be addressed to the developers and/or IP owners. I still hope for more games to be added somehow.

@BlueOcean Yeah. People gripe about Miyamoto, but when he lead design they cranked out classics. After him they crank out market-optimized focus tested products of the moment. Current management, like Sony and Activision are all just business suits optimizing quarterly performance with no real passion for the product. EA's new leadership has more passion now, it seems, and that's with Wilson still at the top. At least he learned to delegate.

I expect Nintendo will come out with a few great games in the next year or two, they have enough in the pipeline, but it's far and few between and they rely far too much on the cheapest of cash grabs, and the reasons to pick up the system have been mostly from Capcom and Namco.

@themightyant Switch Pro is coming first, then Switch 2 in 2036

@NEStalgia Anyone can disagree with Miyamoto's personal tastes and that wouldn't mean he's wrong, anyway. He is the best that has ever happened to Nintendo and yet people gripe about him. When he remembered his adventures as a child, he made The Legend of Zelda. When he started gardening, he made Pikmin. You don't find that kind of thing now on Switch and the current president promotes safe cash grabs.

Microsoft fighting for preservation? That is a joke. They helped created this hell-hole digital market they could at least not make such an incredulous statement.

Would be nice to have some more top games on the BC list, Max Payne 3 anyone?, but this is primarily up to the publishers and not Microsoft. I am expecting a Max Payne trilogy remaster at some point anyway.

Mas juegos retrocompatible necesitamos en nuestra Xbox como el de los simpson hit and rund