PlayStation on Xbox backwards compatibility: It's good we're doing different things

PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan says the backwards compatibility of Xbox One is a legitimate strategy in trying to upgrade 360 players.

But he says that Sony will not be following the same tactic, as the firm is investing in other software updates to PS4. He also adds that - based on their experience - few gamers actually make use of such functionality.

[Septic]

"“It was quite a complicated announcement and I’m not sure I fully understand it yet. And I suspect there might be a few twists in that particular tale. But we will see,"

What's so hard to understand? Backwards compatability with native support and the game library growing only contingent on game devs giving the thumbs up. That's it.

Nothing complicated at all.

"The earliest PS3 model was backwards compatible with PS2, and it is a much requested feature… but actually it’s not so greatly used."

If its not so greatly used then what about PS Now? You guys are charging quite a lot (albeit in beta form) for the service.

There are many games that I need to complete in my back catalogue; Dead Space 2 and 3, Arkham Asylum, Darksiders 2 etc. These are games I'd rather play on my X1 even if I have them on 360. I think a lot of people will be in the same boat. And using the X1 ancillary functions such as DVR support etc is a big incentive too.

I do know that backwards compatibility isn't a big deal for everyone though.

[Malice-Flare]

i wonder how much MS paid for licensing the games to be emulated on the XB1. Sony couldn't get all the PS games emulated on PSP/Vita due to licensing issues, same with PS2 classics on PS3. why do you think it took so long for Suikoden 2 to come out as a PS1 classic? that's the complication, licensing...

also, despite what you said, this is not 'native' support. native support would mean a new XB1 model with 360 parts in it, like the first PS3 model. what MS is doing is the same thing they did for BC on 360 for the original XBox...

[Septic]

"also, despite what you said, this is not 'native' support. native support would mean a new XB1 model with 360 parts in it"

Well these were the words of MS, not mine. By native I (they) mean just chuck in the cd into the console and then download it digitally. Yeah essentially it is emulation but its still as native as you are going to get on these consoles tbh.

No licensing issues though; they just need developer consent and that's it. Some will withold it for sure in order to sell their remasters instead but I'm confident that the library of games will be quite comprehensive. We'll see.

[Malice-Flare]

@Septic

usually, it's the publishers that handle the licensing. devs may give consent, but the publishers must get their cut, regardless of whether they have a re-master on sale...

[Septic]

Ah fair enough. Yeah lets see how it pans out.

[bouzebbal]

despite it being a feature i almost never use (i still have PS3 60GB model and i prefer to turn on PS2 to play PS2 games), i really thought it was mega announcement the way they did it. After that i realized that MS was just MS, by claiming something sompletely different from the reality. Only few games support this backward compatibility, so NO it's not native, they have to work on the title's emulation before.

[Septic]

@abzdine

"After that i realized that MS was just MS, by claiming something sompletely different from the reality. Only few games support this backward compatibility"

No that is not the case. Any level headed person will know and understand that it will take time to build the catalogue of games for BC. In fact, it is growing as we speak.

You do realise that the feature that is available now is for preview members only right? It hasn't formally launched yet and MS made it very clear that they will have hundreds of titles available when BC actually launches.

To break it down for the sake of clarity:

1. MS said hundreds of titles will have BC
2. All devs/pubs have to do is say yes and the game will be BC
3. The game will work EXACTLY as it did before. This was stated quite unequivocally on stage live at E3
4. The library now is for PREVIEW members. It has NOT launched yet.

I hope that helps.

[Septic]

@abzdine

So offering clarity to someone who is struggling to understand some very basic FACTS means I am a prime candidate for the role of PR for Xbox?

Let me make you understand the position even more clearly because you are clearly struggling here in respect of my numbered points above:

1. This is a FACT. Spencer said it clearly. He used the words 'hundreds'

2. This is a FACT. MS said this on stage. There is nothing to suggest that this position has changed.

3. This is what MS said. They used the words and showed off Mass Effect.

4. This is a FACT. What are you disputing here exactly?

Frankly I don't see a productive conversation happening with you. You quite clearly struggle to understand when someone is extending the courtesy of offering an explanation to you and your failure to distinguish between what is fact and what is theory is worrying. That alone would probably make you a better candidate to fill Panello's shoes :)

[freshslicepizza]

he is right, they are taking a different approach. sony saw an opportunity to charge consumers through playstation now to make use of their acquisition of gaikai and microsoft found a way to emulate for free.

i find it hilarious how he says there isn't much interest yet they put resources into creating playstation now and don't have any ps4 games on it.

[Volkama]

@Abziiine I didn't get the impression that each title needs work. It sounds like a full emulator, no tweaks or special game-by-game attention necessary.

I imagine the initial limited catalogue is partly to simplify testing, and partly because they do need to give publishers the opportunity to opt out.

The 360 backward compatibility required the kind of work you are talking about, and MS very quickly stopped adding games to that list. I don't think they have made the same mistake again.

Kinda makes me wish I'd clicked "yes please" on all the 360 games with gold for the last x years lol.

[Muerte2494]

Only 18 games are currently supported. They want to see a return on their gakia acquisition. Also you're kinda doing the same thing with Xbox BC because you are downloading digital version from Microsoft's server. With PS now you are simply streaming it from the server.

Your presentation couldn't have been that good if BC is the biggest thing people are talking about. BC is something to ease a transition into a new generation. Don't really play my old ps3 games anymore.

[kneon]

@Septic

This comment about sticking in the disc and downloading the game makes me think it's not just an emulator. It sounds like they may be transcoding the original binary to work on the XB1.

[dcbronco]

Septic is on the mark with this issue. This was Microsoft's "this is how you share games on One" hit at Sony. With many developers trying to cash in on remakes Microsoft is simply allowing them to determine if it is something they want for their fans. Under Phil Spencer Microsoft is giving developers final say on just about every possible aspect of their IP. From universal apps to BC.

As far as how Microsoft is doing this I believe it is far more simple than they let on. The design of the Xbox One OS is like a server. The hypervisor running two virtual machine OSs for games and for apps. That's why one can crash and the other doesn't. Servers can work with many architectures. I would bet they just created another virtual machine that is the OS of the 360. In fact I bet they can make the Xbox One run PlayStation games too. If you go back to previous announcements they have said IOS apps and Android apps would work on Windows phone with Windows 10.

A server can run bunches of virtual machines at once. That is probably the reason for the 8gbs of embedded memory. Who knows what they plan to run simultaneously. The possibilities kinda make you wish they had gone with far better parts. But it bodes well for the next Xbox.

So sorry Abzdine and Malice. There is no work required by the developers. Microsoft just doesn't want to step on anyone's toes. Under Phil Spencer Xbox is all about developers. Ballmer would be proud. No further work required, just permission and it's done.

I also don't believe when Microsoft says to download games with a disc they mean from Live. Some seem to believe this requires a recoded software. Same code, new OS. Looking forward to Original Xbox games also. Though I would love to see a MechAssault remake.

[UltimateMaster]

It is backwards compatible if the publishers gives the authorization for it. If not, they can restrict it and release a remaster instead.

That's what suck, but hey it's awesome to see B/C is still a thing.

Now if Sony could bring Backwards Compatibility for PS2 and PS1 at the very least, it would not be impossible to do.

[DragonKnight]

Is no one going to bring up that this guy talking for Sony pulled a Don Mattrick almost word for word? Especially with the "it's not used much" line?

It's hypocrisy.

[4Sh0w]

“We have experience of backwards compatibility. The earliest PS3 model was backwards compatible with PS2, and it is a much requested feature… but actually it’s not so greatly used."

-Looks back at PS Now:
"What Sony failed to mention is that the prices for renting older games are outrageous"-Gamerant
http://gamerant.com/playsta...

-So they brought out Gaikai to build a whole service that they don't think will be used? Come on now, pfft....no clearly they want you to pay $$$ to play old games on ps4(BC) or on anything else like Vita.

-They also shot down EA Access because its not a "good value to the PlayStation gamer".

-And this same SCE Europe boss downplayed consumer choice with EA Access "isn't quite comfortable with how it sits within the whole ecosystem of our digital offering, including PlayStation Plus". -Gamesradar
http://www.gamesradar.com/p...

-January 2015 "Sony is launching a PlayStation Now subscription option for $19.99 a month" -add $49.99 per year, plus $19.99 a month and the costs start to add up. -TheVerge
http://www.theverge.com/201...

-If this were Microsoft refusing consumer choice, then downplaying BC -while promoting and offering a less desirable, more expensive service to stream older games the pitchforks would be out and there would be a thousand cries of how the devil corporation is bad for gaming.

-Yet many here are deflecting the glaring hypocrisy of SCE Europe Boss comments and actually trying to downplay X1 announcement of FREE BC games. Wow, this is a textbook case of why you can't take fanboys seriously, they flip flop on principles like politicians.

-Much credit to you DragonKnight and sony fans who CAN see the hypocrisy in this.

[gangsta_red]

@4Show

Very well said. + Bubbles!

On Topic:

As Dragonknight pointed out, I find it funny that "Sony" says that BC was hardly used even though almost every gamer has requested BC for their systems.

I know people want to defend that PS Now is something completely different but the fact remains that this is Sony's answer for playing older games on your PS4.

And while I think it's a great idea I would still prefer having the option of playing my old games on my new system.

[No Way]

@Muerte2494 - I still have plenty of 360 I wouldn't mind playing.
It would also be preferable to clear the space of the 360 console, itself.
All the while retaining my 360 games, to play on my xOne..
I would take full advantage of this. I'm sure plenty others will, too.

[Christopher]

***I know people want to defend that PS Now is something completely different but the fact remains that this is Sony's answer for playing older games on your PS4. ***

Saying they're different isn't a defense of PS Now. It's just a statement of fact.

I've said they are different, serving different purposes.

I've also said I want BC on PS4 and think BC on XBO is a great business move.

The problem is that people are distilling thoughts down to just extremist views. Either support it completely or not at all. I see the purpose of PS Now even though I'll never use it. I see the purpose of BC as well, and I would definitely use it.

[Pogmathoin]

Got to laugh at the attacks on BC, yet it is always wanted and I remember when it was dropped harshly on PS3, people went nuts and even wanted to sue Sony, and really, it was done bad on 360. Many here also go all out defending PSNow, which, as Dragonknight pointed out, was rendered useless in one sentence. How can they justify charging loan shark rates for games you own, when this happens? You got to admit, MS blind sided everyone with this. Just hold your hands up and acknowledge its a good thing.

[pivotplease]

I've got to say as much as I am an advocate for BC, this guy might be speaking the truth. On ps3 I used it actually zero times and just used my PS2 because it had the saves still and on PS2 I might have used it a handful of times but I found myself too busy with that system's awesome library. I still want BC on PS4 but I'm not expecting it and I suppose I wouldn't use it too much like this guy says. He's just stating statistics basically. He's not saying get a PS3 if you want BC. Hardly like Don Mattrick at all.

[fullmetal297]

It clearly said in the article that Sony doesn't have enough software engineers to focus on backward compatibility and they much rather focus on fulfilling the original promises they made such play as you Download and Suspend/Resume.

Please read the article before wearing your tin foil hat and making more conspiracy theories.

[gangsta_red]

"Saying they're different isn't a defense of PS Now. It's just a statement of fact."

A fact according to who? You? Sorry but I guess our facts differ because they're just our own opinions.

"The problem is that people are distilling thoughts down to just extremist views."

I see more people trying their hardest not to see the similarities of both offerings. This is Sony's answer to BC, yes Sony has bigger plans for this service in the long run but as of right now this is the only way to play older games on PS4.

I actually like the PSNow service and if they ever had a game I never owned I would probably rent it, but I have more games in my library that I never got to finish and it would be fantastic to play them on my Xbox One.

[FriedGoat]

PS Now is not strictly for BC on PS4. It also works on PS VITA, VITA TV, SAMSUNG TVs.

I wouldn't spend money on it at all, but it ain't made with me in mind it's made for casual consumers. XBOX BC is made for snatching people still stuck in last gen and current gen gamers who want to play their old stuff.

[LamerTamer]

@Septic
Technically this ISN'T emulation. If it was all you would need to do is put in the 360 disc after the OS update that includes the emulator and all games would work. It is like downloading a SNES emulator all ROMs work, you don't need to re-download special ones.

Another thing is that the CPUs are radically different, X86 in X1 and PowerPC in the 360. Then you need a much higher clock speed to emulate a different CPU. When translating CPU instruction set you need more clock cycles to do it. The X1 CPU has a LOWER clock at 1.75 GHz compared to 360 3.2 GHz so emulating is mathematically impossible.

What they are likely doing is some kind of recompiling of the games. That is why you need to download the games digitally, the disc is just a key to tell them you own the disc. You are basically downloading Xbox 360 games recompiled for the X1. This also explains why they need permission from publishers, modifying a third party's game code such as recompiling/translating without permission is probably illegal.

Still it is a great feature I am not trying to downplay it.

[Bigpappy]

Sony's data shows that not many people use BC, so they design a business model (PSNOW) where they will charge PS4 owners to play games their most likely already own. Hopefully more of them will play these games now they get to give more money to Sony.

There is some logic here. I am just to stupid to see it.

[Christopher]

***A fact according to who? ***

To everyone?

PS Now: Game streaming service using a subscription model that can be played on a lot of devices and requires an Internet connection.

XBO BC: Allowing the play of certain games from the Xbox 360 at no additional cost on the XBO and not requiring an Internet connection after initial game download.

To continue to argue that these services are the same is a failure in logic. It's akin to me saying that TESO F2P model is the exact same as Clash of Clans F2P model.

Just because both allow you to play some games from last generation does not mean they are the same thing or are no different from one another.

[Bennibop]

He does seem to be correct as its not as straightforward as the announcement made it seem. Not all your 360 games will work on the X1 only the ones that have been enabled. Sony need to do something with PS Now to make it a fair service (games you own already should be free to use.)

Backwards compatability was always touted as a big thing on PS3 the reality is not many people used it, with all the new titles coming out on X1 and Ps4 how much time are you going to spend playing your old games?

[Septic]

"Not all your 360 games will work on the X1 only the ones that have been enabled"

But they clarified this on stage. They quite clearly said that they have made it easy for devs to greenlight it by simply saying yes to their titles being backwards compatible. There really should be no cause for confusion here.

[starrman1985]

Some devs will no doubt be greedy, but most should see it as another line for revenue! Their older 360 games can now be purchased and played on the Xbox One, why would they not bite!

Also Sony would never follow suit now, it would completely go against PS Now.

[Bennibop]

No confusion, My point is still correct not all 360 games work on x1, Microsoft has not thrown a switch and all games are now compatible. Publishers need to opt their games in and I am sure some will not as they have remasters planned etc.

[Tiqila]

I made a lot of use of the ps3's bw compatiblity features and I still like to play some of my ps2 games every now and then. Though I have a PS2 ready, I would prefer being able to play all games on one system (and use wireless controllers).

I don't know why Sony says that this feature was rarely used, I can not believe that this is true. How do they come up with that theory? Are they tracking your gaming activities or have they started some internet polls I wasn't aware of?

For me Sony is blatantly lying when telling people that the bw feature was rarely used.

[Baka-akaB]

They know it because the feature wasnt on all ps3 models accross the world , and over time removed (for ps2) . Yet besides us on our forums and comments section of choice , the world didnt blink and punish them for giving up on it . When they removed the ps2 hardware to lower costs , sales went up instead of punishing them .

I wont defend Sony for not featuring it , it's something every constructor should strive to as a standard , but it's easy to see that it's a feature usually very demanded at the launch of a console , and then many move on or forget it .

Things could change however , with a push from MS (and Nintendo)

[OB1Biker]

The best answer to BC IMO is to keep your PS3. I have all PS4 PS3 and Vita and I dont see the problem specially not using my PS4 HD space for last gen games.
I read it seems they have to download it on their HD and cant play from disc

[callahan09]

Just curious Septic, but if it's as easy as just saying "OK, you can enable it for this game", then why aren't all of Microsoft's own games enabled for the preview period? I don't really understand that. Couldn't they just greenlight all of their own games right away, and if so, why wouldn't they?

[GearsOfWar]

@callahan09

I'm not sure you understand how the preview program works. We have quests that help Microsoft gather feedback and bug reports. Expecting a massive amount of titles directly after the announcement is kind of reaching, don't you think? Pretty sad that you guys are trying to turn this into a negative now.

They specifically said that 100+ would be supported by official launch. They stated no work is required of developers, its all on Microsoft's end. It can be easy and also still require some work to make sure we have a smooth experience. I've tested some games already and they're running great. That doesn't mean some of the more extensive multiplayer games are going to be as easy to enable as snapping their fingers.

[kneon]

Allowing you to play the games you own for free on PS Now may seem fair to you, but how is it fair to Sony? They need to maintain this massive infrastructure to support PS Now, that has to be paid for somehow. Perhaps making it free with a PS+ subscription could be viable, as long it's not unlimited usage.

But really BC is only needed at the beginning of the console's lifecycle when games are sparse. We're near the end of that period now.

PS Now isn't really for PS gamers. It's more for the casual gamers that aren't going to go out and buy a console, or for non-PS gamers that just want to play a few of the PS exclusives.

[someOnecalled]

how did they state that this is complicated, when ms did the same thing last gen. i use my BC last gen and it made me buy more games i didnt play. they are clearly trying to nickel and dime their customers. hey its business and clearly its a win win by them doing this.

[gangsta_red]

"the reality is not many people used it,"

What reality is this? I have a 60 gig original PS3 and I and others I know use it often, i am currently playing Grandia III. The reality is Sony said that just to justify taking BC out.

Yes not every game will be BC with X1 but not every game will be available to rent on PSNow either. Also people seem to forget that when licenses expire those games will also disappear from PSNow too.

"with all the new titles coming out on X1 and Ps4 how much time are you going to spend playing your old games?"

Whenever I have time, that is the great thing of having the option to re-visit games you already own. Instead of having to pay to rent those games you already own.

[LamerTamer]

Even if Sony has a program where if you put in a PS3 disc the system sees it as a key and allows you to stream that for free it still isn't as good. Streaming games sucks. You need a good and always online connection (remember the meltdown over "always online", now it is ok?), the graphic fidelity is downgraded, and you get input lag. With this "BC" you are getting to download recompiled X360 games to the X1 and can be played OFFLINE with the same level of graphic fidelity and no lag. MS solution is much better.

I say this as a Sony fanboy too.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

But are the games "old" though? In real terms the PS3 and 360 provided a staggering evolutionary leap over their prior releases, maybe that's why the measured usage of BC was supposedly low.

That and it was jacked on 360, they looked great but some really ran at low frames, the only games I remember really shining were Dead or Alive 2/3 and Burnout 3.

Most of the games on PS3 and 360 are still gorgeous and technically sound. I would love to see Forza Horizon, Killzone 3 or Uncharted 2 on my new HDTV, especially if the PS4 or 'One were running them.

[JasonKCK]

The choice is clear. Pay a large fee for streaming BC, or wait for free local BC.

Basically MS undercut Sony, like Sony did to MS a couple E3's ago.

[sereal_killer]

the problem is sony can only do this via streaming because the ps3 arcitecture is so different than the ps4. I also dont think PSNOW is their asnswer to backwards compatibility, i think they are testing this on ps4 but are using this to allow ps games on other devices like they started doing

[Barricade]

When they first announced PlayStation Now it was made clear that for now it's just games from previous generations, but the plan is to make new releases available as well.

The thing about PlayStation Now is that you'll be able to play your games on a multitude of platforms and not just the PlayStation 4, so it's not quite the same as backward compatibility, it's more about playing the game on as many platforms as possible. (I still think the pricing needs to be adressed, but I can't really say much about that as I have yet to try it when it comes to Europe)

[LifeInNZ]

The day they start releasing new release games on PSNow is the day the PS4 becomes redundant. However, subscription based streaming services will undoubtedly be the future of gaming...whether we like it or not.

[darx]

"Future of gaming"...doubt it. OnLive failed as will PS Now. Future is digital downloads not streaming.

[uth11]

I think streaming will grow, but not replace consoles anytime soon. Both will coexist. Sony is just positioning itself in both markets with PS Now

[someOnecalled]

so soon we dont need a ps4? spin spin spin. i get the point about playing on other platforms but. no BC at all is a turn off. i hope they dont have BC next gen since people seem to think its ok and justify it.

[Yetter]

The thing about PS Now is its Sonys long term goal to completely remove ownership of games from the players.

[green]

Well said @septic. I also have the same issue because i have not played Batman Arkham city, Dishonoured and Dark Souls II but i own them on my 360. When i got my Xbox One, my nephew had been begin me for my 360 so i gave it to him.

Now with BC, i will have the opportunity to play those games on my X1 because they are games i really want to play.

Most likely, those games will be part of the list and if they are, well i will now be able to play them. Very straight forward to me.

[Unreal01]

Getting the permission from developers to allow people to play their old games, that's the sticky part. If Sony struggle to do that with PS Now, obviously Microsoft are going to have a hard time with this too. I can see a lot of developers blocking this.

[Barricade]

I doubt you'll be playing Dark Souls II and Dishonored on your Xbox One, with the remasters available.

[green]

@jasperkah: Too be honest, i don't really see remasters hurting the sales of games on a console that has BC.

I think so because, remasters usually bring graphical and performance upgrades. Take for example Mass Effect, it is my favourite franchise last gen and i completed it five times but, the performance of the first game was terrible, struggling to maintain 30fps in almost all scenarios and really had some awful textures and pop ups.

With a remaster, the game would be full 1080p at steady 60fps with improved visuals. I would certainly buy it again especially if it is a collection of all three games.

Also, remasters would sell mostly to those that never had the chance to play the game last gen.

In my opinion the devs allowing BC would not have an impact on the sales of their remasters.

[Baka-akaB]

What's good here , is that it might force the hand of publisher readying remasters .

I mean by that force them to strive for the extras , and not just an upscale and the bare minimum , as seen with a few titles .

Of course sadly the most greedy of them wont allow select games to be compatible , and then release a remaster

[green]

@Baka-akaB: I completely agree.

[4Sh0w]

Here's my honest question on needing permission from pubs/devs for BC.

OK in the old ps2 days we didn't need permission to play a *psx games on ps2, you just loaded your old ps1 game disc in ps2 and it played the game. Surely sony didn't run out and get a inked deal from every dev that made a ps1 game before launch.

I understand now they are using sophisticated software emulation, but we *technically NEVER OWNED the games anyway, only the *license to play them, I'm not aware of any expiration of those licences??? lol, usually your hardware just stops working and of course the hardware isn't sold anymore so you CANT play the game, but that's no different than your disc getting old/abused and it becomes unplayable, they do not give you a new disc for free just cause you already paid once because of course no promises are made that you can play forever but I also have never heard of any that artificially limit you from playing as long as possible= What's changed, if I *paid for Mass Effect game disc or digital copy, why does Microsoft need permission from somebody to let me play a game I paid for again just because the new console is only "emulating" the game through software vs rendering straight from hardware???????????

I seriously would like a reasonable answer or tell me if I'm just crazy 'cause I don't know how this works/legal issues.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I got to agree with everyone on this one. I don't see it as a huge issue. Merely keep your old systems. I can't rest my whole library on whether or not some publisher will ok the licensing of a game I factually own. It makes more sense to actually just keep your system or buy another one as those consoles used are pretty cheap.

I also agree with Green. Most of those remasters will likely sell to those that didn't play them last gen anyway. Even if you have BC, you'll likely still want to play the 1080p, 60fps version. Hell, I have my PS3 and PS4 and will still get The Last Of Us on PS4. Even if my PS4 had BC...it would still get the remastered.

I'm not even fully sure how much that even translates into sales of consoles as 80 million of em sold...thus I don't really think the market for them is THAT huge.

Consider PS4 is the first PS to not have any type of BC DAY 1 after the PS2.

Yet.....consider its also the fastest selling console in history, not merely just the fastest selling PS.....OF ALL CONSOLES! Soooo I'm not fully sure how that really translates into sales if at all. Even if I was a XB gamer....I would just keep my 360, vs selling it, waiting for MS or publishers to support BC etc.

I'm playing such a HUGE backlog right now on PS3, I just don't think it would even make sense to sit back and wait for something that may not even come. The logical thing to do is simply just keep your old system. Its not MS, Sony or NIntendo's job to hand you a free console every gen. I mean if they can make it happen, sweet, but its not a deal breaker for me.

When this gen is done, I'm merely just getting another PS4 (if my current one isn't alive any more lolz)

[ThatOneRiggaNob]

I think being able to stream those old games is a big deal too (I'm pretty sure they mentioned that). Being able to introduce all these new features to your old games without any additional hardware is just amazing. I will mostly use it for games I didn't complete such as arcade games and such but just thinking about playing these other games with my Xbox One controller instead of the 360 controller is just beautiful now.

[poppinslops]

Yeah, that's the best part.
I've still got my 360, but years of abuse have taken their toll on the controller... I remember being disappointed when I realised my XOne controller wasn't compatible with my 360, but backwards compatibility is a way better solution.

And whilst I'm certain Square Enix will still find a way to justify remasters for all of their games, I'm hopeful that this will mean fewer remakes... but I wouldn't bet on it.

[CannonB8]

The support is not "native". If it was, every title would be playable on day one. As it is, it looks like each title has to be formatted to run through the emulator. Even the original Kinect doesn't work.

Kudos to Microsoft for going down this road, as it will help with the transition, but I agree with Sony on this one. I remember when they pulled the Emotion Engine out of the phat PS3. There was a minor uproar but truthfully, the majority of PS3 owners couldn't care less (probably because most of them still had their PS2s).

PS Now will probably die a death as well, or be incorporated into PS+ at some point down the line, but with price drops and deals, the last gen will inevitably be left behind. And, we will always have the remasters, right? /s

[Aenea]

@Cobra The 360 uses a PowerPC based CPU which is very different from the x86 used in the X1 so no, the architecture is totally different!

But, Apple moved from PPC to x86 and was able to run the PPC applications with ease. The PS3 also uses a PowerPC based CPU but it also has those SPUs which are probably not that easy to emulate.

[GameSpawn]

Agreed Aenea.

Microsoft's backwards compatibility is not really backwards compatibility more so it is a recompiled binary. It is not even emulation. I can tell you if they "emulated" the PPC processor of the 360 it would be a horror show - anyone who ran PPC Applications through Rosetta [Mac OS's PPC Emulator] on an Intel Mac can attest to this.

Microsoft is doing what Apple did during the PPC/Intel transition and recompiling binaries for the newer processor architecture. This is not an easy task and it is not 100% free from its own issues (all it takes is one PPC API call that doesn't translate perfectly to an X86 API call to throw a wrench into the works). For the non-Computer Scientists out there API's are [complex] program instructions to tell a computer's processor and components what to do.

[rainslacker]

I think telling if it was a recompiled binary would be a relatively easy thing to do. All you would have to do is compare the file sizes between the 360 download and the X1 download. RISC and CISC code are significantly different sizes on disc, so it would be more than a few KB's of a wrapper program.

I'm hesitant to think this is the case, as recompiled binaries would have to be done outside of the actual download, and can lead to all sorts of problems within the game itself. The more likely scenario is that they are using a regular old emulation software program to translate the current binary that exists.

The fact you have to download it is likely because the X1 requires all games be loaded onto the hard drive, so you can't play them directly from disc. Ripping a game directly from a disc opens up all sorts of security loopholes that hackers could use to easily circumvent the DRM that exists on the console.

The reason MS is probably requiring publisher approval on games is because they can't simply give out downloadable content licenses without paying the publisher for them. For everyone that downloaded, MS would be obligated to pay the publisher. Requiring activation by the publisher, the clause probably states that they don't have to do that once their verification process has been done. For digital games, those games were sold as available only on the 360. I believe Sony is in the same boat with offering digital titles on PSNow.

[asmith2306]

"I do know that backwards compatibility isn't a big deal for everyone though." - correct, by a long shot. There are a few select titles that I would ever play again from a previous console, but the chances of me playing them are slim when there is so much new, current gen stuff out there. The last thing I want to do on my current gen system is have a bigger urge to play last gen games, rather than current gen games. BC is nice, but it's not as great as people make it out to be.

[GTgamer]

Backward Compatibility on Xone means nothing to people whose main console last gen was playstation but its an awesome thing for people whose main console last gen was X360 but that's basically how I see it but you always gotta go remember that they might not support the games you want.

[Kingdomcome247]

I'm sorry, but I completely disagree. Wasn't the reasoning behind TLOU remaster not stated by Sony as being for everyone who transitioned over to PlayStation from the 360? I would think that BC would be great for those who didn't own the 360.

[dragon82]

You just said the same thing asmith2306 did.

People switching from the other platform probably don't care about BC. It's only important to the ones who had a 360 last gen.

[Jimkahn]

i'd have to disagree last gen i started with a 360, it rrod i replaced it then my house got robbed and it was stolen, after that i bought a ps3 because i wanted to play valkyria chronicles. i never got round to buying a 360 again, and missed a bunch of games i wanted to play, now provided they are sold on the xbox store id be more than happy to pay for them, lost odyssey im looking at you.

[parkesy78]

Its complicated because its not backwards compatable on every title only a few id be surprised if you ever see a cod on there or many other 3rd party games unless there releasing a sequel and want some exposure