Xbox One will be backwards compatible, but will it matter?

Xbox One will be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 titles in the coming months, but will it move Microsoft forward, or just..backwards?

[Thatguy-310]

It matters for Xbox 360 owners. There's something special about beign allowed to play your old games again if you want. The option is there and that's all that matters.

[darthv72]

having a BC PS3 mattered for me. It represented a convenience that i could unplug my PS2 and set it aside. Being able to play PS1, PS2 and PS3 games on one system is just like being able to play regular DVD movies on a bluray player. sometimes you just want to watch what you have instead of going out and buying the same movie all over again on a different format.

So with the 360, i played many xbox games on it as (again) it represented that convenience. I do not have the XB1 but this announcement has made me want it even more just as the announcement of Shenmue 3 has made me want a PS4 even more.

It may not be for everyone to use (BC on XB1) but it will be there for everyone if they want to.

[nicksetzer1]

Seriously, people are just being knowingly stupid at this point. Everyone has been asking for B/C since launch. Hell Sony even spent million on a service that allowed them to do it. Obviously it matters, as I said before it was the #1 request of ANYTHING people wanted for XB1.

https://xbox.uservoice.com/...

Had this been done by Sony I am positive this would not be made into negative. People just have boarded the hate train and just don't know when to get off.

[mikeslemonade]

Just for me and in the minority it doesn't matter. I got rid of the 360 and PS3 along time ago. The only game I want to play is Dragon's Dogma.

I play the new games. I have the "what's next" mentality.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

I think this is so overrated. XBOX fans claim XBOX One won E3? Their biggest announcement was that you will be able to play all the games, you can already play and already did play. WOW...

Do people buy next gen consoles to play next gen games or last gen games? If it's to play last gen games, then just stick with your last gen console. Seriously

And also, a new controller. What's wrong with the currently controller? So overrated

On the game sides, I'll hand it to them, they have Halo 5 and Tomb Raider this year. That's totally decent.

EDIT:

timotim, well then your 2 family members are buying a next gen console because they can play the games they're already playing. doesn't really make sense to me.

[nicksetzer1]

@bubbles Sure they announced something that shows extreme fan service and did it for free. That is not all they showed though.

They had Tomb Raider, forza 6, halo 5, rare replay, gear remaster, new dashboard, new controller, gears 4, recore, sea of thieves, cuphead and plenty of other indies. (And probably even a few games I forgot to mention)

They saved AT LEAST quantum break, scalebound, phantom dust, crackdown, below and inside for gamescom.

So yea, I'd say there is plenty of reason to have liked MS' showcase other than just backwards compatibility as you claim.

[ShowanW]

@MrBubbles.

I have a PS4.. please show me the abundance of awesome first party games.

I'll wait.

I got Bloodborne, infamous (I'm a infamous fanboy and was disappointed in second son)

If I could pound through the backlog in between games releases (on one box) then I'm all for it...

My favorite is Magicka so far (love it on PC as well) and I'm also liking transistor

[_-EDMIX-_]

"Hell Sony even spent million on a service that allowed them to do it"

...that would make sense if other Sony devices didn't also support it. That service is not only for PS4. Not sure where you heard that was an answer for BC.

[Why o why]

......... Yes, it matters

[Docknoss]

For my friends that haven't bought the XO yet this was the feature that will make them move to the next gen xbox.

[miyamoto]

I'll believe this when I see it.

[Jughead3416]

It's a cool feature to have. No doubt about it. But when you really think about it, how often will you truly go back and play a 360 game? Not sure for myself. I have a blast from the past every now and then. But there's so many new games to keep me busy.

[ShowanW]

I still have my 360 hooked up for

Zuma (which now works on my One)
Mass Effect (which now works on my One)
Fight Night (hopefully it makes the cut)
Mass Effect 2&3
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom III
Castle Crashers
Shadow Complex
Jade Empire (from OG Xbox days)

And that's just a few.. I have over 70 digital titles form the 360 and I like to go back to them from time to time.

[LordDhampire]

ShadowW, I'm gonna have to call bullcrap on that, everyone wanted to play bc games is just like girding...we hold on to all this useless crap because one day we will get back to it until finally we realize...yeah I'm never going to play this old game....he'll who has time to replay old games.

[DeadManMMX]

I've had every good game on every system for years. Not surprisingly because I work a living and have a life I have yet to beat or even play many of them. Many of them who are getting sequels on Next Gen consoles continuing their story. So yes this means a lot to people like me and make no mistake there are a lot of people like me. Its also common sense that you'd want to keep all of your digital licenses for retail games and digital only games that are only getting the port treatment to next gen consoles. There is no downside to this. If your one of the people who doesn't ever play their 360 or Ps3 despite there really not being that big of a leap in graphics this gen fine thats your thing. There are a lot of us (Read: MOST OF US) who this effects who are very happy about this and with good reason.

[joab777]

Of PS4 announced today that they were doing BC, I would say, cool. Bit the odds of me playing something from last gen on it are slim to none. And most ppl who do go back and play, don't sell their machines. The reason it wasn't part of launch is b/c the majority of ppl don't use the feature.

And I want Sony to invest in Now. I think it has a very important future.

[GoPanthers999]

Guess you will have to wait and see, but I am certain there are a ton of folks still playing on 360's and this may very well push them to make the leap.

[nigelp520]

Xbox 360 had amazing games and its an amazing system so being able to play all your Xbox games on 1 console is great

[optimus]

...not to mention you can play them on windows 10 too... http://www.engadget.com/201...

[Tedakin]

I keep seeing these types of articles. What possible negative could there be to letting the XBox One play 360 games FOR FREE?

[Pogmathoin]

While they defended PSnow, with its loan shark rates...

[carlosjrix]

Its incredible how some people keep trying to downgrade a killer feature that is not in the console they support .. But you have to remember this is N4g.. And The hate will never stop..

[rainslacker]

There's no negative to it. I'm a sony fan, and give credit where it's due. I would love for Sony to have the feature as well, and I'm happy for the people that are happy they can play their collection of games. There is never a down side to being able to play more games.

[ThePresentIsAgift]

I think the answer lies in the supported titles themselves. If I could play Forza Horizon, Doom 3, Max Payne, Rage and many other triple A titles with enhanced graphics then absolutely, yes it matters. Make it appealing.

[Yetter]

how bout give it a little bit of time. Lets not complain about the 21 games that work on it today when its a feature that isn't even released to the public for another 4-5 months. Once we see a list of those 100+ games and more than likely 250+ games this time next year, than you can criticize

[ThePresentIsAgift]

Haha, was that a criticism though or merely an expression of my opinion.

Most here would know that I am a fan of The Xbox One in general, not a roving, rabid, foaming fanboy but an individual who enjoys the countless hours of entertainment provided by the beautiful (to my eyes) black box.

Upon decorating I rediscovered that the box of X was surprisingly light in spite of its comfortable stature.

I'm not knocking the reveal at all, as someone who has almost purchased a 360 again half a dozen times it is excellent news. All of those rewards on the Forza Hub that I can't access for Forza 4 and Horizon! Haha, almost a tear jerker.

I agree, excellent news amongst a thrilling E3 line up with far too much content to look forward too. I haven't been this excited for gaming since 2011 when Forza 4, Gears of War 3 and Battlefield 3 came out.

[FPS_D3TH]

Matters to me. I've had a ps4 since pretty much day 1 and am still holding on to my 360 because of my obscene collection of 360 games. If I can bring some of my favorite games to a new system, coupled with my hardware trade ins and current deals going on this month to buy the system for just $200 with a huge game like MCC then yeah, sign me up.

[generalthadeape]

Fuck yes it matters-- as an Xbox One owner, it makes Games for Gold relevant to millions of gamers everywhere.

Backwards compatibility means Xbox One owners get twice as many games for free each month while also giving those lingering Xbox 360 owners reasons to finally make the jump to current gen systems.

Hell, backwards compatibility even helps non-Xbox gamers by letting developers loose on the optimization of games for current gen hardware going forward.

Anyone that thinks backwards compatibilty doesn't matter is just a jackass!

[Chaosdreams]

Of course it does! I applaud Microsoft for adding the feature (finally someone did it). It's healthy, great for competition and most of all, good for the gamers. If my ps4 could be compatible with my ps3 games I would be on my ps4 a whole lot more (and you know what that does? Entices me to buy things). Course, the remaster trend is another way to make money so whatever works for the industry I suppose.

[BattleAxe]

"Xbox One will be backwards compatible, but will it matter?"

Yes. If playing old games didn't matter, then why release remasters, and why would Sony be offering PS NOW as a portal to play old games?

[WelkinCole]

PS now main purpose is for streaming games. It is not a solution for BC.

Sony is also betting on streaming to become big in gaming like it is and already starting with other entertainment/media.

Think of like nteflix. You can stream it virtually on any device.

Remaster games is for those that

1. Never had the chance to play them last gen
2. For those that want an upgraded experience from the previous.

Those that already own the games would most likely already have the console as well or already sold the game.

[Zcarnut]

Its convienence for the x1 owner who wants to play red dead redemption again.

Its great to be able to play L4D with your 360 pal and not just see on your feed what they are playing.

Its assurance from MS that 360 games don't all become single player only experiences anytime soon.

Its a feature that can convince people to move up to current gen.

Its free.

The only downside to me is why wasn't this released sooner?

[WelkinCole]

It will matter in this instance because the X1 price would not be affected.

How big of an impact we will wait and see. If the X1 started with this the impact would have been greater at the start. We shall see.

[muttsurini]

Will it play the old 360 games like dark souls with a higher frame rate?, then it would be great.

[Kakashi Hatake]

It's a good feature, I just hate the way it's implemented. The game has to be downloaded. Harddrive space is tight enough as it is. I wish it read the disc natively.

[BabyTownFrolics]

I hope that all future 360 games with gold games are backwards compatible. Also hopefully ea will start adding some 360 games to the ea access vault.

More free games is always a good thing.

[generalthadeape]

While they're at it, please find a way to import game save files from the cloud.

Borderlands 2 Handsome Jack Collection just about killed me because you had to have the game disc and the 360 to create an Xbox One useable save to import characters, progress, and most importantly badass points.

I almost broke down and bought a used copy of the game and a half broken down Xbox 360 off Craigslist just to get that one game save file-- then I suddenly regained my senses and said, "Fuck it".

[Yetter]

I've brought it up to 3 of my real life 360 friends who haven't bought either next gen console. All of them seem to think it matters

[WizzroSupreme]

It sure does for folks like me that never had a 360 and still wanna game old-school every once and a while.

[optimus]

I've been on the fence since last year and after this announcement i'm not anymore cause i still play games on my 360. People forget that there are plenty of old hit games that can be found for $20 or less these days whereas xb1 games are still pretty pricey and having backwards compatibility will make a big difference come Christmas time...

On a sidenote- the 1st ps3's that were backwards compatible were going for up to $800 on ebay after they removed that feature so i guess it only matters if you're a playstation fan.

[LgbtWarrior]

its a nice feature but everyone's acting like it's going to play the whole library there's only 10 games available let's get real

[optimus]

You mean 10 games right now. I guess you missed the briefing when phil spencer said 100 by the end of the year with hundreds more added as the months go by.

[franwex]

It matters to me because I RROD my 360 and its out of warranty and I don't want to buy another!