XBox One is NOT backwards compatible (despite stories emerging today)

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 09:11:26 AM

They are offering a redemption program where you can get a digital download of an XBox 360 game that you already own (expires end of this year). A lot of articles out there are implying backward compatibility is supported but that is simply not true.

FWIW: If the XBone was truly backward compatible I might have considered it last year when I had to replace my dead 360

Melbosa · June 16, 2015, 09:26:23 AM

Agreed but still a kewl program for those of us with 360 games they want on XBone.

Lazybones · June 16, 2015, 09:34:23 AM

Still haven't played mass effect 3, still new and sitting in its package.

Damn that ME2 DLC I wanted to complete before moving my character over.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 09:36:25 AM

They will be rolling out support for a few games at a time starting this fall.

Melbosa · June 16, 2015, 10:23:21 AM

Wonder if your copy will still work on a 360 if you redeem it on XBone.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 10:25:00 AM

Quote from: Melbosa on June 16, 2015, 10:23:21 AM
Wonder if your copy will still work on a 360 if you redeem it on XBone.

Given you don't need activation of any kind on the 360 I'll say yes

Thorin · June 16, 2015, 11:16:58 AM

Did they happen to explain what's different that causes it to not be compatible? Is it all software-based?

Melbosa · June 16, 2015, 11:22:44 AM

Neither Sony nor Microsoft have really said the definitive "why" it can't be done, just citing things like hardware and software differences.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 11:30:05 AM

Quote from: Thorin on June 16, 2015, 11:16:58 AM
Did they happen to explain what's different that causes it to not be compatible? Is it all software-based?

There are two ways to handle backward compatibility:

1. Put the last gen hardware IN the next gen hardware.
This is expensive as you are shipping 2 consoles in one, and given how much of a loss MS has taken on hardware sales since the beginning it's not surprising that they'd go the cheapest possible route

2. Make a really good emulator.
The problem with this is making a really good emulator in the first place and then trying to hide it so that pirates don't get their hands on it and port it to PC

Both are costly and neither really push the movement of people to a new console with new titles. It's kind of like Nintendo and their really hard to transfer virtual console stuff. So I can understand why most companies don't bother but as a game player I don't want to have multiple devices hooked up just to play different generations of games. That there is a Wii built into the Wii-U was actually a big selling point for me and got me into Wii-U games.

Tom · June 16, 2015, 11:53:51 AM

What I had assumed was that it is neither hardware or a good emulator. An emulator would just be too slow.

I'm betting its a porting layer, which makes 360 games easier to port over. Mostly just a recompile, and the devs can release 360 games for the xbone.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 12:14:53 PM

It's software emulation for sure, that's why they're releasing games in blocks. I'm sure some games may never be released because the emulation requirements might be higher than the hardware is capable of.

Tom · June 16, 2015, 12:25:24 PM

Emulation is just too much for the xbone. the 360 hardware is just too powerful to properly emulate on an xbone imo. It makes even more sense to be a porting layer that takes a bit of time to port over a game, where it can actually run at closer to full speed. They'd have to re-certify games as well, so that take additional time and probably end up with batches of games coming out.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 12:27:16 PM

Yeah but that's how they're doing it so I don't know what to tell you :-)

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Tom · June 16, 2015, 12:33:32 PM

Quote from: Mr. Analog on June 16, 2015, 12:27:16 PM
Yeah but that's how they're doing it so I don't know what to tell you :-)

Where did you get that information, and where is the specs for it? you can conceivably call a porting layer a "software emulator" if you really wanted to *cough*wine*cough*. It wouldn't be technically (the best kind of) correct, but hey, people do silly things all the time.

High end pcs still have problems with consoles older than the 360. the Xbone is a low end PC. I can't imagine how it can possibly emulate the 360 in any kind of a decent way.

Mr. Analog · June 16, 2015, 12:43:51 PM

From The Verge:

QuoteBehind the scenes, Microsoft has built an Xbox 360 emulator that runs on the Xbox One to get these games working, and it?s easy to spot. When you first launch an Xbox 360 game on the Xbox One it starts a setup process that includes the Xbox 360 boot up animation and even the Xbox Live prompt to note you?ve signed in. It?s a little surreal, but there?s a virtual Xbox 360 running on my Xbox One now.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/16/8788391/theres-an-xbox-360-inside-my-xbox-one

It should help that the 360 architecture is over 10 years old