Only a select few are officialy X enhanced, however all BC titles benefit from 16xAF, faster load times, more stable or locked framerates, and V-sync enabled (No screen tearing) on the X.
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Analyzing Xbox One Backwards Compatibility - A Numbers Breakdown (Final Update: June 11th, 2019)
- Thread starter MauroNL
- Start date
Backwards compatability will be a big deal for mocrosoft next generation. Coming out of the gate swinging with ogxbox,360,xbo, and Scarlett games all available on one system and one marketplace is something they should focus on in early marketing. Then you have to look at gamepass which is a service that will benefit greatly from backwards compatability.
i'm not big on BC, especially when it comes 3 years into a consoles life and isn't even complete. but what are the chances of them actually completing their BC across the xbox and 360? because come the launch of the next xbox, when NEW releases are more sparse, BC would be a nice feature to have, especially if i were able to play anything and not just what they've chose to support so far. 360 had xbox BC but it wasn't complete either and they seemed to lose interest in building it to completion, will the same happen here once the next gen starts?
so what say ye? 100% BC on xbox and 360 by xbox next? if not, when do you see it happening, if ever?
so what say ye? 100% BC on xbox and 360 by xbox next? if not, when do you see it happening, if ever?
Isn't it disingenuous to say BC doesn't matter because X1 isn't selling well? There are a lot of reasons for that, none of which relate to BC (which X1 didn't even have until 2 years after launch). BC came too late to make a difference, as the generation had already been decided.
Also, I genuinely don't believe the value of any one feature can be based on Console sales alone. For example, going by your logic, since N64, GameCube, and Wii U all sold poorly despite having great exclusives, that must mean exclusives don't matter, right? Also, since Pro and X aren't selling as well as the base Consoles, that must power doesn't matter, right? Oh, and Wii U was cheaper than PS4 and X1, but sold far worse than PS4 and X1, so that must mean price doesn't matter, right?
You know as well as I do that all of the statements above are false. Price, power, and exclusives all matter, but none of them sell a system on their own. It is a combination of these things that sell systems. So why then do you say BC doesn't matter? Can it sell a system on it's own in spite of said system's numerous other failings? No, but that's all X1's sales prove. They do not prove BC is meaningless.
We can't possibly know that. Not to mention sales of the Xbox have improved dramatically according to NPD, perhaps BC is a factor, we cannot know.
They're all 'enhanced' in that they offer forced v-sync and 16xAF and sometimes better frame rates/loading times but then you have officially 'X Enhanced' titles that are rendered at 4K and that's a much smaller selection.
Ah, my bad. The pictures don't load for me at work. Could only see the text. I'll check it out when I get home.
It's not up to MS for the Xbox and 360. Question you have to ask the developers of each game and the people who own the license to music and such.
What everyone has said about the Xbox 360 titles is true.
However, all OG Xbox backwards compatible titles run at a higher resolution and with better textures.
Never. You can't put a game on a new platform without running into music liscense issues. Also same with movie games ect. And it's 100% up to the publisher, some have kept their games from BC because they want to sell a remaster
The only reason I bought a 1S at the time (2016) was because of BC. I wanted to play my 360 games that I was playing at the time that were BC with more stable performance. I have since sold my 1S, upgraded to a 1X and haven't looked back. I was planning on just building a gaming PC at the time when a bunch of games I was playing on my 360 went BC and I caved and bought a 1S. It brought me back into MS's ecosystem in full, and while I still went ahead and built a gaming PC (after postponing it for a couple years) I am still buying game for my 1X. They compliment each other nicely, I think, with Play Anywhere and cross play.
So yeah, I think BC matters.
So yeah, I think BC matters.
less than 2 years into the console's life, to be fair. XB1 has had BC for longer than it hasn't at this point, and as OP details, the overwhelming majority of most-requested games are playable on the console. Is it more important that all games are BC than that the ones people actually want are? To say nothing of XB1 BC being systematically better than 360's BC...
makes sense i guess since they're not merely running the same game on new hardware, but re-selling them too, but it's a shame. it would have been nice to have at least an almost complete solution akin to the PS1/2 BC in the PS3. i do like my obscure A/AA games, and i'd say ~ half of my 400 xbox/360 collection is comprised of that.
if the next box could fully emulate the original xbox and/or 360 though, even from disc (ie, not re-downloading the game off the MS store) wouldn't that get around it? it seemed to work pretty well on the phat PS3s, i don't recall games being left out due to licencing. i guess it depends on weather MS are willing to sacrifice being able to sell the games the BC supports.
That's not something for us to worry about to begin with. Microsoft are big girls and boys, and I'm sure that they are perfectly capable of determining whether it makes business sense for them to invest in something or not. If it did not, I would expect that they would wind down support for it quickly, like they did with Kinect on Xbox One, instead of doubling down on it with OG Xbox BC, and special X enhancements.
I think one of the big financial motivators for 360BC is the same as GwG more broadly: DLC sales. Even if someone has the disc there's another $5–10 they might be willing to spend on finishing up a game if it's immediately available to them. I certainly am more likely to spend *some* money on games I got through GwG whereas I probably never would have gotten them otherwise.
Anyhow, at least for me on a personal level 360BC has been great, and I really hope the next console maintains backwards compatibility; knowing I could seamlessly take my current library to my next console would encourage me to buy in sooner.
(Also, the last game for 360 I still want to finish that isn't on XB1 is Worms Armageddon. Either I complete that or it goes BC and then I can finally retire my 360 under my desk.)
Anyhow, at least for me on a personal level 360BC has been great, and I really hope the next console maintains backwards compatibility; knowing I could seamlessly take my current library to my next console would encourage me to buy in sooner.
(Also, the last game for 360 I still want to finish that isn't on XB1 is Worms Armageddon. Either I complete that or it goes BC and then I can finally retire my 360 under my desk.)
Games are played from the hard drive not the disc and the emulator is tailor made and individually wrapped around the digital version of the game.
They would basically have to make an entirely new emulation technique. It's unlikely sadly.
Great work OP. Personally, it's been a great feature for me, as I have a lot of 360 games in my backlog and it's just nice and easy having them on the X1. I hope Nintendo and Sony follow suit eventually.
Yes, fingers crossed they don't drop it and Sony follow suit!
i know. i was just wondering if next gen, with the power increase, they could maybe give us "true" backwards compatibility (either with full emulation or potentially even hardware BC like was in the US PS3 phat) as a mean to support all games without the licencing issues maneil99 mentioned. i mean, i'd imagine the original xbox at the very least could be shrunk down to nothing these days and just nestle it in with the rest of the hardware? the results of that would be full original xbox BC, no licensing issues and runs all games from the discs you own. obviously it would create a discrepancy between what you could buy off the original xbox store and what was actually backwards compatible, but i can't imagine anyone would have issues with that.
Sony better wisen up going into next gen. With PC's and Xbox as their most direct competition and both now being backwards compatible, does Sony really want to be the guy that says you can't play the games you've bought? While trying to sell us re-releases of those games, where as the competition just lets us play them....it would be as bad a look as Microsoft had at the start of this console generation, and you really don't want to look anti consumer at the start of a generation.
Also just the fact that usually things take off slow so backwards compatibility would be a massive convenience/comfort for those first few years. I have a ps4 now but I like the idea that if I get an xbox, the next xbox will support the games that I have bought. Where as with Sony, I am going to get a ps5, my ps4 will most certainly break down someday, and I just have to buy.....another ps4? As opposed to just having the newest PC or Xbox. The marketing campaign against them is going to be savagery
Also just the fact that usually things take off slow so backwards compatibility would be a massive convenience/comfort for those first few years. I have a ps4 now but I like the idea that if I get an xbox, the next xbox will support the games that I have bought. Where as with Sony, I am going to get a ps5, my ps4 will most certainly break down someday, and I just have to buy.....another ps4? As opposed to just having the newest PC or Xbox. The marketing campaign against them is going to be savagery
Not for the Xbox One but the Xbox Two will benefit from it.
MS could use BC as a campaign to preserve and curate history, touting your upcoming console with four generations of games to play plus the upcoming generation in one box will be an attractive thing.
I really hope they keep doing OG Xbox back compat.
OG Xbox upscaled running smooth on a 4k tv is an amazing thing.
Also preservation. OG Xbox's aren't built to last and lots of games never got ports.
OG Xbox upscaled running smooth on a 4k tv is an amazing thing.
Also preservation. OG Xbox's aren't built to last and lots of games never got ports.
Actually, this might not be such a good idea. Microsoft has (respectfully) admitted that the current BC program is never going to have 100% compatibility with the entire OG Xbox and Xbox 360 libraries.
"Curating history" is very strong wording. It outright means or implies that every single game remains playable on any future hardware in my opinion. Therefore, Microsoft marketing their next console that way would be highly misleading to a good portion of us retro gamers... unless something changes.
If they implemented full native BC with their next machine, it would surely be huge. As it stands, the existence of the current program has still been a success.
This is just a rhetorical clarification, but my understanding is that "curating" means selecting/highlighting works from a larger body. You're seeming to take it to mean everything is included.
Awesome stuff Mauro. Great read, it's been great to follow the BC stuff on Xbox, hope they do more x updates.
I'm only 1 or 2 games away from having 75% of my 360 collection backwards compatible. The ones left would be nice, but I don't hold much hope for.
Impressive work in the OT! Kudos. You can help writing my PhD thesis when you're bored next time :D
BC became better and better as it went on. Most of the important franchises are in fact now BC or on a very good way, unless there is a remaster version like with Skyrim.
I can't speak for the masses, but in my case BC has been the decisive factor in going back to the Xbox ecosystem. It's such a cool feeling to browse through your library and basically have you gaming history of 16 years in one comprehensive list. Also having your old save games is really cool when you want to play another round of Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed with a lot of stuff unlocked already. Or, if you intend to do that NG+ run for some game, you can do it easily, and there's no need to play through the new remaster. It was also pretty spectacular to see your purchase from 200x appear in the "ready to install" section. Not to mention the visual improvements many games have seen. Currently catching up with Jade Empire, I've recently also played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I also feel very safe going forward to the next generation. Great stuff.
There's not many titles I still want to become BC, but my personal wishlist includes: Kingdoms of Amalur (became much more likely today), Majiin and the Forsakken Kingdom, Topspin 4 (highly unlikely), Final Fantasy series (and bring those remasters to Xbox right with it!) and some others.
BC became better and better as it went on. Most of the important franchises are in fact now BC or on a very good way, unless there is a remaster version like with Skyrim.
I can't speak for the masses, but in my case BC has been the decisive factor in going back to the Xbox ecosystem. It's such a cool feeling to browse through your library and basically have you gaming history of 16 years in one comprehensive list. Also having your old save games is really cool when you want to play another round of Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed with a lot of stuff unlocked already. Or, if you intend to do that NG+ run for some game, you can do it easily, and there's no need to play through the new remaster. It was also pretty spectacular to see your purchase from 200x appear in the "ready to install" section. Not to mention the visual improvements many games have seen. Currently catching up with Jade Empire, I've recently also played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I also feel very safe going forward to the next generation. Great stuff.
There's not many titles I still want to become BC, but my personal wishlist includes: Kingdoms of Amalur (became much more likely today), Majiin and the Forsakken Kingdom, Topspin 4 (highly unlikely), Final Fantasy series (and bring those remasters to Xbox right with it!) and some others.
OP
OP
Thans for the kind words, I enjoyed making this. I'm kind of a numbers freak I guess. Added some new bullets to the OP like enhancements and monthly release breakdown.
I added a new part on enhancements to the OP so feel free to check that out!
IIRC Ninja Gaiden Black was published by Microsoft Game Studios, or at least in conjunction with Tecmo so I think its not listed as a Tecmo title. Think that is why I excluded it from the list. Good eye though.
I have tried doing this but there is a lot of confusion about how merged with who and who has the rights to what. I thought it would be easier to list the publishers of the game when said game was released. Who owns these rights in 2018 I have no clue, fact is none of these publisher released games on BC and maybe most of these don't exist anymore.
You are correct, I have added it to the OP along with Battlefront and Portal.
Wikipedia lists Ninja Gaiden as being published by Tecmo, with exception of Ninja Gaiden: Sigma on PS3 in Europe which was published by Eidos.
That's fair. Licenses and rights are changing constantly. Hell, THQ Nordic has been on a spree with the Nickelodeon games, Timesplitters, and Kingdoms of Amalur.
Also, I think Microsoft published Ninja Gaiden II, not Black.
OP
OP
I'm not sure this is so true any more due to things like Game Pass. Without BC, Game Pass wouldn't really be possible in the sense that it'd look pretty shit on paper. It gives them a gigantic edge over the competition that they won't ever be able to compete against if they ever offer anything like it aswell. This is gonna play a big part in their streaming service aswell.
Well, most of the additions as of late have been XB1 I think so it's not so bad nowadays, but the 360 games definitely pad it out and help keep subscriptions going.
In terms of game sales though you're absolutely right, it's most likely a money sink for MS but they've been playing the longhaul and it'll pay off for them.
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Great work, OP. Kept scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. So much good info!
BC does matter. It's basically the primary reason why I bought a 1X. I've purchased a good number of back catalog games because it's so convenient to just play them on the current hardware, many of them with enhancements.
BC does matter. It's basically the primary reason why I bought a 1X. I've purchased a good number of back catalog games because it's so convenient to just play them on the current hardware, many of them with enhancements.
Great post OP. Love reading stuff like this. That one "original creatures" line took me out lmao