Xbox One will be getting Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility support this holiday! FOR FREE! That’s right, if you own any digital or physical Xbox 360 games, you will be able to re-download them on Xbox One free-of-charge!
Here is Larry Herb, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, discussing how Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility on Xbox One will work.
Right now the Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility will only work for Xbox Preview Program Members. 21 Xbox 360 games have already been added right now, for Preview Members only, but over 100 will be available when the Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility service rolls out for everyone “this holiday”.
Sony’s PS4 Response to Xbox One Backwards Compatibility
So what will Sony do about this news? Will the PS4 get Backwards Compatibility with PS3 games added? Or will PlayStation owners have to settle with the pay-only “PlayStation Now” subscription service?
“PS4 doesn’t have backwards compatibility. The technology involved must be very challenging. Backward Compatibility is hard. I won’t say we’ll never do it; But if it was easy, we would have done that.” – Shuhei Yoshida of Sony
Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida stated, “I don’t think us at Sony will change our approach. The PlayStation 4 doesn’t have backwards compatibility.”
He said Microsoft’s new announcement regarding Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility on the Xbox One was “interesting” and added, “The technology involved must be very challenging. Backward Compatibility is hard. I won’t say we’ll never do it, but it’s not an easy thing to do. If it was easy, we would have done that.”
He added, Sony will focus on “new features & services” for the PS4 instead of Backwards Compatibility.
This will come as a big bummer for PS3 owners looking to upgrade or for PS4 owners with large PS3 game collections.
However Sony has not ruled out Xbox One-style Backwards Compatibility for PS4 entirely… If Sony fans make enough noise, anything is possible.
Check out this video of the Xbox One Backwards Compatible Feature at Microsoft’s E3 2015 Press Conference.
How Xbox One Backwards Compatibility With Xbox 360 Works
Simply go to “My Games” and then select “Apps” and you will be able to download any digital Xbox 360 games that are connected with your GamerTag. Any saved game progress from the cloud will also carry over instantly.
Digital games that are already there for you to download will be found all the way to the right under “Your Games” and listed under “Ready to Install”.
If you put a physical Xbox 360 disc in, the Xbox One will automatically download the required file to play the game.
However you must keep the Xbox 360 disc in the Xbox One system to continue playing (for obvious reasons). Just like if you were playing a physical disc version, which is what this new feature is emulating.
Your Xbox 360 Achievements for Xbox 360 games (and Gamerscore) carries over and will now appear alongside your Xbox One Achievements, with the same layout. You get the original Xbox 360 Achievement image as well, but done in the larger Xbox One-style. All other pertinent information like the name of individual Achievements and the date it was earned, is also there.
What’s cool is that the entire UI from Xbox 360, the in-game Dashboard (or “Xbox Guide”) with it’s blades, remains fully intact, and all of it functions. You can send messages, chat, see your Achievements, etc. just exactly as if you were playing on an Xbox 360.
But now you could SNAP that window and watch TV using the Xbox One at the same time while you continue to play Borderlands if you want!
Certain games will get a slight boost in graphics when played on Xbox One, but for the most part Xbox 360 games will remain the same on Xbox One.
However all online features will be kept alive and continue to work (huzzah!). Which is AMAZING for all of those Xbox 360 games that have large online communities, or for fans who were scared that they would be turned offline in the next year or two.
All Xbox One features will also work on Xbox 360 games, including GameDVR, Screenshots, Broadcasting and the upcoming Game Streaming with the Windows 10 “Xbox On Windows” App! Very nice!
Here are the 21 Xbox 360 games that will work on Xbox One via Backwards Compatibility right now. Over 100 will be added by holiday 2015 with “hundreds more” promised over the coming years.
Xbox 360 Games That Work On Xbox One
(June 18, 2015)
1. A Kingdom for Keflings
2. A World of Keflings
3. Alien Hominid HD
4. Banjo-Kazooie
5. Banjo-Tooie
6. BattleBlock Theater
7. Defense Grid
8. Geometry Wars Evolved
9. Hexic HD
10. Jetpac Refuelled
11. Kameo
12. Mass Effect
13. N+
14. Perfect Dark
15. Perfect Dark Zero
16. Super Meat Boy
17. Toy Soldiers
18. Toy Soldiers: Cold War
19. Viva Pinata
20. Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise
21. Zuma
“At Microsoft we won’t charge you to play the Xbox 360 games you already own. Our vision is to provide the biggest and best games catalog without limits, so you can get more out of the investment you’ve made in your game collection & your games library is not limited to just one device.”
Microsoft says it is “our vision to provide the biggest and best games catalog without limits, so you can get more out of the investment you’ve made in your game collection, and your games library is not limited to just one device.”
And in an apparent diss of Sony’s “PlayStation Now” paid service (Sony’s way of making the PS4 backwards compatible”), Microsoft added “we at Microsoft won’t charge you to play the games you already own”.
Microsoft says that there are some technical limitations to what Xbox 360 games they can bring to Xbox One. Any Xbox 360 games that used USB peripherals won’t work, or Xbox 360 games that used the original Kinect won’t work on Xbox One.
The final roadblock are games with licenses that may have expired or games where they can’t obtain some license due to legal reasons (so this might apply to say, “The Beatles: Rock Band“).
Barring that however, Microsoft plans to transfer over their entire first-party lineup of Microsoft-published Xbox 360 games to Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility service.
Starting with fan-favorites, highly-requested titles, Xbox 360 games that are still played the most frequently on Xbox Live, cult classics and games that are most highly voted.
You can vote on what Xbox 360 games you most want to see appear on Xbox One’s Backwards Compatibility program on the Xbox Feedback Page.
source: videogamesblogger.com