Xbox One Vs PS4: Xbone Backwards Compatible? Microsoft May Be Working On It
Could Microsoft make the Xbox One backwards compatible? Back when they announced the console in the early days of the Xbox One vs PS4 console wars, they said it wouldn’t happen.
The previous Xbox head honcho at Microsoft was quoted as saying, “If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards,” sparking one of the earliest waves of backlash against the Xbone. Every disc-based console since the PlayStation 2 has been able to play the previous generation’s games, and a lot of gamers appreciated not having to switch consoles just to play older games. This generation is the first time that trend has been broken.
Keep in mind that it’s not really a move to alienate the last generation. In the early part of the Xbox One vs PS4 console wars, the new x64 architecture made it increasingly difficult to make older x86-based games compatible with new hardware. Even PC gamers know that there are some games that just won’t work on older architecture. Processing power is everything, and the current generation is using a much less compatible upgrade.
Xbox One Will Have An Official Xbox 360 Emulator When Microsoft Finishes ‘Thinking It Through’ – http://t.co/N975Dxt6lC
— Kotaku Australia (@KotakuAU) April 4, 2014
Today being the final day of the Microsoft’s Build 2014 developer conference, the question arose once more on Xbox One backwards compatible gaming. Frank Savage gave a promising answer:
“There are [plans to make the Xbox One backwards compatible]. But we aren’t done thinking them through yet unfortunately. It turns out to be hard to emulate the PowerPC stuff on the x86 stuff. So there’s nothing to announce, but I’d love to see it myself too.”
For owners of the Xbox 360 who don’t want to keep more than one console connected just to play the collection they already have on the Xbox One, this is quite a reversal to the words of Don Mattrick. I used the statement on backwards compatibility early on to decide on the practicality of buying the Xbox One myself, hence my previously reported decision to buy the PlayStation 4 instead.
This news could easily change a lot of gamers’ minds if Microsoft can manage to make an Xbox 360 emulator for the current generation. It might boost the sales even more than the Xbox One Titanfall bundle in the upcoming stages of the Xbox One vs PS4 console wars.
There are Plans for an Xbox 360 Emulator on the Xbox One – Article – gamrReview – http://t.co/hcfgxaIDBd
— One of a kind (@secretspartanuk) April 5, 2014
Let’s just hope they keep the disc drive in future versions of the Xbox One, or the Xbox 360 emulator is going to be a bittersweet pipe dream. Now it’s Sony’s turn to at least try to make the PS4 backwards compatible with the PlayStation 3 and keep up with Microsoft if the idea works.
Are you excited about the possibility of seeing them make the Xbox One backwards compatible? Could it give Microsoft the lead in the Xbox One vs PS4 console war?
