MCV: PlayStation on Xbox backwards compatibility

I don't care how it works; could be sorcery for all I care.
The key thing is: It just works.
And it works masterfully.

How it works determines how you can expect support to proliferate. If it requires min support from MS side then you can expect full library support eventually. If it's labor intensive you can expect to repeat the 360 era BC.
 
- Microsoft has essentially guaranteed their entire (accessory games excluded) first party Xbox 360 game library as eventually playable on Xbox One. They also expect many more games from other publishers.

- Emulated 360 games are so far showing BETTER perfomance than on their original hardware.

- This service is free.

There's no way on Earth to twist that into a negative no matter how deep your bias may run. This is a good thing. Do I wish Sony would do it too? Absolutely, but Cell is too complex for something like this.

Good post. MS delivered a nice surprise here. Makes the One more attractive than ever IMO, though I'm still waiting it out a bit. It's a huge positive in every way though.
 
The Cell would be a GIANT hurdle to tackle in order to get true PS3 emulation on a PS4. The current option is probably the best were gonna get in regards to PS4 owners.

I think PS4 is a guarantee.. wouldn't surprise me if the PS5 is the same architecture just with beefed up specs.

I agree. Only reason why we don't have native BC with PS3 games is because of the cell processor.

Currently, the only way to play PS3 games again on PS4 natively, is if the publishers/developers decides to port the games over from PS3 to PS4 themselves, like they did with games like God of War III, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, Rayman Legends, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, etc.

The list goes on.
 
As an owner of an Xbox one and someone who did buy a metric ton of digital 360 games I see that as a plus, if it works as advertised.

Guess we may finally get some good games on Games with Gold now.
 
I had no idea that there would this much argument over BC.
It has to do with the naysayers that are dumbfounded that ms was able to create an emulator that runs different architecture games on the Xbox one with no reengineering of the original game code. Maybe a recompile? Maybe some setting changes on the VM per game?? Who knows.

It is sorcery alright and I would love to read an article on how it was accomplished.
 
It's absolutely true that it is highly requested but used little.

It's a PR home run for Microsoft, though.

True, at least for me. I went ps3 last gen first because of the BC it had at launch (and I believe a little after that). It was probably the biggest reason I went ps3 over 360. I cant tell you how little I used that feature maybe 10-15 times over like an 8 year stretch. Granted I know everyone is not like me and maybe some people will get great use out of it, but I feel like a lot will be just like me, be really hyped about the feature and never use it.
 
Just listened to an interview with Aaron Greenberg and he explains how the system works. I suggest all the armchair engineers on here saying its half baked etc should have a listen.
They have emulated the 360 so when the 360 disc is inserted or downloaded it thinks its still being payed on a 360. This is why no adjustments are required to the actual games and the original developers/publisher don't have to do anything other than give the ok.
He said that from the launch later this year it will go from the launch 100 games to hundreds more in a matter of weeks/months.
He also said that because its running through the X1 you'll be able to use all its features like DVR, Twitch streaming and streaming to Win 10 devices.
So how is this a bad thing? When we get a remaster of a PS3 game its seen as great because "many 360 owners never got to play these games".
Now on X1 you can literally go into a game store and buy cheap or 2nd hand 360 games you may not have got to play for $5 etc., not $60 ($100NZD). I will also have access to my library of arcade games that I still love and want to play. Yes I have a 360 still but now that is one less device I need plugged in and can finally sell it on.

As someone who basically felt that MS could go fuck themselves after 2013 and saw no change in that perception since then, this is a huge deal for me.

My wife and I have a huge collection of games on our 360 but we upgraded to PS4 and haven't really looked back due to how badly we felt we were treated regarding customer service and build reliability with MS. Still, we would really enjoy playing those 360 titles on a more modern console and we will certainly be getting an XB1 eventually because of this feature, though I don't intend to get back on Gold.

If you aren't interested in Gold, then few of the XB1 games have much pull. Rare Replay is the biggest announcement for me, and hopefully Scalebound, Crackdown, and ReCore allow offline play, so it won't matter there. But with the coming BC feature, it makes sense to pick up a system because it will have a built in catalog of games, including stuff we never got around to on 360.
 
How it works determines how you can expect support to proliferate. If it requires min support from MS side then you can expect full library support eventually. If it's labor intensive you can expect to repeat the 360 era BC.

It's already been confirmed that it's not labor intensive.
 
No kidding. He's not an engineer. But what he said is accurate if not simplified. This is how it works. Today. You can do it right now.

Greenberg specifically has been bad at technical details. He got into a meaningless twitter war about 1080p for games that weren't.
 
How it works determines how you can expect support to proliferate. If it requires min support from MS side then you can expect full library support eventually. If it's labor intensive you can expect to repeat the 360 era BC.

It is not labour intensive. The labour has been done and is now in final testing today. The 360 hardware has been emulated on the Xbox One and it can run 360 games. What remains is publisher approval and QA. Get it?
 
I don't know about anyone else, but I bought a shitload of digital content last-gen that I want access to beings it is tied to the same account I am using on the next-gen systems. Being able to have access to many of those 360 games on the Xbox One, plus my disk games IS a big deal.


Yep. This is especially true for the XBLA titles I bought. Those are exactly the kind of games that follow users when they upgrade. Getting all of my other content will be gravy.

But mostly, this is aimed at current 360 owners. They haven't upgraded because they are enjoying the games they are playing right now. They may not have room to add a console, or the expense of getting one with it selling they 360 is too much.

That first year after upgrading, BC is a really nice benefit. It might not get used as much as users think, but it is one extra level piece of mind that can help keep Microsoft customers in the MS ecosystem. If Microsoft wants to turn the tide at all, they need to retain almost all of their 360 users. It's no secret that they lost a ton of the first wave already.

It would be dumb if this was their only strategy, but obviously, it's not. It was a pretty good E3 for Microsoft.
 
It is not labour intensive. The labour has been done and is now in final testing today. The 360 hardware has been emulated on the Xbox One and it can run 360 games. What remains is publisher approval and QA. Get it?

The details suggests that isn't 100% of the story. I doubt it's 100% pure software emulation. The details just suggest more per title work than just loading it a emu.
 
You know when EA launches Mass Effect 4 what will happen, right?

"The only home console you can play the whole Mass Effect series on. We are giving Xbox One owners and EA Access subscribers exclusive free Mass Effect 1-3.

Get ready for Mass Effect 4"

I mean, holy shit. The way this could be used to push next gen sequels?

How can anyone say this is a bad thing?
 
100% agree.. the only people spinning this into a negative have an ulterior motive.. not to mention this is one of the most pro consumer things Microsoft has done with the Xbox One..

Agree with your agree. Bonus points for Gaf name and pic representing 80s Seattle hip hop.
 
Greenberg specifically has been bad at technical details. He got into a meaningless twitter war about 1080p for games that weren't.

Like I said he isn't an engineer, but he isn't innacurate with what he said in this interview about the BC. Who cares about Greenberg? It works. And it works well.

The details suggests that isn't 100% of the story. I doubt it's 100% pure software emulation. The details just suggest more per title work than just loading it a emu.

Here is Phil Spencer reiterating everything on Giantbomb last night. Phil actually IS an engineer, so maybe you'll believe it now?

https://youtu.be/Pjh1Uo_xaSQ?t=11245
 
You know when EA launches Mass Effect 4 what will happen, right?

"The only home console you can play the whole Mass Effect series on. We are giving Xbox One owners and EA Access subscribers exclusive free Mass Effect 1-3.

Get ready for Mass Effect 4"

I mean, holy shit. The way this could be used to push next gen sequels?

How can anyone say this is a bad thing?

I'm already on board with EA Access, 360 games in there too would be the icing on the cake for me.
 
Now MSFT offers this, and the narrative spins and all of a sudden we want to play last gen games that people complained lasted too long?

Looks like someone has not been paying attention to the Remaster Generation.

The entire key to all of this is how many games make cut. We all have those 3-5 games that we just really don't want move on without. The more people that can get their games to move with them, the more opportunity Microsoft has to convert them to an XB1.

It's not sinister. It's just business. Sony is selling consoles left and right. They are looking to maximize the profit they get from each customer. Microsoft would love to run a PSNow type app, but it wouldn't suit there purpose right now.

Also, I really believe that the number of games we own digitally will affect how often we play the old games. All of the XBLA games weren't stunning visually to begin with. And they will be just as much fun now. And several of the games on the list to start are ABLA games that I got for free. The odds of my playing them just went up.
 
Yeah you have to rent and then stream games you may already own. How about that :p

I do? Wait, no, I don't. I've never had to pay to stream a game that I already own.

By the way, how do you feel about Sony offering cross-buy for PS3/PS4/PS Vita games? They've been doing this for quite a while now--before PS4 was released. They've even retroactively added PS4 versions of several digital games to my library for free.

How long will it take before the number of Xbox 360 games playable on Xbox One exceeds the number of cross-buy games available on PS4? It would be interesting to see how that unfolds.
 
You know when EA launches Mass Effect 4 what will happen, right?

"The only home console you can play the whole Mass Effect series on. We are giving Xbox One owners and EA Access subscribers exclusive free Mass Effect 1-3.

Get ready for Mass Effect 4"

I mean, holy shit. The way this could be used to push next gen sequels?

How can anyone say this is a bad thing?

That would have been great it was Mass Effect 4.

But it isn't. It's Mass Effect : Andromeda, it happens in a different galaxy and in a different time than the trilogy. There is gonna be very anecdotic links between the new episode and the original trilogy.

Besides, even though it's still a good marketing scheme, it wouldn't really sell consoles. By the time ME4 is out, most of the gaming community will have either a PS4 or a X1 and the choice will be based on exclusives, as always.
 
I'm already on board with EA Access, 360 games in there too would be the icing on the cake for me.

Me too. It is superb value. Looking forward to playing Dragon Age.

Another thought, and for Mass Effect, could there be an exclusive import your save feature?

Download from the Xbox cloud. And bam. Your 'story' continues.

I am aware of the ending, but still. Little easter eggs could be built in
 
Like I said he isn't an engineer, but he isn't innacurate with what he said in this interview about the BC. Who cares about Greenberg? It works. And it works well.



Here is Phil Spencer reiterating everything on Giantbomb last night. Phil actually IS an engineer, so maybe you'll believe it now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjh1Uo_xaSQ&feature=youtu.be&t=11170

We'll know details when there is a full tear down at launch. Spencer suggests it's a full SW EMU at full speed in the GB interview. Still suggests there is a per game download of something. Q&A is involved.
 
We'll know details when there is a full tear down at launch. Spencer suggests it's a full SW EMU at full speed in the GB interview. Still suggests there is a per game download of something. Q&A is involved.

Yes there is a full game download. When I put my Mass Effect disc into my Xbox One last night, it used the disc as authentication to download the game from Live servers. Then it just booted up as you'd expect and worked great. I could start a party on 360 there if I wanted (by bringing up the 360 guide with "start + select"). Or start streaming to Twitch in the Xbox One OS, too, or syspend/resume, or Game DVR and record a clip. It was seamless and exactly as they are describing. The game does not install or run from the disc. The wrapper/manifest file he is talking about is the emulator, game files, as well as the data required to tell the Xbox One OS that it is Mass Effect for 360 running and what not for integration into the overall Xbox One system and Live. There's really no smoke and mirrors here. I've actually tested and used the feature and it works as advertised exactly as they are saying it does.

Of course QA would be involved, why would they just willy nilly release it without making sure it's not completely broken?

--

I already posted this, but here is how it looks running Hexic HD, with Twitch snapped, and the 360 Guide overlayed the game showing the 360 features all working in conjunction, too:

z68xDwEl.jpg
 
We'll know details when there is a full tear down at launch. Spencer suggests it's a full SW EMU at full speed in the GB interview. Still suggests there is a per game download of something. Q&A is involved.

DIdn't he specifically state it's a wrapper/manifest that tells the XboxOne specifically what 360 game is being emulated/running? Because it sounds like without it, as far as the XboxOne is concerned, the 360 game is just a generic title.

And Q&A is par for the course for anything released on a console. He has implied that the only obstacle is publisher approval.
 
How long will it take before the number of Xbox 360 games playable on Xbox One exceeds the number of cross-buy games available on PS4? It would be interesting to see how that unfolds.

If it's true that they have a hundred games this holiday when it goes public and add hundreds more within a few months, then...about a month.
 
There is no excuse not having PS1 and PS2 games run right now. PS3 is not going to happen but they can at least add the other two and sell the games as downloads.
 
There is no excuse not having PS1 and PS2 games run right now. PS3 is not going to happen but they can at least add the other two and sell the games as downloads.

In theory that would allow more PS2 Classics as well, since the PS2 emulator on PS3 was bad enough to not properly run a lot of PS2 games, which severely limited what could be sold

Having better PS1/PS2 emulators for PSN would be a whole new ecosystem for Sony to invest in

Maybe Microsoft doing this will light a fire under Sony to start getting things done.. the time for complacency is over..

That's what I'm really hoping
 
There is no excuse not having PS1 and PS2 games run right now. PS3 is not going to happen but they can at least add the other two and sell the games as downloads.

Maybe Microsoft doing this will light a fire under Sony to start getting things done.. the time for complacency is over..
 
I've read 10 of the 12 pages of this thread and I keep seeing people defend PSNow as not being the same as BC time after time. It's this it's that but it's not BC.

It leaves me wondering why though. It is a service that provides BC with PS3 games and the only thing that prevents it from truly doing so is because Sony doesn't claim it to be so.

But, why couldn't it be? If they didn't charge those that already own the games and did the same as MS by verifying your ownership of the game through your gamertag and or physical disk it would be their answer to BC for the PS4. They just don't want to do so.

It could still be all the other things it wants to be to those that don't already own the games but the only thing stopping Sony is greed.

It's kinda surprising and disheartening to see so many defend Sony's lack of #4thegamers mentality. It's all about their bottom line and nothing else just like EA Access and we're just giving them a pass. I bet some of these same people are still resenting MS for what they perceive as slights from yrs past even though they seem to be more #4thegamers right now. It sure seems like even when they do good it's dismiss as a negative with no thought.

#forthegamers indeed.
 
I rather Sony not waste their time with backwards capatability, I personally have absolutely zero interest in playing last gen games. If I only had an Xbone, and multiplat games didn't exist... I would maybe... Play Skyrim

This ^^

However, why couldn't they detect the original PS3 blu-ray, and then give you access to that game on PS-NOW? That seems doable, has the caveat that you have to stream from internet, but way more feasible then trying to emulate the cell processor. It would also help solve the pricing issue on PS-Now (too damn expensive for old games, sorry)
 
' and it is a much requested feature… but actually it’s not so greatly used.'

Well we cant use it if its not actually there now can we...
Given their history of backwards compatibility in prior consoles, I suspect they probably have some metrics on this.

I for one do want PS1/PS2 BC on PS4, that should be tenable and not particularly expensive. PS3 on PS4, that's a pipedream.
 
I honestly can't believe that some people in this thread DON'T want backwards compatibility. Because options and features are a bad thing, like EA Access.
 
I can see a lot of companies doing the same "buy - especially pre-order - the new game and get old games for free" thing that we're seeing with Rainbow Six.
 
I've read 10 of the 12 pages of this thread and I keep seeing people defend PSNow as not being the same as BC time after time. It's this it's that but it's not BC.

It leaves me wondering why though. It is a service that provides BC with PS3 games and the only thing that prevents it from truly doing so is because Sony doesn't claim it to be so.

But, why couldn't it be? If they didn't charge those that already own the games and did the same as MS by verifying your ownership of the game through your gamertag and or physical disk it would be their answer to BC for the PS4. They just don't want to do so.

It could still be all the other things it wants to be to those that don't already own the games but the only thing stopping Sony is greed.

It's kinda surprising and disheartening to see so many defend Sony's lack of #4thegamers mentality. It's all about their bottom line and nothing else just like EA Access and we're just giving them a pass. I bet some of these same people are still resenting MS for what they perceive as slights from yrs past even though they seem to be more #4thegamers right now. It sure seems like even when they do good it's dismiss as a negative with no thought.

#forthegamers indeed.

The fact that this is possible is an excellent point and Sony should pay attention (very closely) to this. In essence, the "emu's" are already in place in the cloud (ps3's) we would just need to throw in our disc and voila.
 
I've read 10 of the 12 pages of this thread and I keep seeing people defend PSNow as not being the same as BC time after time. It's this it's that but it's not BC.

It leaves me wondering why though. It is a service that provides BC with PS3 games and the only thing that prevents it from truly doing so is because Sony doesn't claim it to be so.

But, why couldn't it be? If they didn't charge those that already own the games and did the same as MS by verifying your ownership of the game through your gamertag and or physical disk it would be their answer to BC for the PS4. They just don't want to do so.

It could still be all the other things it wants to be to those that don't already own the games but the only thing stopping Sony is greed.

It's kinda surprising and disheartening to see so many defend Sony's lack of #4thegamers mentality. It's all about their bottom line and nothing else just like EA Access and we're just giving them a pass. I bet some of these same people are still resenting MS for what they perceive as slights from yrs past even though they seem to be more #4thegamers right now. It sure seems like even when they do good it's dismiss as a negative with no thought.

#forthegamers indeed.
PSnow offers PS3 and PS4 games. I don't think it offers any PS1 or PS2 games. It's not really a solution to BC. It's more like... remember checking into a hotel, and they offered games without any console? It's apples and oranges.
 
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