Major Nelson and Bill Stillwell of the BC Team delve into the technical side of Backwards Compatibility on the Xbox One in Major Nelsons latest podcast.
We recently came across some strange store activity that could suggest Microsoft is making more games backwards compatible. Now, we've spotted another two Xbox 360 titles on the Microsoft Store with the backwards compatible ID.
I hope to see the Timesplitters series get added to the current backwards compatibility catalogue. Goldeneye -Esque shooters aren’t made anymore.
Silent Hill 2 and 4 would be better titles to add to the BC list the a then Are You Smarter then a 5th Grader First Templar I have never heard of. I am not going out of my way to buy these two titles kind of lazy to add these two titles when all Microsoft has to do is bang on Konami's door to add SH2 and 4. Downpour and Homecoming work so why not add 2 and 4 to the list.
You mean 2&3 are in the HD collection.. Silent Hill 4 the Room was only on the OG Xbox, pc and ps2. But is currently playable thru BC on the xbox 360, not xbox one
@MissAubrey
Yes, I’m aware (I own every Silent Hill game released - yes, all, the PS1 original all the way down to the PC, Xbox, and Wii releases, and am emulating the first on PC). I know what’s what. I simply couldn’t change the typo nor finish the edit since N4G’s option expires.
Regardless, 4 was never an Xbox 360 game, and therefore, BC can’t exist in the way he’s requesting for it.
@BehindTheRows
SH2 and SH3 are on the HD Collection and yes BC can work with the OG Xbox on Xbox 1, Series X/S Microsoft has all ready added some OG Xbox games to the list of BC games. Microsoft even announced that some OG Xbox games will work on newer Xbox systems at E3.
@BehindtheRows
SH2 on the HD Collection is a poor mans copy it's way different from the PS2 and OG Xbox port so is SH3 in the HD Collection is way different then its PS2 cousin.
@MissAubrey
I never said you DID say that. I was talking about him.
Uh, yes I know (like I already said, it was a typo). You asked about 2 (already BC in the HD Collection) and 4, which ISN’T on the 360, unlike 3, Downpour, and Homecoming.
If you’re speaking about Xbox BC, in general, then that’s different and 4 (from the original Xbox) will most likely be added one day. Your other option is to maybe grab a PC and a copy or emulate the PS2 version with said PC.
I said SH4 was playable on the 360 thru OG xbox backwards compatibility. "playable on 360" not playable on Xbone/Series.
It's too bad we have OG titles like Deathrow and others that haven't been made compatible yet. MS has made a great effort bringing over the majority of their library but 1st gen XBOX titles have fallen through the cracks.
the moral of the story here folks is they brought bc back! yes these titles suck but atleast we know now they are back at it again after alittle hiatus!
There’s a magical moment when you open up Kameo, an original launch title for Xbox 360, and it shows you last played in 2008, and you’re able to jump right back into the game like you never left.
I think if Microsoft really wanted to leverage their 360 library they would work to bring 360 emulation to PC and offer games like Fable 2 on Game Pass for PC.
Their goal would be to keep moving forward will the streaming service. Get the latency down on that so there wouldn't be a need for an emulator.
His point is... they could bring *that* emulator from the cloud hardware and let us be able to run 360-exclusive games on our own PCs.
I'd understand third party games being excluded by licensing deals, but it would be awesome if MS could have 360 emulation as a download into the Windows App for at least their own titles.
My guess is they haven't done this just because getting reliable/predictable performance with emulation on PC where there's a billion hardware configurations is complicated. Easier to have it running on fixed hardware and streamed to the PC.
@saishi
I can not comment on other cloud streaming platforms, but the only issue i have had with xcloud, is the odd bit of freezing, but other than that the games seem to play ok, at least on my galaxy S9.
It's not perfect, but it is good enough for dropping into a game on a work break or lunch.
PS - when i am at home, i do not use xcloud, i use the console. And xcloud performs quite well for something still in beta.
@RazzerRedux
Those that want 360 emulation on PC, have been able to do that for years.
I have a PS2 emulator on my mobile.
Obviously I'm talking about the official Xbox 360 emulation that Microsoft created and not third party emulators.
That would be cool. Not going to lie but Microsoft has been saving me lot's of money with GamePass for PC
Finally some Xbox 360 games on X-Cloud for play on cell phones. Took them a long time. I'll play some Morrowind and Oblivion on my phone. Thank you Microsoft
Replies(1)Can we please get Ninja Gaiden 2 for X-Cloud please. Since Tecmo will not put original Gaiden 2 on switch. I want to play a portable Ninja Gaiden 2 at work on my lunch hours
It was on Game Pass until a month or two before they announced the Master Collection - very likely not a coincidence.
I just would love the option to play Ninia Gaiden 2 anywhere. That would be a dream game to take around. I am not asking for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 portable. I want Ninja Gaiden 2 portable
What you would whip out a phone and then whip out a controller on your break to play games?
Merrin I always keep a extra Xbox One controller in my walmart work locker 365 days a year. Literally. I've been playing Xbox One games on my lunch hour on my phone for over 1 year. I was a x-cloud beta tester since the beginning
I got this backbone one and have been using it non stop during down time at work. I’ve been remote playing Octopath Traveler getting my grind in. I really love this thing. Highly recommended. Cmon XCloud iOS. This news is good because I want to eventually play Lost Odyssey the same way.
BackBone is a great ios controller addon been at work for 14 hours now and the controller works perfectly. i think it's better than razer kishi
Yeah everyone says it’s better then Kishi but that was the other one i weighed before going with this one. This thing feels premium right out of the box.
After Xbox's announcement that there won't be any more backwards compatible games until the release of Project Scarlett, here's a reflection of what could, or perhaps should have been.
Not only would it have been great if Max Payne, Freedom Fighters, Nier, Blur and Lollipop Chainsaw got to become backwards compatible, it also would be great if those games got to have more games come out in their franchises.
Its not as backwards compatibity is dead its just been put on hold so all backwards compatibity game work on next xbox then when its released they will start up again, P.S I did finish Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth
Might get the chance when Scarlett comes out. I mean for all games Xbox 360 and Original Xbox. I can dream it happening.
The Xbox BC team are wizards and for those of you who keep asking why your favorite Xbox 360 games haven't been added to BC, you should definitely listen to this podcast or read the info below to get the highlights... More Technical info will be discussed in the future.
Thanks to Spartan Ranger (Xbox Subreddit) for the highlights below.
-The first half hour is dedicated towards backward compatibility (BC) and it's a very good listen and a rare peek into the otherwise secretive program. For those of you who can't listen to the podcast, I've written notes covering the interview with Bill Stillwell:
-Originally prototyped by a group of passionate engineers.
-One of the first games demoed internally was Castle Crashers, which also served as a good model for multiplayer and local co-op.
-Project Fission was the name for getting the base 360 instruction set to work on the ONE. The architecture change from the 360 to Xbox One meant translating PowerPC code to x64.
-They still have to go through games on an individual basis to check if the emulator can handle the various physics engines, loads, etc. For example, at one point they got Forza Horizon running flawlessly through the emulator but comically, there wasn’t collision detection and you could drive through everything. Working on correctness or precision through the emulator takes away from performance, so the challenge is to strike a balance between the two.
-Pre-E3 2015: The BC team was terrified of a leak. They were amused whenever people on reddit or neoGAF would speculate on backward compatibility but immediately shot down by others citing Microsoft's previous statement that BC was impossible.
-E3 2015: They decided on showing off backward compatibility with Mass Effect 1 because of its reputation as a beloved title. The only downside to this were people forgetting how poorly it ran on the 360 and now blaming the low framerate on the emulator. One joke was that should've secretly swapped consoles to play ME1 on the 360 and revealed the switch whenever anyone complained about the performance.
-For the BC team, it was rewarding to see the audience’s reaction to the reveal during the E3 conference. Bill Stillwell said there was a massive intake of breath among the crowd followed by an eruption of celebration.
-Stats: Launched Nov 2015 with 100 games. Currently over 280 games backward compatible. The goal is 300 by the end of the year, but no promises. 210 million hours of playtime logged through BC on the Xbox One.
Very impressed with the job Microsoft has done with BC it's a shame the same can't be said about Sony they would rather charge $20-30 for PS2 games with no improvements other then trophies.
PS1, PS2 and even PS3 games are very easy to emulate on a PC i just hope Sony Fanboy's wake up and demanded that Sony bring free BC of PS1, PS2 and PS3 to PS4.
I'm hopeful they release Dragons Dogma DA at some point
I have 118k gamerscore, what's that have to do with anything? I have never played the ME trilogy(Yeah I know) but thanks to BC and EA Access, I just beat the first game and just started #2 then 3 in time for the new ME. Id say both these programs are amazing. Im playing stuff I never did before, even at 118k GS