Home Gaming E3 2015: Xbox One gets native 360 backwards compatibility

E3 2015: Xbox One gets native 360 backwards compatibility

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Microsoft

One of the biggest announcements of the night came straight out of leftfield, with Microsoft announcing that the Xbox One would be getting Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.

It’s really happening. Much like the Xbox 360’s own Xbox One compatibility, it’s being done through emulation, and requires compatibility to be coded in – but over 100 titles are being made available once the service goes live, and hundreds more will be coming.

This is exciting stuff, and is a big reason to upgrade to an Xbox One as opposed to a PlayStation 4 if you’re still carrying a large backlog of games. They’ve be available digitally, or you’ll even be able to pop your disc in and play your older games at no charge. That’s much better than a millokn and one last gen remasters that cost full sale price.

You’ll even be able to use Xbox One specific features, like grabbing screenshots and video. It’s an ace-in-the-hole that nobody saw coming, and it’ll certainly help sell Xbox Ones in regions that were Xbox 360 dominant.

Current Backward Compatible Titles

  1. Banjo Kazooie: N n B
  2. Banjo-Kazooie
  3. Banjo-Tooie
  4. BattleBlock Theater
  5. Defense Grid
  6. Geometry Wars Evolved
  7. Hexic HD
  8. Jetpac Refuelled
  9. Kameo
  10. Mass Effect
  11. Perfect Dark
  12. Perfect Dark Zero
  13. Small Arms
  14. Super Meat Boy
  15. Toy Soldiers
  16. Toy Soldiers: Cold War
  17. Viva Piñata
  18. Viva Piñata: TIP

Last Updated: June 15, 2015

13 Comments

  1. Frik van der Hewerskink

    June 15, 2015 at 19:08

    Holy moly this is a game changer!

    Reply

  2. Ghost In The Rift

    June 15, 2015 at 19:11

    I think i already hear Sony scheming lol

    Reply

  3. Ghost In The Rift

    June 15, 2015 at 19:13

    Wait, can the Xbox 1 play 360 games in 1080p lol?!?!

    Reply

  4. Blood Emperor Trevor

    June 15, 2015 at 19:13

    That’s a very cool surprise.

    Reply

  5. Francois Knoetze

    June 15, 2015 at 20:13

    this and that awesome new elite controller just made me so giddy I was bouncy around like a mad man. been a ps player for so long the only games I still want to jump in on the xbox side is witcher 2 and the gears games. Now the ball is in Sony’s court. I am curious to see what they come up with. please don’t be a boring e3 at 2am…

    Reply

  6. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    June 15, 2015 at 21:56

  7. BacchusZA

    June 16, 2015 at 07:11

    Sold.

    Between this and the mention I saw of a remastered Mass Effect, I’m decided. As soon as the unions stop fucking around and government gets its increase so I can afford one, I am getting myself an XBox.

    Done.

    I’ll still get a PS4 at some point too, but this is a complete game changer in terms of making the decision as to which to buy first.

    Reply

  8. Melasco

    June 16, 2015 at 11:36

    I’m really impressed as technically this must be very difficult to achieve… But, that said, for the casual gamer like myself, this means very little. I don’t even have time to play half of what comes to PS4, so replaying old games isn’t even an option. Maybe if they announced this at launch it would have been a bigger deal… But now, almost 2 years after launch when the new consoles have a plenty of games… not so sure, but still, hats off to MS for pulling this off.

    I’ll still take the PS4’s bit of extra performance over this feature. For serious gamers that hang on to their collections this may be a big deal, however, many of those also tend to hang onto the old consoles.

    I am however very interested in how they managed to do it… The 360’s CPU is nothing like the XBO’s, completely different technologies, so they probably had to build some amazing type of simulator app, like you get NES simulators?

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      June 16, 2015 at 22:59

      IF it was a simulator or emulator, ALL games would, in theory, work out the box, perhaps with tweaking.

      I do not know how they did it. Maybe I am wrong? I doubt it, I do think they are changing the code base to actually talk Xbox One hardware.

      CPU change. Ouch.

      Reply

  9. Pieter Kruger

    June 16, 2015 at 20:47

    WOW! Just saw a couple of 360 games as “ready to download” on my Xbox One! Fantastic, MS has truly delivered this E3!

    Reply

    • Brady miaau

      June 16, 2015 at 22:55

      Yeah, I am not in the preview program. And I now regret owning disks for most of the 360 games I care about, Mass effect trilogy, Dragon Age 1+2 (ish), Witcher 2. Deus Ex:HR, should it get the love, will be downloaded and played through, on Xbox One for the FIFTH time. I do not replay games lightly, but five times is pushing it for me, but I love it.

      Reply

  10. Brady miaau

    June 16, 2015 at 22:57

    Is this a game changer? Been surfing the net and a lot commentators on sites are not thrilled. They say it is not true backwards compatibility and that it is a lie. Well, maybe. Someone has to recode parts of those games for the new hardware, surely. but still. I like it.

    AND if I did not own an Xbox One, this would be thing that, as a gamer, would push the purchase. My beloved 360 games will find a home again. Yes, I am fairly confident all the truly big ones well get the treatment.

    Reply

  11. Lardus-Resident Perve

    June 30, 2015 at 15:38

    Very nice. But that list will need to grow quite a bit

    Reply

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