Utility of Backwards Compatibility

[Nesh]

With the admission that silicon needed to be altered to make it happen prior to the launch of XBO, it unlikely to be in the cards for this gen. PS5 may have it though, ideally both PS3 and 4 games supported

You mean BC was in the plans before release of the console so they made hardware adjustments so it would support BC in the future?
I havent heard this before

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think BC for Xbox is pretty smart move on Microsoft's part. When you look at the the popularity of emulators on the PC side of things...putting in the work of getting BC going back several gens on a console is definitely going to add some value to the system. Especially if Microsoft is able to retroactively improve the visual quality/performance of games.

Value or even just perceived value (nobody likes not having access to their digital library), this is good.

I've been skeptical of the importance of backwards compatibility in consoles. Mostly this is because I felt it important when I moved from PlayStation to PS2 then on to PS3 but the reality was once I'd moved onto a new graphics generation, I struggled to adjust expectations from the previous generation hardware. PlayStation and PS2 were early doors 3D graphics and once you've moved in the world of pixel shaders everywhere it was really hard to go back. And as much as I loved GTA San Andreas on PS2, which is easily my most played game of all time, once I'd played GTA IV on PS3, I just couldn't play PS2 GTA's again. Original PlayStation games were even worse as you had Sony's cutting edge warping 3D technology and many games had zero support for dual analogue sticks, so 3D games often with no independent camera control. Sheesh. The early years of 3D were all sorts of graphics compromises but the controls were pretty naff too.

However, a couple of months back I revisited Red Dead Redemption on PS3 and once I'd adjusted to it being less sharp, it was great experience. Now that graphics advances are easing somewhat, it's less jarring to play last gen's games. And whatever people say about gameplay being king, if the graphics look like arse or the controls are bad, it hugely dents the enjoyment. For me personally, backwards compatibility from last gen is very desirable.

 

[Jay]

You mean BC was in the plans before release of the console so they made hardware adjustments so it would support BC in the future?
I havent heard this before

yea, it's new information.
ign article from couple days ago

 

[iroboto]

You mean BC was in the plans before release of the console so they made hardware adjustments so it would support BC in the future?
I havent heard this before

Yea that shocked me as well.
Thread on this new info started about here: https://forum.beyond3d.com/posts/2006820/

 

[Jay]

However, a couple of months back I revisited Red Dead Redemption on PS3 and once I'd adjusted to it being less sharp, it was great experience. Now that graphics advances are easing somewhat, it's less jarring to play last gen's games. And whatever people say about gameplay being king, if the graphics look like arse or the controls are bad, it hugely dents the enjoyment. For me personally, backwards compatibility from last gen is very desirable.

with MS approach it could easily pass as basic remasters even, when compared to some of the remasters that was done.
it's not just play them as they were, they are improved especially on 1x.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

BC being planned prior to XBO release shouldn't be surprising if their intention at the time was to break the generation model of console development. BC enhances the message that any title you buy will be playable going forwards enhancing the mystique of always having your library available whenever new console hardware comes out.

MS have been hinting that this is where they see the future of console gaming for them (console just an extension of Windows). So it isn't too far fetched to think that they were laying the groundwork for this back during the planning stages of the XBO. BC of this nature (emulation) isn't quite the same as keeping a similar architecture going forwards, but even then there will be some form of emulation required.

And even that shouldn't be surprising. For games using older generations of DirectX, some level of emulation within newer versions of DirectX is needed in order to allow them to run. And beyond that the drivers for new graphics hardware needs some level of software emulation to allow those games to run on newer graphics hardware. So much has changed with regards to how hardware renders 3D graphics, yet with a little effort even really ancient Direct3D titles can run on the newest hardware.

Regards,
SB