Xbox 360 will likely be backwards compatible with Xbox

[jpr27]

I think without a doubt the Xbox 2 will be backwards compatible. If I remember correctly didnt M$ buy a emulator company awhile back? It doesnt suprise me that they havnt made a statement that the next Xbox will be backwards compatible because they still want to sell as many current xbox's before the unveiling of the Xbox 2.

I do agree that M$ might offer the emulator through an add on, download, etc. for a price. Or it could be included in a premium bundle as some people have speculated through different bundle versions of Xbox 2 with or without Hard drive etc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It doesnt suprise me that they havnt made a statement that the next Xbox will be backwards compatible because they still want to sell as many current xbox's before the unveiling of the Xbox 2.

No, you've got to be way out here. Why would MS want less people to buy into next-gen, and instead buy their loss-leading XB original? If I were them, I'd communicate the backwards compatibilty and have people save their money for XB360, giving an extra boost to user base. There's no advantage at all in prolonging the fiscal hole of the XB.

 

[London Geezer]

It doesnt suprise me that they havnt made a statement that the next Xbox will be backwards compatible because they still want to sell as many current xbox's before the unveiling of the Xbox 2.

No, you've got to be way out here. Why would MS want less people to buy into next-gen, and instead buy their loss-leading XB original? If I were them, I'd communicate the backwards compatibilty and have people save their money for XB360, giving an extra boost to user base. There's no advantage at all in prolonging the fiscal hole of the XB.

Not really, cause i'd expect them to make smaller losses on current Xbox than on Xbox2, per unit.
Obviously they'll focus on selling Xbox2's, but you can rest assured they'll want to sell as many Xbox's as they possibly can, cause they lose less money on old Xbox's than they will on new Xbox2s.
Is MS making a profit per unit sold on Xbox's? If they do, that would be a good reason to keep selling current Xbox's till stock ends.

 

[Pugger]

At this point the XBox 360 hasn't even been aired to the general public yet. From a PR point of view backwards compatibility or any other pluses the console has would best be conveyed to a buyer at the MTV unvieling. I assume the MTV special will answer some of these question and it is by far the best way to get across the abilities of the XB360.
This being the case, MS is probably struggling to kept these snippets of information from flying out the door, such as the picture leaks etc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If thye want to keep secrets, why run a Colony website? This whole 'secret' afair has, IMO, been MS playing the media. From the patent leaks, spec leaks, picture leaks...we don't get this from Sony or Nintendo.

By labelling this info as 'secret' and 'not to be divulged', they drum up interest, with the internet carrying all these hot 'scoops' far and wide, and have been providing a general flow of information keeping XB360 in people's minds without resorting to numerous press-conferences.

I guess this is why we don't know for sure if XB360 is BC or not - MS hadn't confirmed it early enough to have a 'leak' which I'm sure they would have done as people wanted XB360 to be BC and it'd be a valuable feature.

 

[UKt@xman]

I reckon they might be having trouble implementing backwards compatibility, and so don't want to announce it until their certain it'll work properly and well.
Am I right in thinking that the PS2 actually has the PS1 emulation done via a single chip implementation? I really vaguely remember an interview a while back where it was inferred that they'd shrunk the main gubbins of PS1 onto a single chip and put it in PS2 to manage the backwards compatibility......if this is correct, then it's quite a nice and cheap way of doing it. However, I couldn't imagine m$ being able to use a similar strategy on XB, and this could be the cause of complications in price, complexity and consistency.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

As I understand it, the PS1 was shrunk onto a single chip for PS2 and operates as the IO controller in PS2 mode. The XB couldn't be shrunk onto a single IC without incurring huge costs, as nVidia and other companies would need to be on board and license fees paid. BC on XB360 will surely have to be through software emulation.

 

[Reznor007]

Didn't Sony win a suit to have the Connectix emulator pulled from the market?

Ironically, MS acquired Connectix and of course we've speculated that they would use Connectix's emulation technology for BC.

Sony tried to sue Connectix, but lost, so they ended up buying the Virtual Game Station software, which was their PS1 emulator. Sony also lost to the Bleem company which sold a PS1 emulator.

 

[a688]

As I understand it, the PS1 was shrunk onto a single chip for PS2 and operates as the IO controller in PS2 mode. The XB couldn't be shrunk onto a single IC without incurring huge costs, as nVidia and other companies would need to be on board and license fees paid. BC on XB360 will surely have to be through software emulation.

They put the PS1 processor into the PS2, they didn't put the entire PS1 onto a chip. . http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/500/500485p1.html

 

[London Geezer]

As I understand it, the PS1 was shrunk onto a single chip for PS2 and operates as the IO controller in PS2 mode. The XB couldn't be shrunk onto a single IC without incurring huge costs, as nVidia and other companies would need to be on board and license fees paid. BC on XB360 will surely have to be through software emulation.

They put the PS1 processor into the PS2, they didn't put the entire PS1 onto a chip. . http://ps2.gamespy.com/articles/500/500485p1.html

Yes they did! Everything was in there, the plastic case, the CR drive, the controllers... EVERYTHING!! All shrunk in a single chip!