360 backwards-compatible list on Xbox.com next week

by Dan Choi { Oct 12th 2005 at 8:40AM }

Peter Moore talking to Game Informer at X05 A list of backwards-compatible Xbox titles for the 360 will go up on Xbox.com sometime next week, according to an interview with MS marketing VP Peter Moore (and J Allard) at GameInformer.com.

Moore had a lot of interesting things to say in the interview, but the things that stood out in our minds concerned 360 backwards compatibility. First, the list of BC titles will go up on Xbox.com and then get updated as more games "get through certification." Also, auto-updates of newly compatible titles may occur in the background and you could possibly be notified via e-mail and/or the web. An ominous warning was given, however, that updates will continue "[u]ntil consumers show lack of interest, then we will move on."

Considering the deluge of similar-sounding interviews and roundtables last week (most trying to get J to say something negative about the 360 launch), we hope you'll understandable how we missed this bit of info from X05, but we'll definitely make a report when the BC list (or the more important official launch list) finally gets released.

[Thanks, Matt and bandersnatch; via CVG]

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

OTAM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

With the backwards compatibility,is every game made AFTER a certain date pretty much a guarentee to be played on the 360? I mean like,once they made the decision on how the 360 will play old games did any Xbox game since then get automatically made an emulator for the 360 during the making of the game?

I mean,I could honestly give a shit less about backwards compatibility.It's never been an issue in all the consoles i've owned before so it's not going to be now. When I want to play my old games i'll play them on the consoles they were designed to run at max potential on.

I still don't understand the whole big deal with BC. What do you people do with your own consoles? Like what,once a new console is announced you wait for garbage day and throw your current gen one out?

Don't give me this "I don't want controller and consoles all over the place" because if gaming is your hobby you'll improvise and make something to hold all the stuff.

kilo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

BC ain't that big a deal to me.

like how often am i really gonna throw in Midtown Madness 3? not that often.

it was only useful on the PS2 so i could play WipeOut XL...but then i realized i was playing that game mostly for the soundtrack.

malberto @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I wonder how Microsoft will measure consumer interest in backwards compatability. Perhaps the 360 will transmit usage information via the Internet.

Backwards compatability is a good thing. I am sure there are many people like me who are going to sell their old Xbox to help fund the purchase of the 360. Backwards compatability makes this easier since I won't have to give up many or all of my old titles for the new system.

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

OTAM, for me backwards compatibility is important, but not the determining factor.

With my PS2, I really enjoyed having CIV2 and Crash Team Racing being playable from the PS1 library.

I don't have an xbox, but alot of my friends do so I think games like baldurs gate, halo 1&2, and a few of the xbox only titles like Rupublic Commando and such will be important for backwards compatibility. If they have this for some of the games my gf and I enjoy playing it will be alot easier to sell the XBox360 as an upgrade.

kuroshi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

It's running an emulator so most title should actually work. They are posting the list of title that have been "certified". The truth is that not all ps1 games actually play on the ps2. There are a few obscure titles that will not run on the emulator. MS has said that their oal is to make all titles BC eventually. I think it's a waste of time and money. Who really wants to play "drake and the 99 dragons" on the 360.

MattG @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

It really seems that Microsoft doesn't want to offer backwards compatability, but because their rival Sony is doing so with the PS3, they feel compeled to play catch-up. I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped development of backwards compatable titles early on in the 360's lifespan. After all, if you can't play your old games on the 360 you'll be happier to buy new ones, right?

paralipsis @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

OTAM, you way might be fine for you, but it is not for everyone. I don't think this is a case of being less or more of a gamer depending upon how many old consoles you have in your cabinet. I have moved house at least once a year for the past five years or so. And by the end of this year I will have moved continents twice. Keeping all my old consoles doesn't just add clutter to my life, it is almost an impossibility. I hope this can help show you why backward compatibility is a useful feature for a lot of people.

Samuel Febres @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

For me, backwards compatibility is not really an issue or something that I'm interested. I'll admit though, it will be nice to pop in Madden or Splinter Cell into the 360 drive and play while I wait for new games to develop (or save money for them), but it just makes sense to me NOT to worry about this.

Do you buy a new car and ask if you can use the old steering wheel on it?

p-diddy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

BC is key for married people whose wives HATE clutter. Having one less console in the family room is a Good Thing(tm) (and I still play PS1 RPGs on my PS2).

-p-

mo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Is Moore saying: "Don't tempt me! Don't tempt me! I'll whack you sunshine!" in the pic above? Whilst also performing a karate chop?

thesalesman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

BC is important because it needs to become the precedent, and not just to play great late release games, but collections. The whole point of a capcom classics, sonic collection, street fighter megaman, etc is to be able to play them all in one place and on the latest system. These are great games people keep coming back to and do a great deal to float a system at launch once you realize that the superpretty graphics actually are just hiding up the same stale gameplay from year's past

Matt Hayes @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Heh, yeah P-Diddy's pretty much nailed it right on the head: our wives can't stand clutter (and actually being pretty OCD, neither can I). I'm not saying I'm going to spend any great amounts of time playing older games on the 360, but I *am* selling my Xbox once I get mine.

And as for games that I want to see backwards compatible: Hulk Ultimate Destruction, Mercenaries, Halo 1 & 2, Burnout 3 and Burnout Revenge, the GTA series, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, The Ghost Recon series, the Splinter Cell series, Darkwatch ... frankly because these are all games that I'll keep going back to (HL2 the exception as it ain't out yet), despite having finished the majority of them. They're all a blast to play.

The technology and capability's there, why *wouldn't* you make it BC? The only excuse *not* to is utter laziness.

JRM @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

If I feel like playing a classic atari/nes game, I'm not going to take them out of the piles of dusty boxes they're buried under in my basement.

backwards compatibility should be a given--not a half-assed chore!

besmircher @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Backwards compatibility is essential to me for any system that involves an optical drive. Because, sooner or later, these systems will die, and I actually like playing older games from time to time. Then again, I rarely buy a game that I dislike, which seperates me from the general consensus, I think.

Glenn @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Backwards compatibility increases the library for a system. Instead of saying we only have 30 games available (and have people ask, do yo have a PSP?), you can say there's about a 1,000 games available.

Grill Master @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Seriously I still have all my old systems, the only old ones i play are nintendo, 2 dreamcast, one USA one japanese and gamecube, and xbox. Backwards comp really doesnt matter to me, sure i would want one machine that played every game ever made i heard that 360 will be able to connect you to god, but only if you have media center 2005, haha, sorry i had to say it, seriously tho im going in to pick up my 360 on launch day and only gettin pdz ill still have my xbox hooked up in another one of my gaming rooms plus i have 2 accounts to play from, so whenever i feel like havin some drinks in my livin room wit my girl ill throw on a movie on my 360, when she passes out ill go downstairs and fire up some pd0, your xbox wont stop working cause 360 comes out

b @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

With backwards compatibility I can have up to 13,000 games for PS3. It is very important to me because there are still many games I've missed either from PS1 or PS2, plus I'm a huge final fantasy fan, and you know how FFFs are, we play them 5 times or more and we still aren't bored. Also, not only is it uncomfortable to switch consoles for playing classics, but why do it when I can just play it in the new one? Besides, my PlayStations don't just rot in the closet, they go to charity or family or a friend or whoever wants it, because I don't need them anymore. Of course, I still keep my NES, SNES, and 64 but that's because of nostalgia and because their games can't be played on other consoles (except PC).

Greg @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Is Microsoft going to continue to manufacture and sell Xbox 1? Do they really want people buying Xboxes to insure the ability to play the current library, instead of putting that money into 360s? Do they want to lose any publishing/licensing revenue because the non-BC games are rotting without a console? Rumor is they aren't going to match Sony's alleged November price drop to $99. I'm a Cube owner sitting here thinking about finally grabbing an Xbox to play those nice (and increasingly cheap) exclusives and better-looking multi-console games. If I know there's BC on the 360 I'd probably wait, save my pennies, and do that. If not, well, I'll probably just grab a cheap Xbox now and wait two or three years for my 360. BC matters if they really want people to stop looking at the current Xbox as an alternative.

Phil @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

BC wasn't a big deal to me, but it would be nice. Well that was what I thought until my Xbox just died Friday. I don't want go out an buy a new or use Xbox just to turn around and buy a Xbox 360 next month. It's a waste of money! BC will also save space and time trying to figure out where to put another plug.

Jim @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

BC is very important to me. I don't own an XBox, and (after I buy the 360) I don't want to spend $50-60 every time I want to buy a new game. I could pick up some older games for 10 bucks, maybe less in the near future, which is a nice change of pace on a slow weekend.

I suppose BC isn't a big deal for hardcore gamers, since they're willing to spend half their salaries (and half their lives) on the new system. They're always onto the next new release. The rest of us have a budget and so BC matters.