Xbox 360 backwards compatibility list updated

Pirates! is an amazing game. Way underrated, not very many people know about it. Its so addicting.

Seriously, you all need to go and find a copy, I guarantee you'll be hooked on it!

#32

It isn't surprising that multiplatform titles are more readily emulated. Those are less likely to delve deep into the hardware compared to a title designed solely for the Xbox. A Sonic Heroes just needs to be a bit better than the PS2 lowest common denominator. A 'Chronicles of Riddick' instead sets out to be a standout on the platform. It's a far more sophisticated piece or work and that makes it that much harder to make work on the completely different Xbox 360.

If the publisher decided to make ports of Riddick tot he PS2 and GameCube, and authorized the investment to make them as close to the Xbox original as possible, those ports would could at least $2 million each. Compare that to the level of expenditure that could be justified to get the same game running under emulation on the 360. Past a certain point you might as well do a native remake instead.

It's been less than a year since the emulation team has had final hardware to use for their work. In that time they've gotten nearly 25% of the US Xbox library running. Compared to many past projects this is excellent progress.

My Ninja Gaiden Black was updated tonight. Wasn't last night.

Still no Phantom Dust? Fuck you too, Microsoft.

The fact that they're emulating the least demanding Xbox games proves that Microsoft is really half-assing the Xbox 360's backward compatibility. C'mon, Aquaman? Trigger Man? Ford vs. Chevy? Gee, where's Pulse Racer?

At least they've added Namco Museum 50th Anniversary and Burnout 3: Takedown to that list. Those are two games I'd actually like to play on my 360... and the backward compatibility is going to save me a lot of money on Xbox Live Arcade downloads!

JR

Indigo Prophecy

Indigo Prophecy! Psychonauts! I die a little more every time I see the list updated without them. :'[

Oh man, they beat me to the punch while I was answering the mail...

Where the hell is:

Arx Fatalis
Kingdom Under Fire
Prince of Persia 2 & 3
Def Jam II

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!1

What? Still no Kakuto Chojin? This is an outrage!

Aw man, i don't have any of those games bar Burnout, damn it.

Please don't make any more excuses for MS about how hard it is to do emulation and how the more processor intensive games are harder to get working. Look at the existing list, are you telling me none of the already backwards compatible games are processor intesive?

I think it's time MS was a bit more upfront about this, at the very least they could respond intelligently to all the negative feedback and pleading requests for more popular titles.

Maybe they can post a list of current titles they are working on making backwards compatible? showing progress per title by percentage? that'd at least keep some of us quiet and create some positive buzz on top of things.

It's nice to have something to look forward to. Time to work smart instead of just working hard. Big thanks to post 23 silverfox for recommending Otogi, looks good! scored 8.4 (great) at Gamespot.

Will they ever add CSI the game to list,

That game had the worst graphics, voice acting, load times ever - but it was one sweet game, reminded me of my Sam and Max days.

THEY NEED TO ADD IT...come on Billy G I know you read Engadget, You know you want to be rocking out to The Who while playing this game ...

To #s 15 & 31 I always thought it was Jiggawatts, as in

"What the hell is a jiggawat anyway!?"

Anyway..
I really, really want Destroy all Humans to be added to the list, its the only xbox game I kept when I got my 360.

I'd pay 400 marketplace points for Timesplitters 2 or 3 to start working.

Still no Jet Set Radio, still no Shenmue 2. Bah.

Conker Live & Reloaded
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

Just bought those games yesterday, didnt knew they weren't BC :(

Let's hope they'll have a new update soon

"...are there still games missing that absolutely need to be in there?"

Yes. ESPN NFL 2K5. Still. Y'all might as well make it BC, because I'm not buying Madden again until you do. FEA.

I'd like to see Outrun 2, but it's no biggie.

I don't know why people continue to whine. MS is working on BC. Some games are more difficult than others. Sometimes they will make a change to get one game working and that will cause many other games to start working.

The fact is that we don't know exactly what they are working on. Maybe they are trying to get Psychonauts working, but are having trouble, but along the way solved a bunch of other problems that unlocked other games.

Johnny Hundo

Star Wars Batllefront II is already BC. Just informing you, so you can enjoy that title

Yeah, how bout Gun? I purchased the XBox version for $8 instead of the 360 version for $60. Since supposedly the 360 version isn't that updated, the Xbox version would probably be a cinch to make backwards compatible... but then I suppose they couldn't force me to pay an extra $52.

I have been waiting since launch for COUNTERSTRIKE. I just hope people are still playing. "Office" anyone?

XBL Gamertag "DeezNuts420"

Aquaman? Catwomen? KABUKI WARRIORS?
I'm thinking the backwards dev team are a bunch of 3 year olds pointing at random game names.

No Guilty Gear or Pysconoughts makes me a very sad person. ;-;'

anybody know if Fable works at least?

Otogi 1 and 2 are both amazing games and need to be BC. If you haven't played them, you should and I am sad and disappointed that Microsoft has paid enough attention to the real awesome games yet.

@zazza: "I think it's time MS was a bit more upfront about this, at the very least they could respond intelligently to all the negative feedback and pleading requests for more popular titles. "

Responding to ignorant whining has never been a strong suit for any big company. Why would they bother saying anything more than what they've already said ("We're working on it.")? Nothing that they say will appease the mass of people who want what they want when they want it and have little to no patience or understanding for what goes into the process.

"Look at the existing list, are you telling me none of the already backwards compatible games are processor intesive? "

Processor intesity is not the only factor/determinant in what games are successfully able to be emulated. Go back and read my previous post, and maybe do some reading on the internet about how emulation works. It's not a matter of making excuses for Microsoft: it's a matter of being intelligent enough to understand how the process works, and then using that knowledge to calm your desperation for a 5 year old game to be playable on the new console.

Still no update for WWE Wrestlemania 21. I can hear the fanboys bitching already.

Finally Sid Meiers Pirates, I've been waiting since christmas to play that game again. Now how long until morrowind is playable. Also PGR1 & 2.

Wow, another lovely list full of bollocks like Aquaman... but Kabuki Warriors was updated. Oh joy.

Hows about releasing a slimline XBox 1 a la slim PS2 so that way I can at least free up SOME space in my microscopic studio apartment.

the real reason people are whining is because we all rightly fear with every BC update list MS comes with, they get closer to ending the BC project altogether without tackling the more technically challenging (read: better) Xbox games we all spent $$$ on.

.

Kung Fu Chaos...'nuff said!

#74

They cannot do that because they do not own the Nvidia chips used in the Xbox. This goes to the heart of the problems that plagued the system from the beginnning. At the time, it was a way to get a powerful design together quickly, and they were also exploring whether it would have advantages over the more traditional approach. (Although some past consoles, like the ColecoVision, were made from entirely off the shelf chips.)

This worked for getting the Xbox to market in a very short 18 months but became the albatross around its neck. Rather than selling Microsoft a chip design and then Microsoft dealing with chp foundries directly, it was Nvidia selling finished products to Microsoft with Nvidia adding a chunk of profit along the way. Since at launch this was a high end GPU Nvidia expected to make the kid of profit margins that normally entailed.

You see, both sides screwed up this deal. If MS had simply bought a design they would eventually have paid off the purchase cost and enjoyed a lower cost on the Xbox from then on. If Nvidia had better understood the console business they would have gone for a much small profit margin in hopes of Microsoft being able to sell far more machines and make up the difference in volume.

So, there was an unhappy stalemate that left both companies lacking interest in further refinements of the chipset. Reducing the Nvidia chips to .13 micron level would have allowed for the Xbox to be redesigned in a much smaller package, mostly due to reduced power and cooling needs. Intel already had the P-III down to that production scale and running at 733 MHz to stay consistent would have made for an extremely low heat chip neededing little more than a small heat sink.

So, yes, technologically an Xbox a little smaller than the original PS2 could be easily done. Economically and politically, it's impossible. If things had been different between MS and Nvidia the xbox 360 would probably use custom Nvidia chips designed with a backward compatibility mode. The CPU would still have changed to something other than an X6 though. There isn't enough incentive for Intel or AMD to provide a cost reduced varsion of their processors by eliminating a lot of the functionality that doesn't offer any useful purpose in a game console. IBM, on the other hand, does a major business in custom PowerPC designs. Far more than in desktop systems. The use of their chips by Apple was more a matter of prestige than profit. Apple gave up on them because they couldn't offer enough business to make it worth IBM's effort to keep up with the pace of the X86 world.

#75

I wouldn't worry about MS stopping the emulation project any time soon. This is n't just about getting the Xbox library onto the 360, it about retaining the viability of the Xbox library far into the future.

Since Microsoft owns the 360 chipset, a future successor platform may either be an extension f the 360 or incorporate all or part of the 360 chipset for backward compatibility. If the Xbox library is fully running on the 360 that means it gets a free ride forward into whatever follows the 360.

Note that Sony has indicated the PS3 will have full PS1 backward compatibility. They still regard that library as having significant value. While the Xbox library has a much smaller number of hit titles to draw upon, retaining the ability to run that collection is a valuable asset.

Lego Star Wars II? Man, somebody shot themselves in the foot with that one. Now fewer people will spend the extra $10 for the 360 version.

#77

you may end up being right, but only because of the sudden reinvigoration of the emulation/nostalgia game fever that XBL Arcade helped ignite.

you'll remember that Microsoft originally wasn't even going to bother with Backward Compatibility.

Sure wish "Lord of the Rings: The Third Age" support for 360 comes soon. :(

I'm amazed how every time there's an update it's all the multiplatform and generic games rather than the xbox exclusives that people actually still play and love.

@60

It's Gigawatt. Christopher Lloyd mispronounced it and nobody caught it. Understandable, since back then, the "giga-" unit wasn't in wide use like it is today.

Jet Set Radio Future. That's all I want. Jet Set Radio Future. And Spiderman 2. But mostly Jet Set Radio Future.

I think the BC team has done a wonderful job, once you understand how they are tackling the problem. I believe it was a Major Nelson podcast, where someone on the BC team spelled it out. They are looking into ALL the titles, the multiplatform and generic (Barbie) games are simpler to emulate, so those get released earlier. They assure us that they are working on the "big" games, but those have lots of coding tricks to make it look good on the Xbox. The BC teams simply have to try everything to make it work. That takes time. They said sometimes they code something in one game and it "unlocks" the ability to emulate a whole bunch of other, simpler games that share similarities to the game they are working on at the time. Then those get released earlier too.

After Peter Moore's backpedaling over the BC comments he made, I don't think MS is going to make the mistake again of threatening cancelling the BC project. As it was pointed out, there are still new Xbox games being developed, and I think two of them are on the current BC list (Spyhunter: Nowhere to Run is one), so the BC program will be valuable to MS in the future. I agree that it will be in their best interest to carry over original Xbox games over to the 360's successor via BC emulation.

I never owned an Xbox, and I am catching up on all the BC titles on my 360, so I have great interest that they eventually get to all the titles. I think they will - eventually.

What about one of the best fighters around for the original XBOX
....Soul Calbur 2.

What about:

DOOM 3: RESURRECTION OF EVIL
STAR WARS: JEDI KNIGHT II - JEDI OUTCAST

They have DOOM 3 but not the expansion to it!
& they have JEDI KNIGHT III (JEDI ACADEMY) but not II!

Also, not sure if they have THE ELDER SCROLLS III: MORROWIND yet...

Why not the greatest American Football game to date?

ESPN2K5

I'm really disappointed this time with the b/c list. What are they thinking? It seems like this last bunch was done to piss off the xbox community.Seriously several of these games appeared on XPlays worst Xbox games of all time ( Aquaman,Kaboki,Catwan,). Maybe it's not intentional, but come on, where are the best of. I would like:
Star Wars: Republic Commando
Star Wars: Jedi Outcast
Godzilla:Save the Earth (yes, I love that game)
Mechassault 1 and 2
Time Splitters 2 and 3
Area 51
Mace Griffen
Psychonaughts
PanderDragoon Orta
Tron 2.0 (underrated!!)
Unreal Championship 1 and 2
and many,many more.

Republic Commando
Jedi Outcast
Mechassault 1 and 2
Unreal Championship 1 and 2
LOTR: THE TWO TOWERS,THE THIRD AGE, and FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING
Godzilla:Save the Earth
Tron 2.0
TimeSplitters 2&3
Area 51
Mace Griffen
Evil Dead
Panzer Dragoon Orta