Xbox 360 gets new backwards compatibility update

187 Comments by Justin McElroy Nov 27th 2007 3:15PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360

Updates to the 360's compatibility are always kind of a mixed bag, but this new update is, perhaps, more mixed than usual. Sure, there are plenty of games, but there aren't too many standouts. Freedom Fighters and Breakdown are nice, but the decent game to stinkeroo average is not so hot.

That said, there are now ~~over 300~~ 465 backwards compatible games, and we can't think of a lot of marquee titles left to be brought up from the minor leagues. [Update: The 84 new games bring the list to 465. Sorry, Major Nelson is behind the times.] Check out the list after the jump and let us know which games you'd still like to see added to the list.

November Backwards Compatibility Updates:

2006 Fifa World Cup Germany
25 to Life
AMF Bowling 2004
Apex
Arena Football
Armed and Dangerous
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance
Batman Rise of Sin Tzu
Bionicle
Blade II
Blinx: The Timesweeper
Blitz The League
Blood Omen 2
Blowout
Breakdown
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 2
Championship Manager 2006
Colin Mcrae Rally 2005
Crime Life: Gang Wars
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Dungeons& Dragons Heroes
ESPN College Hoops 2k5
ESPN NFL 2k5
Fantastic 4
FIFA 06 Soccer
Fight Night: Round 3
Final Fight: Streetwise
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Freedom Fighters
Freestyle Street Soccer
Future Tactics: The Uprising
Godzilla Destroy All Monsters Melee
Godzilla Save the Earth
Goldeneye Rogue Agent
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball Max'd
High Heat MLB 2004
Hunter: The Reckoning
Indiana Jones And The Emperors Tomb
MLB Slugfest Loaded
MVP Baseball 2003
MVP Baseball 2004
MVP Baseball 2005
Nascar Thunder 2002
Nascar Thunder 2003
NBA 2k3
NBA Ballers
NBA Inside Drive 2002
NBA Street V3
NCAA College Basketball 2k3
NCAA March Madness 2005
NCAA March Madness 2006
NFL 2k2
NFL 2k3
NHL 2005
NHL 2K3
NHL Hitz Pro
Nightcaster: Defeat The Darkness
NTRA Breeders Cup: World Thoroughbred Championships
Playboy The Mansion
RLH Hunt or be Hunted
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown
Rocky
Rugby 2006
Shattered Union
Shrek Super Party
Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
Starsky & Hutch
Syberia II
Techmo Classic Arcade
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Test Drive
The Bard's Tale
The Chronicles of Narnia The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Guy Game
The Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age
Thousand Land
Thrillville
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Turok: Evolution
Van Helsing
WarPath
Worms 3D
Zathura

Tags: backcompat, backwards-compatability, BreakingNews, xbox

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Fox318: Nov 27th 2007; 3:19PM

I'm really surprised Riddick is not on the list.

I believe its the last major AAA title that does not have support. Right?

Dr. Strangel0ve: Nov 27th 2007; 3:22PM

It never will, because they're doing the 360 remake.

Jerks.

Ordeith: Nov 27th 2007; 3:30PM

King Fu Chaos and Voodoo Vince need to get on that list.

They are great titles that do not get enough attention.

Hirsbrunner: Nov 27th 2007; 3:32PM

I agree with adding b/c for Voodoo Vince.

Great game! It convinced me to buy the Xbox console.

why not the LS2LS7?: Nov 27th 2007; 4:10PM

PGR2 is a AAA title and is not supported. Rallisport Challenge 2 also a AAA title. Also not supported.

Anonim: Nov 27th 2007; 5:12PM

Writing emulators for *each* game isn't easy.
There exist "supercomputer" in 40GB version and it can't emulate even ONE game from MUCH slower console (PS2)

AirIntake: Nov 27th 2007; 5:38PM

@Anonim

Yeah, it does seem strange that Sony can't implement 100% software emulation on the PS3 for PS2 games. The PS3 is supposedly more powerful than the 360, and the PS2 is definitely less powerful than the original Xbox, so it shouldn't be impossible if the 360 can pull it off. It's probably just not cost effective for Sony at this point to write a complete PS2 emulator and get it working with enough games. I'm glad Microsoft has stuck with it even though it can't be very profitable for them.

panzer_baiken: Nov 27th 2007; 9:31PM

Is Riddick really being remade? Don't see why. It's not that old and it still looks good. Hell, if that's the case, then give me a damned Shadow of the Colossus remake on PS3....

VampireHunter Z: Nov 28th 2007; 10:47AM

@why not the LS2/LS7?

I think PGR2 got support in the last update. Don't know about Rallisport 2.

Idear: Nov 29th 2007; 6:33PM

Right on Ordeith: how hard can it be to make Kung Fu chaos backwards compatible? This was a great party brawler by Microsoft Game Studios that is STILL not compatible!!

Dave Silva: Nov 27th 2007; 3:21PM

Yeehaw! Final Fight Streetwise! Now I can finally upgrade!

pasht: Nov 27th 2007; 4:26PM

But still no CvS2 :(

austin: Nov 27th 2007; 3:22PM

No Riddick or Advent Rising :(

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo): Nov 27th 2007; 3:46PM

No riddick ever because of remake.

License to ill: Nov 27th 2007; 5:06PM

Good cause I missed out on the original Xbox Riddick...

Abuzar: Nov 27th 2007; 10:32PM

They didn't put advent rising there because then everybody will stop playing Halo!

NOTE: I love Halo, just like Advent Rising as well. That was one of the greatest games never made and it didn't get enough hype. DAMN YOU STUPID REVIEWERS!!! They concentrated too much on it's bugs, and now I don't have a sequel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jstew: Nov 27th 2007; 3:23PM

NFL2K5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It's a celebration @itches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rv: Nov 27th 2007; 4:36PM

BITCHES COME OVER HERE AND HAVE SEX WITH CHARLIE MURHPY!

Ive been waiting for this for so long. Hell yes!

Squirrel3D: Nov 27th 2007; 7:13PM

Damn, and here I'm just finally learning how to kick the football with the right stick in APF2K8. Now I hear that my copy of NFL2K5 can be put to use agian on my Xbox 360.

Imadogg: Nov 28th 2007; 8:01AM

Never thought it would happen, I thought due to EA having the NFL license they weren't allowing 2K's NFL games on the 360... I was wrong.

Greatest NFL game ever can now be played on the 360, yay!

Norm: Nov 27th 2007; 3:23PM

I wonder if marvel vs capcom 2 works any better. that would be awesome, because my dreamcast just died.

dsub: Nov 27th 2007; 5:09PM

Why don't you just buy a new dreamcast? They can be found all over the place for less than $20.

DaMan09: Nov 28th 2007; 12:01AM

It cost me $60 for that game on xbox.... Uses. It cost that much because the disc is no longer being manufactured.

Stu: Nov 27th 2007; 3:24PM

I want my Timesplitters damnit!

Enzo304: Nov 27th 2007; 3:28PM

Yeah!! I miss Timesplitters... such a good series...

Yoshi: Nov 27th 2007; 4:26PM

Yeah dude I am STILL sitting on my copies of TimeSplitters 2 and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect hoping that one day, that update will come...

baby sea tuna: Nov 27th 2007; 3:24PM

Big ups for adding Bard's Tale! Been sitting on my shelf unplayed for about 2 years now...

Enzo304: Nov 27th 2007; 3:24PM

I tried playing some Greg Hasting Tournament Paintball Max'd, just for fun. Unfortunately, the game hangs and freezes my 360 after the 2nd or 3rd level.

Sad.

Oh well, back-compatibility seems to always suck, so I guess I shouldn't expect much.

OmegaBlaster: Nov 27th 2007; 7:21PM

It always did that exact same thing on my original Xbox.

Cabal: Nov 27th 2007; 3:26PM

Breakdown has been on the BC list for awhile now (I even replayed it on my 360 few months ago). In fact on the official list is not marked as new or even updated.

KK: Nov 27th 2007; 3:26PM

Beyond Good and Evil anyone?

secretagentnumber6: Nov 27th 2007; 4:06PM

Maybe next time. Of course I have said that about BG AND E everytime an update has come out.

Ethan: Nov 28th 2007; 4:45PM

I emailed them. You should to. And I told them to put it in widescreen!

Princess Skittles: Nov 27th 2007; 3:27PM

Here are some missing games I'd like to see:

Beyond Good & Evil
Otogi
Otogi 2
Prince of Persia 2
Prince of Persia 3
Sudeki

Ripcord83: Nov 27th 2007; 3:27PM

What? Jedi Starfighter, but no Jedi Outcast?

Stevie Brown: Nov 27th 2007; 4:42PM

Your list is very similar to mine, your royal highness. Mine also includes:

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
GUNVALKYRIE
Syberia (no, not Syberia II, the FIRST Syberia. I recently tried to choose Syberia as one of my favorite Xbox games for my Xbox Live profile, and it wasn't even on the list. Perhaps Microsoft now denies that this title ever existed.)

Once again, a major update has come and gone with not a single title from my list.

Duscrom: Nov 27th 2007; 5:15PM

Agreed on Otogi and Sudeki. I've got friends waiting on Otogi 2 to be added to the list, and i've had Sudeki sitting up on the self for 2 years waiting to get on that list

Stevie Brown: Nov 27th 2007; 4:45PM

OK, that was SUPPOSED to be a reply to Princess Skittles. The reply form even said, "replying to Princess Skittles" while I was writing it. Stoopid Joystiq.

MakAttack: Nov 27th 2007; 3:27PM

Actually, Freedom Fighters support is somewhat impressive, considering it's one of the few action games from the original XBox library that has 720P resolution support. I wonder if the 360 will upscale this to 1080p?

HeyTone: Nov 27th 2007; 4:24PM

MVP Baseball 2005 also ran at 720P, and I might add that it freakin' rocked.

ManekiNeko: Nov 27th 2007; 3:30PM

Still no Capcom vs. SNK 2, huh? I guess that means we're never gonna get it...

pasht: Nov 27th 2007; 4:37PM

Can't give up hope. I just don't get what's keeping them. They've done MvC2 and the KoF's, so what's causing them trouble with CvS2?

dvdguy: Nov 27th 2007; 3:33PM

Some decent titles in there that I've been holding on to. NFL 2K5, Rocky and Playboy: The Mansion.

Really all I'm waiting for now is Midtown Madness 3.

Batzarro: Nov 27th 2007; 3:33PM

Playboy Mansion AND Guy game? SMUTTY!

baby sea tuna: Nov 27th 2007; 3:35PM

Yeah, I think it's very odd to include support for The Guy Game, considering it got sued out of existence like 2 years ago.

Draco Basileus: Nov 27th 2007; 3:39PM

Oddworld: Strangers Wrath and the two Prince of Persia sequels.

At least M$ is still committed to backward compatibility.

Sony just sort of wrenched BC out of the Playstation, dragged it out back, and put a bullet in it's head. At least I got my 60GB PS while it was still in the wild.

Wubbytoes: Nov 27th 2007; 3:43PM

Yes, Oddworld: Strangers Wrath would be a welcome addition.

el-Stoopio: Nov 27th 2007; 4:21PM

Oh Strangers wrath would be a great addition. That and SVC Chaos on top of marvel vs capcom 2.

MariK FTW: Nov 27th 2007; 8:08PM

MvsC2 is already compatible but now the problem is finding a copy.

Now Prince of persia Sands of time and Oddworld Strangers Wrath, hells yeah but like MvsC2 good luck finding them. The last time I saw an oddworld strangers wrath copy was a year ago.

Damon: Jan 14th 2008; 11:23AM

No, Sony did not ditch backwards compatibility. I just bought an 80GB PS3 in January 2008 and it plays every single PS2 game that I've thrown at it - and I've got plenty of PS2 games. Only the 40GB model lacks BC (with PS2 software...it still plays PS1 games), and that is no different than Microsoft's entry level Xbox 360 Arcade system with no HDD, and no BC at all.

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