Backwards Compatibility

A lot has been made of the ability of the Xbox 360 to play Xbox games. Too much has been said about it – it HAS to have it, why only certain games, this will put me off buying a 360…blah blah blah. I just don’t see the issue – the PS2 has backward compatibility but I’ve never used it – once I see, hear and play next gen games the immediately previous gen just looks poor.

Now that Sony are struggling with not only a new version of the PS2 but have revealed issues on the PS3 maybe the debate will calm down. It’s not about being backward compatible – what about updating older games. Take Halo2 or Pro Evo4/5 – they’ve lost none of their playability since release – wouldn’t it be nice to play hi-res versions on the 360 or with new maps/teams? There are rumours that Halo1/2 will have hi-res graphics on the 360 – it is nice to think they will be true. Ultimately I would rather MS concentrated on the 360 line up rather than wondering about how we can play the old games on the 360. Will I really want to play PGR2 ahead of PGR3? Then again, an updated Halo2 may be THE only other game worth playing on the 360!