The Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, is the gaming industry’s platform to debut, showcase and experience the future of games, but for Microsoft, the biggest announcement was a step into the past: backward compatibility.
The Xbox One console was unable to function with games made for the earlier Xbox 360 version, making some gamers upset that their older games were not compatible with the newest system.
With the Microsoft E3 announcement, Xbox One owners will now be able to play Xbox 360 games as of Nov. 12 with the launch of backward compatibility.
“Backward compatibility was needed especially in terms of competing with Sony,” said Odofo Bondzi-Simpson, senior biochemistry and molecular biology major. “It allows me to enjoy old games on an updated system.”
The fact that many Xbox 360 gamers spent a good amount of money building their game collection only to have them become useless with the Xbox One was upsetting for some, but can be a nostalgic matter for others.
“It is great that you can now play 360 games on the Xbox One because most new systems make the old games a distant memory,” said Jonathan Diaz, junior biology major. “It makes people want to buy the new Xbox One and keep their old games alive.”
“Halo Reach,” “Call of Duty,” “Left 4 Dead” and “Gears of War” are the most sought out games that have some fans excited for the backward compatibility.
“(Microsoft is) giving our games that we spent a lot of money on another chance on a new system so that the money doesn’t go to waste,” said Brent Anton, sophomore business administration major. “(But) you need to have the 360 disk to use it, so if you sold the disk, like many of us did, you can’t play the game.”
Microsoft will be offering backward compatibility at no additional charge beside the initial purchase of the previously released games for the Xbox 360, hoping that an attractive lineup of games will convince users to choose the Xbox One and its catalog of games over the PlayStation 4.
