Next Xbox not backwards compatible with 360 discs: report

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1st it will possibly require an "always-on" internet connection...which annoys me, now it's not backwards compatible

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PsychoFish said:
1st it will possibly require an "always-on" internet connection...which annoys me, now it's not backwards compatible
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I think the always-on is highly unlikely. backwards compatibility, meh, I hardly ever go back to old games since I have so many new ones to play.
 
Doubt the always-online requirement as well. They wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot like that.
 
Graal said:
Doubt the always-online requirement as well. They wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot like that.
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Specially since the ps4 wont have it. I believe the rumour came about because you might find the dev kits require always online, most likely for security reasons.
 
Graal said:
Doubt the always-online requirement as well. They wouldn't shoot themselves in the foot like that.
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The thing is, Microsoft haven't denied it either. Just the other day one of their own Creative Directors went on a Twitter spree defending the always-online thing. It got ugly and MS killed the account, yet even after all that, they STILL did not say it will not happen.

There is also the rumour about MS killing the 2nd hand market too, i.e. you won't be able to trade / sell your Xbox games. Basically implying a disc-less system or a steam-like system where every purchase is tied to your account, making the physical disc worthless. (Similar to Blizzard's Battle.NET).

Now add to that this backwards compatibility thing.

Seriously, am i only one connecting dots here?

Anyway, i got an Xbox now, but even the lockdown MS has on this -now- has me annoyed enough to jump ship the next iteration. The PS4 , ironically is being touted as this super open system, basically a "managed" PC . That is exactly what i would go for. I'm not going to be squeezed any more with Xbox Live and all the regional shop BS and then all this limitation as to which apps i can use on the box combined to playing games offline....Xbox Durango/720 is sounding worse and worse every time i hear about it.

Don't forget we are sitting in the dark side of the moon when it comes to getting Microsoft services. Microsoft SA has been pretty useless up to now , nevermind the fact that all these services being touted on Xbox Live is USA only.

The amusing part in all this, if they kill backwards compatibility, they indirectly "unchain" you from them. You'd think the new Xbox would serve as a nice upgrade to your current collection, enticing you to buy it. Now it will be a clean slate. I can play my old games on my old Xbox, whatever new i want to play doesn't need to be Xbox ....

Anyway, maybe MS is using all this rage to see what they should or shouldn't do. Hopefully the get the right message, but at this stage i'm still more interested in the PS4 .
 
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My biggest thing is the backwards compatibility, I often find myself playing something older again because I actually enjoy the game for what it is as opposed to it "being the latest and greatest" game. Before Mass Effect 3 was launches I quickly jumped in and completed ME1 and ME2 just to be ready. I dread the day where I want to play an XBOX only title, like Forza 4, and I then have to go and dig up my XBOX 360 just because my new XBOX does not allow me to play it.
 
PsychoFish said:
My biggest thing is the backwards compatibility, I often find myself playing something older again because I actually enjoy the game for what it is as opposed to it "being the latest and greatest" game. Before Mass Effect 3 was launches I quickly jumped in and completed ME1 and ME2 just to be ready. I dread the day where I want to play an XBOX only title, like Forza 4, and I then have to go and dig up my XBOX 360 just because my new XBOX does not allow me to play it.
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Sony already stated they will offer the ability to play PS3 games via an online service. So chances are Microsoft will do something similar, most likely offering digital/patched versions of Xbox 360 games in the Xbox Live store, making you buy it again or something in those lines. Sony however was thinking ahead by aquiring Gaikai, so they are all set to offer this service , even though it does imply "always-on" .

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/50266/xbox-720-vs-ps4-comment
The PS4 will not be offering backwards compatibility with PlayStation 3 discs (or those from the older Sony consoles). Instead, using technologies from Gaikai, the company it acquired last year, it will be offering thousands of back-catalogue games to live stream to the machine. That means you will be able to play them as if they were on your machine itself, but they will be hosted on remote servers. That’s good, but there will be a new cost involved. Your existing discs – which you have previously paid for – will sit gathering dust.

If Microsoft wants to trump its biggest rival in the sector, it needs to offer backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games. Its Xbox to Xbox 360 compatibility was poor, needing specific software downloads on a title per title basis, leaving thousands of games out in the cold, and that’s the most we can hope for this time too.

What would be great of Microsoft, however, is to offer some form of trade-up service. The new console reads your existing Xbox Live account details, determines which games are attached to your account and offers you a digital version (that works) for a nominal sum. Even better, for free.

It’s something that Sony promised for the PS Vita when enticing PSP owners, but never materialised outside of Asia.
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I am just going to say this, I am not going to read everybody elses things because frankly I am too lazy to. But probably summing everything up.
Things are not looking good for team Microsoft with non backward compatibility and persistent online connection needed.
I really hope for their sakes that they have some really good games that are xbox next gen exclusive otherwise it will be a slow sale rate in third world countries.
 
They will lose customers if it is not backwards compatible. Microsoft is retarded if they do that.
I hope they will find a way to make the Xbox 720 backwards compatible with 360 discs.
 
Is not having backwards-compatibility (in a next-gen console) really such a bad thing?
Chances are you'll be saving up to buy this console.
Chances are also; you don't have a console and would like to own a next-gen console, but won't want to spend another few thousand on its predecessor; that's where I see backwards-compatibility making a difference.

But, if you already own a current-gen console and want a next-gen, or have to sell your current console (goodness knows why) to help paying for a new console, then it also makes sense.

However:

If you already have a PS3 or 360, and can afford a next-gen machine, I don't see the purpose of backwards-compatibility.

Also:

Doesn't it cost the company extra to make consoles B-C?

Sorry if what I said above sounds like a riddle, I was typing as I was thinking :D:p
 
the reason why its not BC is because of the architecture How hard is that to understand !!!


Emulating the original xbox was already a mission (thats why only a few games are bc) what do you think a 720 is going to cost when they practically have to include the original 360 processor just to add bc which everyone is not even going to use.

Ask yourself why sony removed the Emotion engine from the original launch ps3's (it was too expensive)

its sad when people only look at things from a narrowminded perspective
 
Speaking of architecture, as Dohc mentions above, the architectures have changed, to me that poses the question; isn't backwards compatibility (If it were achieved) going to be a bottleneck on the next gen machines?

Also, bear in mind, more functionality, more production cost, higher prices for consumers (I'm just deducing here:o).

Is it really worth it to have these next gen machines bottlenecked for the sake of backwards compatibility?

PS: I do not own a console, just curious about the implications of backwards compatibility...
 
Remember, this is backwards incompatibility with the DISCS , not with the software. So nothing stops Microsoft from making all 360 games available digitally, and they already do for the most part. It's just a matter of whether they will charge you again for it and how much they will charge you.

Knowing MS, you will most likely pay again.

I'm still more interested in the way Sony is going about this , it would be interesting to see how their Gaikai platform performs in SA (if it all), because that service implies you can "rent" games and don't even have to download them. I'm sure the Gaikai service will not be restricted to PS3 titles either, but the latest PS4 titles too.
 
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diabolus said:
Remember, this is backwards incompatibility with the DISCS , not with the software. So nothing stops Microsoft from making all 360 games available digitally, and they already do for the most part. It's just a matter of whether they will charge you again for it and how much they will charge you.

Knowing MS, you will most likely pay again.

I'm still more interested in the way Sony is going about this , it would be interesting to see how their Gaikai platform performs in SA (if it all), because that service implies you can "rent" games and don't even have to download them. I'm sure the Gaikai service will not be restricted to PS3 titles either, but the latest PS4 titles too.
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See, even if the games are available digitally, they would have to be compatible with the new architecture (this term, if I'm not to off the mark with consoles, probably blankets both hardware and how the software interacts with it, and not just one or the other), that's if you mean something akin to PC gamers' steam when you say "available digitally", this probably means that some serioius maneuvering has to be done with the architecture (since the new architecture is very different from the current gen Xbox, i.e. PowerPC vs x86) which to me sounds like a lot of work and costs which are going to translate into the console's price.

Now streaming, that's different from the games just being available digitally in "Steam sense", and AFAIK Microsoft hasn't acquired a company that does game streaming, as opposed to Sony's acquisition of Gaikai... Streaming would be a much better bet for backwards compatibility, but I highly doubt it's in the cards for Microsoft.

EDIT: I almost forgot, making the 360 games available digitally for a 720 would probably also require some form of rework from the devs of said games because of architectural differences.
 
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diabolus said:
Remember, this is backwards incompatibility with the DISCS , not with the software.
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Not quite correct. The issue is with the system architecture where they are moving from a PowerPC based CPU to a x86-64 based CPU. This does cause some compatibility issues, but nothing that cannot be overcome from an emulation perspective. Console hardware generally (now in the 8th generation) seems to be moving to more "mainstream" type CPU architectures which does make porting titles to PC a lot easier. What should not be an issue is that the PowerPC CPU was 64-bit and the x86 based CPUs are also 64-bit, so very little changes from an addressing perspective. I thing the challenge lies in that the instruction sets are different, but again it should not be an issue to run a virtual XBOX 360 on top of the existing new hardware.

Microsoft has a lot of IP regarding virtualization and hardware emulation already which they seem to overlook.
 
MHercie said:
They will lose customers if it is not backwards compatible. Microsoft is retarded if they do that.
I hope they will find a way to make the Xbox 720 backwards compatible with 360 discs.
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This is doesn't make sense, they had almost no backwards compatibility with the original xbox -> xbox 360. yet it gained customers.
 
If it doesn't have backwards compatibility, I can live with it. However, the always online feature, I can't live with. I doubt the rumors are true, that would just end up failing:cry:, and if the rumors are true I will just get a PS4 :)
 
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