Why Xbox's Backward Compatibility Is Crucial: Xbox Chief Weighs In
Backward compatibility has not always been a priority for the Xbox, but Microsoft has since made a turnaround in that regard. Xbox is now all about moving older games forward, as Xbox chief Phil Spencer explained in a recent interview.
Games have a potential to be more than just electronic entertainment — an idea that has always inspired Spencer. Backward compatibility, or the ability of a newer console to play older titles designed for previous models, goes a long way toward realizing a transition from simple gaming to an expression of art.
"I see games as an art form," Spencer noted in a recent interview with Wired, adding that just like art pieces, game titles have a way of getting lost and abandoned in the continuous progress of gaming technology.
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"Console games can get lost when hardware generations go away. It can become more challenging to play the games of our past," he added, recalling that even the older games that he played as a kid helped drive him towards where he is today.
"As players, it's nice to be able to understand how our artform has progressed," Spencer concluded. As of this time, about half of all the games of the original Xbox console can be played on the Xbox 360, since Microsoft first included backward compatibility into the Xbox line of consoles.
Today, more than 400 games for the Xbox 360 can be played on the Xbox One as well, as Gamespot notes. Microsoft is also planning to add support for original Xbox games the Xbox One later this year, although the library of supported games may not be as large as that of the Xbox 360 at the start.
The company is also building backward compatibility into the Xbox One X when it launches later in November, which will let their most powerful console play games made for the Xbox 360 and the first Xbox.
