I’ve got a stack of Xbox 360 games nearly a story high in my house, and I know I’m not alone. It looks a little sad there right now, seeing as I’ve mostly moved my gaming over to current-gen systems. Backwards compatibility isn’t something we’ve seen on Xbox or Playstation since the PS3, which didn’t turn out too well (The Wii U is backwards compatible with the Wii, though). Microsoft appears to have found a pure software solution to the problem, unlike the PS3.
But people like me aren’t really the target audience. This is clearly aimed at Xbox 36o owners who have been nervous about making the full jump to Xbox One. This smooths out that transition by giving people peace of mind: they won’t have to totally restart their games collection. Microsoft promises that digital games should start appearing in libraries around launch.
PS4 still has a massive lead, and I’d be surprised if this would be enough to close that sizeable gap. But it’s a great feature for Xbox 360 owners, and an important reversal for the company that bombed E3 so badly two years ago. That Microsoft appeared to want to stymie gamers with DRM and requirements at every turn. This is just the opposite: as Phil Spencer said, gamers shouldn't have to pay more for games they already own -- a clear shot at Sony's Playstation Now service. It's a pro-player move, and we could always use more of those.
E3 has already started strong with Bethesda’s conference last night, and this backwards compatibility is one of the better announcements I’ve seen in a while. Will
