Xbox 360 backwards compatibility

If you’ve been keeping up to date with the Xbox 360 news, then you would have read last week that the Xbox 360 will be able to play Halo and Halo 2, with the added benefit of high definition and Full Scene Anti Aliasing. On Friday it was revealed that more than 200 Xbox titles will be supported by the Xbox 360 at launch, with more to follow when ready. In order to play your Xbox games on a 360 you must have an Xbox 360 hard drive and the game must be on the backwards compatibility game list.

Out of the box a hard drive equipped Xbox 360 will be able to play Halo and Halo 2, but the Live features of Halo 2 will not be available until a full emulation update is obtained. Those connected to Xbox Live will simply have to insert an Xbox game disc into the Xbox 360 and the system will check that the latest emulation software is installed. If you don’t have access to Xbox Live then you can download the emulation updates from Xbox.com and burn them onto a CD, insert the CD into your Xbox 360 and the updated emulator will be installed. There is also the option to go to Xbox.com and sign up for a CD to be sent to your home for a nominal shipping and handling fee.

One of the added benefits of playing Xbox games on an Xbox 360 is that the 360 will upscale the games to high definition and enable Full Scene Anti Aliasing on all games, making them sharper than you would have experienced on the Xbox. High Definition will be limited to those with HD capable displays, but the jagged edge reducing effect that anti-aliasing provides will be beneficial to everyone.

Since the list of supported games was announced there has been somewhat of an uproar that many people’s favourite games are not on the supported game list. Some of the high profile games missing are the Burnout series, the Splinter Cell games, Far Cry Instincts, Doom 3 and Conker, with cult favourites such as Panzer Dragoon Orta and Jet Set Radio Future also missing. To make matters worse, games such as Barbie Horse Adventure and Catwoman are on the supported game list. Microsoft are saying that support for other games is coming, so I would think many of the games mentioned will eventually play on a 360.

What may have happened is that a number of games proved much easier to emulate successfully than the more complex games on the Xbox system. To be honest, why shouldn’t Microsoft announce support for games like Barbie Horse Adventures if it works? It may have resulted in less moaning from the gaming hardcore, but what difference does it make to them if a game they don’t own or plan to own is supported.

You can read a full interview with Todd Holmdahl, the Corporate Vice President of the Xbox Product Group over at Xbox.com where all things concerning backwards compatibility are discussed.