Xbox One Backwards compatibility not a big deal?
Based on the comments on this you'd almost think Microsoft had done something mean or offensive. Many of the comments on articles talking about this tend to range from apathetic to in some cases even appearing outraged. Blows my mind.
Clearly, this isn't a bad thing. It is an extra feature. And it is a free one at that. There is literally nothing bad about this. It is purely beneficial. And I can't help but assume that the vast majority of the complaints come from PS4 owners. Even if Xbox One owners don't feel it adds any real value, they would have no need to gripe about it.
Not to say that the arguments are completely invalid. Many stated that backwards compatibility was really needed at launch when there were fewer titles and that it serves no purpose now.
That however is a very weak argument.
The only people a broader array of titles helps at launch is people coming from no prior console or those coming from a different ecosystem. In those cases it gives them a catalogue of new games to fill the gap while waiting on new next gen titles.
But, the most vocal on these topics are not in that group. The people reaching out and commenting and participating in forums are generally serious gamers. Also, I was around and following the news when this generations consoles were released; there was virtually no mention of wanting backwards compatibility for the purpose of expanding the selection available. Damn near everyone was just hoping to be able to play their game library on a single console. Which means most people complaining about it in the early days had both an existing games catalogue and an existing gaming console.
Those picking up a console for the first time (while they would benefit from a library of last gen games) would also be entering into the industry without any expectations about that sort of thing. And to those switching ecosystems, they wouldn't last gen titles already and wouldn't buy last gen titles to play on a next gen system. They would just play them on their old console (most games are cross platform after all).
So, for those who owned a 360 before and aren't ready to part with your games library, you're getting closer to being able sell off the old one (or maybe are already ready to do that depending on which last gen games you had).
The other point here would be, getting this working was no trivial thing. MS did it for their fans. Sony didn't. Sure, they may feel pressured because PS4 is outselling XB1, but still... sounds like people being bitter that the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
Clearly, this isn't a bad thing. It is an extra feature. And it is a free one at that. There is literally nothing bad about this. It is purely beneficial. And I can't help but assume that the vast majority of the complaints come from PS4 owners. Even if Xbox One owners don't feel it adds any real value, they would have no need to gripe about it.
Not to say that the arguments are completely invalid. Many stated that backwards compatibility was really needed at launch when there were fewer titles and that it serves no purpose now.
That however is a very weak argument.
The only people a broader array of titles helps at launch is people coming from no prior console or those coming from a different ecosystem. In those cases it gives them a catalogue of new games to fill the gap while waiting on new next gen titles.
But, the most vocal on these topics are not in that group. The people reaching out and commenting and participating in forums are generally serious gamers. Also, I was around and following the news when this generations consoles were released; there was virtually no mention of wanting backwards compatibility for the purpose of expanding the selection available. Damn near everyone was just hoping to be able to play their game library on a single console. Which means most people complaining about it in the early days had both an existing games catalogue and an existing gaming console.
Those picking up a console for the first time (while they would benefit from a library of last gen games) would also be entering into the industry without any expectations about that sort of thing. And to those switching ecosystems, they wouldn't last gen titles already and wouldn't buy last gen titles to play on a next gen system. They would just play them on their old console (most games are cross platform after all).
So, for those who owned a 360 before and aren't ready to part with your games library, you're getting closer to being able sell off the old one (or maybe are already ready to do that depending on which last gen games you had).
The other point here would be, getting this working was no trivial thing. MS did it for their fans. Sony didn't. Sure, they may feel pressured because PS4 is outselling XB1, but still... sounds like people being bitter that the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
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