Xbox One Backwards Compatibility, The REAL Deal; UPDATED

E3 2015 is here, and so that means overreactions to announcements will be filling our Facebook and Twitter feeds all week. I'd like to take some time to bring a realistic look at select announcements (along with the excitement that followed them) and bring some people back down to Earth.  

First up, Microsoft, and more specifically, the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility announcement. This feature, on paper, is huge... if it were 2013. Is it worth getting excited over and rushing out to buy that Xbox One? Ease up, cowboy. Put the keys down. Take a minute and think with me about this. Let's start with the fine print, and not just the headline. The promise is that 100 titles will be playable by Xmas. Is that a lot? 100 sure sounds like a lot, but how many games are on the 360 right now? 1,139. Yes, you read that right, and with some simple math, you can see that by Xmas, you'll have access to less than 10% of the entire 360 library. That's not a whole lot of games. 

This generation took the "enhanced edition" trend and ran with it. If you were looking forward to playing Halo, Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider, Gears of War, Dishonored or any other late released/popular title from the last generation, they have Xbox One collections and "enhanced editions" already out, or current releases of popular fracnchises already available (i.e. Madden, Call of Duty, Battlefield, etc.). So who is this announcement for and who is really going to care? Is your copy of Sneak King worth playing over any of the other new titles coming later this year?

If if this was an announcement made prior to the launch of the system, this could have saved a number of fans from jumping ship and making the PS4 their first (and maybe only) next gen system purchase. Even is the software emulation is a time consuming process, having a monthly update adding a few more games each time would have helped the first year drought that always comes with new hardware post launch, and this generation was significantly slow when it came to first year titles. Right now, though, we are in a good groove of releases and it'll only increase from here on. Is it even worth it at this point? It seems to me that this announcement is more for a features bullet point on the back of the box and to stir up false excitement for people who've yet to make the jump. At the end of the day, it won't benefit early adoptors, and it really isn't worth getting excited over for new buyers because of th enhanced ports already available.

Stay tuned for more posts as more announcements are made!

UPDATE:

Microsoft has posted a list of titles available now to preview members. The list is far from the promised 100 titles ready by the end of the year, but if their header image is to be assumed as a sampling of other titles soon to be added, Microsoft has done some redundant work. With the Master Chief Collection now available, why make Halo one of the few playable titles? Same thing for Perfect Dark, Viva Pinata and the Banjo titles, those will be in the cheaply priced Rare Replay compilation. Borderlands? Updated and enhanced on Xbox One. Have a look below and tell me what you think.

Available games

Initial preview titles with more to come. Games are subject to change.

A Kingdom for Keflings

A World of Keflings

Alien Hominid HD

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Tooie

BattleBlock Theater

Defense Grid

Geometry Wars Evolved

Hexic HD

Jetpac Refuelled

Kameo

Mass Effect

N+

Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark Zero

Small Arms

Super Meat Boy

Toy Soldiers

Toy Soldiers: Cold War

Viva Piñata

Viva Piñata: TIP

Zuma

-Darren!
@darrenhupke

- -Darren Hupke @darrenhupke

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