Now, this may come as maybe a silly question to be asking, but hear me out. Is Backwards Compatibility good for the industry?
It launched last night on Xbox One to go alongside the New Xbox One Experience. I found quite a few games show up in my list which I was surprised with, such as Just Cause 2, I didn’t realise that I had that game, which was a nice surprise.
As I was going to bed at the time they were coming through, I set 8 games in total to download last night which I have never played on the Xbox 360, so it’s a nice little addition to show up, and will keep me busy for a while.
But is it good for us? What about from a retail stance, how does this affect the industry. Are we going to see a hike in prices on the games being made backwards compatible? This is something that I can see happening, prices over the last 2 years for 360 games have been dropping because more and more people have been taking the plunge and getting an Xbox One, and trading there 360s in at the same time.
Not much need for 360 games is there? Wrong, since Backwards compatibility has been announced gamers have been planning which games there going get and waiting to see which ones Microsoft would release. The initial 104 games were announced the other day and have now launched, but also the next wave of games have been announced as well.
Now, from a retail standpoint, you’ll be seeing that list and getting £/$ signs in your eyes. Cash cow time!
People who never got to play some games on 360 which are going to be backwards compatible, are more than likely going to get that game as there now able to play it easily on the One. So, for retailers the main thing for them to do, is to cash in on this and I believe this is what they’re going to do.
In my local GAME store at the moment they have loads of games on offer for Xbox 360 with 3 for 2’s etc, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw price hikes on games such as Fable, Assassins Creed 2, Just Cause 2 all because of the demand.
This is where the wave of hikes comes in and causes a ripple effect to others in the industry such as Amazon or Gamestop etc.
If people are buying companies will hike the prices, and this is where the gamer suffers, soon enough we could end up paying £20-30 for a 5-year-old 360 game. But, if we look at it from another standpoint, let’s look at the developer’s side of things.
If developers can see that a franchise they haven’t yet brought to Xbox One is getting a new lease of life through BC, could this encourage them to reinvigorate the series and bring a new entry in that franchise to next generation?
Additional revenue as well from game purchases could encourage developers as well, it’s not a given that this will happen, but it is a potential outcome of BC.
From the gamers side of things, you have got to say that it is looking rather peachy, Microsoft have released over 100 games for BC and have already announced the next wave, with even more that have been previously announced to wait upon. It’s a very good time to be an Xbox One gamer.
I have to admit that this is a fantastic feature, and for free, you can’t argue with that. I feel sorry for PS4 players, I really do. Sony released Playstation Now, a subscription streaming service, which from what I’ve seen and tried, isn’t the most stable thing in the world.
This is something that Sony have missed out on, all they’ve thought out about is profits and trying to get more money off their gamers for something which if you don’t have a fast internet connection is going to provide you with a substandard service, and for the price you pay for the game rentals, that isn’t the best.
Sony fans may read this and grumble, that’s fine, but there is no denying that for a free feature and for games that you get to keep, this certainly does outshine Playstation Now.
I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on Backwards Compatibility and what games you have got so far, it would also be interesting to get Sony fans thoughts on this and how they feel it compares to Playstation Now, let us know in the comments below, or find us on twitter @247_gamer and @XboxSuperJoon.
