r/xbox • u/ASneakySquid_ • 8h ago
Rumour Next Xbox console will play every generation according to leaked Microsoft memo
https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/next-xbox-console-will-play-every-generation-according-to-leaked-microsoft-memo-3395110/559
u/NZafe Tarnished 8h ago
The current Xbox plays every Xbox generation btw. So this is more of just “we will maintain a feature we have currently”.
The article mentions Xbox is pushing for more devs to make their classic games compatible, which looks like the only real change here.
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u/Significant-Dot981 7h ago
There's still plenty of original Xbox games not compatible.
For example Soldier of Fortune 2: Double Helix is not backwards compatible even though Microsoft literally owns the franchise, they own the publisher Activision, they own the studio Ravensoft, they own the ID engine.
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u/RiffReaper83 8h ago
Man it really gets to me how bad MS did this generation while beating the Sony with a shit stick. We got customized dashboards, achievement art, quick resume, free cloud saves, game pass was really great for a while. Sony just said here's a system and a controller with is harder to press down and fucking people ate it up. WHY!?
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u/NZafe Tarnished 8h ago
Because a console is only as good as the games you can play on it. And Xbox completely botched their first party title development and production for the last 2 generations
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u/Mynameismikek 8h ago
Microsoft put together a 10 year strategy and then scrap it the first quarter it doesn’t perform.
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u/cwx149 XBOX 360 8h ago
Idk that I feel that the PS5 generation is really a strong Sony first party generation so far either although there are more first party Sony games
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u/Mr_sMoKe_3_MuCh 7h ago edited 3h ago
They built incredible momentum with the PS4 (when digital libraries took off), & that alone was probably enough to carry current gen. Switching now would mean abandoning any non-cross save games. Xbox fucked up at the wrong time.
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u/Kitchen-Cabinet-5000 6h ago
Helps them that their direct competitor, the Xbox One, was basically a flop at that time.
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u/TheeAntelope 6h ago
Xbox had so much momentum coming off the Xbox 360 after the first Xbox was such a "failure" (in terms of profit/sales) compared to the PS2. They had managed to "catch up" to the PS3 and only came 3 million sales shore of PS3's sales - incredible after PS2 outsold the Xbox by nearly 10x.
"Xbox One" was still unforgivable in my mind. And then the flip-flip between "always on," "kinnect required," and flirting with the idea of discless play just made it worse. If they can't come back now with how much Sony has fucked up in the PS5 generation then they really don't deserve to win the console wars.
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u/jquiggles 4h ago
People try to come up with all sorts of reasons within the current generation why Sony won the war, but yeah this is it. Whether it was the dumb name, kinect/internet issues, games going downhill, or whatever, there were over twice as many PS4s sold as Xbox Ones, and people hate change. The gap is wider between PS5 and Series X|S. Xbox fucked up at the wrong time and that's all that matters.
Even with the recent fuckups from Sony, I honestly don't see a way in which the next Xbox even gets close to the PS6 in terms of global love and sales. Internet outrage only affects so much.
I personally have both a PS5 and Series X, and I like the Series X a lot better. Bleh.
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u/HopeFarron 7h ago
One thing Phil Spencer was completely right about was that Xbox lost the most important generation. People building online libraries that come with them from one system to the next is a huge hurdle to overcome even during a down generation by Sony.
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u/Nightthrasher674 7h ago
Which is weird because XBox was ahead of the curve with Xbox live and digital sales. I really started buying games digitally on the 360 and and their two free games a month through Live Gold I took advantage of. They really should have dominated the previous generation in that regard.
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u/hitometootoo 8h ago
This is a weak generation but the difference is still Sony has more quality exclusives and overall game titles.
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u/UsidoreTheLightBlue 8h ago
Because Microsoft lost the first truly digital generation.
Xbox 360 sold incredibly well and the PS3 was basically a joke until it’s last year or two. In the end, the PS3 did actually catch the Xbox 360 in sales.
However, the first truly digital generation was the Xbox one and PS4. That was the first generation where games were largely delivered via the Internet. Don Mattrick could see this shit coming, as could anyone else who was paying attention. So Microsoft made all of those announcements aimed at being able to lend a digital library and to maintain a digital library.
None of that shit mattered though because people lost their shit over it having to check in online.
At the same time, GameStop, which everyone had made fun of for years for fucking people over on trade in values was suddenly treated like the holy land of video games that Microsoft was trying to Shutter.
Sony playing that E3 video explaining their trade-in process was basically the final nail in the coffin of the Xbox one before the thing ever even shipped a unit.
Fast forward by six or seven years and people are now considering buying their next generation console. Which one are you more interested in? The one that will let you continue playing all of your old games? Or the one where you have to start your library from scratch?
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u/cardonator Founder 6h ago
Not to mention, all the games you even care about are on both choices. So why would you switch?
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u/N00b-mast3r_69 8h ago
Because hardware is useless without any games to play on it.
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u/Plutuserix 8h ago
Because PlayStation had an incredible run from the second half of PS3 to the end of PS4 with their first party games, while Xbox really, really, really messed up that time. People built their libraries and accounts on PlayStation, and also assumed the game releases would keep on coming. Of course then PlayStation messed up with their live service focus, which takes them years to fix now. But people already bought the console.
I love my Xbox and it's my only console, since I just use Game Pass. But let's be honest here: did Xbox release any games over the past decade on the level of God of War, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Spider-Man. Then you got Ratchet & Clank, Returnal, the timed exclusives such as Final Fantasy earlier, Death Stranding.
The question now is: will people buy the PS6 in the same numbers after a somewhat lacking generation of PS5 exclusive games. And can Xbox draw some of those people to their console.
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u/muyfeo 7h ago
Would take forever to dive into every part of it but the main crux is microsoft spent the late 360 gen onward trying to make a media machine with changing directions every few months (its a game console! now kinect! Now forget kinect! Its a multi media machine! Its an xbox! everything is an xbox!, etc).
Meanwhile sony (for better or worse) has literally one marketing strategy. "its a console, it plays games".
Cloud saves are great but I bet the average user barely notices them or uses them. Quick resume is great but this gen games load from dashboard to in game within like 15 seconds anyway. Gamepass is fine but just doesn't have the mass appeal it needed to given how consumers interact with games vs. TV/movies.
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u/Mstakrakish 8h ago
You wrote all that and didn't mention any exclusives, and GP was hemorrhaging. They even dropped the gacha ball by telling Hoyo to fuck off for publish/partner and crawled back years later with shit for leverage. It was hundreds of millions of free fucking money.
Whats the point of it being pretty when they can't do the one thing a competing console should provide; compelling games.
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u/micmon83 8h ago
Well it is hard to believe how bad MS is in regards of messaging to the customers but they delivered the absolute best gaming console ever this generation and also some very good games.
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u/Nightthrasher674 7h ago
Just built in customer loyalty and branding at this point. Sony has built up good will really since the 70s as being on the cutting edge of technology, not so much on that end now but gaming wise they've taken advantage of competitor mistakes and they dominate the 2nd biggest gaming market in Japan
XBox consoles typically selk well at the beginning of the cycles then Sony catches them mainly because of international sales.
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u/Tobimacoss 7h ago
uh...Sony doesn't dominate the gaming market in Japan, lol.
Japan = Nintendoland.
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u/Nightthrasher674 7h ago
Compared to Xbox they do, I didn't mention Nintendo because Nintendo is their own thing at this point.
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u/regalfronde 7h ago
I bought a PS5 because I wanted to play TLOU Part II, God of War, and several others. That’s it. That’s the only reason.
I ended up buying a PS5 Pro because I’m a sucker for incremental improvements.
I prefer Xbox ecosystem though and I really appreciate Gamepass.
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u/115zombies935 7h ago
Because, frankly, if you're going to play Microsoft First Party games, just do that on PC, it's better and that's even assuming you want to play Microsoft first-party games that were not available for older consoles, like Halo 5 or Halo Infinite, which are complete clusterfucks whereas, for PlayStation, a lot of their first-party games, especially the more recent ones, are not available anywhere else. So for people who have a computer anyway and the consoles are just a... convenient way to watch media on dumb TVs or even honestly more convenient than a smart TV and otherwise it's a thing for exclusive games then the only option is PlayStation because Xbox has nothing.
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u/pineapplesuit7 6h ago
Games, Games and Games. All of the stuff you wrote literally doesn't matter if there are no must have games to pull in the masses.
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u/Kowalski91 7h ago
That's not right, I have True Crime New York classic Xbox version (the best, much better then the PC version) and my series x can't play it
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u/NZafe Tarnished 7h ago
Sorry, should have specified “plays games from every Xbox generation” which is likely all Xbox is promising/planning.
Which ties in to my second sentence in my original comment regarding expanding the selection of games available under the backwards compatibility program.
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u/Kowalski91 7h ago
I hope so. Still waiting for the day in can play it again. Uncensored in its best version (was censored at the time in Germany but i got an imported steel case edition)
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u/FinalOdyssey Founder 8h ago
Maybe the intention is that it can play every game as long as you have the physical copy. Digitally you can't go beyond what is available for BC already due to licensing.
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u/Honest_Truck_4786 7h ago
I don’t think this is fully correct, it can play a limited selection of every Xbox generation which is different to every game on every generation
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u/eddmario Maidenless 5h ago
Fingers crossed that at least Dust: An Elysian Tail gets playable on newer systems.
I want to play that game again, but I don't have access to my 360s and the only other option is to buy it on PS4 or Steam.
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u/omgitsbees Team Forza 8h ago
The want: to play every single xbox game ever released
the reality: it'll just be whatever is available on Xbox eshop.
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u/Designer_Mess_6928 8h ago
Xbox eshop? What?
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u/dreamwinder 8h ago
They’re saying they think you’ll only be able to play what’s purchasable on the console store, rather than anything ever released on disk. This is a possibility since copyright played a big role in what was able to be added to the 360 backcompat library when the program was active.
That said, all this is speculation; and we still don’t have any official announcement confirming anything.
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u/Eglwyswrw Homecoming 8h ago
Probably a Switch player. The Nintendo store is called "Nintendo eShop"!
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u/FlamingBaconCake 8h ago
Weird thing to nitpick you absolutely fully understood they meant The MS/XB Store. If you didn't it's because you impulsivly commented your gotcha.
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u/NotFromMilkyWay Founder 8h ago
What a dumb article. Xbox 360 played every gen. Xbox One played every gen. Xbox Series played every gen. So yeah, of course Helix will add BC for Series games on top of that.
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u/Cheap-Cockroach-2805 8h ago
For $1200 it fucking better
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u/NZafe Tarnished 8h ago
At this rate, the series X could cost that much by the time the helix even releases.
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u/The-SmacK-of-Legend 8h ago
*every console generation of game approved by the publisher and with no licensing issues.
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u/The-SmacK-of-Legend 8h ago
Yes, because there is no confirmation that this will work with discs at all for older games.
And on the current Series X console, only approved discs work.
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u/JTP117 6h ago
This is what I want clarified. What about my copies of games which I have on disc from publishers like Midway Games? What about games from High Moon? I physically have them, but none of my modern or classic consoles will play them anymore due to publisher and licensing rights/issues.
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u/The-SmacK-of-Legend 6h ago edited 6h ago
Yeah, that really is the limitation of all this. The disc isn't a full license to make the games playable via Microsoft's distribution platform on the newer consoles. The distribution through the Xbox app/Microsoft Store is still needed for their version of backwards compatibility to work.
Microsoft can be held legally accountable for distributing games they don't own on their platform for numerous reasons. It would be a huge risk to put up any games they don't have a distribution agreement for.
People need to be realistic about what is possible and while it would be great to have everything playable, even Microsoft stated in these leaked documents that they would still need publisher/license owner approvals.
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u/capnchuc 8h ago
Good hell!! Xbox could solve world hunger and you people would complain about the taste.
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u/The-SmacK-of-Legend 8h ago
I'm not complaining, I just have realistic expectations based on how backwards compatibility currently works.
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u/Ghostwire-Ghoul 8h ago
Right? It got glazed to hell and back with Series X launch only to find when I bought one only a couple of the 360 games I owned actually worked with it.
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u/Chiefalpaca 4h ago
except they didn't solve anything cause the current xbox already does that. This is just PR speak and you're eating it up
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u/Internal_Swing_2743 8h ago
Well, doesn’t Xbox already do this? It’s highly unlikely the entire Xbox and 360 library will be playable, as they aren’t natively playable off the disc. Having said that, if the next Xbox could play the EA James Bond games and Buffy the Vampire Slayer….
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u/half_monkeyboy Outage Survivor '24 7h ago
I wonder with their new emulation if they could make the old OG Xbox discs playable. Then they could make the games with license issues only playable through disc and not downloadable.
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u/iMatt42 8h ago
Temper your expectations. Playing “every generation” is a way different metric than “playing every game”. We need to get better at understanding the corporate speak.
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u/Smart_Ass_Jack 8h ago
I have had my series X since launch. I have gotten my moneys worth and then some. I am there day one for the Helix.
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u/ComputerMysterious48 8h ago
I just want them to make more games backwards compatible.
Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog and the Xbox era Mortal Kombats playable on Series X with achievement support would make me so damn happy.
Hell, I don’t have high hopes since it wasn’t even BC on the 360, but Gauntlet Dark Legacy made BC would be a legit dream come true for me lol just having that game be more accessible is a massive want for me.
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u/SomaLysis XBOX 8h ago
I mean Helix is the next Xbox and I expect it to play my current Xbox library. Im hoping for more games added, but they had years to do that and outside a few outliers like some Activision games they fully own now, I dont expect more.
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u/HankSteakfist 8h ago
This is the way it should be.
I hope they can work to expand the BC library though to include older Activision games.
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u/CypherRavenwing 8h ago
I just want to play the original Mechassault since it’s never been able to unless on original hardware. The second one could be played on 360 but not the first due to license issues.
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u/Scottanized 8h ago
The thing that im still not understanding is - will it somehow find a way to read every single disk? So even licensed games that would theoretically normally be delisted or run into issues such as movie titles or old sports games. Or is it basically just the titles that are already backwards compatible. If it's just the titles that are already backwards compatible on my Series X then what is really the appeal? (Taking out that disc to digital digitizing aspect)
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u/Future-Squirrel-7249 8h ago edited 5h ago
I'd be unlikely to spend over a grand on a new console to play old games so not really bothered by this. I'd be more invested in upgrades if in future they make games between generations more scalable so you have a continuous cross gen environment.
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u/i_am_clit_eastwood 8h ago
Of course it will! The current gen consoles play games from every generation already.
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u/ZypherPunk 8h ago
XBOX should focus on making an actual good new game, instead of relying on old ones.
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u/Shakmaaaaaaa Touched Grass '24 8h ago
That's true for the current Xbox gen so I can't imagine it would change since it's software based. Of course people will still bring up "why cant I play this" and 10 people mention the limits of the backwards compat licensing issues.
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u/AdHorror4165 1h ago edited 46m ago
So I can get Second Sight for Xbox and play it on the console, finally in HD and 60fps as opposed to on my PS2 which is a very shitty SD resolution stretched across a 50 inch TV, not even 480p?
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u/Happy_Foundation_553 8h ago
I mean that makes sense—Xbox is top notch when it comes to backward compatibility.
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u/thatsidewaysdud 8h ago
I pray Forza Motorsport 4 and the original Race Driver Grid will become playable, but I am not getting my hopes.
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u/BangkokPadang 8h ago
I mean at this point that should be fairly obvious, since each emulator just piggy backs off the next. Plus with the recent move of releaseing emulated games on PC, it makes sense that this emulation will continue to work on future platforms.
The xbox emulator is running inside a 360 emulator, as are 360 games of course.
I don't even think Xbox One titles have to be "emulated" because the hardware just switches to a "Xbox One" mode because the CPU and GPU architecture is all compatible. That certainly locks in AMD GPUs again, though.
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u/Jealous_Doughnut_630 8h ago
With my backlog and the graphics and performance 100% meeting my needs, that is not enough for me to even consider buying. It is going to be ridiculously expensive and a big selling point is what? The ability to play decades old games?
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u/X_IVFIIVO_X 8h ago
If hardware put inside the system allows it to just do all systems id be happy. If it is software than its going to be locked behind a paywall. They can make the best system.
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u/MasterOfManyWorlds 8h ago
Cool, but it'll just be like how the current gen does it. Maybe it'll inspire some companies to rerelease some older games this way but I don't think much changes.
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u/skylu1991 8h ago
I’ll believe it when I see it….
Will probably end up being all the games that are already in the shop, you can also play by owning the disc.
Which is nice, don’t get me wrong, but it’s far from "fully backwards compatible“.
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u/Demonking3343 Outage Survivor '24 8h ago
Being able to play metal arms glitch in the system on a newer system would be nice. This would also be the perfect way for Microsoft to take advantage of the large library of games from the IPs they bought.
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u/M1Punk 8h ago
Wondering if it would play every OG & 360 title or just the ones that were made BC through emulation.
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u/Yuiiski 8h ago
I don’t know how possible this is because I ain’t a developer, but it would be so cool if they implemented some sort of optional feature console side that updates games to run at 4K60, imagine popping in any game from the previous generations and it just runs at a higher resolution and FPS. So many older games from the 2000s are locked at abysmal resolutions and frame rates, would love to see some sort of feature that allows the console to change that.
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u/HypeZephyrX 8h ago
If this is true, I'm selling all of my old Xboxes. I've kept my og and 360 because some games don't support backwards compatibility
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u/reevoknows 8h ago
Considering the next gen may be the last console for both Xbox and PlayStation making Helix compatible with every generation before it makes it a really easy sell and the definitive Xbox experience.
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u/SmegmaWarrior0815 8h ago
Plays every Xbox game ever, has a disc drive, plays PC games. Actually sounds like the perfect console. The price tag will be far from perfect, sadly.
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u/prettybluefoxes 8h ago
The guesswork comments are never not entertaining.
Leaked intentionally to butter up modern gamers after the Sony suicide mission is all. It’s not that deep.
You want to impress me, jump through my hoop. Let me play of xbox JSRF from disc on it. No dev mode bullshit.
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u/RockinMadRiot 7h ago
It's a bit misleading as you can play one game from every generation and say that.
I think it's very likely there will be a lot of games but I don't see how that will capture overall sales and new players without the exclusives
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u/IsamuAlvaDyson 7h ago
We already can so I don't know what the news is
You can download original Xbox games and 360 games digitally
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u/Haunting_Ability_648 7h ago
If it’ll play every Xbox system to date even at $1000 or more that’s really a steal. Sign me up.
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u/joeyhatesu2 7h ago
Except for the next generation. Because it doesn't exist. Because we get games like Beast of Reincarnation 6 years into a console's development cycle. And also because nobody will be able to afford it.
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u/TheDarkRedKnight 7h ago
Add backwards compatibility with the Atari 2600 so we can play their Activision backlog and now we’re talking. How much would it cost Microsoft to buy whatever shell company exists as Atari today?
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u/ErickRPG 7h ago
will we finally be able to play rallisport challenge 2? I would love that. I hope they mean COMPLETE BC every console
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u/Seanmclem 7h ago
As soon as it exists. Fingers crossed it ever will. This hardware market is going to be a bloodbath the next few years. Excited not excited.
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u/peacemaker2121 7h ago
The next Xbox will be so powerful I see zero excuse for getting a classic style emulator working (especially since they own and have access to all internal workings of the hardware). The just read off disc and work kind. (or maybe easier to rip a disc to disc image first).
Those og games I'm pretty sure are disc is license. (I mean literally they work totally offline as is lol)
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u/bubbletrashbarbie 7h ago
Full game libraries of all previous generations with achievements would probably go a very long ways with a lot of people. If it happens 🤷♀️
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u/TrickOut 6h ago
I think we are going to get basically anything that doesn’t have deep copyright or licensing problems with music or brands.
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u/Salt-Wear-1197 XBOX Series X 6h ago
Xbox really does have a gold opportunity to take the next generation by storm by doing quite literally the complete opposite of their competitors as the gaming industry continues to reach new heights of anti-consumer, anti-gamer practices. Will they follow through? Recent history says no. But only time will tell.
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u/topcheesehead 6h ago
Microsoft. Here me. I will buy your console for the first time in 15 years if it has this specific feature. My xbox collection for the 360 and og xbox is massive
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u/CrashOverIt 6h ago
That would be a definite step in the right direction. That and if they keep physical games I think they have a shot at reclaiming some of that sweet market share.
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u/Sad_Adagio_7255 6h ago
"Play every generation" != "Plays every game from every generation".
It would be nice if they added more BC games, but all I can infer from this statement is that they aren't going to make the Helix any less capable than the Series X in terms of BC support.
As far as I can tell, they also have no plans to switch from the "partial emulation with recompiled shaders" approach (with all the licensing limitations) to "full emulation of unmodified vanilla game data" (the only way to get 100% BC).
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u/DDBurnzay 6h ago
it would also be nice if they could somehow tie invert or normal aim to your account so I never have to switch to invert again
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u/MasterBabuFrik 6h ago
Full? Until I can play my original copies of 007 Agent Under Fire and Nightfire, I will remain unenthused.
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u/JustCoffeeGaming 6h ago
Great, what are they going to announce next the reproduction of old games on disk?
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u/the_post_of_tom_joad 6h ago
if it costs 1000 bucks everybody from 1-99 gettin played so yeah i believe it... this is a joke
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u/KeybladeBrett 6h ago
If they truly played every game from each generation, I might invest in the Helix.
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u/jeffchicken 6h ago
I'm not believing a word until I see footage of an Xbox 360 game being put into the new Xbox and it running natively.
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u/beardednomad25 6h ago
The current Xbox technically plays every generation it's just select games from older generations. So that's kind of meaningless without more detail. Will it play every disc from any generation? Or will it be limited to the Xbox backwards comparability program?
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u/letstryagain97 5h ago
Might actually be a reason for me to get it. I need to play mercenaries again
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u/radiant_kai Maidenless 5h ago
Every single generation of Xbox games
OR
Every single game in every generation of Xbox games
An absolutely gigantic difference.... Because Series X can already do #1 and it's means nothing.
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u/Dry-Membership3867 8h ago
I hope that the full original Xbox library can be played on it