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XBox (Games)

New 360 Backwards Compatibility 43

Posted by Zonk from the you've-got-to-test-these-things dept.
Gamespot is reporting that a new update to the 360's backwards compatibility has been issued ... and just as promptly recalled. From the article: "Late last night, Microsoft updated the backwards-compatibility list with eight games from the trio of Tom Clancy-inspired series. Software emulators for Ghost Recon, Ghost Recon 2, Ghost Recon 2 Summit Strike, Rainbow Six 3, Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow, Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory all became available for download. However, within hours of the new update's release, reports began to circulate that it was causing problems with Halo 2. "
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New 360 Backwards Compatibility More

New 360 Backwards Compatibility

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  • Show of hands... (Score:1, Flamebait)

    by PhoenixOne ( 674466 )
    Show of hands, who didn't see this coming?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • Yes, that was my point. But I guess I came off as an anti-Microsoft flamer. Oh well. :)

      • "Doing an emulator for something like the SNES is hard"

        They aren't using emulation - XBox 360 owners get to download new game binaries coded for the 360 because Microsoft knew emulation would be a bad way to go.
        • They aren't using emulation - XBox 360 owners get to download new game binaries coded for the 360 because Microsoft knew emulation would be a bad way to go.

          If this were true, this problem would never have been able to happen.
      • Uh, yeah... So I guess none of you see the connection (no pun intended) between Microsoft buying the best x86 > PPC emulator on the market from Connetix, and Microsoft using some magical emulation to make x86 based Xbox games run on the PPC based 360.
      • "Doing an emulator for something like the SNES is hard."

        I imagine it's a lot easier if you have access to the schematics, information on any and all lock-outs, and access to the sourcecode for just about every game ever published for the system.

  • Before you hit reply... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CMiYC ( 6473 ) on Friday December 09, 2005 @05:02PM (#14223655) Homepage
    .... let's not have 100 childish "what a surprise from Microsoft!" comments.

  • Backwards Compatibility (Score:4, Insightful)

    by skwirlmaster ( 555307 ) on Friday December 09, 2005 @05:03PM (#14223671)
    I knew they were doing soft emulation, but I thought it was modular. I'm a little surprised that they only have one peice of software which does all emulation. I presumed they would code different backends for all the popular titles. Guess it would be more work, but less headaches in the long run.

    Not sure where I got these ideas from, but that is what I thought.
    • I imagine you get the ideas from common sense idea of how it would be implemented.

      If I were designing it, I would have a base emulation library, then plugins for specific games.

      Then again it may just be an issue of making the emulation more accurate. The more accurate they make it the more games get supported.

  • Welcome... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Gogo0 ( 877020 )
    ...to the next-gen, where not only is hardware not ready for launch, but the software isnt either

    Next thing, you'll be downloading patches for your new xbox2 games before theyre even released. I suppose that since they have moved away from off-the-shelf PC components, they can make it more PC-like in other ways.

    • Re:Welcome... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by AlexMax2742 ( 602517 )
      Spoken like someone who has never tried their hand at emulation. Creating emulators with 100% compatability isn't easy, even when you have the schematics yourself. They had to have been able to update the software somehow, or else they would have had to scrap backwards compatability...unless they figured out a (probably very costly) way of putting the old architecture in the new system somehow.

      There was no easy solution for backwards compatability with an architecture as complex as the Xbox's. Good thi

      • It has nothing to do with it being Microsoft, it has to do with the product having at least a six-month lead on all other competitors, and then releasing with supply issues, hardware issues, and tons of games that dont work yet.

        If they werent so intent on releasing so early, they could have cleared up all of these issues and released a solid product in stead of one that if you are lucky to find, has a good chance of being faulty, and if not then it wont play but less than half the library of games you pu
      • No, but there is something called "testing." You see, with all of the resources and experience that Microsoft has, don't you think they should have the good sense to go back and check to make sure everything else was working before issuing an update?

        And more importantly, as someone else said above us, if they are going to claim backwards compatibility with Xbox games, then it should be 100% backwards compatible now, not a little bit now, little bit more in a couple of weeks (oops! sorry, that broke somethi
  • I'm more interested in seeing the price of the retail XBox drop. That kind of backward compatibility is what you know is going to work for all XBox titles.

    • Re:XBox prices... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by inu_maru ( 843192 )
      It sort of dropped today. In Japan.
      I got to pay 1000 yen less, as it seems that most retailers (asobit, bic camera) are selling it at 38,800 something yen.

      Also, dead or alive 3 is working, even tough it's not listed in the japanese site. Not really amazed, but in makes me wonder why they haven't released that info yet.

      About the quality of the emu... ninja gaiden black gets slugish pretty often... even if no enemy is on sight. Bleh...
  • One step forward and two steps back.[/sing]

    Fabulous job, guys. Sony may be more greedy (I refuse to label it as something so intangible as 'evil'), but at least when they say 'backwards compatible', they mean it. I like that I can still play my copies of Final Fantasy Tactics, or Gran Turismo, or Bushido Blade without having to modify anything at all. It is a fairly sweet deal, indeed.
  • They've already added a new update that both adds the compatibility for the new games, along with avoids the Halo 2 issue. All is good now.
  • I wonder how many people that complain about the 360 emulation have actually used any other emulators before, especially newly released ones? Most of the time they are slow, glitchy, and lots of games don't work yet. It usually takes the authors years to get near perfect emulation up and running. On each release some games will work better, and some may get worse. It's really the nature of the beast. To this day there still isn't a completly perfect NES emulator, that should tell you something.

    • Re:*moan moan moan* (Score:3, Insightful)

      by barc0001 ( 173002 )
      I wonder how many people that complain about the 360 emulation have actually used any other emulators before, especially newly released ones?

      No. It's this simple. If Microsoft puts on the box "backwards compatible", it god damn well better be backwards compatible. Not 40% backwards compatible, not 80%, defintely not 80% this week, 73% the next, and a month later 82% backwards compatible.

      It usually takes the authors years to get near perfect emulation up and running.

      The difference, is this is something pe
      • No. It's this simple. If Microsoft puts on the box "backwards compatible", it god damn well better be backwards compatible. Not 40% backwards compatible, not 80%, defintely not 80% this week, 73% the next, and a month later 82% backwards compatible.

        The first run of PS2's had numerous issues with various PS1 games. Nintendo's Gameboy Advance SP broke Kirby's Tilt and Tumble, so not even the Game Boy Advance has a spotless track record.

        But hey, double standards rock.

        • What he means is that if like 12 games are backwards compatible, that actually run well, and the rest are not, then a company does not have the right to start putting stickers and advertising that their system is backwards compatible. When you hit 90%+ compatability then at least you have more of a right to claim it.

          Simply put, it is just a marketing scam. It's Microsofts way of saying, "Oh ya, Sony and Nintendo can do it, look, so can we, just not as well, but still, buy our machine cause you can kinda pl
          • No, he was VERY clear with his wording.

            No. It's this simple. If Microsoft puts on the box "backwards compatible", it god damn well better be backwards compatible. Not 40% backwards compatible, not 80%, defintely not 80% this week, 73% the next, and a month later 82% backwards compatible.

            Read that again. He compared a percentage of games being backwards compatable to plain 'backwards compatable'

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