Xbox 360 playing catchup to Wii’s Virtual Console
Microsoft are taking a page from Nintendo’s very popular Virtual Console book, with an upcoming Xbox update set to allow full original Xbox titles to be downloaded from Xbox Live. These titles are expect to cost ~ $15 (1200 Microsoft Points).
While exciting, this update (as related by Wired) begs a number of important questions. The most important is “Does this mean you admit the backwards compatibility doesn’t work? Are you giving up altogether?” The extremely patchy backward compatibility coverage has been a sore spot for Xbox users for some time – one of the main selling points of the 360 being the huge library of existing titles.
Why Microsoft were unable to make their own console run the games of their own other console has long been a mystery, and one that this won’t entirely solve. We can expect irate gamers to complain about owning the original XBox disc, but having to pay for it all over again should they want to enjoy it on their new console.
The download service will also serve as a bottleneck for which titles will become available, running the risk that smaller cult titles will be left out in the cold. Just like they’ve been so far, waiting for compatibility updates that never come.
It’s still a great development for 360 owners, especially those who only joined the gaming fraternity in the most recent generation, but it’s certainly no Virtual Console killer. The VC has a far greater retro library to choose from and a considerable headstart – not to mention the fact that Nintendo successfully enacted whatever black magic was needed to make the Wii run GameCube titles flawlessly.
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2 Responses to “Xbox 360 playing catchup to Wii’s Virtual Console”
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November 14th, 2007
Check your Stats. The Xbox 360 plays hundreds of Xbox games w/o issue! The Wii is based on Gamecube architecture and is only good for 480p not HD, so it better play those games. Besides, you can compare a Toy like the Wii to a true nextgen box like the 360 or for that matter the PS3!
November 14th, 2007
Check your Stats. The Xbox 360 plays hundreds of Xbox games w/o issue! The Wii is based on Gamecube architecture and is only good for 480p not HD, so it better play those games. Besides, you can’t compare a Toy like the Wii to a true nextgen box like the 360 or for that matter the PS3!