Could the Xbox One soon play 360 titles?
Microsoft has teased gamers, suggesting that Xbox 360 emulation could soon be added to the recently launched Xbox One console.
A move that could lead to Xbox One owners having the ability to play their Xbox 360 games on their new consoles, the mooted Xbox 360 emulator has been confirmed as being under consideration, although Microsoft has remained coy on when it might be rolled out.
Questioned on whether an Xbox 360 emulator for the Xbox One is in the works, Microsoft’s Xbox development lead Frank Savage told Kotaku, “There are [plans].”
Metering expectations he added: "We’re not done thinking them through yet, unfortunately. It turns out to be hard to emulate the PowerPC stuff on the X86 stuff. So there’s nothing to announce, but I would love to see it myself.”
Although in theory this 360 emulation could offer Xbox One gamers the chance to play existing 360 games direct from disc, Microsoft could also choose to force gamers into rebuying the titles in digital download form in order to play them on the next-gen console.
Savage’s comments were reportedly made during Microsoft’s Build 2014 conference in San Francisco last week, a gathering that saw the Windows Phone 8.1 mobile operating system formally unveiled with its own Siri-esque voice control system, Cortana.
Until now, the Xbox One’s lack of backwards compatibility has been something of a bugbear for many gamers. To date the Xbox One has been consistently outsold by Sony’s rival PS4 console, with a lower price point and more gaming-centric focus aiding sales of the PS3 follow-on.
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