It’s a very cool way to handle BC and I say that as someone who usually opts for original hardware. Replacing assets, fine tuning AA, bumping up the resolution, testing games individually, and making the games look like remasters for free goes above and beyond what other companies are doing.
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Yep this stuff usually comes with a $40-60 price tag.
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I’m hoping 2019 will finally kill off the need for me to keep my 360 and maybe even my OG Xbox. Even where games don’t have 4K upgrades, finally being able to play them with a consistent frame rate, 16x AF and no screen tearing makes a massive difference.
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What’s stopping you? Any particular games you’re still looking to hit their BC list?
Personally, I’ll always opt to play on original hardware rather than emulating or playing a remaster of a game. For me, part of the best parts of games is seeing how the dev prioritized working within hardware constraints.
It’s like watching a ballet or some other type of performance art. Sure, a higher res is always sharper, but you lose some historical context and some appreciation for the all the fine-tuning that happened behind the scenes when you play something on more powerful hardware.
So, even if every single game in Xbox history comes to Xbox One X with flawless frame rates, v-sync, and enhanced resolutions (and they should - everyone should experience these games in the highest fidelity possible without having to scour eBay for old hardware), I’ll still want to play on the OG hardware for most games where it’s still feasible to do so.
I think even among retro gamers, I’m a bit weird guy that way. Like, I beat Twilight Princess for the first time this year and did so on GCN despite having the Wii U remaster in my collection. And I really loved most of the experience, even though the bloom in the original release that game is out of control, and the Wii U Gamepad is an objectively better way to play with its inventory management options.
Part of the reason why is because really appreciated how far they pushed the GCN, and how far they push what a 480p 4:3 presentation could be when viewed on a proper screen. It was a masterpiece in gameplay, graphics, and software technology. And that last aspect - the technology appreciation - would have been a bit lost when playing on Wii U since they can turn up the visual settings past what the original artists ever intended.
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I do understand where Peltz is coming from, but for me, even though the original hardware is the best way to play for how it was made at the time, I still think getting enhanced versions of the games show what it could had been if it were on newer hardware to an extent since it’s basically a better version of the same game. Getting better image quality, performance and such is very important as the game on original hardware could had questionable image quality and performance issues that can be solved by playing on new hardware.
Vsync is a godsend for screen tearing as I hate screen tearing and would love for it to be gone with every game that originally had it. This is why I’m a massive fan of BC and always will be. It also makes it easier to get games that I would prefer playing the system on, like for 360 and PS3 multiplats if the 360 version is BC I would get it on 360 for the most part. It also helps with games that have variable framerates like GRAW as the framerate goes higher on Xbox One. BC even helps with FFXIII as the PS3 version used to be the definitive version until it went BC on X1 and now the 360 version wins.
I would say the original hardware is still the best for how it was originally made though as it can be a feat for various games. But enhancing games visually and performance wise can lead to unique things that wasn’t possible on original hardware and I’m all for that. That’s why BC needs to live on.
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I’m totally with Timu on this one, it’s not like old analogue stuff that can’t be represented in the same way, like the FM unit on the Master System or something. We are just talking about improvements through and through, I’m all for it.
Agreed, I appreciate preferring original hardware up to a certain point in gaming history and the PS3/360/Wii generation is where we cross over into me not caring any more! None of them have unique sound capabilities, distinct looks to their polygons or screen resolutions that need to be authentically reproduced.
Sorry to hardcore fans of that generation but all 3 consoles stank whether it was the Wii’s low resolution and godawful image quality or the PS3 and 360 with their inability to maintain a consistent frame rate and the insane screen tearing. None of these are things worth preserving. I love the games we got with those systems but it was in spite of the terrible hardware, not because of it. With Xbox One BC we at worst get the games in the exact authentic state they released as (or rather the state they should have been in) and at best we get 4K remasters, for free.
And for what it’s worth for an added bit of authenticity, it is partially hardware BC: there are specific instruction sets on the APU to facilitate BC. The XB1 was built from the start with 360 BC in mind.
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Talking about improved performance and why you should skip playing on the original 360:
I played Castlevania Lords of Shadow this weekend, man that game runs the way it was meant to on the X. Framepacing and framerate is locked down, making it a much more enjoyable experience!
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Oh yeah, I remember the 360 version having performance issues.
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Yeah, the 360 and PS3 gen was definitely a gen where some games were struggling to maintain 30fps and being sub HD and such, definitely later on. The games were definitely great, but I feel various games got held back due to how they performed and other things. It’s an interesting gen for sure but improved versions of those games are definitely for the better.
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The stretch to reach 600 to 720p was tough on a lot of games, especially the multiplats.
Ultimate Edition on PC would probably be better? I don’t know, but something to consider for someone that wants to play it.
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Yep, since it supports 360/X1 controllers and runs at 120fps plus contains all the DLCs.
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Absolutely if you have a gaming PC!
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Apparently Daytona USA is being delisted on Xbox on the 7th. Pretty sure I own that version (and the PS3 release) but if anyone still doesn’t, now is the time. It was easily the best home version they ever did.
Quite a lot of other games too. Things people may want…
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Thanks to the forced 16xAF on One X BC (and series?) 360 Daytona has the best IQ, definitely grab this if you haven’t!
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