Microsoft calms 'back 'pat' 360 storm

June 2nd, 2006, 16:31 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft has offered a little reassurance to fans of backwards compatibility on Xbox 360, following comments made by the Peter Moore that raised concerns about the future of back 'pat support on the next-gen console.

Moore tickled the hornet's nest when he declared, "Nobody is concerned anymore about backwards compatibility", in an interview with website Kikizo. Speaking further about backwards compatibility on Xbox 360, he said that Microsoft "under promised and over delivered" on the feature and that, while "More [backwards compatible titles] are coming ..at some point you just go, there's enough, let's move on, people aren't as worried about a game being backwards compatible".

Certain parties have taken Moore's comments to mean that Microsoft is very shortly to let the axe fall on backwards compatibility, but a posting made on Gamerscore Blog (an official Microsoft blog site) in response to all the speculation and ranting implies that backwards compatibility is by no means heading to the chopping block any time soon.

In the post, headlined "Backwards Compatibility Update Coming Soon", it's stated that Microsoft's backwards compatibility team is currently "in the testing phase of another update, and it should be out in the next few weeks", with the new back 'pat update featuring "at least a dozen titles".

It goes on the discuss the difficulty of emulating Xbox titles on Xbox 360 and how an originally imagined few dozen 'back compat' titles has become over 200, but the really crucial comment is this: "But rest assured, we're not done yet... We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the 'Emulation Ninjas' who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you."

So it seems that, while backwards compatibility updates for Xbox 360 will eventually come to an end, the finish line isn't in sight yet. And while we're here, what are your own thoughts on backwards compatibility on Xbox 360? Is it a good thing or, like Peter Moore reckons, are you not really that bothered about it anymore, given the dearth of original Xbox titles on the horizon? Let us know what you think in the comments field below.

via CVG

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