A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Both systems were dicks about backwards compatibility, and I think it hurt them both. I really think PS2 was only so successful because it was a direct upgrade to PS1 without requiring a brand new game library. Same for Xbox 360 upgrading original Xbox. I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

100% agreed. I feel like the Xbox One has always offered a lot more than the PS4, but because Microsoft's launch focused almost exclusively on the new stuff and ignored that - at its core - the system is still a gaming platform, it suffered dramatically in the press. They've been changing that story for over a year now, and it really shows during this E3.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

Agreed. Xbox seems much more concerned about user experience than Sony. Personally, I've always liked my Xbone more than my PS4, but until recently, that love was more out of "it has so much potential" than it was out of "this is actually better." Now, though, I think Xbone is pulling into the lead.

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

Agreed, mostly.

I bought a PS4 solely for Destiny. I wanted to get the "definitive" Destiny experience,a good chunk of friends was going that direction (and Halo was on the decline) so I chose to follow.

3/4 of a year later, I have mixed feelings. At this point, if I would have done Destiny on XB1, I'd be fine. I don't feel the exclusives were anything substantial. But I'm happy I took a step back from Xbox gave the PS4 a spin. I still dislike the controller, but the change of scenery has been wonderful.

Regardless of this, I'm happy for the competition between MS and Sony- it is very good for us.

I really think PS2 was only so successful because it ...

Was one of the cheapest and most reliable DVD players on the market at the time?

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Both systems were dicks about backwards compatibility, and I think it hurt them both. I really think PS2 was only so successful because it was a direct upgrade to PS1 without requiring a brand new game library. Same for Xbox 360 upgrading original Xbox. I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

You understand how the backward compatibility worked in the ps2 right? There was literally ps1 hardware inside. This was possible only because even at the time of release, the ps1 had inexpensive generic chips. The emotion engine of the PS2 was custom designed for the system. It wasn't a mass produced R3000 that was in tons of other stuff. That means putting a ps2 inside a ps3 would be hard. Putting a ps3 inside a ps4 would be even harder.

it was scrapped because it'd be too damn expensive, and emulation can't keep up! We are just barely getting PS2 emulation working, and you think Sony could have a PS3 emulator run on a PS4?! Emulation of 8 way parallel processing is beyond impossible right now at playable speeds.

A few thoughts:
Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Both systems were dicks about backwards compatibility, and I think it hurt them both. I really think PS2 was only so successful because it was a direct upgrade to PS1 without requiring a brand new game library. Same for Xbox 360 upgrading original Xbox. I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

it was scrapped because it'd be too damn expensive, and emulation can't keep up! We are just barely getting PS2 emulation working, and you think Sony could have a PS3 emulator run on a PS4?! Emulation of 8 way parallel processing is beyond impossible right now at playable speeds.

Backward compatibility is a big deal, but it is often technically infeasible. I was shocked to find that the 360 was doing it through emulation. Emulation has so much overhead that the hardware must make a huge leap forward. The alternative to emulation is recompiling (read PORTING) the game to native code on the new hardware. I wonder how the XBone will be doing it, JIT emulation or porting the specific games? I'd be surprised if the XBone had the horsepower for emulation, but then great leaps have been made in emulation technology over the past 10-15 years, so maybe.

Apparently, they've built a software version of the 360 (i.e., emulation).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdVmvkYWjpo

How does one get in on the Xbox Preview program, BTW?

I'm definitely a fan of the Xbox ecosystem overall and feel like their E3 was much better. Mainly because almost everything they showed is coming out this year compared to Sony. I feel it will become even more apparent in the next year though, that this console generation will be won by 'software and servers' as I heard someone else say. I feel like Microsoft has a huge advantage in that realm too.

You can be invited by current members. Like Gmail.

If I get invites, I'll send one to literally every person on my friends list.

Apparently, they've built a software version of the 360 (i.e., emulation).

So, traditional emulation then. Wow. So, he mentions "putting the game through the program". I wonder if they're recompiling it to native instructions... I'd love to hear more of the technical details behind it & I'll be interested in the performance of the emulation. However, I am sad to hear you can't use original kinect games with it though. :(

But Im strongly considering buying an X1 now. It'll still remain a secondary console, but If this backwards conpatibility turns out okay it'll be a straight upgrade to my existing library - win/win.

I feel very fortunate that I don't have to choose.

Apparently, they've built a software version of the 360 (i.e., emulation).

So, traditional emulation then. Wow. So, he mentions "putting the game through the program". I wonder if they're recompiling it to native instructions... I'd love to hear more of the technical details behind it & I'll be interested in the performance of the emulation. However, I am sad to hear you can't use original kinect games with it though. :(

A while ago, Transmeta was working on JIT compilers that could translate code on the fly, and curiously they could end up as fast, or in some cases faster than native code. In fact, if you ran the JIT compiler on code native to the target platform, you'd get a speed boost! This was because the JIT compiler had tons of data about how the program was being used: what branches are usually taken, which pieces of code are loaded together in memory frequently, etc, and could therefore optimize the generated code in a way impossible for a static compiler, as well as cache the code so it doesn't have to translate it again.

http://archive.arstechnica.com/reviews/1q00/dynamo/dynamo-1.html

Maybe this is something similar.

I just didn't like the inconvenience, honestly. I have limited space already consumed by a bunch of other backwards incompatible consoles. At the minute there aren't enough X1 exclusive titles for me to want to move my entire gaming room around again and/or buy new furniture to accommodate all my junk.

Backwards compatibility would let me just swap out my 360 and keep my existing library without all the messing around.

Course, the X1 backwards compatibility is pretty limited right now. I'll wait until it's expanded first.

Course, the X1 backwards compatibility is pretty limited right now. I'll wait until it's expanded first.

Ditto. If I can't play at least my 360 copy of Halo 3 standalone, no sale.

The only bummer about this news to me is that it greatly reduces the chance that we'll ever see an up-rezzed version of Halo Reach.

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A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

Agreed, mostly.

I bought a PS4 solely for Destiny. I wanted to get the "definitive" Destiny experience,a good chunk of friends was going that direction (and Halo was on the decline) so I chose to follow.

3/4 of a year later, I have mixed feelings. At this point, if I would have done Destiny on XB1, I'd be fine. I don't feel the exclusives were anything substantial. But I'm happy I took a step back from Xbox gave the PS4 a spin. I still dislike the controller, but the change of scenery has been wonderful.

Regardless of this, I'm happy for the competition between MS and Sony- it is very good for us.

Agreed - it is very good for us. I feel like Microsoft and Sony are really fighting for our attention, and that keeps them honest and striving.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

Spotty library, no peripheral support, two years after launch.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

It's a nice-looking checkbox, but will it actually mean that much to that many people?

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

Spotty library, no peripheral support, two years after launch.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

It's a nice-looking checkbox, but will it actually mean that much to that many people?

What peripheral support is needed for the 360? I guess if you don't have enough XB1 controllers? Asking purely out of curiosity.

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

The XBox One version of Fallout 4 will support mods...maybe not ALL mods, but some for sure. This is fabulous, and represents one clear distinction between XB1 and PS4 - a shared OS between PC and XB1.

Now, not certain how well it will actually work, but the potential...! Hopefully MS fully capitalizes on this and forces Sony to lower the price of the PS4...

...so I can buy one to play The Last of Us and the other fabulous PS exclusives.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

Guilty.

When I made the jump from Xb1 to 360, backwards compatibility was a big deal for me. I couldn't afford to outright buy a 360 at the time, and I wanted the Elite model- bad. For me to get it, I was going to have to trade in my Xb1.

So when BWC was announced for most of my games, I felt a weight lift and I made the jump.....and never went back to play the old games, again!

(except for Halo 2 and 1 for LANs)

I've learned my lesson. If I want to play the old games, I hold onto the old console. So, when MS finally announces they are putting the kibosh on 360 productions, I'll go out and buy one.

Just in case.

Also LANs. Might not be able to wrangle a PS4\Xbone LAN these days, but dammit, I know people will for 360.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

Guilty.

When I made the jump from Xb1 to 360, backwards compatibility was a big deal for me. I couldn't afford to outright buy a 360 at the time, and I wanted the Elite model- bad. For me to get it, I was going to have to trade in my Xb1.

So when BWC was announced for most of my games, I felt a weight lift and I made the jump.....and never went back to play the old games, again!

(except for Halo 2 and 1 for LANs)

I've learned my lesson. If I want to play the old games, I hold onto the old console. So, when MS finally announces they are putting the kibosh on 360 productions, I'll go out and buy one.

Just in case.

Also LANs. Might not be able to wrangle a PS4\Xbone LAN these days, but dammit, I know people will for 360.

I read this as Xb1=xbone at first.

What peripheral support is needed for the 360? I guess if you don't have enough XB1 controllers? Asking purely out of curiosity.

Kinect is the main one. Doesn't affect me that much, but a portion of the 360's library (and some side features in a few games) can't ever make the leap according to Microsoft's announcement.

I don't understand both companies scrapping it with the new systems.

I think the reason they did that initially is that for both companies, they still saw their last-gen systems as active platforms. They're still selling them, selling games for them, and supporting them. From their point of view, they assumed people who want to play PS3/360 games will simply have those systems on hand. That, combined with the not-insignificant engineering effort needed to make an emulator which functions well enough for commercial use, led them to conclude it wasn't necessary.

I think what they didn't take into account is that those last-gen systems will eventually fail and no longer be available (probably very soon), and people want to be able to continue to play their old games if/when that happens.

100% agreed. I feel like the Xbox One has always offered a lot more than the PS4, but because Microsoft's launch focused almost exclusively on the new stuff and ignored that - at its core - the system is still a gaming platform, it suffered dramatically in the press.

All pretty much true. Whether the XBone offers more is a matter of opinion and probably not universal for everyone, but what is definitely true is that Microsoft's marketing message out of the gate SUCKED. And Sony definitely took full advantage of that - remember their outright gleeful tone at last year's E3? It was painful to watch as an XBone owner.

They've been changing that story for over a year now, and it really shows during this E3.

Yeah. Somewhere along the way, Microsoft realized they had shot themselves in the foot. That seemed to coincide with Phil Spencer becoming head of XBox. Perhaps everyone else was clueless, they brought Phil in to fix things, he realized the marketing sucked, and subsequently changed it. Or perhaps others figured out the problem on their own, and just realized Phil was the best person to push the gaming agenda. Either way, things were terrible in the MS camp, and now they're less terrible.

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You could substitute "PS3" and "Blu-Ray" in there, and wind up with mostly true statement about the PS3. Not that Blu-Ray was the WHOLE reason the PS3 sold, but it was part of it, at least in the early days when Blu-Ray players were still stupid expensive.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

Guilty.

When I made the jump from Xb1 to 360, backwards compatibility was a big deal for me. I couldn't afford to outright buy a 360 at the time, and I wanted the Elite model- bad. For me to get it, I was going to have to trade in my Xb1.

So when BWC was announced for most of my games, I felt a weight lift and I made the jump.....and never went back to play the old games, again!

(except for Halo 2 and 1 for LANs)

I've learned my lesson. If I want to play the old games, I hold onto the old console. So, when MS finally announces they are putting the kibosh on 360 productions, I'll go out and buy one.

Just in case.

Also LANs. Might not be able to wrangle a PS4\Xbone LAN these days, but dammit, I know people will for 360.

I read this as Xb1=xbone at first.

And why wouldn't you? Very confusing. 360 was the generation where I truly branched out from Bungie games. (Console gaming wasn't a thing when I was a kid, then I was a Mac gamer--my point is that I wasn't weaned on this stuff from diapers.)

One thing I've done the last several years was buy digital copies of 360 games that I've enjoyed and many I wanted to enjoy but didn't get to with the idea that in a mythical future (perhaps retirement--not that far away for me) I'd finally get the chance to play Max Payne 3 or whatever. I've have a big library for myself, for kids, for whomever is around. My worry was keeping a 360 in working order. Retiring the 360 is exciting to me.

Did you miss the part where they said 100 titles by Christmas, hundreds soon after, and all first-party titles?

The only obstacles beyond the already-mentioned peripheral limitations are licensing agreements and publishers saying no.

The only obstacles beyond the already-mentioned peripheral limitations are licensing agreements and publishers saying no.

Depending on what games you want to play, those can be some pretty big obstacles.

Backward compatibility is a big deal.

Spotty library, no peripheral support, two years after launch.

For a feature that rarely gets used even when the support is near-perfect and available at launch.

It's a nice-looking checkbox, but will it actually mean that much to that many people?

It absolutely does. I would buy an XBone today if it had full backwards compatibility. If I only had to deal with one console (I don't have any of the PSs right now) I would be very happy to join the current generation.

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The only obstacles beyond the already-mentioned peripheral limitations are licensing agreements and publishers saying no.

Depending on what games you want to play, those can be some pretty big obstacles.

I don't know. They seem small relative to the technical obstacles, which appear to have been overcome.

Did you miss the part where they said 100 titles by Christmas, hundreds soon after

I didn't miss it; a few hundred games is somewhat distant from perfect library coverage.

and all first-party titles?

I don't remember that exactly, although they do seem to be aiming to get a lot of the first-party stuff out of the way first.

The only obstacles beyond the already-mentioned peripheral limitations are licensing agreements and publishers saying no.

In theory that's sunshine and rainbows, but in practice it has a history of getting extremely messy, and in terms of really rounding out the library I'll believe it when I see it.

For example, RalliSport Challenge 2 actually works pretty well on a modded 360 (better than a lot of official BC titles do), and RalliSport Challenge 1 is an official BC title. The two games were made by the same people. Yet RSC2 isn't playable on an unmodded 360. It's often seen as one of the greatest rally racing games ever made (and today it's one of the more oft-mentioned reasons to hold onto an oXbox), and it got eaten by the magical licensing and verification bunny.

I didn't think of Rock Band, probably because Rock Band 4 is going to have support for the old controllers.

Fully admit to never playing Rallisport Challenge. I realize that it's not full backward compatibility, but I'm optimistic that the vast majority of the games I've owned will be supported eventually.

Microsoft has a uservoice page on what games you want to see be backwards compatible! Obviously this won't help if companies won't give permission, but if there are any first party games this should definitely bear some weight!

Link:
https://xbox.uservoice.com/forums/298503

So far... It's been useless. I just get random messages about updates and features I can experiment with. Usually I am too afraid that since they aren't ready for public release, they will jack up my stuff. Microsoft has had too many early product failures for me to be too bold with it. Anyone remember their big public showing of Windows (XP?) where it crashed to the "Blue Screen of Death"?

This backwards compatibility is worth a try though...

I will check and see about how to send invites to the program tonight when I get home.

As far as the press conferences go, I think Microsoft had a far more impressive overall presentation. Wide range of titles coming out before the end of the year, and Hololense looks like an amazing piece of technology. Backwards compatibility is a huge crowd pleaser, although I agree with others who have said that it is a feature everyone asks for and then rarely uses. I'm interested in the new controller... I've asked to get one sent to me for review, so we'll see if that happens. Interested to see how much of an improvement it is over the standard Xbox One controller, of which I am not a fan.

Sony's presentation was also very good, although I do feel like they were trying really hard to distract us from the fact that they have almost nothing coming this year.

Looking at Sony and Microsoft's total respective packages, the Xbox One does come out looking really good. But personally speaking, I just enjoy using the PS4 a lot more. Everything feels more streamlined, everything works a little more smoothly. I still get apps crashing and locking up on my Xbox all the time, on top of the general sluggishness of the UI, loading times for apps, all that stuff. I do prefer the PS4 controller as well, which is a total 180 from my preferences in the previous gen.

As far as the press conferences go, I think Microsoft had a far more impressive overall presentation. Wide range of titles coming out before the end of the year, and Hololense looks like an amazing piece of technology. Backwards compatibility is a huge crowd pleaser, although I agree with others who have said that it is a feature everyone asks for and then rarely uses. I'm interested in the new controller... I've asked to get one sent to me for review, so we'll see if that happens. Interested to see how much of an improvement it is over the standard Xbox One controller, of which I am not a fan.

Sony's presentation was also very good, although I do feel like they were trying really hard to distract us from the fact that they have almost nothing coming this year.

Looking at Sony and Microsoft's total respective packages, the Xbox One does come out looking really good. But personally speaking, I just enjoy using the PS4 a lot more. Everything feels more streamlined, everything works a little more smoothly. I still get apps crashing and locking up on my Xbox all the time, on top of the general sluggishness of the UI, loading times for apps, all that stuff. I do prefer the PS4 controller as well, which is a total 180 from my preferences in the previous gen.

Fair enough. I find that both consoles flake out more than they should. I find the PS4 interface much more responsive, but I'm hoping the next Xbox dashboard update takes care of that.

Still like the 360 controller better than either of new ones. I hope you get a copy of the new fancy elite one--I want to know what you think of it!

Still like the 360 controller better than either of new ones. I hope you get a copy of the new fancy elite one--I want to know what you think of it!

I was this close to preordering one from amazon, but I decided to wait until we know if they've changed the bumpers. I can manage with the standard Xbox One controller as it is, but I'm not spending $179 (Canadian) on a new controller unless I'm sure I'll LOVE it :)

I do love the Xbox 360 controller as well. I think I prefer the Dualshock 4, but just barely. I still with the DS4 had the offset sticks like all of Microsoft's controllers... that's my 1 complaint, really.

...So I don't trust the announcement at all.

Back in the day (last week too, actually), my PS2 couldn't read my Final Fantasy VII discs and many other games. So it became a black box that played the first half of Metal Gear Solid 2 until I found Halo.

Then my Xbox 360 had weird sound glitches, skybox ghost artifacts, and other weird little glitches in Halo 1 and 2 that bugged the shit out of me. So the original XBox staid plugged in.

And that's actually why every console I've ever owned is about one foot away from each other. Thankfully they all still work.

Oh Levi! You're always so negative! ;)

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I do love the Xbox 360 controller as well. I think I prefer the Dualshock 4, but just barely. I still with the DS4 had the offset sticks like all of Microsoft's controllers... that's my 1 complaint, really.

Likewise. I've gotten used to it, but yeah, I prefer the d-pad & the left analog stick swapped like the xbox.

I'm also in the preview program. It was really useful a year ago when the new features were things like "voice chat parties are easy to make" and "your system won't crash every 30 minutes" but now the preview program seems to be focused more on "play the Smite beta" or weird outlier hardware issues than big stuff. Though, to be fair - I had not heard about the Xbox 360 emulation at all (probably because I stopped paying attention to my preview info several months ago). That is definitely a thing I care about.

The only bummer about this news to me is that it greatly reduces the chance that we'll ever see an up-rezzed version of Halo Reach.

Up-framerated is arguably a bigger issue. Hopefully the BC winds up being kind to Reach and takes the edge off the spikes.

You keep using "BC". What does that stand for?

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You keep using "BC". What does that stand for?

Oh, duh. [blush]

A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

No opinion on the Sony side of things, but I'm just waiting to see what the full details of backwards compatibility entail. Say they bring Reach over. Will I get to play it on Xbox Live all the same as if I had it running on my 360? Same goes for other games that get the okay from third party publishers.

Microsoft made a major miscalculation pushing full digital, DRM, and non-gaming features at launch, and Sony took great advantage of that. I think the Xbox One has upped their game. I think Sony is now coming across as less generous to gamers.

Hell yeah they did, and the Xbox One has upped its game. At the same time, Microsoft's press conference just didn't do it for me. Hololens looks like it's the real deal and is gonna be something, but I can only imagine the jacked up pricing structure. As far as gaming goes, Microsoft's game announcements didn't do it for me. If I hadn't seen the Rare Replay and the Fallout 4 Xbox One stuff, I would have easily shrugged off Xbox One announcements. Instead, Xbox won my heart (good thing I already have one and am using it).

Then there was Sony's conference. Games, games, and more games. And many of the games they showed were just unbelievable. Sheesh. As far as exclusives go, Microsoft has Halo (which has become a joke), Gears (it's not Epic Games, so we'll see if the new company goes all 343 on the situation), and Forza. Not impressive at this day and age, in my opinion.

I really like my PS4 better than my Xbox in some ways, but man, their promotional content and store is lousy. On the Xbox I was able to quickly see all the E3 stuff from the Xbox keynote with minimal fuss last night. I spent 20 minutes trying to see the equivalent on the PS4. The live content viewer kept flaking out. Gave up finally.

It's a damn shame that the Xbox's UI is absolutely horrible, though. Luckily, they're overhauling it in the near future, and I love what I'm seeing so far!

I'd like to conclude by saying that Sony's conference made me begin to consider dropping money on a PS4 again. Aside from the fact that I have an Xbox One already, Microsoft's conference did not sell me on one.

Dtoid news story

Pre-req: You must be following the person that you want to invite!

• Go to "Xbox Preview Dashboard" app
  
• In the bottom left corner click the tile for "Invite Friends"
  
• An overlay pops up that allows you to select however many people you want to send an invite

Access to the preview program is a manual process on Microsoft's side, so it can take anywhere from a few days to weeks to over a month for a person to actually be accepted. Times like right now, where everyone wants to join the preview program cause huge delays in processing time. Then again, YMMV

I'd send invites out to all of you fine folks but I'm out of the country until July! Best of luck to everyone that is trying to get in. I'm really hoping that next month we get to preview the new UI and or Cortana features!

Yeah. No kinnect support means I will need to keep my 360 connected so I can play Disneyland adventures.

Who am I kidding? I still have a dreamcast connected and my 360 makes R2D2 noises. It's not going anywhere.

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A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

No opinion on the Sony side of things, but I'm just waiting to see what the full details of backwards compatibility entail. Say they bring Reach over. Will I get to play it on Xbox Live all the same as if I had it running on my 360? Same goes for other games that get the okay from third party publishers.

Phil Spencer spoke about this a little on the Giant Bomb E3 Day 1 live show. Basically, when you play a 360 game on your Xbox One, your One is disguised as a 360 to the game and to Live. The game thinks it is being played on a 360, achievements track as if you were on a 360, even Live itself thinks you are playing on a 360.

The Xbox One launches a "360 backwards compatibility" app, and the 360 game is then run inside that app. The app is a complete emulation of the 360.

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A few thoughts:

Backward compatibility is a big deal. I hope this causes Sony to scrap Playstation Now or at least reinvent it.

No opinion on the Sony side of things, but I'm just waiting to see what the full details of backwards compatibility entail. Say they bring Reach over. Will I get to play it on Xbox Live all the same as if I had it running on my 360? Same goes for other games that get the okay from third party publishers.

Phil Spencer spoke about this a little on the Giant Bomb E3 Day 1 live show. Basically, when you play a 360 game on your Xbox One, your One is disguised as a 360 to the game and to Live. The game thinks it is being played on a 360, achievements track as if you were on a 360, even Live itself thinks you are playing on a 360.

The Xbox One launches a "360 backwards compatibility" app, and the 360 game is then run inside that app. The app is a complete emulation of the 360.

Yep, this is one reason I consider it a big deal. I mean, who knows? Chances are there's some drawback other than what we've been told about, but if the games are playable as they describe, it's pretty awesome.

Yep, this is one reason I consider it a big deal. I mean, who knows? Chances are there's some drawback other than what we've been told about, but if the games are playable as they describe, it's pretty awesome.

Yeah, I played Mass Effect and was pretty impressed, and apparently so was Kotaku.

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yay!!!!

The app is a complete emulation of the 360.

If it is truly complete, can I do some Vex-style crap and use the emulated 360's backwards-compatibility emulation to play original Xbox games? 0_0

Actually, my understanding is that the Xbone natively runs a hyper visor (some VM host) that nominally runs at least 2 virtual machines concurrently. One is devoted to games and the other devoted to applications etc. That's why you can switch between applications and games while they run in parallel. This also allows the Xbone to perform basic VM trickery like saving the state of an entire VM so that when you turn the box off and on you literally pick up your game where you left off.

I imagine that they are simply wrapping the 360 games with an emulation VM that is designed to run on the Xbone Game VM (or possibly dynamically load a separate 360 VM).

This is why I choose Xbone over the PS4. At the end of the day, Microsoft is a huge company of talented software developers that, once management allows, can bring the latest and greatest software design to the console. In fact, Microsoft is going through a little software renaissance if you ask me. Sony has always been fairly poor in the software department I think.

Also, your JIT angle does make some sense, however they generally go a little lower and compile out object code first. For Microsoft this is their .Net framework which copied Java (which copied someone else etc) wherein the more a program runs, the better the hosted code performs as it learns how your code is executed.

FYI it makes benchmarking performance in Java and .Net fairly annoying :)

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I found an invite message on my Xbox one today and I can only assume that somebody in this thread is to thank, so thank you.

Did that by any chance include me? Cuz I'm pretty sure I'm on your friends list, but I don't see any message about this (or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place...)