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Microsoft's free 4K 360 enhancements put a lot of paid remasters to shame
- Thread starter leng jai
- Start date
If it doesn't I will no longer be a customer of Sony. Seriously, they are like 10 years behind, when it comes to console features and services.
I would love A Xbox One X enhanced Saboteur game, my looooord.
You also don't need to limit yourself with only 4k or 60 fps either.
Good explanation, I can align with that. I think MS are lucky in the sense that the 360 was built on a PC-like foundation, which makes it easier to emulate older games and build the necessary software to accommodate scaling. Also helps that they have some real tech wizards in-house, of course. But at the same time, my uninformed self sees a danger in highlighting the importance of BC which essentially diverts the attention from actual new content. Even if these games might look amazing, all of them will still retain their old gameplay sensibilities. But yeah, ensuring old stuff works in an improved sense locks gamers into an ecosystem and makes it much easier and less risky to switch out the console.
I have played it on a PC recently and trust me You wouldn't .... The option to play old games is neat but to me it works for the best of the best games only
The question is how it will be executed. The ps2 bc is ridiculous in execution in every imaginable way.
I just wish the X had an easier way to verify 4K assets and enhancement installs for each game. They need to do some UI work.
The greatest difference I've seen myself is Final Fantasy XV. The game ran like trash on my OG Xbox Ones, and it got to the point that I was using the "record that" feature to to grab the really bad graphical glitches. On the X though, it's perfect.
The greatest difference I've seen myself is Final Fantasy XV. The game ran like trash on my OG Xbox Ones, and it got to the point that I was using the "record that" feature to to grab the really bad graphical glitches. On the X though, it's perfect.
I think they're just saying that this good feedback for what MS have done won't have gone unnoticed at Sony.
Fair enough, from what we know Microsoft is also pushing the actual new games. They're partnering with more and more Japanese devs like in the good old 360 days, they're building new entries in historic franchises like Fable and Perfect Dark besides their "obvious" ones like Forza, Gears and Halo, we'll have some rather unique experiences this year between Crackdown 3, Sea Of Thieves (which is generating insane hype) and State Of Decay 2... obviously they had their lull in terms of output, but it was mainly a set of unfortunate circumstances. Fable's budget skyrocketed, Scalebound was not progressing anywhere decently, Crackdown 3 found hurdles and got pushed back a couple years... had those games released when they were supposed to, we'd be looking at a different picture. But since this is the cards they got, it's great they at least concentrated on enhancing already available games to hell and back while the new games that take years to make arrive. Their current output may not be exciting for some, but it has to be said their latest Forza, Gears and Halo are some of the best those series have ever been, too.
Now, if Microsoft manages to bring back their first party goodness while also allowing me to play all their prior games with graphics enhancements for no extra charge on the next console, I'm basically looking at a 400-500$ buy early next-gen that will already have tons of fantastic games at launch between actual new games and old enhanced ones. For someone who invested so much time and money into their ecosystem, owning a library of hundreds of games, knowing I don't have to shelf them, sell them or keep old consoles plugged in to play them... is going to be a huge boost, and no doubt many will feel the same. Tons of people sell their old console to get the new one, you can once again do that while still keeping everything you own. In the digital era that's huge, since you couldn't resell your games anyway may as well keep them and play them enhanced next-gen. If Microsoft's first party output improves, the next Xbox practically becomes a no brainer, especially if you already own stuff from the last-gens. And if you don't: Game Pass it is.
There was a thread posted over at the old site where Sony talked about the future and I remember them alluding to as much, I'll see if I can find it.
As well as this:
Perhaps, but it requires more than just a feeling from Sony. Microsoft has done years of development whereas Sony has been sleeping on the feature for almost a decade.
Not only that, but they've been pushing in the opposite direction as far as we know, trying to stream the games instead of emulating them. It took Microsoft years of research and testing to get where they are now, assuming we see a PS5 in 2-3 years they need to be starting yesterday in the work on backwards compatibility and enhancements if they want to get anywhere near Microsoft's level on that. Because streaming might be semi-viable for certain games, but even an extra tenth of a second or two of input delay will not cut it with fast-paced competitive games, and Microsoft already got that covered.
For Sony's own sake, they'd better have PS4 BC on their next console. Otherwise, they would instantly lose most of their fans to Microsoft/PC gaming.
Not many people will feel the need to purchase the same games again & again.
That we know of.
No doubt that MS had all the right pieces in place to support BC, including the HV stuff at the OS level, so who's to say that Sony aren't beavering away at doing something for the PS5?
I imagine the PS5 will launch with a few things that MS are doing, like BC and also a Game Pass-type subscription.
That's why I think, while it's cool we have it now, in the long run it would have been better for MS to save up Game Pass and its inclusion of all first party games for the launch of the next generation when they really could have blindsided Sony.
Gotta say... missing out on almost all of last gen makes me almost wanna get an X to play some of the gems from that era... buuut still too expensive for me.
Yeah I mean this looks amazing, and if I had an old gen back catalogue I'd grab one, but I've already got a current gen backlog, without adding classics to it as well!
And as years go by, it'll become increasingly difficult to just jump ship. When you've got hundreds of 360 and X1 titles lying around that will very likely be compatible with the next Xbox too, it's basically not feasible to just move and leave your library behind.
Reposting my comment from the other thread.
Microsoft is simply remastering all these games for free while Nintendo puts their slightly enhanced ports out for $50 and everyone is cheering at them for this. I know I will get flak for this, but for me this is insane to think about. The X Enhancements are crazy. They are better than some remasters. And MS is simply giving these out for free. Again. To me this is insane and they don't get enough credit for this.
I just played a 6 year old game in 4K. With my old disc I already own. On a system I already own. With the controllers I already own. For free. Zero. Nothing. It feels like a new game really.
MS completely destroys the competition in this scenario really. They make all these $40 and $50 remasters look incredibly stupid.
Microsoft is simply remastering all these games for free while Nintendo puts their slightly enhanced ports out for $50 and everyone is cheering at them for this. I know I will get flak for this, but for me this is insane to think about. The X Enhancements are crazy. They are better than some remasters. And MS is simply giving these out for free. Again. To me this is insane and they don't get enough credit for this.
I just played a 6 year old game in 4K. With my old disc I already own. On a system I already own. With the controllers I already own. For free. Zero. Nothing. It feels like a new game really.
MS completely destroys the competition in this scenario really. They make all these $40 and $50 remasters look incredibly stupid.
Yup this too. I have now over 200 digital games (360 and One games) and all of them are playable on my One. i freaking love that. People who say that BC doesnt matter are wrong IMO.
I don't. But as long as Sony shows something concrete we shouldn't put blind faith on them.
I'm pretty sure all XboneX users disagree with you :)
Yeah upping the internal res on old games makes a HUGE difference and is a relatively simple thing to do especially as they're mostly dx9 and under. Why the PS4 didn't invest in it I don't know especially as custom firmware suggests it already has a PS2 emulator.
I never understood this argument considering they would still get more money from people buying the game for the first time. When RDR became BC on XBO it shot up to the top in sales rankings on Amazon (and that's not including digital sales).
I think people are underestimating the amount of sales MS are getting for these games from people who missed the boat last gen and are willing to buy for the first time to take advantage of the added graphics/performance.
Tbh both of those games run at double the framerate of original. These backward compatible tittle bring about only IQ improvement (due to 4K resolution and 16xAF) with framerate stability. A 30fps game is still 30fps, and they don't really replace/refine the assets most of the time unlike the remasters. All the improvements you see in the company shots are almost purely due to the resolution upgrade.
MCC was 3 games in total (4 later on), same for Uncharted trilogy. TLoU is an oddity when it comes to remaster pricing being a full priced remaster of a single game.
Just yesterday I noticed the Skate 3 patch for HDR on Xbox One S. Booted it up and was pretty underwhelmed with the HDR, which is understandable when a game's not designed for it. These 4k shots on X1X are on another level entirely, the increase in resolution is much more noticeable and useful than a retrofitted HDR. Hmm... How much was that X1X again...
Agreed. I mean, the Switch doesn't have a disc drive, but if they really wanted they could make it so that you can "tie" your disc to your account, so then you could download your Wii U game enhanced for your Switch, but enough people showed that they gladly rebuy the games so it makes sense they go that way. Sony could definitely make a PS3 emulator, but they see they can get away with selling your old games back to you each generation.
People love nostalgia. Sure, the big money is in the new games, but look at how Crash Trilogy is selling. Look at how many people watch "old" movies, how certain classic albums and books are still selling like crazy nowadays. Sure, there's new fantasy books around, yet people keep buying Harry Potter, why's that? There's great fantasy fiction on TV, yet people go back to LOTR from time to time. Yeah, they can sell you the VHS, then the DVD, then the Blu-Ray, then the UHD disc. Some people will buy it each time, but everyone can agree it'd be better if it was a one-time purchase, and Microsoft is doing that in terms of games. You bought that game 10-15 years ago? You can play it now and on the next Xbox console, with actual free upgrades that make the game look better than ever, while also using the console's newer features like video capturing, the newer controller, etc..
Denuvo gets a lot of flak because it goes against the preservation of games. Microsoft is literally working in the opposite direction, making sure your disc or digital buy works throughout the decades. Not only that but it even "improves" as time goes by. I really, really hope this catches on and becomes an industry standard, because I don't like leaving my stuff behind, be those games, music, books or movies.
Even with BC people would still buy remasters if done right. I have the Mass Effect Trilogy on BC but I would buy a remastered trilogy in a heartbeat.
Hell, when Halo 1 Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3 ODST and Halo 4 were announced for BC last summer people assumed that 343 Industries were putting the final nail in the coffin for future Master Chief Collection support but instead they are not only fixing it but also upgrading it to 4K and possibly even adding more features to the collection!
Agree, we should also not assume the opposite just from their current activities that are public. There is a lot going on behind closed door all the time in every company in this market.
that's bad business. build and test the feature now and prove to the gaming public its worth. that way they have a ton already day one in 2021/22 when next gen hits. its not like sony can flick a switch and match Microsoft, they will be behind.
That's why I said "cool for us now, better for MS at the start of a new gen".
Because they don't have to and they're outselling every other console. They remastered/remade their best PS3 games already which people pay for gladly and they rather invest in their exclusives library.
Nah... that snowball they started rolling now will only be bigger when next gen starts. :-)
I disagree with this. They are gaining a lot of positive reactions for this and gamepass, and they honestly need that after the shitshow release of the One.
These features sell consoles believe it or not, and the earlier they get people invested the better.
Yeah they're probably going to be in a better position to offer third party games on the service, too.
Sony will lose their fans? No, they won't. BC isn't a selling point and it never was and never will be.
The 360 was not as PC-like as you think. The CPU was PowerPC based (Xenon) which operates completely different to a X86 architecture. Granted, the GPU was still based on AMDs microarchitecture.
Tiny correction. 4 games (H1, H2, H3 & H4), they later added a fifth H3: ODST.
Probably a safe bet that Microsoft has recently signed deals or contracts with 3rd party publishers/developers to allow them to work on BC automatically for next gen?
MCC technically runs 8 different engines...
- Halo: Combat Evolved
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
- Halo 2
- Halo 2 Anniversary
- Halo 3
- Halo 4
- Halo 2 Anniversary Multiplayer
- Halo 3: ODST
I only think they need to do that if they're redistributing or modifying the code.
Presumably if they're working from the same store and use an OS that supports the same code as the XB1 they don't have to get any permission.