OG Xbox to One BC

Xbox Backwards Compatibility News for November

So….we had a major drop this week in terms of backwards compatibility. 76 games in all including Xbox 360 games, Xbox Original, Games that were Physical releases, digital releases and everything in between. The full list from just Monday is below with notes regarding their physical and digital (with pricing) status. I also updated the main list which is right here. – Main List

There are a lot of great games here, most of which I would have never expected. Binary Domain, the FEAR series, the Max Payne series, a couple of Mortal Kombats, NIER, Risen 1 & 2, Sacred 2, more Star Wars Games, Timesplitters, and One freaking chanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. Yes I own that.

Outpost Kaloki X which was a ridiculous fun little strategy game is on the list. If you were paying attention to me during my numerous articles back when weekly BC adds were a thing, I stressed that you should have already bought a copy of Xbox Arcade: Volume 1 Unplugged on disc. It’s cheap, goes for $5 to $10 and there were already 4 BC games (Hardwood Backgammon, Geometry Wars, Bejeweled 2, and Texas Hold Em) on this thing. Well here is one more, tested it on Monday and it has no issues at all. Now if I can just remember how to play the darn thing, I’d be set.

I always told myself I would get around to playing games like Conan (on sale for $5.99 at the Xbox Store this week btw), Max Payne 3 (remember this one has a ton of FREE DLC) and NIER all of which have been on my backlog longer than some of you have had your driver’s license. Well I no longer have an excuse. I might be adding a few more as well with the likes of The First Templar, Risen, and a 50 Cent game of all things. I had to also laugh and chuckle at RAW – Realms of Ancient War which has been on sale about 20 times and how many times I passed over it because I didn’t think it would be BC. I was wrong.

However, I would be amiss if I didn’t mention some of the bad from this drop. There is no Saboteur, no Gun, no Two Worlds, no Risen 3 (which seems a bit odd considering 1 & 2 made it through). Certainly there are titles missing that would have been nice. I mean, were people really clamoring for Chicken Little and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? But BC has always been full of questionable choices.

Second, not everything works. I’m having a problem with TimePilot right now. It shows that I own it on the Xbox Marketplace page (and I certainly remember buying and playing it), but wants me to pony up the $5 on my Xbox One. I even tried installing it from my app on my phone and then when I try to start it, it’s looking for a license. I have contacted Xbox Support on that one and still waiting for an answer. I’ve heard that Elements of Destruction and Warlords have had similar issues.

Screwjumper! is on the list and was previously only available digitally. But now, it’s not even available which means only people who bought it previously will get to replay it. If you are into TrueAchievements stats, that’s a grand total of 236 people on that service who have played it. Not a whole heck of a lot. Also there was an announcement earlier this week that the Skate 2 online servers would be closing. That is such an Electronic Arts announcement if I ever heard one. The Max Payne 3 servers also closed in September which is when I pretty much gave up on the game and basically discontinued half of the achievements. So much for new players discovering that one.

Overall, I realize I am nitpicking just a tiny bit. But then, this is what I lived and breathed for years and it was nice really to just reflect on this wonderful thing we call Backwards Compatibility. It also made me sad because it’s also been confirmed by numerous sources that this is the LAST DROP. Out with one big push and then we are done, back to work on other things. Anyway, take a look at the list, I tried to provide as much information as possible and hopefully you’ll find as much enjoyment as I did writing about it. Take care and enjoy.

(if you are ready this thru the summary, please click the continue Reading link for the full table)

Continue reading “Xbox Backwards Compatibility News for November” →

OG Xbox to One BC Xbox 360 to One BC

Xbox Backwards Compatibility News for October

About 2 1/2 years ago, I wrote about the final batch of 360 and original Xbox games going backwards compatible. I thought I had closed down that chapter of this site and that’s when the site started changing into more of a blog and review site. I wasn’t bagging out weekly reports anymore, and honestly content has never quite been the same despite my efforts otherwise.

Well, October was an interesting month for backwards compatibility. There were a couple of articles that I am linking here for you to read about.

Strange MS Store activity could suggest new backwards compatible OG Xbox games

A lot of news to absorb here, the first being that we should be getting actual official news on new titles in November, just a few days away. The second being that titles from OG games are popping up on the Xbox store which usually is an indicator that they will become BC.

Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Ultimate, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers, Gladius, Gunvalkyrie, Advent Rising, and Chicken Little were found in the MS Store in their original form as placeholders which used to be a sign that BC was coming for those titles.

The Dead or Alive games are always exciting (outside of the obvious male reasoning) but Gladius was an interesting tactical rpg that I will certainly look into. Advent Rising and Gunvalkyrie were third person shooters that probably don’t get a lot of love but are worth looking into. The two least worthy titles are probably Full Spectrum Warrior and well, Chicken Little. Chicken Little could very well be just a red-herring and that Xbox was testing something. Hopefully the others are legit.

And then this article today:

Two more Xbox 360 titles spotted on Microsoft Store with backwards compatibility IDs

The first game mentioned was The First Templar, a hack and slash adventure that from the looks of it was a decent amount of fun and even had a piece of DLC in the Arena. It is available both digitally ($14.99) as well as physically (an used copy should run you about $10). As someone who plays a LOT of hack and slash, I’m really surprised I haven’t at least given it a try.

The second game is Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? which I hope is something of a joke. Not that I don’t support all BC because I do…but come on. It’s not available digitally at the moment and physical copies vary wildly in price from $10 to $25 and higher. Are people really paying rare prices for Jeff Foxworthy gameshow adaptations? Anyway, I’ll probably try to grab First Templar at some point.

Hopefully this is a continuing trend and I am excited about the potential come November. While most would agree that these are some odd titles, I don’t expect the actual releases to be all that mainstream. All of the truly mainstream and sought after titles are already backwards compatible. I mean, sure I am still wishing for Saboteur, Max Payne 3, Gun, or the Two Worlds games, but at this point of the game I would be just happy for a new batch of titles to discuss. Stay tuned as I will certainly follow this and report as soon as I know more. Take care and enjoy.

OG Xbox to One BC

Second Wave of Xbox Original Games are now Live for Backwards Compatibility!

So, here we go, with the second wave of Xbox Original games. The pricing is good except for whatever they are trying to pull with Destroy All Humans! I have the disc to that game, and it sure didn’t cost me $20 when I bought it. It should be had at most places for about $10, maybe $15 if you want a really nice copy. The other prices are in line with what i would expect. Mercenaries, the Battlefronts, and Knights of the Old Republic II are the highlights here. Thanks and enjoy.

Original Xbox games releasing on April 26 @11am CST:

OG Xbox to One BC

First New Wave of Xbox Originals on Backwards Compatibility are now LIVE!!!!!!!!

As promised, here is the first new wave of titles from the Xbox Originals lineup to go backwards compatible. Discs or the digital links below should work. I will try some of the discs later on tonight when I have the opportunity. Enjoy, and I would say if you like having these additions, pick up one or two digitally to support the service. I would certainly like to see more of these games, especially titles like Indigo Prophecy and maybe the original Fable (yes I know we have Anniversary, but it would be nice). Enjoy!

Official Tweets – Here and Here.

OG Xbox to One BC

Nineteen Original Xbox Games are coming to Backwards Compatibility! (I don’t have enough exclamation marks)

Late yesterday, we got a very awesome announcement of NINETEEN original Xbox games being added to backwards compatibility. They will be released in waves, first eight on April 17th (next Tuesday), and then another eleven on April 26th (the following Thursday). Among them besides a ton of Star Wars, we get gems like Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Jade Empire, Destroy All Humans!, and Panzer Dragoon Orta. The nice part is I own a lot of these (Breakdown, Morrowind, Jade Empire, etc).

One of the ones I would want to own is Panzer Dragoon, but that goes for pretty rough prices on Ebay. If it is $10 digitally, I will certainly opt for that. Heck, I might opt for the digital package of Morrowind if it includes all of the DLC (just so I don’t have to mess with the disc). The full list is below, I’ll be updating the spreadsheet later today but this announcement is certainly the best of the year so far. Enjoy!

Original Xbox games releasing on April 17:

Blinx: The Time Sweeper
Breakdown
Conker: Live & Reloaded
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Hunter: The Reckoning
Jade Empire
Panzer Dragoon Orta
SSX 3

Original Xbox games releasing on April 26:

Destroy All Humans!
Full Spectrum Warrior
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
MX Unleashed
Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront II
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Star Wars Republic Commando

OG Xbox to One BC

Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility Starts Today!

I mentioned this yesterday, but today is the first official day of backwards compatibility for the original Xbox on the Xbox One. Thirteen titles lead off the list, I am happy to say I do own 3 of them (Bloodrayne 2, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic). I thought I also owned Sid Meier’s Pirates but I was mistaken. I probably just looked at it twenty times in an used game store and decided against it. It will be interesting to see what else gets added but this is a fine start (though I would certainly like to see Morrowind and Indigo Prophecy at some point). Enjoy.

OG Xbox to One BC

Any Day Now, Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility is a coming.

Good morning, I know I don’t usually post on Monday but this seemed worthy a post. I ran across this article this morning. I also double checked it by Xbox.com and gosh darn it, they were there. Now I don’t know if I can play them just yet (I’ll wait for official verification on that one)…but I’d say this is as close to definite as you can get. And $10 a head isn’t bad either (except for Red Faction II). Can you get some of these games for $5 on disc? Some perhaps, not Star Wars KOTOR or Sid Meier’s Pirates though. Furthermore, finding a decent playable copy might be difficult too. I mean, I know I have some but others that I might be interested in(like Dead to Rights), I really don’t want to bother with the shelf space. The list of titles are below with links to their Xbox.com buy page. This isn’t official yet, but we can count it as 98.7% if you catch my drift. Enjoy.

EDIT: It would appear that I didn’t jump the gun at all, check out this Twitter post from Major himself. I’ll work this afternoon on finding a way to integrate them into our spreadsheets (where they stand out) in preparation for tomorrow.

OG Xbox to One BC

Fusion Frenzy will be part of the lineup for OG Xbox BC.

We already had Crimson Skies, we knew that was coming, but now we have another title in Fusion Frenzy, a 2001 Party game that had an assortment of mini-games akin to Mario Party and like games. And they have confirmed that no new achievements will be added to these games either, no surprise. I am excited by the possibility of OG Xbox backwards compatibility..but the first two games (which will be coming in the fall it looks like) do nothing for me. Feel free to read more information at this link.

OG Xbox to One BC

Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility Coming to Xbox One!!

Sorry for not capturing this sooner, but alas some weekends with a 2 year old are rougher than others. I’m surprised I’m not on my 3rd cup of coffee to be brutally honest. Anyway, this article comes thanks to E3 and first covered by TrueAchievements.com. I will point out it is actually 386 games that are BC at the moment but if you follow my page, you would already know that. Anyway, I do like this announcement but I’m not as excited as I thought I would be. Mainly because it will likely include no new achievements and more than likely mirror the old backwards compatible list that 360 had with the Original XBOX. I’ll attach it here if you would like to peruse that and Crimson Skies was a part of that.

Wikipedia – List of Xbox Games compatible with Xbox 360

Anyway, I’ll have to think about how I’m going to represent those titles in my spreadsheet/table for this site. I want to avoid using another column but at the same time, I need a proper way to note it for filtering and counting. And I would rather not have another table to worry about. We’ll wait until we get an official announcement of the first game or two before I figure it out for good. Enjoy kids.