Original Xbox Games on Xbox One | What we know so far

Regardless of what you think of Xbox today, one thing you can't deny is their sheer commitment to backwards compatibility. It's the one major trump Xbox has over the PS4 as Sony shows clear disinterest in their past machines.

Compatibility shall be releasing Autumn this year. Here are some things you should know:


Xbox Games to Keep Original Aspect Ratio

This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise as many games at the time were designed in 4:3 aspect ratios. Yes, they could get the games to work in widescreen, but developers would either have to resort to stretching the screen or reworking the game entirely (something I doubt they want to be doing). Luckily there were a few handful of titles that did support widescreen and those games will have them when they release on Xbox One.

Original Duke Controller will be Releasing

It's been known for some time that Seamus Blackley was pushing to have the Duke controller re-released in all its glory. Now it's reality. Not too much info to go on for this, however it will be the controller we all know and love in it's entirety. One change will be made however and that is at the centre of the controller. What was once a huge piece of plastic housing the logo (which may originally have been intended for a VMU style peripheral), will now house an LCD screen. Again, not much else other than that I'm afraid. I can't say I'm going to miss the wires mind you...

Crimson Sky is the First and Only Announced Game

So far only Crimson Sky has been announced which was the only game demoed at E3. One thing is for sure is that we're even less likely to see licensed games be available. The Xbox 360 struggled in this regard with iconic titles such as PGR never seeing the light of day; never mind a console game with even older licences attached to it. However there is still a ton of amazing titles on the machine that can easily make it. Fingers crossed for Jet Set Radio a Future!

Physical Games will Work

One great piece of info is that yes, physical games will work. I have to admit, I had my doubts. The Xbox 360 is a more recent machine; one that is still receiving games to this day, so I had no doubts for that physical discs would work. The OG Xbox on the other hand hasn't received a game in over 10 years. We've seen publishers make new reprints of 360 games such as Bully with unique casing, but I highly doubt we will ever see the same done for the original Xbox. Never the less, it's great to see and is a highly consumer friendly move by Microsoft.

Games will Perform better on Xbox One X

The reason I love 360 games on Xbox One is their increased performance coupled with the resolution bump. With the Xbox One X, we can expect to see rock solid framerates and possibly 4K rendered resolutions? All we know is that they "will perform better".