Almost two years after the launch of the current generation of consoles, it has become obvious that Sony is beating Microsoft almost dry - PlayStation 4 is a confident leader in sales in Europe and Japan and is on par with Xbox One in North America, the traditional home region for this console. The idea of making the Xbox One the center for all home entertainment, from television to games, turned out to be unsuccessful - players are increasingly choosing in favor of Sony, whose console is more understandable and interesting.
Microsoft finally realized the mistake - at the recently completed E3, no one remembered the media capabilities of the Xbox One, as well as the Kinect sensor. Instead, the exhibition showed the strongest line of games: , - there are now so many exclusives for Xbox One that some were even postponed for an exclusive display at Gamescom (,). In parallel, Microsoft is developing new console features that are truly aimed at players - the company announced a partnership with two helmet developers at once virtual reality: Oculus and Valve/HTC, and also announced backward compatibility with games from Xbox 360 and the ability to broadcast gameplay from Xbox One to any device running Windows control 10.
This year, Microsoft is pleased with new products non-stop - for example, very soon an “elite” controller will go on sale, which can be completely customized for yourself. The price will also be elite - $149
And if almost nothing concrete is yet known about Microsoft’s plans for virtual reality, then backward compatibility and game streaming can be tried out now - however, so far only as part of the Xbox Preview Program, a service for players who want to help Microsoft test new console features.
Microsoft promises to make backward compatibility (the ability to run Xbox 360 games on Xbox One) available at the end of this year, but with one caveat: at launch, the console will not support very many games. There has already been some debate on the Internet about the technology with which this will be implemented - some believe that Microsoft is simply porting all games to Xbox One, reworking the code for new hardware, while others argue that we are still talking about an emulator, and the limitations of the library explained by the fact that games get into it only after the company is convinced that everything works as it should.
It seems that the second option has been implemented - the emulator is supported, for example, by the fact that when the game starts, some elements of the Xbox One interface are replaced with the Xbox 360 interface. Library of compatible games on this moment There are only 21 titles - to put it mildly, not a lot. In addition to the first part, which was used to present the feature at E3, the list includes such exclusives as Viva Pinata (both parts), Perfect Dark Zero, Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie. Moreover, if the user has already purchased games on Xbox 360, then they will be available on Xbox One for free - digital versions will automatically appear in the library for download, but in the case of a disc, it will need to be inserted into the console, and then download the updated version (play with disk is not allowed).
On the Microsoft website, which games users would like to see in the compatible library as soon as possible: in the lead, and. It is not yet clear how often the library will be updated, in addition, there is a question about games that have already been re-released on Xbox One - for example, . These games are included in the vote, so there is hope that they will also appear on the compatibility list.
I was able to try out backward compatibility on two games - the boxed version of Mass Effect, which I purchased second-hand, and Viva Pinata: Troubles in Paradise, which I purchased digitally on Xbox Live. There were no questions about the quality of Viva Pinata, the game looks exactly the same as the version for Xbox 360. Mass Effect in general is also good, but in some scenes the frame rate is lower than we would like. On the other hand, comparisons published online show that this game loads levels much faster on Xbox One.
Western journalists have already managed to compare Mass Effect on different generations of consoles
In both games I had to get used to the controls - the fact is that the auxiliary keys are on Xbox controllers 360 and Xbox One have different markings, so when the game asks you to press “back”, you don’t immediately understand what exactly they are talking about. However, the layout of the gamepads has hardly changed, so you get used to it quickly. It is also worth noting that all the new Xbox One functions work perfectly in games from the Xbox 360 - broadcasting gameplay to the Internet, recording video and taking screenshots.
If there are almost six months left before the launch of backward compatibility, then another new feature- game streaming - will be available on July 29. Streaming will only be available on Windows 10, which will be released on the same day. However, a test version of the new operating system is available now, moreover, this time Microsoft seriously intends to distribute the home edition for free to everyone.
To interact with Xbox One in Windows 10, a program with the quite logical name Xbox is used - with its help you can view your list of friends, personal messages, your own and other people’s achievements, even when the console is turned off. When the console is turned on, you can control it from your computer in real time - make purchases in the store, switch downloads and, of course, play games.
I tested streaming on a stationary PC and laptop, which were connected to each other using a simple Wi-Fi router, donated by the provider upon connection, and even this was enough for the broadcast to work reliably anywhere in the apartment at medium quality settings. The picture quality is quite acceptable - of course, the image is not as clear as on an HD TV, but still does not regularly disintegrate into pixels, as when broadcasting from PlayStation 4 to PS Vita. The signal delay turned out to be comfortable for the single-player mode of any game, but it is already difficult to play multiplayer at a serious level with it.
Of course, playing on the Xbox One itself is more pleasant than in broadcast mode - however, if you have a large family whose inhabitants regularly claim a TV connected to the console, then this mode will be a real salvation: take a gamepad and a laptop, and then continue the game in any corner of the apartment. By the way, the broadcast also works on compatible mobile devices- theoretically this is very cool, but in practice it is worth remembering that popularity mobile Windows at the moment it is catastrophically small.
In the future, Microsoft wants to combine computers, tablets and consoles into something like a single gaming space. Virtual reality helmets will also be built into this space. For example, one day you'll be able to play an Xbox One game via Oculus Rift - but you'll have to connect your headset to your computer to stream the game via Windows 10. And one more interesting detail: some games will be available for purchase directly for PC and Xbox One. by paying only once - the first such game will be Elite: Dangerous.
Streaming and backward compatibility - convenient and useful features, but it is unlikely that they will be able to significantly increase the popularity of Xbox One on their own. This can only be achieved in one way - by releasing more good exclusives, and judging by the announced line of games, Microsoft is seriously working in this direction.
Finally, backwards compatibility has arrived on Xbox One. You can now play Xbox 360 hits like Gears of War, including Judgment, Fable 2, Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero, on the current generation console. List of games that support this function, consists of 104 points. It will soon include Halo: Reach, Halo Wars and many others, including Bioshock and Burnout Paradise. You can also play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One, which Microsoft is giving away for free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
Microsoft held a vote, according to the results of which Red Dead Redemption was one of the most anticipated games in backward compatibility mode. The game received more than 100 thousand votes, but since it was not included in that same “104” list, questions arose for the company. I had to explain myself.
The whole point is in the license agreements. In the same Madden there is a whole range of licenses: from teams to sponsors. There are many contracts concluded with publishers, for some content they are very specific, and there are a whole bunch of games, so everything is complicated. Plus, there is no need to require licenses for games that no one will need. Viva Pinata, apparently, is needed by absolutely everyone.
One way or another, Microsoft takes into account the wishes of the voters and does everything possible to please them. The publisher always has the final say. There are no games from Rockstar Games on the “104” list.
Microsoft also believes that teaching the Xbox One to understand the games of the first Xbox is a difficult task, but the team would be happy to take on it. While everyone is busy connecting the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, there is no talk of the old Xbox. The statement, roughly speaking, is about nothing, but it was made when there were rumors about backward compatibility between the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4. Someone is attracting attention.
And no, you won’t be able to play games for the XO: the X360, firstly, will never support backward compatibility and, secondly, it simply technically cannot handle games of this level.
No that's not another blog about “as much as possible!” and so on. The material was taken and translated from a Eurogamer + my own thoughts, so let's go.
You all already know that at the Microsoft conference at the last E3, backward compatibility with games from Xbox 360 on Xbox One was announced. The most interesting thing is that the Mass Effect gameplay was demonstrated at the show, but what they saw did not please anyone - the game was terribly slow and there was a feeling that the frame rate was much lower than the stated 30 frames. Still, you need to take into account that the hardware component of the X360 is very different from the new generation console and apparently the engineers had to work hard to make this function a reality. And despite the flaws, this is still worth surprising.
What is this backward compatibility? The Xbox One console simply runs an X360 emulator application with some cut out functions, which outputs standard 1080p with minor changes without any graphical improvements. They most likely won't exist at all. To play the game you need to insert the disc into the drive, the console will recognize the game and load it from the network. But you will still need a disk to work, so you won’t be able to download and get rid of the physical media. For digital versions the situation is different - here it is enough to download a previously purchased game from your profile.
Digital Foundry undertook to test some of the games from a small list of compatible games (21 games, which mainly feature titles from the X360 launch line), which is available to all participants in the Xbox Preview program, and has already drawn some conclusions. At the moment, the emulator is under active development and we are promised support for 100 games at the end. For example, at the moment it is not possible to play games that were released on several discs, but the developers assure that this issue will be resolved. But among the declared functions, cross-console multiplayer, transfer of achievements and gamerscore from console to console, and support for cloud saves have already been implemented. Recording video and taking screenshots during the game is also available.
What really pleases the emulator is the fast loading of textures. There are actually a few more cosmetic changes, including vertical sync for almost all games.
The same Mass Effect was thoroughly tested and the verdict is the same - it is not yet possible to play it. Comparison video below.
Next we tested one of the first arcade games N++, which was released on Xbox Live Arcade. On the X360 the game ran fine at 60 fps, on the emulator there were small and not critical drawdowns. You can play this, but is it necessary?
Then it was my turn Perfect Dark Zero- one of the first shooters in the X360 launch line. The game was originally developed for a different console and as a result was released on a Microsoft console in a resolution of 1152x640, without anti-aliasing, but with various pleasant effects of that time, like the same motion blur or parallax occlusion mapping. There were FPS drops both in the original and when working with the emulator, but the second one, as a result of testing, showed itself to be somewhat worse.
In general, if we don’t talk about the somewhat crooked emulation, we can congratulate Microsoft engineers for achieving such amazing results. I hope that the emulator itself will be further developed and the console library will be replenished with a list good games. On the other hand, the developed emulator will encourage skilled comrades to build a similar thing for the PC. Well, that's how it will work out.
The video and material were partially taken from the Eurogamer website.
One of the most important events of the last E3 exhibition was the announcement of a return Xbox compatibility One with games for Xbox 360. In the fall, this feature will be available to all console users, but for now only a select few can test it.
Among them are Digital Foundry specialists who assessed the capabilities of the system and published an article on Eurogamer.
The Xbox 360 also had backward compatibility with games for the previous generation Xbox, but then programmers created a separate shell for each of them. On Xbox One the situation is different. Here virtual machine is a universal application that emulates operating system Xbox 360 and runs games on it. Other Xbox 360 OS features are not available to the user.
Since “virtual Xbox 360” is an ordinary application from the point of view of Xbox One, the familiar functions of the new console work in it (for example, the ability to take screenshots and record videos).
The emulator is compatible with both digital versions (it displays a list of games purchased by the user on the Xbox 360) and retail ones (however, after you insert the disc, the game will not start from it, but will still start downloading). In the fall, backward compatibility will be available in a hundred games, but for now there are only two dozen. The system has not yet been taught how to work with projects that were published on several discs (etc.).
The image quality in the emulator is similar to the regular 1080p picture from the Xbox 360, although there are some differences. For example, contrast and sharpness increased, causing small artifacts to appear. However, the difference is only noticeable in direct comparison. What's more striking is that forced Vsync on Xbox One has eliminated image tearing. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of a serious drop in frame rates.
Mass Effect
Perfect Dark Zero
Another interesting Digital Foundry test concerns a shooter Perfect Dark Zero, which was released alongside the release of the Xbox 360. The game suffered from low frame rates, image tearing, and lack of full-screen anti-aliasing at a resolution of only 1152x640.
On the other hand, it boasted advanced technologies by 2005 standards, including parallax occlusion mapping, high-quality image blur and impressive lighting effects.
WITH Perfect Dark Zero on Xbox One the same thing happened as with: the emulator removed image tearing, but at the cost of losing 4-6 frames per second.
Kameo
Action adventure Kameo is another one of the games that the Xbox 360 launched with in 2005. Unlike the two projects discussed before, it does not experience any problems on the Xbox One and stably stays at 30 frames per second, as if this platform is native to it.
Perfect Dark
The Nintendo 64 shooter has been re-released on the Xbox 360, improving textures and increasing the resolution to 1080p and the frame rate to 60 per second. An attempt to run it on Xbox One revealed a curious feature of the emulator: it does not support resolutions higher than 720p and stretches it to 1080p. Since the Xbox 360 version runs at 1080p, the virtual machine first compresses the image to 720p and then stretches it to 1080p, which clearly does not benefit the graphics. There weren't a lot of 1080p games on the Xbox 360, but it's definitely worth fixing.
Will Xbox One handle later games?
The ability to run Xbox 360 games on Xbox One using an emulator is a huge technical achievement. According to the authors of Digital Foundry, this was achieved due to the fact that at one time it imposed the console version of the DirectX 9 API on game developers for the Xbox 360. Later, this helped create a direct path for transferring instructions from the old graphics core to the new one.
Problems may arise with later games for the Xbox 360, the authors of which took full advantage of the features of the console's architecture to squeeze out maximum performance. Will it be possible to repeat their tricks in a virtual machine?
One of the most important events of the last E3 exhibition was the announcement of backward compatibility of the Xbox One with games for the Xbox 360. In the fall, this feature will be available to all users of the console, but for now only a select few can test it.
Among them are Digital Foundry specialists who assessed the capabilities of the system and published an article on Eurogamer.
The Xbox 360 also had backward compatibility with games for the previous generation Xbox, but then programmers created a separate shell for each of them. On Xbox One the situation is different. Here, the virtual machine is a universal application that emulates the Xbox 360 operating system and runs games on it. Other Xbox 360 OS features are not available to the user.
Since “virtual Xbox 360” is an ordinary application from the point of view of Xbox One, the familiar functions of the new console work in it (for example, the ability to take screenshots and record videos).
The emulator is compatible with both digital versions (it displays a list of games purchased by the user on the Xbox 360) and retail ones (however, after you insert the disc, the game will not start from it, but will still start downloading). In the fall, backward compatibility will be available in a hundred games, but for now there are only two dozen. The system has not yet been taught to work with projects that were published on several discs (Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, etc.).
The image quality in the emulator is similar to the regular 1080p picture from the Xbox 360, although there are some differences. For example, contrast and sharpness increased, causing small artifacts to appear. However, the difference is only noticeable in direct comparison. What's more striking is that forced Vsync on Xbox One has eliminated image tearing. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of a serious drop in frame rates.
Mass Effect
RPG Mass Effect is a major blockbuster and, apparently, the most hardware-intensive Xbox 360 game that can currently be played on Xbox One. Since it came out at the very beginning life cycle console, it was not very well optimized: the image was torn, textures were loaded right before our eyes, the frame rate dropped.
Some technical problems on Xbox One have disappeared: locations load faster, and clear textures appear on the screen without a noticeable delay. Alas, everything is spoiled by the above-mentioned forced vertical synchronization, due to which the frequency drops by 5-10 frames per second. Or rather, the authors of Digital Foundry consider this reason to be the most likely. They also have big appetites. early games on Unreal Engine 3 to processor power.
Perfect Dark Zero
Another of Digital Foundry's interesting tests concerns the shooter Perfect Dark Zero, which was released simultaneously with the release of the Xbox 360. The game suffered from low frame rates, image tearing and a lack of full-screen anti-aliasing at a resolution of only 1152640.
On the other hand, it boasted advanced technologies by 2005 standards, including parallax occlusion mapping, high-quality image blur and impressive lighting effects.
With Perfect Dark Zero on Xbox One, the same thing happened as with Mass Effect: the emulator removed image tearing, but at the cost of losing 4-6 frames per second.
Kameo
The action adventure Kameo is another of the games that launched the Xbox 360 in 2005. Unlike the two projects discussed before, it does not experience any problems on the Xbox One and stably stays at 30 frames per second, as if this platform is native to it.
Perfect Dark
The Nintendo 64 shooter Perfect Dark has been re-released on the Xbox 360, improving textures and increasing the resolution to 1080p and the frame rate to 60 per second. An attempt to run it on Xbox One revealed a curious feature of the emulator: it does not support resolutions higher than 720p and stretches it to 1080p. Since the Xbox 360 version of Perfect Dark runs at 1080p, the virtual machine first compresses the image to 720p and then stretches it to 1080p, which clearly does not benefit the graphics. There weren't a lot of 1080p games on the Xbox 360, but it's definitely worth fixing.
Will Xbox One handle later games?
The ability to run Xbox 360 games on Xbox One using an emulator is a huge technical achievement. According to the authors of Digital Foundry, Microsoft was able to achieve this due to the fact that at one time it imposed the console version of the DirectX 9 API on game developers for the Xbox 360. Later, this helped create a direct path for transferring instructions from the old graphics core to the new one.
Problems may arise with later games for the Xbox 360, the authors of which took full advantage of the console's architecture to squeeze out maximum performance. Will it be possible to repeat their tricks in a virtual machine?