TXH Asks… Xbox One Backward Compatibility is one year old – but has it really been worth it?

One year ago the Xbox One Backward Compatibility feature came into full effect with no less than 104 Xbox 360 titles becoming available to play on Xbox One. In that year, the number has risen pretty significantly with many more titles becoming available. For many, it’s been a bit of a saviour, allowing them to play all manner of back catalogue games on their super powerful Xbox One.

But me? I’m sat here in happy in the knowledge that I haven’t yet played a single one of my couple of hundred odd Xbox 360 titles again. And you know what…I don’t think I’ll ever feel the need to do so.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand how some people can’t leave things alone. There are a whole ton of brilliant Xbox 360 titles that could quite easily stand up and be counted alongside the brighter, wiser, cleverer Xbox One games. Games like Assassin’s Creed II, family friendly funsters like Viva Pinata and huge adventures like the Mass Effect series were all superb titles to play through. Add in the likes of Gears of War and Fallout 3 and you’ve got enough games, with enough content to last you a lifetime.

But the key word here is ‘were’. They were cutting edge. They were brilliant experiences. They were must-plays, all at a time when the Xbox 360 was leading the way in the video gaming world.

The thing is, I’ve moved on. I greeted the Xbox One with open arms upon its release, and very quickly found that the 360 was more and more becoming a dusty old relic in the corner of a room. That was until they were boxed up and put in the attic, safely stored away for no reason other than I can’t bear to get rid of them. Not once since that day have I felt the need to go back and play a game that I originally adored – Grid 2 – and similarly I’ve not even bothered to download or play the free Xbox 360 Games With Gold titles that have been gifted my way. You see, I’ve played the vast majority of those games at least once, in some cases twice and thrice, and now, with a huge selection of ‘proper’ Xbox One titles to play, just don’t have the inclination, the tendency or the need to play something that is years old and possibly showing its age.

Fact is, Forza Horizon 3 trumps Forza Horizon 2, which similarly beats the living daylights out of the original. Why on earth would I therefore even consider ditching Australia for the smaller, less exciting world found in Forza Horizon? The same goes with any of the Call of Duty titles from yesteryear and even though there has been a huge clamour for Black Ops to become fully playable on Xbox One, I personally would have been more than happy sticking with the likes of Infinite Warfare.

I slightly understand the idea of downloading a game, and playing it for old times sake. But who has really spent much time with any of the BC titles to actually warrant bother? I mean seriously? Are you really waking up in the morning and frothing at the mouth in order to play Blue Dragon once more, when you can play Dishonored 2? Have you really spent more than ten minutes back with the squad in Gears of War 3 instead of going back in time with Battlefield 1 or fighting the fight with a huge titan alongside you in Titanfall 2? I reckon if the vast majority of gamers playing around with an Xbox One were being honest, I think they’d probably agree with me. Even Red Dead Redemption, a game that nearly saw the internet break when it was announced as Back Compat a few months back pales into the background when put alongside the likes of GTA V or Mafia 3. Was all that hype a couple of months back really worth it?

I say not, and I’ve still to find a single Xbox 360 game that I’d rather be playing than one of the newer Xbox One titles. I don’t have an issue with the Xbox team making all these old classics, and in some cases, not old classics, *cough* TRON: Evolution *cough* Backward Compatible, and whilst it’s reasonably decent to be able to claim all these titles are Xbox One compatible, in my opinion, I could very easily do without them.

In fact, I reckon that whilst it’s good to see the numerous Xbox 360 titles now playable on Xbox One, and the scheme in itself is doing no real harm, unless you can’t leave the past alone, they are ultimately pointless.