Project Scorpio, Xbox Scorpio, that souped up Xbox One – no matter what you’re calling Microsoft’s new console, you recognize that it’s the next big thing. The specifications for the new system have been released and the crowd has gone wild . Some are touting the Xbox Scorpio as an Xbox One on steroids. Others are calling it a giant leap forward in gaming technology and a new level for other consoles to aspire to. There’s no debating that the Xbox Scorpio is going to be super powered. It’s going to run new games lightning quick and at top level quality. There’s one smaller, yet equally exciting factor of Xbox Scorpio that I’d like to talk about though. That is backwards compatibility.
Microsoft has always had some sort of backwards compatibility in their systems. The Xbox 360 could play a great many of original Xbox games after downloading updates from Xbox Live. The Xbox One at first didn’t have backwards compatibility, but has finally initiated a system that allows us to play our favorite Xbox 360 games on the newer console. Thankfully, it seems the console creator has realized this is a crucial component for gamers, because they have plans from the start with Xbox Scorpio to include backwards compatibility. It is essentially going to piggy-back off of the existing system the Xbox One has. Scorpio will be able to play Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. There’s been no news on whether or not original Xbox games will be playable on the One or Scorpio, but Xbox head Phil Spencer has hinted at this possibility for some time. With the potential for classic Xbox games to be included on the super powerful Xbox Scorpio, it seems we have a bright future ahead of us indeed.
As technology moves further and further down the road, it’s crucial that creators leave room for the past. I adore playing new games as they come out. Horizon Zero Dawn ? Gimme. The newest Pokemon game? I’m all over it. There is always, always going to be a huge space in my heart for older games though. A great example is Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn . I got that game from a Goodwill bin when I was a pre-teen. Now I’m still playing it through Steam, because I still can’t get enough of it. The same is true with consoles. I miss the days of the PlayStation 2, when I could just stick a PlayStation disc in. This future of digital versions of older games might not be exactly the same, but you know what, it’s the closest thing to it. That’s something to be excited about!
There’s definitely room to talk about the negatives though. Say you have an Xbox 360 game that you really love; you’ve kept the original box and everything. You won’t be able to just stick that in your Project Scorpio system and play away. There’s a sort of small depression right there. You’ll have to pay to purchase the same game that you already own. While you can look at it longingly on your shelf all you want for free, you will have to pay to actually play it on your newest consoles. There’s something sad and seemingly almost money-grabbing about this. But the fact of the matter still remains that old games simply can’t run on newer technology out of the box. There are changes that have to be made for them to work. Just like when you put an original Xbox game in your 360 and had to download an update.
Enough of the sad though! Xbox Scorpio is awesome , it’s coming out soon, and man do I love the idea of an Xbox One on steroids! The future of gaming is headed in a fantastic direction, only time will show us what new wonders we’ll be able to live through on Xbox Scorpio games. For now though, we’re hyped to play Xbox 360 and Xbox One games at the speed of light on Scorpio. Are you?