Xbox Series X can boost select older titles to 120 fps and add HDR

[Shawn Knight]

Editor's take: Notably, Ronald’s usage of terms like “a hand curated list of titles” suggests that not all of the games in the Xbox back catalog will take full advantage of Microsoft’s new hardware and techniques. Here’s to hoping that your favorites make the cut!

Microsoft from day one set about to design the new Xbox Series X to be its most compatible console ever. Part of that design philosophy relates to backward compatibility and a belief that games should play their best on the new hardware.

As Jason Ronald, director of program management for Xbox Series X explains, backward compatible games will run natively on Xbox Series X with the full power of the CPU, GPU and SSD on tap. This means that games will run at the peak performance they were originally designed for and in many instances, even better than they did on their launch platform.

For some games, this will result in the doubling of frame rates from 30 fps to 60 fps or from 60 fps to 120 fps.

The custom NVMe SSD, meanwhile, will lead to significant reductions to in-game load times while a new HDR reconstruction technique will be able to add HDR support to games at the platform level, resulting in zero performance impact. Other innovations will allow select titles to be rendered at up to 4K resolution or with other visual improvements like anisotropic filtering.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/85411-xbox-series-x-can-boost-select-older-titles.html

 

[Irata]

Good news. This will finally allow me to run the Xbox 360 copy of GTA 4 I picked up for €2 that wouldn't run on the One S....

I think this is actually good news though, allowing users to play all their titles - sometimes even in better quality. And older games that are still fun can often be picked up for cheap.

 

[Polycount]

This is great news. There are a lot of console games I never bothered to play because the 30 FPS cap frustrated me too much.

 

[AMN3S1AC]

This is great news. There are a lot of console games I never bothered to play because the 30 FPS cap frustrated me too much.

I was recently given an xbox one s, and found there was literally nothing on it I hadn't been able to play on PC. The console has almost no exclusive titles.

 

[Polycount]

I was recently given an xbox one s, and found there was literally nothing on it I hadn't been able to play on PC. The console has almost no exclusive titles.

Fair enough. I was a PS4 guy. I hope the PS5 has similar functionality.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I was recently given an xbox one s, and found there was literally nothing on it I hadn't been able to play on PC. The console has almost no exclusive titles.

It's the biggest issue with the xbox. Anything worth playing has a PC release, everything else is usually garbage. The PS4 has a similar issue, which I wrote of in the PS5 article. It seems the only console with worthwhile exclusives is the switch.

Fair enough. I was a PS4 guy. I hope the PS5 has similar functionality.

Sony has been so cagey I can only think their backwards compatibility program is going to be severely hit and miss with tons of bugs. "we hope that most of our top 100 games should be playable for the most part and our boost speeds are not solidified and game devs have no direct control over them but they will always somehow have peak performance available" how much harder can they say their compatibility is being problematic?

 

[Nobina]

Microsofts most compatible console is a Windows PC.

 

[kira setsu]

I'll stick with my pc that's getting those exclusives anyway, plus I have access to trainers, I'm an adult now and dont have the time to grind away in games like old times.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'll stick with my pc that's getting those exclusives anyway, plus I have access to trainers, I'm an adult now and dont have the time to grind away in games like old times.

Old games didnt grind anything like modern games do. Today there's a monetary incentive to make things take longer and artificially hold up gameplay progression behind status bars.

The question is why would I want to play a game that is designed to either make me pay more $$$ or endlessly grind to get the 7 heads of gibblegoob and 15 scales of mishmash to craft 2 keys of daraborrana to open the door to the next section of grinding and crafting? That's just busywork.

AT least in older games, if you had to grind up levels you had side quests with rich narratives and possible unique items that you couldnt get in the main storyline. It wasnt artificial padding for the sake of getting more of your money.

 

[scavengerspc]

Considering the cash Microsoft is making with game pass I seriously doubt they are worried about console exclusives. "Xbox exclusive" seems to be dying quickly, but could be replaced by "Microsoft exclusive" (Xbox\PC).

Of course the Windows app is also called Xbox so, who knows.

 

[Lounds]

It's the biggest issue with the xbox. Anything worth playing has a PC release, everything else is usually garbage. The PS4 has a similar issue, which I wrote of in the PS5 article. It seems the only console with worthwhile exclusives is the switch.
Sony has been so cagey I can only think their backwards compatibility program is going to be severely hit and miss with tons of bugs. "we hope that most of our top 100 games should be playable for the most part and our boost speeds are not solidified and game devs have no direct control over them but they will always somehow have peak performance available" how much harder can they say their compatibility is being problematic?

If you watch it back the way I interpreted the top 100 was to have enhanced PS5 features such as 4k 60 FPS. They said in PS4/PS4 Pro mode all games would work from the 4k plus games they have on the system.

 

[DZillaXx]

I personally only like to play certain games on my PC now. RTS and Shooters mainly.

For MS, they want the xbox brand to include both PC and Xbox. Which is why we see exclusives come to both, and this will not stop. Xbox is clearly the cheapest way to get a gaming machine connected to a TV. And the XSX will be faster than most gaming rigs out there day one. This whole gamepass things as I get great games on both my PC and Xbox.

I got tired of only playing games on my PC. Sometimes I just want to play on a large tv. Games like Red Dead or Dirt just play better on a TV. I've done the whole TV computer in the past, with big video card and all. I had one with a r9 290, still have it. But playing games on it from the TV was a mixed bag. Super clunky, switching between keyboard and controller just to change settings. Not designed for ease of use. Poor Wife acceptance factor.

 

[vimann]

I was recently given an xbox one s, and found there was literally nothing on it I hadn't been able to play on PC. The console has almost no exclusive titles.

Yeah, this is the downside that's not really discussed - lack of exclusive titles. After I put the 360 to rest, there was no incentive for me to stick to consoles.

 

[Hardware Geek]

I would love an excuse to build a new computer, but I simply don't game enough to justify it anymore. Consoles offer the convenience to play on my big TV from my couch. I wouldn't even be getting into the next gen at release but the kids are excited to get a new console because they know that means the one x gets rotated to their room and I am excited for the promised of nearly instant load times. I'm just trying to decide on ps5 or one x, and am waiting to decide until more is released about ps5's backwards compatibility. If I can play ssx tricky with a visual upgrade on ps5, then I'm sold. That game is the only reason I still have my ps2. I know I could get it on the series x via the 360 version but I always preferred the Playstation controller over the Xbox one for that specific game, otherwise series x would easily be my go to first next generation and I'll wait for the inevitable ps5 pro with psvr2 bundle.