One of the best aspects of the recently released backwards compatibility feature on Xbox One is its simplicity. Your digital Xbox 360 games simply show up in your library ready to be downloaded and even your games on physical media are easy to play. It is a very impressive technical achievement and if Microsoft wants to take a moment to playfully toot their own horn then they have certainly earned the right.
The Xbox UK channel on YouTube recently published a video tutorial that is reminiscent of another infamous “How-To” video. Here’s the new Xbox video:
If you can’t see the video for some reason, it is simply a conversation between a young British man and woman. He demonstrates how easy it is to play Xbox 360 games on Xbox One (the games that have been approved, anyways) and even points out that the games can be played offline after downloading.
All in all it is a relatively harmless and playful poke at the competition but the guy in the video asks a question that I think raises a good point at this point in video game history, “Why pay for something you already own?”
If we buy a digital game from one of these networks then why shouldn’t we be able to play it on subsequent devices in the same network without having to pay more?
Just some food for thought.
