Microsoft announced that the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility will stretch to the original Xbox, expanding its library to a generation of games that include Jade Empire, Burnout 3: Takedown and more.
The announcement was made by the Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, with him revealing that the first original Xbox game to make its way to the Xbox One will be the cult favorite Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge. There’s no word yet on what other games will be made available, with the likes of the ultra popular Halo 2 having already made its way to the Xbox One as part of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but there are more than a few titles that former OG Xbox owners would like to see make their way to the current console generation.
The original Xbox is widely regarded as one of the most underrated consoles, with it having helped introduce online gaming to the masses by way of its then-revolutionary Xbox Live service. Though the game suffered from a lack of great exclusives, it still found itself a considerable audience that followed Microsoft to the far more popular Xbox 360.
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In terms of games that players will want to see make their way to the Xbox One via backwards compatibility, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fable and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind each stand as some of the most highly rated games of their generation, and titles that paved the way for Microsoft’s future in the home console business.
Despite there not exactly being a ripe selection of original Xbox games we’d want to revisit on the Xbox One, those in attendance still greeted the announcement with plenty of applause, so maybe the expansion will prove to be popular. If nothing else, it’ll provide Xbox One owners with more games to play, which is never a bad thing.
You can check out more information regarding Microsoft’s E3 2017 presentation in our official E3 hub.
