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Well, compared to Windows, which up until Windows 7 let you run a bunch of very old games (and even then you could still get some of them to work in compatibili

Well, compared to Windows, which up until Windows 7 let you run a bunch of very old games (and even then you could still get some of them to work in compatibility mode), I'd say no. And that's a software platform that has to run on a bunch of different hardware. Also, your Xbox 360 games will all still work on your Xbox 360, as long as you have the hardware around. AFAIK all the Xbox 360 software updates never broke any Xbox 360 game.

djur 12y ago
To back this up, Spiderweb's original Exile series still works perfectly well on modern Windows machines. I dug up my disk for Blades of Exile a while back and spent some time playing it on my Linux machine without anything other than some very minor graphical glitches. The Mac versions haven't been playable without an emulator for a very long time. And in this case, we're talking about the most recent iteration of SW's engine (they seem to remake Exile with a more modern engine and refreshed graphics every so often; the current Avernum 2 is the second remake of Exile II). Software platform vendors should really make an effort to maintain backwards compatibility for at least a few years -- especially when the platform is so centrally controlled.
slantyyz 12y ago
>> and even then you could still get some of them to work in compatibility mode Barring that, you still have the option of spinning up a VM running an older version of Windows to play those really old games. I actually have to use a VM to play some recent games (in my particular case, Street Fighter X Tekken, Skullgirls, Blazblue Calamity Trigger), because NVidia's Optimus tech seems to prevent some games from running on my Lenovo Y50. Fortunately VMWare virtualizes the GPU workload quite well. I was surprised that I could easily get >60FPS at 1080p with Street Fighter X Tekken inside a VM.
yellowapple 12y ago
Up until recently, consoles have been a bit of a weird case, since "game" in that context usually meant something more like "game plus a baked-in operating system communicating directly with the hardware". The Xbox360 and PS3 were among the first major systems (outside of the PC realm) to run games on top of an existing operating system. Even somewhat-recent consoles that ran proper operating systems (original Xbox, Wii, PS2, Gamecube IIRC) treated them more like really complicated firmware/bootloaders; execution would be transferred to the game itself even as late as the Wii (where each game would implement certain things like the Wii home-button menu individually). In such cases, most console games were thus mostly protected from software updates on the consoles themselves, but this also made it much harder for developers to patch their games after release (they'd basically have to rerelease or otherwise introduce fixed copies of the game alongside broken ones). On the plus side, it meant that the only time one would likely have to learn a new programming method/framework/etc. was when programming for a new platform.
- jamesgeck0 12y ago
  The baked-in operating system thing is especially visible with Nintendo DS games, where the network stack and configuration UI was shipped on the cartridge. Wifi has to be configured in each individual game, and it only supports WEP, even if the game is run on a newer handheld.

djur 12y ago

To back this up, Spiderweb's original Exile series still works perfectly well on modern Windows machines. I dug up my disk for Blades of Exile a while back and spent some time playing it on my Linux machine without anything other than some very minor graphical glitches. The Mac versions haven't been playable without an emulator for a very long time. And in this case, we're talking about the most recent iteration of SW's engine (they seem to remake Exile with a more modern engine and refreshed graphics every so often; the current Avernum 2 is the second remake of Exile II). Software platform vendors should really make an effort to maintain backwards compatibility for at least a few years -- especially when the platform is so centrally controlled.

slantyyz 12y ago

>> and even then you could still get some of them to work in compatibility mode Barring that, you still have the option of spinning up a VM running an older version of Windows to play those really old games. I actually have to use a VM to play some recent games (in my particular case, Street Fighter X Tekken, Skullgirls, Blazblue Calamity Trigger), because NVidia's Optimus tech seems to prevent some games from running on my Lenovo Y50. Fortunately VMWare virtualizes the GPU workload quite well. I was surprised that I could easily get >60FPS at 1080p with Street Fighter X Tekken inside a VM.

yellowapple 12y ago

Up until recently, consoles have been a bit of a weird case, since "game" in that context usually meant something more like "game plus a baked-in operating system communicating directly with the hardware". The Xbox360 and PS3 were among the first major systems (outside of the PC realm) to run games on top of an existing operating system. Even somewhat-recent consoles that ran proper operating systems (original Xbox, Wii, PS2, Gamecube IIRC) treated them more like really complicated firmware/bootloaders; execution would be transferred to the game itself even as late as the Wii (where each game would implement certain things like the Wii home-button menu individually). In such cases, most console games were thus mostly protected from software updates on the consoles themselves, but this also made it much harder for developers to patch their games after release (they'd basically have to rerelease or otherwise introduce fixed copies of the game alongside broken ones). On the plus side, it meant that the only time one would likely have to learn a new programming method/framework/etc. was when programming for a new platform.

jamesgeck0 12y ago
The baked-in operating system thing is especially visible with Nintendo DS games, where the network stack and configuration UI was shipped on the cartridge. Wifi has to be configured in each individual game, and it only supports WEP, even if the game is run on a newer handheld.