GOG.com is rad and I've bought a bunch of stuff off it, at least in part because it's configured to work on new systems immediately. You don't have to download emulators or configure DosBOX or anything like that.
It. Just. Works.
From a cultural perspective, backward compatibility is important for preserving data. I wouldn't have played KOTOR or KOTOR 2 if the 360 wasn't backward compatible, and Microsoft, of all companies, should know how important preserving access to data is, considering how many ways you can import data into Office and export it.
So think about it this way - what happens when Microsoft stops making the 360? What happens to the games? How do we ensure that someone can play a game that was never released on PC when the platform it was released for no longer exists? It's a problem librarians face, and one reason why - AFAIK - it's the Library of Congress that determines exemptions for the DMCA (i.e. when folks are legally allowed to circumvent copyright).
Backward compatibility is important to me because I still play older games. I've played Skate, Skate and Skate 3 in their entirety at least three times EACH. I have purchased old games off eBay so I could play original Xbox titles that people kept talking about.
Backward compatibility is important to me because it extends the value of the system. At launch, there are supposed to be 15 titles for the new Xbox (at this point, I'm refusing to call it by its name because it is incredibly stupid to call the third version of something One), but enabling backward compatibility means people have no shortage of titles to play. If someone doesn't care about the launch titles and can't play older titles, then it delays the purchase, if that person still buys it.
And obviously, I'm not the only one who cares about backward compatibility considering that it appears to be an issue. Microsoft - of all companies - should have anticipated this and done something to mitigate it or eliminate the problem.
It. Just. Works.
From a cultural perspective, backward compatibility is important for preserving data. I wouldn't have played KOTOR or KOTOR 2 if the 360 wasn't backward compatible, and Microsoft, of all companies, should know how important preserving access to data is, considering how many ways you can import data into Office and export it.
So think about it this way - what happens when Microsoft stops making the 360? What happens to the games? How do we ensure that someone can play a game that was never released on PC when the platform it was released for no longer exists? It's a problem librarians face, and one reason why - AFAIK - it's the Library of Congress that determines exemptions for the DMCA (i.e. when folks are legally allowed to circumvent copyright).
Backward compatibility is important to me because I still play older games. I've played Skate, Skate and Skate 3 in their entirety at least three times EACH. I have purchased old games off eBay so I could play original Xbox titles that people kept talking about.
Backward compatibility is important to me because it extends the value of the system. At launch, there are supposed to be 15 titles for the new Xbox (at this point, I'm refusing to call it by its name because it is incredibly stupid to call the third version of something One), but enabling backward compatibility means people have no shortage of titles to play. If someone doesn't care about the launch titles and can't play older titles, then it delays the purchase, if that person still buys it.
And obviously, I'm not the only one who cares about backward compatibility considering that it appears to be an issue. Microsoft - of all companies - should have anticipated this and done something to mitigate it or eliminate the problem.
