Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Calls For Industry-Wide Support Of Game Preservation Via Emulation

Just make a new XBOX machine that can play ALL OG XBOX, XBOX 360, XBOX ONE games including Kinect compatibility by Disc Emulating like Wii U / Wii.

He's sayin' what we're all thinkin'

There needs to be a true form of historical game preservation for all games. Make something like an International Video Game Archive that also releases games available for download to customers so we can research and experience games of yore and never /ever/ lose them.

Game industry, it's time to stop being greedy with your back catalog and submit your libraries for this form of preservation. Focus your efforts forward. Let the historians who want to be historians for this medium preserve your efforts.

Xbox has the right idea, games I purchased digitally on 360 still worked when I had an Xbox One and continue to work on my Series X. This is the perfect way.

But I understand that’s not always an option, and it took them great effort to make that happen. I was quite annoyed with repurchasing the same games over across 3DS, Wii and Wii U - like Link to the Past 3x times….

Nintendo’s effort at least (in theory) guarantees the emulation and games across any current and future devices…. Though I think a lower yearly fee for the emulator, with the option to purchase each game would be more desirable, BUT only if they could guarantee any successor systems over the next 10-15 years would support the emu service AND the games you e bought.

I always thought it’s odd how almost all old movies are always readily available yet most video games are not.

Honestly, RetroAchievements has made me engage with retro gaming far more than I ever have before. If there was a proper official emulation service then I’d be well up for it, as long as it had all the modern conveniences. So basically RetroArch 😂

Xbox has become my favorite company I don't buy from.

I think it would be great to preserve games and have a way to legally emulate them. So far, I like how Sega did it with their classics collection, release officially emulated classics in a collection. Got to give credit where credit's due, Sega still manages to keep their classics out. There's a good reason why I can play Sonic 1 on just about anything officially.

I was playing Super Mario All-Stars on Switch Online this evening, and while I have the Wii version, it does sadden me that the Switch version could one day disappear when Switch Online is shut down. I think it would be nice to have a more permanent solution.

Loved timesplitters 2 coming to xbox series s-x. Hated how they didn't have a inverted option to change the way I look. Down is up and up is down.....

@Sunsy That fear is totally valid, but it's worth noting in Nintendo's latest investor's meeting, they strongly implied their online services would at least carry over to the next generation of consoles.

Does this mean he will give us all the N64 Rareware titles for NSO? In the name of preserving the art, of course. Let’s hope so.

@Not_Soos Hope so. So far, it seems a different service per generation. It will be interesting how this carries over, whether the download is backwards compatible or they just make a new updated version for a new service.

Now thinking about it, games have been removed in the past because of licensing, it will be interesting to see how these could get preserved and emulated officially.

"due to licensing, legal and technical constraints."

Aw, don't be like that! Sonic 06 isn't BC yet.

I'm sure licensing is cheap (it's SEGA ffs) and it was one of the first games to function more-or-less in xenia... Lazy devs.

I don’t really care. I have no interest in playing x game on the nes.

@blindsquarel this is more than just NES, it also means SNES, Genesis, PS1, N64, GameCube, Xbox 360, Wii, and even modern-day consoles and their preservation.

Xbox doing what Nintendon't as usual. Good, because it needs to be done. All digital future be darned.

Someone just became an XBox fanboy (or girl, or whatever).

Shots FIRED.
Your move, Nintendo.

I have virtually no interest in Xbox outside of Halo, but Phil Spencer seems like a really cool guy

Given the large number of video game makers that have been making games since the 70's, it would be nigh impossible for a console manufacturer to get licensing agreements for all of them.

Yeah. I see no Sonic 06 added.
I'm probably the rare person who'd want that. Also the original Halo saga. Most of my Xbox games aren't supported.

What does this have to do with Nintendo?

You can play all retro these games with fancy new FPS options and graphical fidelity... For a small fee...

There’s so many great old games I’ve played that I feel like I’ll never be able to play again because those games are lesser known and aren’t on any virtual console. I’m not familiar with illegal emulators and I’d prefer to try and keep it that way.

Then give away all your games for free, until then don’t shame other companies for following the law.

I think there should be an archive of sort almost like Steam where all games after a certain date go into and is readily to be downloadable after paying a fee which goes to the publisher or something. I can dream but Nintendo will definitely hate the idea since it means they can’t sell you the same 30yr old game to you for the 10th time.

@Hero-of-WiiU True, and legal or illegal, some games are just going to be harder and harder to find, if not nearly impossible, digital or physical, as time rolls on. That is unless companies actively step up and start preservation now.

One great game that hasn’t seen the light of day since NES is Robo Warrior, a Data East title. Likely rights, code and such have been lost to time due to Data East folding long ago and IP rights being sold/lost during closure. That’s just one of many.

I'm reminded of the movie A Night at the Roxbury where Michael 'Big Mike' Duncan, the bouncer, wouldn't let the Butabi brothers into the club because they weren't on the list.

Phil Spencer just utters out buzzwords he hears gamers talking about as if he's in support but he never actually DOES anything to help.

@Dm9982 Guess all we can do is try to buy the consoles again and see if the game is available, which is fine but seems like extra clutter all the same.

You really have to give Hamster it’s due credit with the classic lineup of arcade games they’ve managed to supply us and WE CAN PURCHASE THEM NINTENDO!
Meanwhile Xbox BC program is just awesome. It’s so great and convenient to have your past digital purchases brought forward to current gen consoles & NOT have to buy them over again!!
While I’m glad Sony gave us ps4 games on ps5, I WAS disappointed that PS3 , 2 & psone games didn’t make it! That would’ve been unbelievable!!

I am preserving games by buying as many as I can.
That's what I tell my wife anyway

Sounds like a nice dream. I wouldn’t hold my breath for Japanese companies to take on that charge

I've been wanting this videogame consortium thingy forever... It HAS to happen. I thought someone out there was working on such a thing but I could be mistaken.

I hope this means Kinect is in the cards for Xbox Series X. There’s quite a few games there I don’t want to see lost as well.

I have a brand spanking new Series X coming in tomorrow because of the backwards compatibility, also digital purchases work across all Xbox consoles. I'd say Spencer is doing what he can within the law.

I hope this means their willing to put all Rare games(well, aside from Goldeneye. Obviously beyond their control) on NSO. Putting Banjo on there is a good start, just hope his words don't mean nothing. Time will tell I suppose.

Be great if they just took Goldeneye and replaced it with Perfect Dark skins.
I mean rom hacks are a thing. we can replace Spider-Man or the X-Men in Sega's old games with Shinobi or Golden Axe charactors

If he really wanted to preserve games, he'd call for making them freely available after a period of time. Only reason he cares about emulation is because he sees it as a potential revenue stream.

Phil has really been moving the gaming industry in the right direction. One of the things I loved about the Xbox One was it's support for 360 and original Xbox titles and how they let you buy and download them.

Idk if he means it but im glad he said it

There is something important to consider here though: Emulation is really, really hard and quite resource intensive if the aim is for near-perfect to perfect accuracy. As of right now, the most accurate software emulator for a home console is Higan.

If game preservation is the goal, then Microsoft will have to strive for something on the same level as Byuu's work. From an accuracy and preservation perspective though, I see FPGA-based solutions, rather than software emulation, as the way to go.

Good luck to Microsoft.

Copyright law needs changing so that if a game is unavailable to purchase new from any licenced vendor across the internet or otherwise in such a way that the original creators get their fair cut of profits then players are free to do whatever they want with the ROM, from playing it to pulling it apart.

There are thousands of dead end games out there that publishers don't give a toss about. Let us legally play them.

Software licencing also needs changing so that it applies to any platform. I can legally play backups of physical media but not copies of digital purchases. Again, needs changing.

Nintendo's older systems might be a bit difficult to incorporate in this ideal, being from an era that pre dates it lol (especially is they don't share the same physical media), but going forward, I think there is a good chance Nintendo are on board with this (if you saw the infographic from the financial meeting.)

Kudos to Phil, this guy has my vote, retro games should be preserved. Its the history of gaming our past time. That's one of the reasons i own plenty of retro gear. That's the trouble with this industry its always pushing forward which is great, but let's respect what came before.

@El_Syd To be honest yes it's not easy to do emulations but if random people manage to make it even thou it's illegal but they do quite good job with it. So saying company like sony/nintendo/microsoft couldn't handle it is kinda stupid But they can't becouse of copyright etc etc. Wich is kinda stupid on it's own.

And that from a company, that's willing to destroy the physical market of games.

@Nintendo4Sonic It's not just them more and more things are going digital. Netflix/HBO/Disney+/NSO/PSPlus/Youtube just to name a few.

@iaLgan yes, that's a big problem these days. As long as everything is ready to download, everythings fine, but all is hold on a line.
And it's happening sometimes, that games are gone to download. Same with movies.

I still buy my favorite movies on Blu-ray and 4k.

And Microsoft with their budget Gamepass is taking gaming a big step in a direction, where physical games could die.

@iaLgan Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I understand, software emulators themselves are not illegal. It's the distribution of ROMs, disc image files and BIOS that is.

Do you have any information to suggest that Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft have a good track record of implementing emulation, from an accuracy perspective?

Although Microsoft's backwards compatibility feature with Xbox and Xbox 360 titles seems to be well-regarded, can it not be said that this is not accurate emulation, given that the titles have been recompiled and modified and in same ways, not behaving as they were originally intended?

Also, it cannot be emphasised enough that these companies tend to do the bare minimum in matters such as this. You have to ask yourself, if they're truly interested in preservation. I do not think so, as their sole reason for existing is to sell services and products to consumers. Does video game history matter to them? Does accuracy and preservation matter enough to the consumers for there to be a large enough demand?

@mereel he said "buy any game" NSO does not allow you to buy games.

I'm simply going to continue playing my rom collections i've had for nearly 20 years. He claims preservation but it's really about future profits. They should just let us play 30+ year old games they've made more than enough money from. The individual people who actually worked on these old games won't see a dime of those earnings. They don't care about preservation, dedicated people have already preserved them way before they decided to cash in on the retro fad.

@El_Syd It's not the information that i have or don't. (and yes i don't have it) But just from perspective point if a group of people can emulate like for example gba/ps1/ps2 etc such huge companies like them could do it easily yet as we can see from NSO experience even they failed with n64 emulation

@Juga Even if it was meant as a joke and let's say we vote for you. You do understand that there are other countries besides USA Never gonna happen.

@iaLgan
Well, we are certainly in agreement there on the matter of Nintendo's worsening N64 emulation.

For the first time ever, I'm listening, Mr. Spencer. I'm listening.

NINJA APPROVED

I like and agree with what he's saying, but I'm not so sure that he really 100% means it. If he really does, then why are the older Forza Motorsport games--especially the ones on Xbox 360, 2/3/4--not a part of the "final" update? After all, Microsoft owns them so licensing them is not an excuse. He can say that all he wants, but in the end, Microsoft's desire to sell the current Forza games that are on the market is enough for them to do the exact opposite of what he says he would like to see.

Still, I absolutely agree 100% with the thought, and I love what they are doing. Microsoft really is putting both Nintendo and Sony to shame on supporting old games, and we absolutely need that. And from everyone, not just one company.

The old Rare games are playable on Series X|S and Xbox One, so he doesn’t have to release them on Switch online for his words to make sense. I never understood why the people on this site clamouring for Rare games don’t just buy an Xbox (if financially viable). Rare Replay is beautiful.

Anyway yea @ATaco I mean he introduced Backwards Compatability for Xbox One and carried it over to Series X|S and just added 76 more games…

@UltraZelda64 unfortunately it seems Licensing IS an issue with the Forza games. They license all the cars I believe for a set amount of time. It’s rubbish and it’s fair to call them out for it, but I think there are “reasons”. Must be a bit heartbreaking for Playground games when they know Forza Horizon 5 will most likely eventually get delisted.

@Oddball83 The individuals that worked on these games don't see a dime from your ROM collections either so not really sure what your point is here. At least if these old games are sold officially the creators (or publishers at least) will get something.

I doubt the likes of Xbox or any other storefront see massive profits in this - I mean, Nintendo wouldn't have dumped the Virtual Console if it was making them piles of cash would they?

@K1LLEGAL That still doesn't explain why I can't just pop my original discs into a modern console, allow Microsoft's emulation/BC software to work its magic, and run the software that already physically exists etched in plastic. Even if licensing cars is an issue, it's not like they can't update the license/relicense it and start selling digital copies on Xbox.com. I would instantly buy them.

I feel like the licensing of a non-existent developer, like Bizarre Creations of the Project Gotham series, would be far more difficult than a bunch of car manufacturers that still exist.

@dmcc0 They've all made enough money off of these old games. You can spin it and debate it all you want. Their preaching about preservation is *****. They want to preserve in order to keep repackaging them, they don't give a crap about history. You're all suckers if you pay for 30 year old video games and preach "preservation" when they have already been preserved for over 20 years. I don't care if some neckbeard weebs cries "illegal" because i'm playing super mario allstars on my laptop.

As other people have said, this is probably just Spencer jumping on a hot button issue to make him seem down with the consumer. He's probably right, but these seem like empty words to me, though I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

Regarding video game preservation, I'd have to play devil's advocate and point out that video games are much, much better preserved than many other types of old media. Many old books, movies and music recordings are not in fact well preserved; in fact, most Hollywood films made before 1950 are lost. Early video games haven't been lost on anything like the scale that early cinema or television has been.

Of course, there's the fact that this is more due to the efforts of fans and self-styled pirates than the copyright holders, which is a whole other subject. But it's certainly not unique to video games, as anyone familiar with the 1965 MGM vault fire or the BBC throwing out much of its heritage will tell you.

@UltraZelda64 that is true - sorry I was thinking more of the Horizon series which is backwards compatible (despite being delisted). Not sure about the Motorsport games before 5!

@KnightsTemplar You can override this on any Xbox console.

Go into gamepad settings on console and swap Y-Axis there. Done. Then it's inverted ingame too.

@K1LLEGAL Forza 4 and older isn't on backwards as licenses is expired.

Forza 4 still look great even today, and they should have upgraded it to 4K/60 like they did on other 360 games.

@K1LLEGAL You can still play any Forza game after they are de-listed.
I still own 100% of all delisted Forza games so far.

I actually bought Xbox One because of Rare Replay in 2015.
Bought Xbox One X in 2018, so i could play Rare Replay games in 4K/60.
Of course i also bought like 300 other games during this time.

What about those games that licence is not expired? Since it's nintendo site mainly i guess Switch can do those in a heart beat. Or let's say Wii you can't buy/download anything now from eshop since it's shut down. And let's say i want donkey kong 1-2-3 i do have them but let's say i don't how can you get them on wii atm? Nintendo says nope you can't

@Hero-of-WiiU

If the Game isn't aviable in any kind for purchase for a long Time, don't be afraid to load the ROM or Game and emulate it.
The Emulators themselfs aren't illegal, the ROMs are the Intellectual Property of some Company (maybe) and they can chase you for Copyright Infringement.

If a Company has interest in their IPs they sell it, you can buy Super 3D Noahs Ark on Gog and Steam, you can buy all kind of Shoot em Ups on the Switch.
You don't have to buy a super expansive Copy of Cotton because they released it on new Devices.

But where do you buy Hagane or No one lives for Ever?
The Owner of the IP sees nothing from the Money you spend on Ebay for the Copy of an old Game.

The Topic is not easy, there are Games where the Whole Owner doesn't care, where the Ownership isn't clear and where it is clear that there is no owner.

Thats why Sites with Abandonware can exist.

Also to add to a topic the strange thing is about limited release games the one that comes in mind mario all stars wtf what is wrong with them? Don't they want even more money for their games? What's the point in making it limited. That deffinatly don't add any preservation off a game

@El_Syd There is no emulator for backwards on Xbox One.

They have to manually hack every damn game, and it's different for each game.
This is why you have to redownload games again, as disc versions is useless due to lack of game emulation.
Since emulator isn't used on Xbox, Microsoft have to license every game they hack for backwards.
Why do you think they had to add games in bulks? Exactly.

If they used a emulator, 100% of old games would be supported, and they wouldn't need to license anything.

Anyways.
There is 2 emulators that runs commercial Switch games properly on PC, and Nintendo can't prevent it as the emulators is 100% legal and free.

@DrDaisy Nintendo are very anti emulation. This is the exact opposite stance that Nintendo are taking, to a lesser degree so are Sony.

But Microsoft are embracing emulation, that could be really big going forward, it isn't going to create any fanfare for Nintendo's stance by highlighting one of their main competitors is sitting on the opposite, more popular end, of that particular spectrum.

The problem is not making an emulator to preserve and play old games, it's how available do you make them to the consumer? What's the right pricing? Do you want them on competition to your £70 games? Are they tied to the brands they came out on or do you allow them to be available on PC?

To me retro games are the one plus to streaming services, easy to stream with average Internet, no grief of making the emulator run on your console, and fits the subscription model.

Lots of people saying that Nintendo are against emulation which is wrong, they do have a problem with people money off their backs.
Also I thought we tended to store old stuff in museums rather than the cloud.

@DrDaisy Nintendo's absolute garbage at preserving games, that's what. Spencer's industry-wide call for videogame preservation includes Nintendo since they are part of this industry after all. I don't think it's that hard to put together.

@Ventilator haha that’s how they get ya! Get an Xbox for Rare Replay and get sucked in!

And yea I know you can still play them. I have the Horizon games digitally luckily, all of them including the Fast and Furious standalone version. Also good to have all the DLC as, unless you can find a valid code, new players won’t have access to the Hot Wheels or Lego expansions for instance. That’s a shame!

I do think Microsoft should sort them out though and just reach into their wallet and pay out to have them all (Horizon and Motorsport) back to being sold digitally (including expansions).

@K1LLEGAL Kameo Elements of Power in 4K/60 looks very good. That old 2005 game still doesn't look dated.

I also own all DLC in Horizon games and most DLC for Forza, and VIP for all of them. I have 100% of the games digitally too including the Fast & Furious one. I got 1000G in that one.

Lego Speed Champions DLC is still for sale, but Forza Horizon 3 and DLC is probably delisted.
There is over 10 Forza games now, and probably why they won't have all of them available anymore.

Still sucks that Forza 4 didn't get a 4K/60 upgrade.
Forza 4 on 360 looks amazing even in 2021.
Ace Combat 6 on 360 still looks better than many new games which is weird considering it were released in 2006.

Anyways. Forza Hub will sadly be be discontinued summer 2022. I'm getting 350.000 weekly there.
Playground said the app were too clunky, and is why they don't wanna add Forza Horizon 5.

@Ventilator absolute gem you are... cheers

I can get behind this 100%

@Mordridakon i was looking into buying a series x just for backwards compatibility aswell lol

but it is too expensive. i'd rather emulate on pc

Phil Spencer is just too damn good for this world...

I very, VERY much dread the day when he finally retires and Microsoft loses him... (This is also exactly why MS is bugging the absolute freaking HELL out of him right now to officially decide on/choose his successor.)

@ATaco This is absolute f**king nonsense...

Who put Minecraft on everything? Who put Ori on Switch? Who put Banjo & Steve in Smash? Who kept PROPER backwards compatibility alive when NO ONE ELSE gave a rats ass about it (until the PS5 supporting PS4 games [but ONLY PS4...] Sony just said "Screw you!" while Nintendo otoh was more like "No, DOUBLE screw you with our meager selection of ridiculously priced Virtual Console games that totally differ from console to console!"). Who forced Microsoft to FINALLY open up the Microsoft Store? Who gave the greenlight on "Developer Mode" for Xbox One/Series which let's you code & run homebrew, INCLUDING EMULATORS (via RetroArch)? Who LITERALLY saved the entire Xbox (and potentially gaming as a whole) division at Microsoft?

Yeah, that would all have been Phil... -_- ... You're welcome, ya ungrateful dingus.

@Oddball83 I don't particularly care if you're playing All Stars on your laptop either, but that's not really the point is it?

When they are talking about game preservation it's not about the likes of Sonic or Mario games that are already available just about everywhere and they want you to buy for the tenth time - it's about those games that didn't sell millions and are in many cases died with the platform they were released on. It would be great to go back and buy something that I might've missed because I either didn't have that particular system, it was just a game I wasn't aware of, or even just that my taste has changed over the years. At the moment you can't really do that unless they happen to release in a retro collection or stuff like the Arcade Archives games, but the selection on those is limited. The only other option is to either track down the original game and the hardware which can be very expensive, or emulate on PC etc.

I don't really get the argument that because something is old you shouldn't have to pay for it though - there would obviously be some cost involved with getting old games onto newer systems - developing the emulators, testing, licencing etc so expecting to get them for nothing is ridiculous.

Paying again for something you have already bought is different though, and I think Nintendo are the worst in that regard - way back to their early consoles/handhelds they've ported older games onto newer systems and it's been particularly bad with WiiU to Switch in that pretty much every decent 1st party game has got a port. There's no reason my virtual console purchases from Wii, 3DS etc shouldn't be available across all my Nintendo devices - they can clearly do 8bit/16bit console emulation just fine on Switch. Maybe a bit trickier with digital Wii/WiiU/3DS purchases due to the Switch having a different architecture, but for older games at least there should be no issue.

@Kyloctopus They'd likely have to make a brand new, exclusively USB unit, as the 2nd Gen Kinect for Windows hasn't been actively produced in absolutely AGES...

That said, they COULD make one that's a WHOOOOOLE heck of a lot smaller & cheaper than back in the day. Infrared cameras & dot projectors have gotten so small & cheap that they've been integrated into literally every iPhone + all Windows Hello compatible PC's for yeeeeears now. This thing could be absolutely freaking TINY and cost just ≈$50 (aka vs 4x that in the 360 era & 2x in the One's).

That vs back in the mid-late 360 days, when Microsoft was literally forging totally untouched ground in the development of 3D motion tracking cameras (FaceID likely wouldn't exist [or at least as early as it did] without the Kinect lol. Now isn't that a kinda bizarre thing to think about? Hahaha), which is also why the Kinect ended up getting adopted in some form in MANY disparate industries & professional use cases at the time. (Nothing else like it existed yet. At the very least nowhere NEAR that price point).

@6ch6ris6 ... Just an FYI, the Series S is a thing... That exists...

The only area where it's significantly inferior to the X for backwards compatibility & retro gaming is that it runs the One/S versions of last-gen titles, NOT the beefed One X ones where available.

(This is bc the Series S has 2GB less RAM [10GB vs 12GB], which IMO was a VERY dumb decision on MS part. 12GB would not only have made One X games work [as their GPU's are almost exactly as fast as each other's thanks to RDNA's MASSIVE >25% IPC/perf per TFLOP gains over the older GCN] , but also have let them switch to a slightly wider but most importantly UNIFIED memory bus for a bit better bandwidth & more consistency.)

For emulation with RetroArch in Developer Mode the CPU is basically identical in the X & S, meaning until you start cranking up the resolution games perform basically IDENTICAL on both machines. As far as rendering games at higher than normal resolutions go, the S will tap out more in the 1440p zone in the most intensive emulators, but even it can still do full native 4K in less intensive ones (aka like PS1).

For the money, there is no better retro emulation AND modern gaming device for the TV than a Series S. And it's kinda not even remotely close either... (Good look doing any emulation on a PS5 Digital Edition or modern gaming on a Raspberry Pi, lol).

Xbox series sales must be below expectations, eh Phil.

@AlienX
I think it Phil was moreso referring to the infamous legal mess that was Goldeneye 007 on the N64. The rights to that game are a jumbled mess between Microsoft, Nintendo, and all of the production companies for the film as well as the various distributors for the 007 franchise as a whole. Goldeneye set a legacy for being the one to first innovate modern FPS controls, and ironically it's the most difficult to legally re-release.

“Unfortunately, unlike Xbox's backwards compatibility program, you can't purchase these titles separately”

Where were statements like this in 2016? Instead we would get “I can’t believe we need to BUY games individually! Nintendo is so behind the times!”

Moving forward, can we all just agree that we should all advocate for more options as consumers? Why subscribe OR buy when you can do BOTH? I’d be happy to buy some games and pay to temporarily access others based on how I value them; the choice would make me feel confident in both options. As it stands now, I’m doing neither.

Licensing is really the killer for a lot of older games. Anything with licensed music (such as Jet Set Radio Future) or cars (such as OutRun 2) just aren't going to happen unfortunately, at least not with a digital purchase option.

It's interesting though that Microsoft did add Ridge Racer 6 though, a game which is disc only.

Works of literature published prior to 1925 are public domain. If a similar rule applied to videogames, these roms would be worth holding on to, so your grandkids can play them legally.

But Xbox just terminated it's BC program...no more games will be added.

Calling for preservation now is completely two-faced, is he endorsing piracy?

@Cooe yeah enhanced versions of the X were the reason why i was interested in xbox backwards compatibility. MVG made some good videos about it. S is incredible for just emulating.

@Cooe Oh I'm sure Phil personally did all those things. Yes, it was just ol gamer Phil and nobody else. This is the problem with the gaming industry, we think Phil is Xbox. We this Sakurai is Smash Bros. We don't think about all the actual workers that make things happen behind the scenes.

But nope, I'm sure it was all Phil.

There should be an open-source industry standard to create a format that can be analogous to a vector file (you can always resize and not lose quality) to remake all of the 2D and 3D models and images in a format that can easily scale into the future so that porting and emulation won't be necessary even 20 years from now. It would be a massive task so it would require volunteers but over time, all of those assets would be recorded in a format that can last forever and reused in other projects.

meanwhile Nintendo sues fans who want to play their old games and refuses to legally sell them on modern platforms.

I'm glad someone 'cares' about their consumers and wants to make money

“I think in the end, if we said, ‘Hey, anybody should be able to buy any game, or own any game and continue to play,' that seems like a great North Star for us as an industry.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the industry: "Eww, own? What is this own?" Netflix doesn't let you own movies. Spotify doesn't let you own music. If people can buy something and have it permanently, then they won't give you more money every month!

I agree with him. Well said.

@Mando44646 That's actually an entirely separate topic. In fact, even Phil's wishes here don't really provide a solution to the legal hurdles. It's not much more than a nice sentiment right now — but, a nice sentiment it is indeed.

@Juga You're an embarrassment to your country.

@Mando44646 That is not entirely true. Nintendo does not "sue" fans who just want to play games. I have said this once and I will say it again if you rip your own ISO/ROM from your legally purchased copy of a game and run the archive/backup on an emulator that is 100% completely LEGAL!

What Nintendo sues is websites that are illegally distributing copies of their games. You need an agreement with the licence holder to do this or for the game to be freeware. What Phil is saying is he wants to make a way for games to be carried forward to new hardware without issues and that fans can run their legally obtained executables on said emulators.

We have to remember that this is not a case of Nintendo bad Microsoft good. This is a case that due to how copyright law is written distributing your game on the web for free or at cost while retaining your copy is the issue. Emulators have and will remain legal provided they are reverse engineered and not made with copywritten source code. This has been a settled matter since the late 90s/early 2000s with Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. v. Bleem, LLC.

@GamerDad66 That is also not true. The reason Xbox ended their backwards compatibility program is that there are no more games they can legally put on Xbone or XSX. There are still licence restrictions that are out of Microsoft's hands. If that be engine licences (like The Last Remnant by Square Enix) as if the publisher is no longer has a licence with a specific engine then they cannot legally sell that game. Or a case of the publishing company no longer exists and the current IP holder does not want to licence the game to Microsoft to distribute. Or there a legal issues holding the game in limbo (like Too Human by Silicon Knights.)

Phil is not being a hypocrite as since he took over Xbox he has championed the concept of games being accessible on newer hardware at no extra cost to the consumer. It has helped Microsoft's hardware have all run games on optical discs unlike Nintendo, or required exotic hardware which is difficult to emulate ala Sony with the Playstation 2 and Playstation 3.

While I do like the NSO service in principle I do think Microsoft has handled backwards compatibility the best.

@Gamer_Zeus Nintendo is not anti-emulation. Nintendo uses emulation in NSO and even used it when porting Mario Galaxy and Mario Sunshine as those games have emulated elements (Nintendo have been using emulation since the GCN/GBA days as Animal Crossing and the Zelda Collection used emulation). What Nintendo is against is the distribution of their games on Rom sites. You can say what you want about the quality of emulation on NSO... but you cannot say they are anti-emulation as that is empirically not true.

Nintendo however, can be less of a stick in the arse about fangames... as far as emulation goes they are not a fan of 3rd party emulation

archive.org is a good preservation site, at least some people are trying.

Legal emulators are a good option but do You know what else helps, physical releases and backwards compatibility, something publishers are trying to push us away from

Also how about console re-releases say on a certain anniversaries releasing a console again for a limited time say that entire year but with just with a few updates like better compatibility with current TV's

Microsoft is doing and saying all of the right things. If I was still a Sony guy I’d be thinking about switching to Microsoft. Too bad I’m a Nintendo guy which is weird because they typically say and do all of the wrong things. 🤣

@Wexter dude, I was being a bit cheeky there.

But more seriously, I don't care. If Nintendo won't sell me a copy of Golden Sun on 3DS or Switch, I am going to grab a rom. Why should I be expected to pay Gamestop $50 or $100 for an old GBA cart that Nintendo makes zero dollars on? I won't. So downloading a rom it is.

The easy solution would be to sell me a legal copy of these GBA games on one of their two modern portables. I would then very happily purchase from Nintendo. And I will always purchase copies of games whenever they are easily available.

Until Nintendo does this, I have no ethical issue downloading roms and neither should anyone else. Its Nintendo's job to sell their games; it is not our job to beg them for scraps

I'm all for it, and I'm sorry but people are going to do it with or without the industry's blessing. Games especially should not be lost to time, just because the company that makes them isn't around anymore, or because the license ran out.