> Technologically speaking, it's not wholly a surprise that backwards compatibility is off the table. Today, the company confirmed months of rumors that the new Xbox would use an x86 CPU. Games designed for the Xbox 360's Xenon processor simply won't run natively on the new hardware, since the Xenon used a PowerPC architecture instead.
IIRC, Microsoft allowed/encouraged publishers to re-compile, and release a patch via XBL which let people play the original games on the new system.
It seems like this would be an ideal opportunity for the QuickTransit [2] stuff Apple used in Rosetta to see some more use, assuming IBM would be willing to license it (and MS sees it as a worthwhile endeavour).
[1] : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Xbox_games_compatible_w... [2] : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickTransit
I am surprised that Microsoft would throw the lead their 360 has amassed.
I don't want to juggle multiple systems in the entertainment setup. If I switch to either a PS4 or a Xbox One, either leaves me out in the cold with my old "investment". So any advantage the One had in that regard is gone. It isn't a huge deal at all, but is factored in or not.