OG backwards compatibly now available, games enhanced to 1080P!

Whoa was not expecting the enhancements! IGN reports :

http://m.ca.ign.com/articles/2017/10/23/first-13-original-xbox-games-announced-for-xbox-one-compatibility

Microsoft has revealed the first 13 backwards-compatible original Xbox games for Xbox One to IGN – several of which we got to play. These first 13 will be available tomorrow, October 24. All are enhanced with 1080p resolution, higher and/or smoother framerates, and faster loading times.

These are the first 13 games you can play on any Xbox One if you own the title, beginning tomorrow:

•Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

•Ninja Gaiden Black

•Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge

•Fuzion Frenzy

•Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

•Psychonauts

•Dead to Rights

•Black

•Grabbed by the Ghoulies

•Sid Meier’s Pirates!

•Red Faction II

•BloodRayne 2

•The King of Fighters Neowave

If you still have your original Xbox disc, just insert it into your Xbox One console. If you own it digitally, that will also work. Many of these games can also be purchased from the Xbox Store in digital form for $9.99.

Above: A comparison between Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic running on the original Xbox versus it running on an Xbox One.

For titles that support System Link multiplayer, it still works – even across the Xbox family.

For titles that support System Link multiplayer, it still works – even across the Xbox family. I got to play a four-player round of Crimson Skies, with me on the original Xbox, another person on an Xbox One X, another on an Xbox One S, and the fourth on a launch Xbox One. Online multiplayer is not supported, however, as servers for original Xbox games were shut down years ago.

I also got to play a bit of Star Wars: KOTOR, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Fuzion Frenzy. All three looked clearer and crisper than ever thanks to no longer being restricted to 480p (or for many at the time, 480i) resolution. Most still run in their original 4:3 aspect ratios, though Ninja Gaiden Black natively supports 16:9 widescreen so it looks particularly modern.

Above: A comparison between Fuzion Frenzy running on the original Xbox versus it running on an Xbox One.

“This detail has always been there, but the technology of the day was holding it back,” said Xbox principal software engineer Eric Heutchy as he pointed out the orange bill and black outline now clearly visible in 1080p on a duck icon in Fuzion Frenzy’s “Twisted System” minigame. "Forgive the clunky tutorial start," KOTOR lead designer James Ohlen told IGN with a laugh when asked what advice he'd have for players trying KOTOR for the first time. "It's definitely a product of his time."

As for what original Xbox games will be brought forward next, the team is being careful to keep expectations in check – though they have a good reason. “A curated list of key games was the way to go with this,” Xbox platform lead Bill Stillwell told IGN, noting that many original Xbox game publishers either don’t exist anymore, or the contracts are missing (because they were done on actual paper!), or there’s a licensing issue with a particular song, etc. As such, while it might be technically possible for Microsoft to make them compatible with Xbox One, it might be legally impossibly or unfeasible.

Above: Another comparison between Fuzion Frenzy running on the original Xbox versus it running on an Xbox One.

Also from twitter :

More details from Twitter(Albert P.):

OG Xbox games run at 4X resolution on Xbox One S, and 16X resolution on Xbox One X - that's native, NOT upscaled! https://t.co/P3MIPVfhZc

Ninja Gaiden: Black on OG supports Widescreen (16:9) display. So not only is it 16x resolution, it's also 60fps and fullscreen!

This is awesome... can't wait to start playing KOTOR again (now I can finish it properly!).

@hrt_rulz01: What other games can you recommend from that list, if any? I'm getting Crimson Skies and Ninja Gaiden for sure. KOTOR too. Wondering about a few others like Bloodrayne 2

Psychonauts, Red Faction 2, Prince of Persia are pretty awesome games... definitely recommend you check those out. But KOTOR is definitely the main one (and I'm not even that big of a Star Wars guy, lol).

@hrt_rulz01: cool thanks....hopefully they add more soon like Panzer Dragoon I hear good things about that game too. A good start though for me, never played Crimson Skies

@Alucard_Prime: Yeah I'm looking forward to Crimson Skies too.

Cool looking list of games I'm getting Ninja Gaiden Black and maybe Bloodrayne 2

Where is GTA: San Andreas?!!?! T-T

I never got to play Black, but I heard it was a good shooter that flew under the radar at the time.

Seems like now is a good time to grab it. lol

Is Black worth to play nowadays?

@phbz: Don't know, but it might be something fun to plow through if I can get it on the cheap during Winter Solstice Sales Holidays.

Ninja Gaiden Black is looking beautiful! Better than it ever did.

That awkward moment when a BC original Xbox game looks better than just about any BC Xbox 360 game because of the native resolution...

This game doesn't just look good for its age, it's got phenomenal gameplay. This one is a clear influence on the Dark Souls games as far as difficulty and combat.

@nomadic8280: Yeah its smooth and has a clean look, gameplay is so fluid its like a dance you can jump on walls and back at lightning speeds, holds up great today. Haven't yet tried it on the X, apparently looks even better there .....but yeah the graphics enhancements are just shining the light on a great gameplay- driven game ....this game reminds me back in the day with the older Ninja Gaidens 1 and 2, there were challenging back then too

they need to hurry and get games out

we need

shenmue 2

splinter cell

dreamfall tlg

doa 3

Why are these now missing in action? No news in over a year on OG xbox backwards compatibility!