As far as E3 announcements go, Microsoft's confirmation that the Xbox One would soon be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games was one of the biggest surprises of this year's show.
With so many HD remasters floating around these days, no one suspected that Microsoft would basically open its back catalog for use on its newer console. Granted, the feature is still in beta, and games will only be added to the service if publishers allow it — but the feature could go a long way toward making the Xbox One a more attractive purchase.
This won't be the first time Microsoft has dabbled in backwards compatibility. The Xbox 360 was, for a time, able to run select games from the original Xbox's library ... but it didn't work nearly as well as gamers had hoped.
First off, the available library was extremely small, and several games (even high-profile, first-party releases) were almost unplayable on the updated console. Microsoft has promised that the same won't happen on the Xbox One — but is there any way to be sure?
As it turns out, there might be: while the upgrade has yet to be tested on a wide range of machines, it looks like certain Xbox 360 games may run noticeably smoother on the Xbox One.
The differences between the two versions won't be immediately apparent, but don't worry — a few minutes in, it'll be easy to see how big a difference Microsoft's newer console makes.
For those who missed it, when Mass Effect was first released, it was a lot for the Xbox 360 to handle. Frequent texture pop-in, long loading times and general frame-rate issues didn't stop the game from being fun, but it wasn't always easy to play. Judging from the video above, though, many of these issues are far less prevalent — if not entirely fixed outright.
To the casual observer, it may look like one console is simply playing through Mass Effect's cutscenes faster than the other. What's actually happening is that the Xbox One is able to load the game much faster than the Xbox 360 ever could. Basically, the cutscenes look like they're going by faster because the game takes less time to load on the Xbox One. The pauses between lines and extended loading times simply don't exist.
Now, before anyone goes and says that all Xbox 360 games will run faster on the Xbox One, know that these improvements are likely limited to individual games. There's a good chance that some titles won't see much of an improvement. That said, it's great to see that some games can (and apparently will) take advantage of newer hardware without any need for mods or extra updates.
Currently, Xbox One backwards compatibility is only available to those in Microsoft's Preview Program, but it won't be all that long before everyone can use it — the full program (and an updated list of games) will be available later this year.
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