“In the world of things I wish they had not shown at the Company Meeting because I knew I’d be asked about it later, put that at the top of my list.”
So says Albert Penello to Polygon when asked about the functionality of Xbox One’s backwards compatibility. Penello notes this plan, which would involve streaming purchased games over a network to avoid complicated coding within the different architecture of Xbox One, works great in a controlled environment.
Most interesting is how Penello comes across as stung by the negative online reactions:
“Can you imagine, in this day and age, with the bad information around, and we can’t control the quality of that experience and make sure it’s good, or have to tell people they can’t do it?”
That seems like less of a response to the potential failure of streaming for backwards compatibility and more of a measured response to the fervor over Xbox One’s infamously botched initial policies. Going under a proverbial microscope, any potential failure could be viewed as damning to the hardware. It would appear things would need lined up perfectly before sending anything to market. The level of pressure is unheralded for consoles, and arguably more so for Microsoft.
