Why Xbox One Is Not Compatible With Xbox 360, Original Xbox Games

Gamers will be disappointed to learn that the new Xbox One from Microsoft, which was just revealed Tuesday at company headquarters in Redmond, Wash., will be unable to play older games from the Xbox 360 or original Xbox.

Microsoft will face some pushback from consumers since backwards compatibility with older games means a great deal to gamers, but in order to make the Xbox One a seamless experience that will please future generations of gamers, Microsoft decided to switch the console architecture from Xbox 360's PowerPC chips to a new x86 architecture, which is presumed to better handle all of the simultaneous multitasking in the Xbox One ecosystem. We'll see how well this trade-off works for Microsoft and Xbox gamers when the Xbox One sees its release date "later this year."

The Xbox One features an 8-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM and 500 GB of HDD storage. Specs for Microsoft’s new gaming console also include 802.11n wireless with Wi-Fi direct, HDMI in/out, USB 3.0, and a Blu-ray drive. The Xbox One system was built with 5 billion transistors on three operating systems – one used for Xbox One games, one built to include the Windows kernel for Microsoft’s various apps, and the third for connecting system switching and multitasking.

To relive the Xbox Reveal event, check out our live blog and the full specs of the Xbox One (that we know about). What do you think of the new Xbox One console? Will you be lining up to buy an Xbox One when it’s released later this year? Does the backwards compatibility issue with old Xbox and Xbox 360 games bother you? Let us know in the comments section below -- in the meantime, check out these screenshots of the new Xbox One from Microsoft.

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