Xbox One Backward Compatibility Praised by GameStop

Retailer GameStop has praised Microsoft's decision to offer backward compatibility on Xbox One. Speaking with GameSpot today at E3 2015, director of merchandising Eric Bright said the new feature will "breathe new life" into Xbox 360 games--no doubt a nice thing for a company in the business of selling games.

"Microsoft, at this E3, decided to introduce backward compatibility into their system. That's obviously something people are looking for," Bright said. "And GameStop will be ready, whether you're looking to purchase Xbox 360 games or trade yours in, we'll be there."

"I think it breathes whole new life into Xbox 360 games that possibly consumers may not have thought about before," he added. "A huge catalog of your favorites will be available on the Xbox One."

Xbox One backward compatibility should also help "ease the transition" for people who are on the fence about upgrading to an Xbox One, Bright explained.

"If you're an Xbox 360 owner and you're worried about transitioning up to an Xbox One, now with backward compatibility, you'll see more and more of your favorite titles available on the Xbox One," he said.

"It will actually be a boon for Xbox 360 game sales. As people are picking those up, their favorites, maybe they traded in earlier; maybe they were afraid to pick up because they wanted to transition to an Xbox One and were sort of on the fence and waiting," Bright added. "Now, it removes that on-the-fence feeling, that barrier to purchase. You're able to get your Xbox One and have your Xbox 360 games at the exact same time."

Microsoft announced Xbox One backward compatibility on Monday morning during the company's E3 briefing. Since then, we've learned the initial list of supported titles and heard what Sony had to say about the announcement.

Xbox One backward compatibility is available now for Xbox Preview members, before it rolls out to everyone this fall. At that time, "hundreds" of Xbox 360 games will work natively on Xbox One. You can also write to Microsoft to tell them what game you want to see added to the lineup of supported titles.