Xbox One's Original Xbox Backwards Compatibility Still Coming In 2017

One of the pleasant surprises Microsoft had in store for E3 this year was the announcement of Xbox One backwards compatibility support for original Xbox games. At the Brazil Game Show, we caught up with Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who provided some insight into where things stand with the upcoming feature.

"We're close, we're really close," Spencer said when asked for the status of Xbox backwards compatibility. "I have a little dashboard I go to and I can see all the games [and] where they are in getting approvals in the pipeline. I know the games that are coming for the original Xbox but I don't think we've announced them all. We have to do this in partnership with partners, but we're still on track. I feel really good. The games look great."

Spencer also remains confident that the feature will be out before the end of the year, as planned. "Oh yeah," he said about his certainty of a 2017 launch. He also teased that there are still details about backwards compatibility will work on Xbox One X that have yet to be revealed: "There's some stuff we're going to talk about in that space in terms of how compatibility's going to work on [Xbox One] X specifically that I think people will find pretty interesting.

"Some of the games hold up really well; some of them don't. But the gameplay mechanics and the smile [you got] on your face 15 years ago playing those games, those are things that are still there. I see it, like getting back to playing Crimson Skies, [it's] fantastic, and the game actually looks really good even though it's obviously been around."

Spencer mentioning Crimson Skies is expected, as it's only one of two games--along with Fuzion Frenzy--that have been confirmed as part of the program. "We have multiple games up and running--we just decided to tease the first one[s]," Microsoft executive Dave McCarthy explained about Microsoft's E3 reveal of the first two games. "There will be a library of games available, for sure." However, you shouldn't expect the library to be as big as that of Xbox 360 backwards compatible games.

For lots more from our conversation with Spencer, see the stories linked below..

• Microsoft On Xbox One X -- "It's Not For Everybody"
• Xbox Boss Is Unsure If Cross-Play With PS4 Will Ever Happen
• Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Hasn't Beaten Cuphead Yet But He Has A Good Excuse
• Phil Spencer Talks His Destiny 2 Power Level And The Weapon He Wants
• It's A Myth That Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Is Ignored
• Xbox Exec Speaks Out Against Exclusive DLC And Recognizes The Irony Saying That