With the launch of a new console cycle, fans of older systems are left wondering if they should buy now, or put off a purchase until later. Unlike previous generations, however, the new consoles offer a lot of variety out of the gate. While this doesn’t really apply to new titles, of which there are few, it does reflect a growing collective ability to reach into backward compatibility. Tying this to the idea of online casino gaming, we want to explore why this is such a good idea, and why these launches have been so popular.
The Online Casino Concept
As with many competitive marketplaces, online casinos have had to expand and evolve down many different avenues to stay relevant. Typical among these are the casino offer tables for deposit bonuses and free spins, and wide coverage of games like slots, roulette, and live titles. It’s these games, in relation to Xbox, that we want to focus on.
Like console titles, online casino games have evolved considerably over the years. They’ve also reached a point now where they’re incredibly generous in their availability. A modern slot game can be playable on a mobile or PC well over ten years old. These aren’t confined to modern devices, they don’t require much horsepower, and through this approach, they can be broadly appreciated by an enormous audience.
“Xbox Series X” (Public Domain) by ru3chInitiative
Microsoft’s Move
As in prior console generations, Microsoft has been the developer with the eye most heavily on backwards compatibility. Sony might also have embraced it this time around, but there is no denying that’s the Xbox has always been more consistent in its backward compatibility integration.
The Xbox 360, when it launched back in 2005, eventually offered support for hundreds of original Xbox games. The same could be said about the Xbox One, which still offers wide coverage of both 360 and original Xbox games. Finally, the new Series X and S systems take this idea a step further, still allowing play on some games released three systems and nearly two decades ago.
But wait, it doesn’t stop there. If you have the right cables available, it can even be possible to connect these different generations of consoles together to play multiplayer games. Four generations all running the same multiplayer game is something never seen before in a console, and this is the same sort of idea shared by contemporary online casino gaming.
“#poker_online_club #casino_live #casino_” (CC BY 2.0) by Free For Commercial Use (FFC)
Together across casino games and the Microsoft line of consoles, this idea of communication and cooperation is key. Too often in the modern age, developers are so eager to create the proprietary systems that they cut off what could otherwise be a much more welcoming experience. We saw this with cross-play, we’ve seen it with console exclusives, and the problem is still as frustrating now as it has always been.
What we hope, as pushed by more progressive developers in casinos and gaming, is that we might one day see a world where we don’t have to be so strictly locked to certain avenues of access. We’re not asking for all games to be available on all systems, but even if we could just have access to system’s prior gen libraries, this show of generosity would go a long way.