Microsoft will bring free Xbox One X enhancements to four Xbox 360 games playable through Xbox Backward Compatibility. Halo 3, Fallout 3, Assassin’s Creed, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will be the first Xbox 360 games that will receive the Xbox One X enhancements when the new console launches on November 7.
As noted by IGN, Microsoft will be enhancing the original Xbox games by giving them 10-bit color depth, in instances where the games only had 8-bit. In other cases, games will get HDR lighting enabled, where previously, there was no HDR lighting. Microsoft will also give all of the games nine times their original pixels compared to the games on the original Xbox console.
It’s worth noting that Halo 3, which was recently added to the Backward compatibility list was already available on the Xbox One anthology Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Compared to the Xbox 360 version, the Xbox One version of Halo 3 features better graphics and runs at 60FPS, and the full bundle will also be enhanced for the Xbox One X next year.
While it’s great to see that some Xbox 360 games will also be enhanced for the Xbox One X, we also learned today that Microsoft is bringing 13 original Xbox games to Xbox Backward Compatibility this week. The original list includes two of my own personal favorites, the relentless FPS, Black, and Ninja Gaiden Black, a more enhanced version of the original game released on Xbox.
Hopefully, we will see more original Xbox games come to Xbox One, as well as Xbox One X enhanced versions of Xbox 360 titles. As the Xbox team often says these days, the Xbox One X is slowly but surely becoming a great place to play the games of the past, present and future.
