Microsoft brings original Xbox backward compatibility to Windows PCs
Microsoft brings original Xbox backward compatibility to Windows PCs
微软将初代 Xbox 向后兼容功能引入 Windows PC
For years, Microsoft has leaned heavily into extensive backward compatibility across multiple generations of Xbox hardware as a major selling point for its consoles. Today, that effort expands past the console ecosystem, making select original Xbox titles officially playable (and purchasable) on Windows PCs for the first time.
多年来，微软一直将跨多代 Xbox 硬件的广泛向后兼容性作为其游戏机的主要卖点。如今，这一努力已扩展到游戏机生态系统之外，首次让精选的初代 Xbox 游戏能够在 Windows PC 上正式游玩（并可购买）。
The appropriately and bluntly named “Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC” program kicks off today with compatibility for BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy. PC players can download each title for $10, but those with Xbox Game Pass subscriptions or existing digital licenses for these games on console will have instant access without an additional purchase (no such luck if you simply stick an original Xbox disc in your PC drive, alas).
这项命名直白且恰当的“PC 版 Xbox 向后兼容”（Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC）计划于今日启动，首批兼容游戏包括《布林克斯：时空之猫》（BLiNX: The Time Sweeper）、《松鼠库克：重装上阵》（Conker: Live and Reloaded）、《赤色天空：复仇之路》（Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge）以及《疯狂派对》（Fuzion Frenzy）。PC 玩家可以以 10 美元的价格下载每款游戏，但拥有 Xbox Game Pass 订阅或已在主机端拥有这些游戏数字授权的玩家无需额外购买即可直接游玩（遗憾的是，如果你只是把初代 Xbox 光盘塞进 PC 光驱，是无法游玩的）。
Playing these older Xbox titles on PC enables some bonus graphical features like Vsync support, anisotropic filtering, enhanced anti-aliasing, and up to 4x resolution scaling of the original SD signal (to 2560×1920). Games are limited to their original frame rates and aspect ratios, though, which means a 30 fps 4:3 image in most cases.
在 PC 上游玩这些老款 Xbox 游戏可以获得一些额外的图形功能，例如垂直同步支持、各向异性过滤、增强的抗锯齿，以及将原始标清信号最高提升至 4 倍的分辨率缩放（达到 2560×1920）。不过，游戏仍受限于原始帧率和纵横比，这意味着在大多数情况下，画面仍为 30 fps 的 4:3 比例。
Microsoft says this first batch of games should be playable with 11-year-old GTX 950 graphics hardware, but recommends a 2017-era GTX 1070 Ti with 8GB of VRAM for best performance. Early testing from Digital Foundry found the PC experience akin to playing the same games on an Xbox Series X. That said, the testers reported weak anisotropic filtering, some frame timing issues that led to “jerky camera motion,” and “a handful of visual bugs” across the initial wave of titles.
微软表示，首批游戏在 11 年前的 GTX 950 显卡上即可运行，但建议使用 2017 年的 GTX 1070 Ti（配备 8GB 显存）以获得最佳性能。Digital Foundry 的早期测试发现，PC 端的体验与在 Xbox Series X 上游玩这些游戏非常相似。话虽如此，测试人员也指出，首批游戏存在各向异性过滤效果较弱、导致“镜头抖动”的帧时间问题，以及“少量视觉错误”。
What even is an “Xbox” game, anymore? From a technical standpoint, getting original Xbox games running on PC isn’t a big deal. Since the days of the Xbox 360, Microsoft has relied on software emulation to get original Xbox games running on subsequent console hardware. Porting that kind of emulation technology to the PC is a simple, if not trivial, process and mimics functionality that any number of Xbox emulators have offered to PC players for years now.
到底什么是“Xbox”游戏？从技术角度来看，让初代 Xbox 游戏在 PC 上运行并非难事。自 Xbox 360 时代起，微软就一直依靠软件模拟技术让初代 Xbox 游戏在后续的主机硬件上运行。将这种模拟技术移植到 PC 上是一个简单甚至微不足道的过程，它模仿了许多 Xbox 模拟器多年来为 PC 玩家提供的功能。
Today’s announcement is much more relevant from a business perspective, signaling another crack in the already porous wall between Microsoft’s PC and console gaming ambitions. Those cracks date back to the 2016 rollout of Xbox Play Anywhere cross-platform purchases, but more recently have extended to Microsoft granting the Xbox branding to handheld gaming PCs and announcing that the upcoming Project Helix will play “Xbox and PC games.”
从商业角度来看，今天的公告意义更为重大，它标志着微软在 PC 和主机游戏业务之间本已脆弱的壁垒又出现了一道裂痕。这些裂痕可以追溯到 2016 年推出的“Xbox Play Anywhere”跨平台购买计划，而最近则扩展到微软将 Xbox 品牌授权给掌上游戏 PC，并宣布即将推出的“Project Helix”将能够游玩“Xbox 和 PC 游戏”。
Making classic Xbox exclusives playable directly on PC represents yet another sign that Microsoft wants to effectively merge its struggling console business with the more successful Windows gaming ecosystem. And Microsoft says today’s rollout is just “the beginning of a broader effort to preserve Xbox games from the past and bring them to PC over time,” meaning I can still hold out hope of one day playing Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis on my Windows 11 gaming rig.
让经典的 Xbox 独占游戏直接在 PC 上可玩，是微软希望将其陷入困境的主机业务与更成功的 Windows 游戏生态系统有效合并的又一迹象。微软表示，今天的发布仅仅是“一项更广泛努力的开始，旨在保护过去的 Xbox 游戏并随着时间的推移将它们引入 PC”，这意味着我仍然可以抱有希望，期待有一天能在我的 Windows 11 游戏电脑上玩到《Rockstar Games 出品的乒乓球》（Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis）。