Backwards Compatibility is “Backwards”, Says Mattrick

It has been a busy week for Microsoft.  I am not just referring to the reveal of Xbox One this past Tuesday, either.  

Contradicting answers to the questions Microsoft has pointedly avoided previously, continuing refusals to reveal the titles of games coming to X1, and a flippantly dismissive attitude towards features and capabilities once synonymous with their brand of console entertainment have kept them pretty busy.

It is this last form of commentary Don Mattrick has a new quote for.  One of the features that separated the Xbox 360 from the PlayStation 3 in the later lifetimes of both systems was backwards compatibility.  Being able to play old Xbox games expanded the game library and helped gamers relive their older gaming experiences, some of which were impossible to replicate otherwise.  The Xbox One is not backwards compatible, and Microsoft has not considered this a big deal, but to quote Mattrick,

If you’re backwards compatible, you’re really backwards,

For such a short quote, it manages to both dismiss and insult a very basic functionality that Microsoft considered an actual selling point one console generation ago.  

Real classy, Don.