Microsoft Shows How the Xbox Series X Can Boost Frame Rates on Older Xbox Games

Microsoft is showing off how the upcoming Xbox Series X and Series S will be able to render your old Xbox titles with richer colors and higher frame rates. 

On Tuesday, the company published a post about how the next-generation console can double the frame rates on older Xbox games that were previously capped at 30 frames per second. 

Microsoft demoed this in a video, showing an Xbox Series S boosting the game Fallout 4 to 60fps for a much smoother visual experience. On other games, the FPS will be raised from 60 to 120. 

Unfortunately, the frame rate boost will only be available for “select titles,” according to Microsoft, which hasn’t named the games yet.

The Xbox Series X can also upscale a variety of older Xbox titles to a 4K resolution. The less powerful, but more affordable Xbox Series S, on the other hand, can raise the game’s resolution to 1440p. 

Another enhancement is how the console can improve the graphical textures in old Xbox titles with “16x anisotropic filtering" to retain more details in the game's environment. You’ll also be able to play the games at HDR quality for richer colors and higher contrasts.

“Thousands of Xbox games shipped before HDR was first introduced with Xbox One S, and even for some Xbox One games,” Microsoft’s compatibility program lead Peggy Lo wrote in the post. So to fill in the gap, the Xbox Series X and Series S will come with a new “Auto HDR” feature to automatically add the higher color contrast to the old Xbox games. 

“Auto HDR is implemented by the system so developers don’t have to do any work to take advantage of this feature,” Lo said. “Also, since Auto HDR is enabled by the console’s hardware, there is absolutely no performance cost to the CPU, GPU or memory and there is no additional latency added.” 

The next-generation console is able to enhance the old games, thanks to more powerful hardware on board, which includes the NVMe SSD for faster loading times. When it arrives on Nov. 10, the system will be capable of playing "thousands" of games from all three previous Xbox generations, including the Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox. 

However, Microsoft hasn’t provided an exact list of which games will be backwards compatible with the Xbox Series X and Series S. In contrast, rival Sony last week revealed the upcoming PlayStation 5 will be able to play every PS4 game, except for 10 titles. (There's no PS3 compatibility though.)

Still, Microsoft is indicating at the very least all Xbox One X games will be able to run over the new system 

According to Lo, playing your old Xbox games will also be easy. “Simply insert your favorite backward compatible Xbox One, Xbox 360 or original Xbox disc into your Xbox Series X, install the game, and you’ll be ready to play,” she said. 

Your digital Xbox games will also appear on the console when you sign into your account. For games you’ve installed on an external drive, you can simply connect it to the Xbox Series X or Series S. “And, with cloud saves, you’ll jump right back in where you left off,” Lo added. 

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