Spencer is quoted saying, “The box is not backward compatible and we think for somebody who invests in a large digital library that you want to keep your [Xbox 360].”
I don’t know about anyone else, but I invest the money into those games because I expect to be able to port them over to the next system along with my gamertag and Xbox Live account. If your 360 dies in 10 years and they stop producing the system, you may never be able to play those games again. This is terrible news, but there is talk from Spencer of many new games coming out for the 360 (XBLA and otherwise) after the launch of Xbox One. I just really don’t see why they would get rid of backwards compatibility and Xbox Arcade as well. I was really looking forward to having all the Sonic games on my Xbox One. It looks like emulators will remain the best option for retro gaming in the future.