From what I understand, it'll work like this.
>Xbox Live multiplayer will not work, because those games were made for server-based online and those servers simply don't exist anymore
>However, Xbox consoles will be able to System-link to play online over the internet, exactly like the currently-available methods
>That means you'd be able to play online multiplayer of games that didn't even have Xbox Live compatibility
>All Xbox Live games had system link, but not all System Link games had Xbox Live(I think), so it's actually a big thing
>Popping-in OG Xbox games into an XB1 will suffice to play the games
>If you own the game digitally, you may download it for free and play it on a XB1
>The Xbox will not read the OG Xbox disc, it will ascertain that the game is in the tray and download a compatible version of the game into the hard disc
>The game will only run if the disc is in the tray, for obvious reasons
>All XB1 consoles can play OG Xbox games, not just the XBX
>Not all titles will be available at first, but considering that the most popular games on the OG Xbox are well known by everyone, it's pretty safe to say those will all get converted
Things that are left unexplained:
>How will people chat, if the OG Xbox games did not have text and you cannot use the voice and mic sets while playing System Link(to my knowledge)
>They said games will be playable across all three generations. Is this implying that they'll enable gameplay on the actual OG Xbox console?
>Will they put OG Xbox games on the store? There are all sorts of licensing issues with that
ITT: Speculate all the technical aspects of OG Retrocomp.