During GDC last month, Microsoft took the opportunity to discuss the upcoming 25th anniversary of Xbox and to unveil Project Helix, the next-generation Xbox. Since this news stole the spotlight, it went somewhat unnoticed that they also announced the Xbox consoles' already impressive backward compatibility would be expanded even further.
More specifically, Jason Ronald, Vice President of Next Generation Xbox, said they would be delivering "new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past." We didn't get any further details, but now data miner Better xCloud (via Windows Central) notes that no fewer than four previously removed Xbox games have suddenly made a comeback on the Xbox Shop - only to be removed again shortly thereafter.
Specifically, these are, in order: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), Aegis Wing (2007), Mars: War Logs (2013), and Armed & Dangerous (2004). This in itself is no proof of anything, but given that we know Microsoft is planning to expand backward compatibility, it seems entirely possible that there is a connection.
Many hope that Project Helix, and by extension the ROG Xbox Ally, will offer full support for older Xbox games, something that has also been rumoured. Whether there is any connection to this with missing games that suddenly make a comeback and then disappear again remains to be seen.
