This November, Xbox One is getting its biggest update yet. And today, Microsoft shared some of its features.
Inspired by your feedback, the November update brings "the fastest and most social Xbox experience ever." While the most anticipated new feature is the official arrival of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility on your Xbox One, the update also introduces the "New Xbox One Experience."
"We are inspired by your passion and continue to listen to your input," said Mike Ybarra, Director of Program Management for Xbox. "The New Xbox One Experience will be powered by Windows 10, elevating the gaming experience on Xbox One. Integrating the speed of Windows 10, the New Xbox One Experience will get you to popular gaming features up to 50 percent faster. Instantly start a party, see what your friends are playing, and get updates to your recently played games from Home with no wait time. We’ll also be delivering your most requested feature – Xbox One Backward Compatibility."
So what new features can fans look forward to this November? Check out a preview of them below, courtesy of Microsoft:
Play your Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. At launch you’ll be able to play over 100 Xbox 360 games on Xbox One with hundreds more in the months to come. This includes the added benefit of Xbox One features including screenshots, streaming, and game DVR – for your favorite Xbox 360 games. You can even play multiplayer with friends still using their Xbox 360.
A new Guide lets you quickly access essentials with just one button press to save time spent weaving in and out of apps. You can access the Guide from Home by pressing left or double tap the Xbox button on your controller to instantly overlay the Guide. You can access Friends, quickly start a Party, get to Settings, see System Notifications, view your Messages, and more from Home or without leaving your game. These are the top tasks Xbox fans do most often, so we focused on making them faster and easier to get to without disrupting your game.
We’re redesigning Home to make it faster and easier to get to the things you love. We’re introducing a faster and easier interface to provide access to games and apps you’ve recently used. At launch you’ll be able to more easily share your achievements and game clips with the Xbox Live community, see whether your friends are playing the same games and get one-click access to Game Hubs to get news and updates directly from the developers and community themselves.
We’re introducing a new Community section to make Xbox One more social.Based on your feedback, this section is optimized to help you tap into what other gamers are doing on Xbox Live and directly contribute to the conversation happening within the Xbox Live community. Check out what your friends are up to or keep track of the games you follow in the redesigned Activity Feed. Explore the new Trending section to view the most popular posts from players on Xbox Live.
The revamped OneGuide will be your single destination for TV, movies and video apps. From OneGuide, you can see a list of current trending live TV shows with the most viewers at that moment on Xbox. TV listings will now come up instantly and in full-screen, and we’ve added a picture-in-picture mode for TV so you can browse for other things to watch without missing what’s happening in your show. We’ll highlight a selection of the most exciting new movies, TV shows and deals from across the apps on Xbox One and the new App Channels area will show you the latest movies, TV shows and videos highlighted by the apps you care about.
We’re optimizing Store to help you quickly find the content you want. To the right of OneGuide, you’ll find the new and improved Store with features including four easy to explore areas – Games, Movies & TV, Apps, and Music – and a new vertical gallery view to bring more listings at a glance. Browse through intuitive categories like Staff Picks, New Releases, Top played, Top rated, Coming Soon and Recommendations to discover new games, apps, and entertainment for your Xbox One.
Because of the significance of the November update, Microsoft is giving Xbox One preview members the opportunity to decide if and how they want to participate in helping release the New Xbox One Experience.
Microsoft will begin rolling out the update over time to preview members who have opted in, starting with the ones who have historically submitted the most feedback. If you're a member of the Preview Program, you'll get an invitation which will take you to the registration. From there, you can choose to opt in or skip this one (skipping will not remove you from the Xbox Preview Program).
As November nears, I'm sure will hear more details regarding this massive New Xbox One Experience.
