Xbox One Will Not Be Backward Compatible, No Cloud Streaming of 360 Games Either
While the announcement of the next generation Microsoft console Xbox One might have made fans happy, there was also news that will disappoint many fans as well.
Marc Whitten, the Vice President of Microsoft Xbox Live, revealed to The Verge that the next generation console will not be backwards compatible.
“No, there’s not…the system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn’t really work from that perspective.
Meet the Xbox One Controller
This is the Xbox One controller.
For the most part, it should look familiar to anyone who’s played an Xbox console before. It’s got the Xbox-styled ABXY button configuration, the asymmetrical analog sticks, and it appears to retain its shoulder buttons and triggers.
However, there are a couple changes that are worth noting. Click below to see our quick and dirty initial breakdown.
Here’s Every Game Confirmed for Release on Xbox One
Microsoft has just wrapped up the official reveal of Xbox One. This press conference focused primarily on innovation and features, while more games are promised at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. While we wait, we’ve got the complete list of every game that’s 100% confirmed for the console after the jump.
Update: More Games To Be Included Throughout The Day
Read More
Call of Duty: Ghosts DLC Will Have Timed Exclusivity on Xbox One, New Story and World
Call of Duty: Ghosts will see timed DLC exclusivity on Xbox One, Activision announced today. And beyond that, it steps as far away from the Modern Warfare universe as it can while remaining a genuine Call of Duty experience.
That means a new world and a new premise, where you represent the “ghosts,” an elite remnant of U.S. Special Forces working to fight back against the aggressors. This time, you’re the underdogs.
The new game comes with a new game engine, with things like higher poly counts, better fluid mechanics, better environmental AI for animals. You’ll even get a canine squadmate!
Xbox One Partnering With the NFL to Provide Exclusive Content
With the launch of the Xbox One, Microsoft is entering into a partnership with the National Football League to create a better football-watching experience. Microsoft is promising a “game-changing” experience fueled by exclusive content. With the combination of Kinect and SmartGlass, you’ll be able to get live stat updates from all your favorite teams, players, and fantasy football players. Microsoft and the NFL are aiming to bring the stadium experience to the living room.
Xbox One Coming Later This Year
Xbox One is coming soon.
Don Mattrick revealed at the end of the Microsoft press conference that Xbox One will be coming “later this year,” and will be launching worldwide. There was no mention of an exact date, and no price was mentioned either.
343 Industries and Steven Spielberg Partner for a Live-Action Halo TV Series
Microsoft is aiming for more than just gaming with Xbox One: they’re bringing their games into other media as well. Following the great success of the Halo: Forward Unto Dawn web series, they’re bringing in 343 Industries and visual media giant Steven Spielberg to put together a live-action Halo television series.
Right now, it’s just called Halo: The Television Series.
It’ll be intimately connected with Xbox One in some way, though we won’t know details until a later time.
Quantum Break Announced, 15 Exclusive IPs Coming to Xbox One in its First Year
Developer Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake, Max Payne) is bringing a game entitled “Quantum Break” to Xbox One. The first trailer for the game was a mixture of live action scenes depicting a woman and her daughter and in-game cutscenes. Additionally, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One is slated to receive fifteen exclusive titles in its first year, including eight new IPs.
New EA Sport Games and Engine Revealed
EA Sports’ Andrew Wison announced at the Xbox One announcement that with their new “partnership,” with Microsoft, that they will be using a brand new engine called the EA Sports Ignite engine, to power the next generations of the FIFA, Madden, NBA Live, and UFC, which will be revealing games in the next four to twelve months.
The conference explained that the engine focuses on the “intelligence” aspect of sports with “more calculations,” and other aspects such as “the roar of the crowds.”
There will also be a “daily stream of new content that impacts the game as you play.”
There will be exclusive content for FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode for the Xbox One as well.
Forza Motorsport 5 is a Xbox One Launch Title
Microsoft Studios just announced Forza Motorsport 5 as the first Microsoft-published title for Xbox One. The game does everything we expect from the franchise: delivers an immersive and realistic racing experience, designed around great-looking cars driving through great-looking tracks.
Forza 5 will be a launch title for Xbox One.
New and Improved Kinect Bundled With Xbox One
As expected, the Xbox One will come bundled with a new and improved version of Kinect. This new version of Kinect promises to make controlling the console extremely easy and lag free. Microsoft is aiming to make switching between Xbox services as simple and fast as changing channels on the television. Additionally, the new Kinect is designed to be much more sensitive and advanced than its predecessor.
Xbox One’s Xbox Live Service Will be Powered by Over 300,000 Servers, Stores Data in the Cloud
Xbox Live is ramping up significantly for Xbox One. Currently, Xbox 360 is powered by 15,000 servers. For Xbox One, Microsoft is packing 300,000 servers – that’s over 20 times more power. They’ll need all that power, too, since you’ll be able to store and access data via the cloud, including movie recordings, game content, and more.
