Microsoft will begin to roll out the New Xbox One Experience (NXOE) starting from 12th November. This is a major system overhaul, based upon Windows 10, and will introduce the highly anticipated Xbox 360 games backwards compatibility feature. The news broke in the wake of a big Halo 5: Guardians launch event yesterday.
The NXOE is a significant update from Microsoft. The Xbox One has already enjoyed regular updates but this one will bring quite a lot of significant changes and new features. The core purpose of the NXOE is to make the Xbox One faster and simpler to use. Microsoft is now the underdog in the next gen console war with Sony, and with every quarterly result it seems to slip further behind in the adoption numbers. However, integrating the Xbox One more closely with Windows 10 could pay off over the coming months, especially if the claimed user friendliness and faster access to popular gaming features materialises in practice and some stalwart Xbox 360 fans change over.
A really enticing part of the NXOE for many may be the arrival of the first batch of backward compatible Xbox 360 games. Over a hundred titles will make up the first batch of old games that are earmarked for becoming playable on your shiny new Xbox One. I couldn't find a full official list but IGN has a Wiki with both confirmed and rumoured Xbox 360 titles being enabled from the get go. Microsoft promises "hundreds more to come" so you will probably see your favourite old Xbox 360 titles on the compatibility list at some point. Games publishers supporting the initiative include most of the biggest such as; 2K, Bethesda, EA, Square Enix, Ubisoft and Warner Bros.
As mentioned in the intro, yesterday was the launch date for Halo 5: Guardians, depending upon your region. It is said to be "the most dramatic Halo story to date" and offers 4-player cooperative gameplay that spans three worlds. Multiplayer modes in this sci-fi epic include; Warzone, massive 24-player battles, and Arena, pure 4-vs-4 competitive combat.
