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November 25, 2015
The backwards compatibility feature for the Xbox One has brought a lot of joy to many gamers around the world. A huge library of Xbox 360 games are already compatible with the new feature and more games are constantly being added to the compatibility list.
Some games unfortunately cannot be backwards compatible and in most cases this usually comes down to a developer's decision instead of a choice made by Microsoft.
Take Criterion's Burnout Revenge for example - This title was firstly released as an Xbox original game but it also received a release on the Xbox 360. Despite it being available on the 360, Criterion has spoken out stating that backwards compatibility support for this title was very unlikely.
When asked on Twitter about the possibility of Burnout Revenge's backwards compatibility support, Criterion Games simply stated that there were 'No plans for that right now.'
Whilst Burnout Revenge is being adapted for the Xbox One, Criterion has already confirmed
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November 22, 2015
Halo 5: Guardians has already had one of it's new free DLC packs released but 343 Industries now has more content in store for the game. In December, 343 Industries will release another free DLC pack with extra content.
In the new December DLC for Halo 5, players will have the chance to unlock new armor, new weapon types for Warzone, new weapon skins and of course the new Forge mode.
When Halo 5: Guardians was released, players were not given access to Forge mode because 343 Industries still had some tweaks to make to it. In December the covers will be unveiled and the new Forge mode will finally be available to players. It looks as if players will get access to a Forge world they will feel familiar with but there may also be a space themed Forge map too.
If you have played Halo 5 you will know that the rocket launcher's appearance has been completely redesigned. Fortunately players will have the chance to use the old school rocket launcher after the December update
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November 14, 2015
The new Xbox One experience has now been released across all internet-connected Xbox One consoles. The new update brings a completely new UI redesign and adds a few new features onto the console software as well.
The most talked about feature of the Xbox One experience is of course the backwards compatibility feature. Backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 titles is now possible and for the most part it works very smoothly with all backwards compatible games.
In the new UI you'll get a new Xbox Home that is very simple to use. Within the new Xbox Home you are able to share achievements and game clips to friends within seconds. Finding out what your friends are playing has become more convenient as well. For the most part, everything has become more connected, more social and more streamlined.
The Xbox Dashboard button has been reworked too - you're now given a game guide that can be accessed from within any game or app, or even from the home screen. The new dashboard
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November 12, 2015
Despite the small map pool on Halo 5, it looks as if there are still some issues that has caused 343 Industries to take some pretty extreme measures. One of the Arena maps for Halo 5 is called Orion - this map is a small spaced 4v4 map designed mostly for objective modes like Strongholds.
For now, Orion has been removed from the active map pool because there are currently a number of exploits that players have been using that 343 Industries would like to fix before reapplying to Halo 5 matchmaking.
Whilst 343 Industries did not list the exploits that are being fixed, it's very clear that there are some that were very advantageous. One exploit allowed players to use ground pound to glitch themselves out of the map - they could stay there without dying and could attack players from outside of the map.
On top of fixing Orion, 343 Industries has also stated that they are working on fixing up the spawn system - this seems to be an issue for some maps and game types, especially
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November 08, 2015
When Gears of War: Ultimate Edition was announced, the developers revealed that pre-ordering the game would make players eligible for all four of the previous Gears of War games on Xbox 360 - these titles would be provided to players via digital download codes and they would be sent out once the backwards compatibility patch goes live on the Xbox One.
Well good news is that the plans for the backwards compatible Gears of War games are still going ahead and now that the backwards compatible patch has been released, Coalition games has mentioned exactly when the four Xbox 360 Gears of War titles will be available for the Ultimate Edition pre-orderers.
According to Microsoft, all four backwards compatible Gears of War games will be available for download from December 1 - if you already own either of the Gears of War titles on Xbox 360, you will also be able to insert the discs into your Xbox One after the November 12 backwards compatibility patch.
So what games do actually
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November 07, 2015
If you've been paying attention to anything that has come out of the 343 Industries camp then you may have heard that they will be releasing map packs as free DLC for Halo 5. Most of the additional funds for Halo 5 will come straight from the gold REQ packs, which cost $2.99 and provide players with cosmetics and Warzone boosts and items.
Thankfully, it looks like there won't be a lack of DLC content, despite all of it being free. In fact, the first DLC content patch for Halo 5 will be hitting servers in November. 343 Industries has already revealed what content will be included in the first patch.
In just under a week, the new content patch for Halo 5 will be launched. In this first content patch, 343 Industries will be adding a few different features, including the much loved Big Team Battle game mode. Unfortunately there aren't any dedicated in-house maps for BTB yet - instead, you'll have to make do with maps created in Forge by the 343 developers for the 8v8 game mode.
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October 30, 2015
In the past Turn 10 has released themed vehicles to support other game releases, but the last time this happened was when Halo 4 was released and a Warthog was added to Forza Motorsport. Recently, Turn 10 released a new update for Forza Motorsport 6 and it added some new vehicles to the game.
Like previously mentioned, the new vehicles being added to Forza Motorsport 6 are hemed. The new vehicles have a Fallout 4 theme - that's not to say that these vehicles are actually from Fallout 4, but their designs are very Fallout-esque.
So far only one vehicle has been added to Forza Motorsport 6 - this vehicle is the 1956 Ford F100 and it has a Fallout style paint job. The second vehicle has not yet been released and screenshots of this have not been shown yet either. Fortunately, Turn 10 did mention that the second vehicle will be the Chryslus Rocket 69 coupe and it should be available in Forza Motorsport 6 "soon."
Whilst you can't drive any cars in Fallout 4, you will be
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October 29, 2015
Halo has always been the franchise that has helped Microsoft sell consoles so it's no surprise that the game always performs well. With that being said, Halo 4 didn't bring in as many sales as 343 Industries may have hoped, but it looks like they've returned Halo to it's former glory with the latest release of Halo 5: Guardians.
After just one week, Halo 5 Guardians has already made a large number of records, including day one sales, week one sales and most sales for an Xbox One exclusive title. On top of the numerous sales records for performing so well in the first week, the 343 Industries launch stream for Halo 5 received a Guinness World Record for being the most watched video game launch ever.
Microsoft has revealed some interesting first week stats for Halo 5, along with sales numbers. On top of bringing in $400 million in revenue from Halo themed consoles and the Halo 5 game itself, Halo 5 Guardians has been played for an accumulative 21 million hours thanks to the
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October 26, 2015
After the very poor launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it's no surprise that the community's trust for 343 Industries has been a bit strained. Thankfully, Halo 5 Guardians released this week with relatively no troubles at all. Thanks to the beta events and the pre-release leading up to the full game release on October 27, there were no major server issues on day one.
Whilst there were a few server hiccups here and there, for the most part Halo 5 Guardians has been silky smooth on matchmaking. The same can be said for the rest of the game too - Halo 5 Guardians has a very sleek 60fps that is seen everywhere in the game. Resolution is 1080p at it's highest, but sometimes it is downscaled to ensure that the 60fps frame cap stays consistent at all times.
The matchmaking service has been working fine all week and the new Spartan CSR ranking system is working just as expected. Every single playlist has been playing out fine, including modes in Warzone and Arena.
For
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October 20, 2015
Microsoft announced the backwards compatibility features of the Xbox One earlier in 2015 but it's taken a long time for the company to perfect the feature. This week, Microsoft announced that the patch that will include backwards compatibility for some Xbox 360 games will be released on November 12.
Although the backwards compatibility for Xbox One won't allow all Xbox 360 games to be compatible, if a developer or publisher of an Xbox 360 game gives Microsoft permission, it's likely that it will be added to the supported backwards compatible game library eventually.
Upon the release of the November 12 patch there will already be a large number of Xbox 360 games that players will be able to play on their Xbox One.
Below, a list of some of the currently announced games has been posted. This is only a small list, but it includes some of the more popular options.
+ Halo: Reach
+ Mass Effect
+ Perfect Dark Zero
+ Gears of War Series
+ Fable