E3 2015: Microsoft shows off ‘Halo 5: Guardians,’ backward compatibility for Xbox One

TORONTO – Microsoft showed off exclusive Xbox One titles and long-awaited updates to its system during its E3 press conference Monday.

The company kicked off the event with new footage from its latest franchise game Halo 5: Guardians –available Oct. 27 – which features a multiplayer zone with up to 24 live players and maps four times the size of previous versions.

Backward compatibility with Xbox 360 games

Executives also got a huge round of applause from the hundreds of bloggers, journalists and gamers in attendance when they announced the Xbox One console will have backward-compatibility with Xbox 360 games.

That means discs from the previous Xbox console can simply be inserted and downloaded to the hard drive and played on the newer console – a feature users had been asking the company for since the Xbox One’s release in November 2013.

“This is something you’ve been begging for since launch, and we didn’t even think it was possible,” said head of Xbox Phil Spencer.

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The games will run just as they did on Xbox 360 and will also be compatible with new Xbox One features, such as the screenshot tool and streaming to Windows 10 devices.

In a shot at how Sony’s PlayStation console allows for playing older platform games with a subscription, Xbox executive Mike Ybarra told attendees, “We won’t charge you to play the games you already own.”

Xbox One Elite controller

The company also unveiled a new controller called the Xbox Elite with customizable buttons.

The new controller, which will cost US$150, has four “paddle” buttons on the back which can be removed and replaced for customization.

The Elite controller will also have an app that will allow players to make all kinds of adjustments to their controller, including the ability to reassign controller buttons and customize those changes depending on the game they are playing.

The controller will support up to 255 custom button settings.

HoloLens

Microsoft also provided a look at how HoloLens augmented reality headset will work with games.

Executives demonstrated how the headset was used to play Minecraft on a coffee table. While the audience saw Microsoft Studios executive Saxs Persson stare at an empty table, a special camera allowed them to see what he was seeing – a perfect 3-D representation of a pixelated Minecraft world.

New games

Microsoft also provided a preview of new titles coming to the Xbox One platform, including a new post-apocalyptic game called ReCore, which tech website The Verge called a mashup of Star Wars and Wall-E.

The company also provided a look at Rise of the Tomb Raider, Gears of War 4 and Forza Motorsport 6.

– With files from The Associated Press