Posted Thu Nov 12, 2015 at 07:07 AM PST by Justin Clark
Details on deployment and when backward compatibility goes live.
Before we begin, everyone, please, observe a moment of silence, in honor of the old Xbox One UI. We barely knew ye. We could barely navigate ye. Amen.
So, down to business: Today's the big day, when everyone's Xbox One dashboard gets a drastic redesign, and the miracle of backward compatibility comes to us all. In theory, some of you might have it already, since the update went live at 12:01 am Pacific. It's a phased rollout, however, so you have no idea when the update's going to install. As always, though, if you're not currently using your Xbox One--and really, kudos to you, pulling yourself away from 'Fallout 4' like that, that took willpower--it's recommended you put your console into Instant On mode so that the update can download quietly while you're doing other stuff out in the world.
If you're in Energy Saving mode, or the console's on and you just wanna check out how things are progressing, you can go into Settings, then System, and hit Update Console. Either it'll prompt you to start the update, or it'll show you how far in the update is. The update's only a shade under 1.2 GB, so if it's going, you should probably set a spell, wait that out before jumping back into a game. If, for some weird reason, you just can't let go of the current UI, just as a headsup, you have until November 23rd to reach the Acceptance part of your grief process, at which point, the update will be mandatory.
As for backward compatibility, no matter when you download the update, you've still got a tiny bit of a wait. The functionality for 360 games won't go live until 12:01 PM Pacific. At which point, all you have to do is jump out, then jump into the My Games & Apps section, and your library of purchased digital games should be ready and waiting, and any of the compatible titles you own on disk can be inserted, and the digital version will start downloading. Just as a heads up, though, be aware that you can't purchase new digital 360 games straight from the Xbox One. You'll either have to plug in your 360 somewhere or make the purchase from Xbox.com.
From my end, the update just completed, and it's ridiculous how much more intuitive the whole shebang feels. The main contribting factor, and I'm positive this is the ethos guiding the design altogether, is simply that gaming comes first. Everything having to do with the relatively simple stuff of playing a game, inviting others to play or seeing what they're playing, and getting more stuff for my game is the easiest to access, All the entertainment hub insanity Microsoft kept trying to push when the system launched is still easily accessible, but it's not crammed up against everything else you'll use on the regular. Well done, Microsoft.
Now, if backward compatibility launches, and I'm playing 'Mirror's Edge' by nightfall without my console shooting out steam like an angry cartoon street tough, we'll be in business.
Source: Major Nelson
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.