E3: Xbox 2015 Briefing

Finally, the long awaited presentation at E3 has arrived. At the Xbox E3 2015 briefing there were many new features and improvements revealed for the system along with exciting presentations on the Hololens and VR.

Xbox Elite Controller

A new Xbox controller has been introduced for the Xbox One and Windows 10. Due for release in June, the Xbox Elite Controller comes with improved features including:

• Hair-trigger locks
• Improved thumb stick sensitivity
• Paddle remapping and button remapping
• Improved D-pad
• Standard headphone port on the base

Controller preferences can be stored in the cloud and the gamepad can carry two user profiles. All Oculus Rift headsets will come with this controller.

Backwards Compatibility

Previously, the Xbox One did not allow for backwards compatibility. That will all change now with the addition of “native” compatibility on the next generation game platforms. For now only 100 Xbox 360 games can be played and more will be added later.

Xbox Game Preview

Starting today, players will be able to have free trials on games that are in development and decide if they want to invest in a game that is still in the works. This involves the gamer by letting them act as beta testers who can give feedback that affects the final development of the game. Steam has already had a feature like this with Early Access, but with Microsoft’s move it looks like they are trying to bring the features that make PC gaming so impressive, onto consoles.

VR and Microsoft

An announcement was made about a new relationship between Valve VR and Microsoft that would make Windows 10 to be “the best platform for VR gaming.” On top of this it was announced that Xbox One games will be playable on Oculus.

Hololens and Minecraft

Microsoft has developed a version of Minecraft that is optimized for the HoloLens. At E3, the the HoloLens demonstration shown was amazing. They started with a demo shown on a projection on a wall and then unexpectedly, they focused on a random table on stage.

Out of nowhere, a hologram of the game was placed onto the table. A whole world was created onto the surface of the table. Impressively, the HoloLens lets you play Minecraft virtually anywhere. Using his voice and his hands, the demonstrator could control the world and even look at the world from different angles (angles that would not be possible without the HoloLens). With his voice he had access to all console commands. He yelled “lightning!” and random lightning hit the virtual floor in Minecraft.