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E3: Microsoft's Biggest Xbox Announcements

E3: Microsoft's Biggest Xbox Announcements

Older Xbox 360 games will soon be playable on the newer Xbox One console, Microsoft has announced.

Digital downloads made on the Xbox 360 will become available in waves on the Xbox One, with 100 titles expected to be playable by Christmas.

Hundreds more are expected to be made playable soon afterwards, including physical discs.

Developers will not have to do anything to make their games work on Xbox One, but gamers will have to download a software update to make the new feature work.

There was an outcry among gamers when the Xbox One was launched in late 2013, because it was not backwards-compatible with older titles.

But after lagging behind the PlayStation 4 in the sales battle, Microsoft announced at the E3 games show in Los Angeles that it has developed technology allowing people to play their Xbox 360 games on the newer console.

Five other highlights of Microsoft's E3 event:

:: Microsoft unveiled its new Game Preview feature

Similar to Steam's Early Access programme, gamers will get to play unfinished versions of games.

This will mean in exchange for early access to new titles, gamers will effectively act as beta testers.

:: Virtual reality Minecraft is now ... a reality

Virtual reality device HoloLens is currently in development, and Microsoft said that a Minecraft version for the device will be released.

Voice and gesture commands will be used to build worlds which appear to sit on real world surfaces around gamers.

:: Gears of War is coming - eventually

Gamers got a look at how the upcoming Gears 4 will look, but were told that it's not due for release until late 2016.

:: We got a closer look at Halo 5

The game was shown off at last year's event, but this time around we got to see the game's co-operative combat mode and a multiplayer mode called Warzone. It's due for release in October.

:: A new customisable 'Elite' wireless controller was announced

The premium device works with both the Xbox One and Microsoft 10, and has controls that can be remapped and a directional pad that can be swapped out.