Microsoft has improved the Xbox Live experience for the upcoming Xbox One console, enhancing the friends feature and adding a follow function for new ways to consume content on Xbox Live.
Unlike the static friends list from the Xbox 360 offering, the Xbox One's friends list updates in real time as your friends change games or add videos. The biggest new feature is that you can follow other players' activity streams without adding them as friends first — similar to following someone on Twitter, Xbox Live's Director of Programming Larry Hryb announced Monday in a video and blog post.
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Following someone lets you view her game and app activity, achievements and any uploaded videos. If you follow each other, the game considers you friends. You can also opt out of letting new users follow you.
Add friends to a favorites list, which will show up under a separate tab — the activity on your favorites list will rise to the top. Hryb said this is a great feature "if you have a core group of friends you play with all the time."
You can also snap their activity feed to the right side of the screen to follow friends' activity while playing a game or watching TV — and then join your friends in-game.
Microsoft previously said players' Xbox Live accounts from Xbox 360 will carry over to the Xbox One, which will arrive Nov. 22 in North America.
Ending years of rumors and speculation, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, the successor to the Xbox 360, on May 21, 2013. The price will be revealed closer to launch (expected holiday), but the new console has superior processing power, comes bundled with the Kinect sensor and has new abilities for watching TV and movies more conveniently.
The Xbox One console comes bundled with the Kinect and a controller.
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The Kinect is said to be much improved, capable of detecting subtler body movements, such as rotating joints.
The controller got a revamp, too, with dozens of tiny modifications, although the overall shape stayed the same.
With superior processing power, avatars can look more detailed than in Xbox 360 games.
The Xbox One can perform four times the number of calculations per second as the Xbox 360.
EA is a key Xbox One partner. The company is launching a new gaming engine with the console: EA Sports Ignite.
Forza Motorsport 5 is another EA game coming to Xbox One.
Steve Spielberg will be lending his talents to an upcoming live-action TV series based on the Halo franchise.
The new installment in the Call of Duty franchise will make use of the Xbox One's hardware to tell a more engaging story, with lifelike graphics.
The Xbox One will allow for much more realistic animation.
Even the dogs will look better in Call of Duty: Ghosts. This one has realistic scarring and a tattoo in the ear.
The next generation Xbox will be able to deliver movie-like experiences in games.
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