Xbox One Preview update adds Xbox 360 game purchases

Soon you'll be able to browse, buy, and play Xbox 360 games without ever putting down your Xbox One controller - even sooner if you're in the Xbox One Preview program. That and several other frequently requested feature updates are rolling out to Preview program members today, as laid out in a blog post by Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.

Backwards compatible Xbox 360 games were formerly only available for purchase on their native console or on the Xbox Games Store site. It wasn't a massive hassle if you spontaneously decided to (re)buy the original Mass Effect, but now there's even less standing between you and cover-based alien romance. The update will also let you track your Achievements progress in the Guide, so you won't have to give up screen space by snapping the dedicated app, and Xbox 360 Achievements will now take their proper place in your Activity Feed.

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As for the other new features coming to the update, Party Chats will allow for up to four more participants, for a total of 16, and you'll be able to start including party members' audio in your Twitch broadcasts. Party members will be able to accept or reject an invitation to beam their voices out to Twitch, and party leaders can mute troublemakers/heavy breathers after the fact.

Elsewhere in the update, the Reputation system will get a minor overhaul to put more pressure on misbehaving players: profile pages for "Good" players will no longer even display their Reputation level. Only troublesome players who fall under the "Needs Work" and "Avoid Me" categories will be singled out with big, bright designators. Hopefully they don't start wearing it like a badge of honor.

As usual, Xbox One owners who aren't in the Preview program should expect these changes to arrive sometime within the next few months, assuming Microsoft doesn't find any massive problems before then.

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I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.