Microsoft builds on Xbox One appeal at gaming trade show

Microsoft is going a step further with its Xbox One, the "all-in-one" entertainment solution for living rooms, focussing on cloud computing to make games for the next-generation device.

The company had announced last week that the successor to the Xbox 360 must be connected to the Internet every 24 hours to operate, and the system would ideally always be online.

During a presentation at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the gaming industry's annual trade show, Microsoft Vice President Phil Harrison said: "The platform features and capabilities exclusive to Xbox One allow developers to push the boundaries of creativity and take gaming in completely new directions."

The Xbox One's cloud computing capabilities were demonstrated at the event by fleshing out dense environments in third-person open-world games like the zombie-fighting sequel "Dead Rising 3" and cartoony shooter "Sunset Overdrive".

"There's ability to put things in the cloud that you want to have computed, so you can take some of the computing capability that you might require locally - or used to require locally - and then have CPUs in the cloud that actually do some background work for the game," explained Phil Spencer, Microsoft Studios' vice president. "You're actually augmenting the power of the box that's sitting right in your living room."

The Xbox One, which the company debuted earlier this year, will be released in November and cost $499.

Microsoft didn't address concerns over connectivity, used games and privacy issues with the Xbox One, which will feature a new version of its camera-based Kinect sensor.

The company did, however, reveal that the Xbox 360 is getting a makeover with a design inspired by the Xbox One.

Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's vice president of marketing and strategy, said the updated Xbox 360 is "smaller, sleeker and as quiet as ever." He added it would be available beginning Monday.