Xbox One Features

Update: We've been through this article and updated the lists within, ready for Black Friday 2018.

Update 04/09/2018: We've gone ahead and updated our list to the very best deals around right now once more, shortly before Black Friday deals start taking over the internet. You'll find all the latest deals below.

Like something out of dubious science fiction, Cyber Monday is here. We're in the middle of it right now in fact, living our best collective lives. The titular discounting event is the follow-up to last week's Black Friday sales madness and seems set to bring with it a brand new set of offers, discounts and bundles from all over the web, giving you one last grasp at a discounted treat. Time is running out, however, and the deals will disappear sooner than you think. Best not to hesitate, really.

It's fair to say Microsoft's Gamescom offering left us underwhelmed. For Xbox One X's last big showing before its November launch, we expected announcements and footage to make the console a must-buy. Instead, we got reheated E3 assets and that same old mantra: the most powerful console in the world. Sure, it's accurate, but also accurately followed by 'great, now what are you going to play on it?'

Albert Penello leads planning for Xbox, which means he's heavily involved when Microsoft works out what it's going to do next in video game land. It also means he keeps a keen eye on the competition - and right now that competition is Sony's recently-announced PS4 Pro and slim.

Microsoft's E3 media briefing was strong, I thought, although its impact was dulled by a pretty spectacular set of leaks that not only revealed the existence of the Xbox One S and Scorpio ahead of time, but the running order of the show.

It's been a month since Microsoft dropped the bombshell it would support cross-network play between Xbox One and other consoles - including, in theory, PlayStation 4. The past few weeks have also seen the console giant finally make good on its suggestion that all retail Xbox One consoles will be able to be used as developer kits

Today sees the global launch of a redesigned Xbox One user experience and the highly-anticipated addition of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility.

What a difference one man and 18 months can make. Before Phil Spencer took over at Xbox, the brand was in troubled waters. Questionable policy decisions had shook Xbox and mired the early days of its new console in acrimony, and even though Microsoft wisely chose to listen to concerned consumers it's been working hard to regain the momentum lost ever since. As it heads into a vital fourth quarter of 2015, the momentum has definitely returned: the broadening of the Xbox brand to PC was helped by the relatively smooth roll-out of Windows 10, the Xbox division just turned a neat profit and, while it still falls short in sales to Sony's PlayStation 4, its line-up for the remainder of the year looks significantly stronger than its opposition's.

Microsoft's standard Xbox One controller is one of the most comfortable around, so it was something of a surprise when the company announced that it had a new version of its pad in development.

On the third floor of a building that fits snugly into the heart of London's West End is Soho Productions, the self-confessed "biggest Microsoft Studio you never knew existed".