One, yes, I did just riff on Game of Thrones. And why not? It's still a thing. Two, I did so a smidge unclearly; it's not Xbox gaming that's coming soon, but rather Xbox 360 gaming that's coming. A bit imprecise, perhaps, but still close. At any rate, new word reportedly from Phil Spencer says that Xbox One gaming is about to get a big new punch of Xbox 360 gaming, and soon.

The word from Spencer says that November 12 is the big go-day for the new Xbox One Experience, complete with backward compatibility for a big slug of Xbox 360 games. There's also a new dashboard retooling, and some other options as well, like improvements to the community section, the online store, and the OneGuide system. Earlier word suggested the system would go "up to 50 percent faster" than previously seen, which isn't bad. But then, Xbox One's troubles really weren't related to speed.

This may actually have not been a great idea; with a load of Xbox One gamers looking forward to Fallout 4 when it hits on November 10, and forcing the gamers to sit through a dashboard upgrade just two days later could be an off-putting experience. But then, we're not exactly sure of the overall file size involved; this could be the kind of thing that could be easily downloaded super-early Thursday morning, and by then, even the most stalwart of wasteland wanderer will need to get some sleep or go back to work or something. It's certainly a better move than trying to get it loaded that weekend; gamers who didn't take time off for Tuesday's launch will certainly be planning a long weekend's worth of gaming. While the backward compatibility will be welcome, it's also somewhat limited; there aren't all that many games set to work with it at launch. Still, it's the kind of thing that could steadily improve the farther along we go, so that's a worthwhile thought.

It'll break into the flow of Fallout 4, but Microsoft may have picked just the right time to make an upgrade that gamers should ultimately be glad to have.