Microsoft Consoles and Updates

[Sly Reflex]

I don't really understand, I turned on this morning, waited 5 minutes, got patronised on what did what and then got blinded by the guide button. Apart from that it's pretty nice.

[hinn888]

Everything seems to be slow... & chat sounds tinny.

[Sly Reflex]

The text and how it's laid out actually reminds me a lot of Apples portable products.

[stoobie]

Everything seems to be slow

I thought that as well. And apparently there is something called Kinect coming to Xbox. They mention it once or twice

[illdog]

I like the new Dash update, its all shiny like. I havent found it slow at all and i like all the new noises. Also i like the little white glow (or line) around your friends names that pop up.

Hate the new Xbox.com tho.

[HandsomeDead]

Seems cool, the indies weren't as hidden as I thought they would be, but you would have thought they would have used the opportunity to push them a bit more.

There was one thing full of win, the little ditty it played when it updated the avatar wardrobe, some DSiWare store rivaling shit that.

[Tomahawk Rob]

I don't think it's specifically related to the new dash, and it's hardly gonna impact on how I play games, but recently I've noticed Microsoft being a bit lax with the updating of Live coverart for new releases...

Last night there were people on my friends-list were playing Pacman CE DX, AC Brotherhood & RockBand 3... when viewing these friends via the dash, they also appear to be playing the dash because M$ haven't copied the artwork for the game to their database or whatever...

For Pacman (which shows the 'coverart' fine in the Marketplace area) & for RB3 (which is 3 or 4 weeks old), to me that seems a bit lazy... even more so when you take into account that they're always pimping the Avatar clothing & Premium themes, which do pretty much fuckall elsewhere on the system apart from on that particular screen.

I've just reread the above before clicking 'Post', and it does seem like a little OTT rant, so maybe it's just that I'm in a bad mood this morning or something...

[Sly Reflex]

This annoys me too Rob, it seems to be broken for quite a few games. Even when you go into the blades it says playing unknown. That's dead handy that MS, thanks!

[Sly Reflex]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-19-new-xbox-360-dash-is-called-twist-control

Twist Control is what Microsoft calls the new Xbox 360 dashboard layout, due for release before Christmas.

During a demonstration at Gamescom this week, Robin Burrowes, Xbox Live product marketing manager for EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa], outlined Microsoft's vision for bringing together voice control and content in the upcoming refresh.

You can use the Xbox 360 controller to flick between channels that display at the top of the screen. The names of these channels are yet to be finalised, but you can check a few of them out in the video below.

You can also use your voice and hands to navigate and search, through motion-sensing add-on Kinect.

"Hopefully it's easy to browse," Burrowes said. "It's intuitive in terms of the way the surfing experience will actually work."

There are currently 20,000 items of content on the Xbox Marketplace, with more on the way. It's all getting a bit cluttered, prompting the redesign.

Microsoft also noted Kinect and the inclusion of Disney movies into Zune brought a new type gamer to the Xbox 360, "certainly more broader in terms of demographic than where we were before as an audience," Burrowes said.

Then there are the 35 million Xbox Live members, globally, across 35 countries. Zune usage has grown 100 per cent year-on-year. In short, there are a lot more "eyeballs" on Xbox Live.

The new dash launches alongside other new features prompted by core user feedback. Under the Social channel you'll find Beacons, which allow gamers to signpost what they're doing across XBL and Facebook.

"That's been a little bit of a barrier," Burrowes explained. "The core community have been saying to us, 'I'm doing this one activity but I really want to play Call of Duty with my mates when I've got four or five of them online at the same time.' People are still text messaging each other and sending messages on other platforms. This is an easier way to do it."

Facebook posting is also added, which means you'll be able to "like" a game, sending Achievements to the social network. And then there's cloud storage, announced at E3 in June.

Twist Control and its additional features form part of a strategy Microsoft calls internally "games plus more than games". Burrowes said the "sweet spots" were music, movies and live TV.

"Hopefully the new dash will show this service proposition goes beyond gaming," he said. "We'll never lose our focus on that gaming audience. In fact, developing the investment infrastructure to develop programs like cloud storage and Facebook posting and the beacons, are three examples of continuing to invest in that space.

"Our games Marketplace environment is really beginning to get optimised. We're now selling more with new transaction space than we are with subscription space for the first, which is showing to us our core audience is staying with us and spending more time, money and effort within games as well as entertainment."

Read: We are trying to find more places to bang advertisements in.

I like the idea of Beacons, it's like the 'Events' on steam.

[Sly Reflex]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-22-new-xbox-app-announcements-very-soon

Microsoft will announce the arrival of new apps for the Xbox 360 "very, very soon".

Last.fm, Facebook, Twitter and Sky are already part of the Xbox 360. YouTube with voice search through Bing is coming with the Christmas redesign of the dashboard.

More third-party applications are set to hit Xbox 360, Robin Burrowes, Xbox Live product marketing manager for EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa], told Eurogamer.

"We're working avidly to extend those entertainment partners," he said. "Nothing, unfortunately, to announce today.

"The announcement to be of more partners coming to the platform will give us that critical mass of content experiences.

"There will be announcements, so look out for those coming very, very soon indeed in terms of that space.

"The engine has been really built to cater to that additional amount of content."

One app rumoured to be coming to the Xbox 360 is Skype, which Microsoft bought for a whopping $8.5 billion in May.

Another is the BBC iPlayer, which the BBC wants on the Xbox 360, but only if it is available to all - not just Xbox Live Gold subscribers. The BBC iPlayer is currently available on the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii free of charge.

"We want to be on as many devices as possible," BBC general manager for programmes and on demand Daniel Danker said earlier this month.

"Of course we'd love to be on the Xbox because we want to get the iPlayer to as many licence payers as possible, which is pretty much everyone in the UK.

"We want to be on the cheapest level that you can have on Xbox, and not only for [Xbox Live] Gold subscribers."

In late 2009, a BBC source told The Telegraph: "Microsoft only wants to offer its users access to platforms it can charge for as this is the model it is pursuing.

"This does not fit with the BBC's model and Microsoft will not budge at the moment. It is really frustrating for those involved on the BBC side who want to make sure iPlayer is rolled out on as many popular entertainment platforms as possible."

On the issue of the BBC iPlayer coming to Xbox 360, Burrowes remained tight-lipped, but did say talks were ongoing.

"I can't talk about the specific nature of the deal," he said. "All I can say is there are a number of active discussions with a number of partners right now. We are talking to key partners at any given time in the UK.

"Our desire is to bring as many of them to the platform as we possibly can. But I can't talk about the specific nature of any deal. There are too many sensitivities in and around that. Unfortunately some of those sensitivities have spilled out in the past."

There are 35 million Xbox Live members across the world.

Come on MS, stop being a dick and just put BBC iPlayer up.

[hinn888]

By now some of you lucky people will have had the chance to sample the myriad delights of the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update as part of the Xbox Live Preview Programme, which features new social stuff, new features and a refreshed design based upon Microsoft's Metro UI.

Today has seen a date being announced for the Xbox 360 Dashboard Update, with the following features among the new stuff promised to be made available to everyone:

New personal and social features including Cloud Storage for Game Saves and LIVE Profile

Beacons and Facebook Sharing

Enhanced Family Settings

Integrated voice and gesture controls across the dashboard and in apps

Bing voice search (Available this year in the US, UK and CA)

You'll be able to download the new Xbox 360 Dashboard update from December 6th, with more content and applications planned for the holiday months, including new customised apps for TV, film, internet and music.

[Sly Reflex]

https://twitter.com/#!/majornelson/status/144061521570435072

If you cant be arsed clicking that, it's just news that the update is delayed. For how long? Nobody knows.

[hinn888]

Couldnt believe it was planned to start at 3pm, seemed pretty late.

Getting delayed is just frickin' typical.

[Sly Reflex]

I've got it.

It's a fucking mess. Why would they do this?

EDIT: And now for some reason I cannot access LIVE. I seriously hope this doesn't continue in tomorrow otherwise it's going to fuck a lot of people off not been able to access a service they are paying for.

[Cyberpunk]

I got it just now. Now I have to bloody explain to my wife how she gets to the Sky player on it, as that's the only thing she does on my Xbox.

[retroed]

I quite like the new dashboard.

*shrugs shoulders*

[Cyberpunk]

I'm not saying I don't like it. It's just with the new layout, I have to show my wife how to get to the Sky Player. And I know she'll ask why its been moved. Still, BBC Iplayer coming soon.

[Sly Reflex]

Managed to get it online. There's some nice ideas to it, but the functionality of it's a ball ache. You can't just roll up to your friends now, youn have to go into menus to see them, and it gets worse if you want to see who's in parties, as from what I can see it gives the party the name of the leader. When I had a look there was a few parties going, and none of them had names, so you have to rely on knowing what peoples avatars look like. It's also really really slow.

[Hendo]

If I could sum it up in one word - "buried".

Everything is buried behind categories and sub-categories and the one thing that needs some love from MS, the indie games, is buried deep. To be fair, the general XBLA, Games on Demand and Original Xbox games have the same fate, but there's these are more likely to be hunted out by people.

I realise I'm on my own (and I realise PC gamers will laugh quite loudly at this) but by Christ, I would pay good money for a Platinum Live service where I could remove the non-Xbox related adds (like Lynx) and have the ability to customise where things are.

I like the overall style but I don't like where things are in that style.

I do like the Beacons though - for what it's worth, I've set them up for Age of Booty, Outland and Iron Brigade in case anyone fancies a game. Not really worth setting them up for guaranteed stuff like Gears or CoD.

[Sly Reflex]

The beacons work a little different from what I was expecting. I was more thinking they were going to be set with a timer so you could book Friday nights up and make sure people were there to play the game, just like how they work on Steam. Don't forget to erase beacons if you are no longer playing the game, otherwise I think they show up every time you come online. I saw a fair few of them tonight from various people trying them out.