Video  Posts: 39 Joined: 9 Feb 2009     | |
Creator of Unforgotten Realms  Posts: 581 Joined: 15 Apr 2008    | It's true. I don't want to watch ghost rider. That gears of war two layout looks badass though, gonna be neat to see other layouts people make for the new dashboard in the future. |
Paperboy  Posts: 20 Joined: 3 Oct 2008    | Solid. Isn't it the updates that break the most features that are everyone's favourite? |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 60 Joined: 26 Jun 2008    | Looks pretty good, dont see why many people keep bashing it so much, I personally think its going to be great. (But thats what it all comes down to, right? opinion.) |
Paperboy Posts: 20 Joined: 25 Jul 2008     | I think this is a horrible idea. If it's not broken don't fix it. The avatars are alright but still look too childish, hopefully you can suit the up with game themed clothes (Power Armour :D). As far as still needing the disk for hardrive download; why not just put serial codes on games and either block current games or provide them via XBLM. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 193 Joined: 23 Jan 2008   | I got into the pre-release for the NXE and it's not that impressive. The Avatar creator is pretty sparse and leaves much to be desired. As a UI, it works well but it's not what people are making it out to be. |
Anonymous Source  Posts: 5 Joined: 20 Oct 2008    | It looks like awesome sauce! |
Features Editor  Posts: 325 Joined: 11 Jan 2008     | I sort of doubt hardcore gamers are the target audience for this firmware update. I'd be willing to wager there is a fairly large percentage of the Xbox 360 user-base who isn't aware of the consoles video capabilities (short of playing DVDs, that is). Compared to the old "blades," the new interface encourages exploration and looks pretty easy to navigate. The Wii may have won the console war, but Microsoft and Sony are still fighting the "all-in-one living room media center" war. Something tells me that this will either help Microsoft gain even more ground in this department. And yes, as someone who actually does use his 360 as an all-in-one living room media center, this looks pretty sweet :) |
IT Director  Posts: 1549 Joined: 13 Jun 2002     |
There is quite a bit 'fixed' in this update - it's just not all entirely obvious if you're not a programmer. For one, the new dash is significantly more expandable - they don't need to recode the entire layout to add new features like the old dash required. Second, these new features are no longer a part of the firmware, but (like Wii Channels) are applications that run off your system hard drive. These two changes, above everything else, are big improvements in the long run. They definitely help speed up the dash - it's noticeably snappier than the old version. Personally, I'm hoping that this means more frequent updates than the current Fall/Spring versions. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 571 Joined: 22 Apr 2008  | Looks alright, still don't see why the Mii's are there. A shame that my theme doesn't work with it completely, but it still looked alright in the video (I have the Fallout 3 theme). |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3300 Joined: 1 Nov 2007     | Dam, hope I don't end up buying a new theme for this thing. I love my CoD 4 background. |
Artist  Posts: 545 Joined: 13 Jun 2002   | From a design standpoint, I think it's much sharper than the original design. Which I disliked from Day 1. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3213 Joined: 10 Nov 2007  |
Though new functionality in the NXE, install to HDD, cross game parties, quick launch, etc. is very much aimed at gamers. The only things that could bear to be improved on the NXE are the ability to set a level of transparency for the "floor" so you can see themes behind it, and the ability to select a default channel on startup. (My Xbox, rather than Spotlight, for most people.) More avatar options as well. Especially if they're tied to games played/achievements unlocked would be cool. |
Server Administrator  Posts: 550 Joined: 27 Sep 2004    | My only wish is they would redo the profile system. I just LOVE not being able to sign out another controller easily when I have all 4 plugged in and the system decides to sign a random one that I'm not using to my main profile. I usually end up have to quit to dashboard and then manually sign out and sign in my current controller. Oh and then there's the fun when I want to have a second player just sit down and start playing on any arbitrary game without having to deal with profile crap. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2768 Joined: 18 Sep 2007    |
What I did was make a couple of extra profiles on my 360; some for my friends, and one generic "guest" profile that anyone can use. Speeds things up a lot when getting multiplayer tussles going... though if you come up with a similar fix for handing off "first controller" among signed in profiles, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd share. -- Steve |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 783 Joined: 27 Aug 2008   | I'm actually pumped for this, suprisingly. I'm a sucker for stylish designs. |
Server Administrator Posts: 550 Joined: 27 Sep 2004 |
Yeah, I have extra profiles created, but it's issues like the game insisting another controller is signed in on my Live profile and refusing to sign me out until I find that controller and sign out or exit to dashboard and force it to sign out. Or just the general process of forcing people to sign into a profile when we don't particularly care if someone is signed in and just want to play a game. All able to be worked around, but all terrible UI design that gets in the way of having fun. Along with things like tracking downloaded or partially downloaded content (yay for downloads stopping completely when certain games are started, and not always restarting outside of the game), or being unable to read descriptions in the marketplace without having to wait for the right panel to start scrolling. Really, you can't make the right stick scroll the descriptions? Many many little details that make the whole experience using the dashboard sub-par and sometimes outright frustrating. But yet still better then dealing with the PS3 dashboard/store. Sony takes bad interfaces to a whole new level, even if it is pretty. Edit: And oh the joys of using a wireless controller when the batteries die. Nope! Can't just switch to one of the wired controllers, have to completely restart! And other similar issues to the 'first controller' hand off that you mentioned. Ugh. |
Brand Manager  Posts: 2437 Joined: 8 Oct 2007    | I am really looking forward to it, especially the Netflix. |
Copy Clerk  Posts: 55 Joined: 28 Aug 2008   | Ive just noticed its the 19th yet it still says on dashboard 2 days to go??? so whats the deal with that? oh yeah i live in Australia. Hold on.. it.. but... its not 2 days behind the states? I'm a confused little gamer. :( Anyway this rocks for me simply because i can install to hard drive and my disc drive shouldn't burn out so fast again. Hopefully. Oh looking forward to the 8 people party to! and 1 vs 100 sound like a bit of a laugh. Netflix i sadly will never get to see and its one thing i think has burnt allot of folks with this update. Some think its worthless without it. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1361 Joined: 21 May 2008   |
I'm sick of hearing about how great netflix is, it only works in one country and a large majority of people don't live there. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1129 Joined: 11 Dec 2007   | this looks fine, plus i really never did enjoy the whole blade theme that much to begin with. Anyone know how much netflix is going to cost? I do enjoy movies, but if the 10,000 movies available are utter crap b rated flicks with a few blockbusters I already own on dvd, then I just don't see myself doing this netflix thing. But on the whole, I like the new dashboard, looking forward to tomorrow to install it. |
Paperboy  Posts: 12 Joined: 22 Sep 2008 | shame about losing my themes, i hope ill be able to download a decent marathon one, like I have now. |
Muckraker  Posts: 330 Joined: 9 Aug 2008 | Ghost Rider FTL. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 128 Joined: 21 Jun 2008 |
Can someone explain to me how Netflix is a touted as a 360 selling point. Basicly it's a way to force American morons to give M$ more money for something Sony users get for free.... anyone else see a pattern here? Buy a 360+Harddrive+PC+XBL account+Netflix account = download a movie IDK maybe I'm missing something here, but this seems pretty ignorant to me. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 665 Joined: 9 Jun 2008   |
Having used the Netflix feature now (already had an account), their online content leaves much to be desired. They do have some shows that I am interested in that I haven't watched, but year, the Netflix online content just isn't there. I will say that the interface with the Xbox is seamless and works great, but what's the point if there are only 4-5 good things out of 10,000. |
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Preview: New Xbox Experience
The Escapist previews the New Xbox Experience set to go live later this week, including Netflix integration, avatar customization and new dashboard themes.
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