Major Xbox Live Dashboard Update Hits Tomorrow

Dfskelleton

New member
Apr 6, 2010
2,851
0
0
Finally! A netflix search feature!
Looks nice, my Doom Marine Avatar will be pleased (despite how goofy he looks, he's still probably one of the biggest badasses of the industry. My avatar blew up hell!)
This should be a cool update, looks very sleek and shiny.
 
Jul 22, 2009
3,595
0
0
ryo02 said:
and how much of my hard drive is this gonna eat?
You know that 7GB you can't use anyway?

That much.

OT: Having used the beta dashboard I am getting used to it... I still hate the new guide though.

Everything else is quite good :D
 
Jul 22, 2009
3,595
0
0
Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
Someone explain to me how the hell they are "upgrading voice quality" without making their mics better. It doesn't make sense to me. >.<
They're updating the voice codec... now I know a lot about PC but I don't fully understand it either.

Best I can gather... a codec helps it decipher a type of code. So it's just an updated code really.

That was an immensely shortened and cut down version of how it actually works.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
The only thing that interests me in that update is the Netflix search feature. Which should have been integrated when the service was released, but whatever.

Not to hot about the side-by-side stuff. I liked it when it was behind everything.

Also, "upgrading voice quality"? Yay! Because I've always wanted that 9 year old prick calling me a "donkey raping penis guzzler" to say it in higher quality. But now I'm just being a negative nancy, so I'll stop.
 

IckleMissMayhem

New member
Oct 18, 2009
939
0
0
Tom Goldman" post="7.242070.8769885 said:
<If you decline the update out of some kind of misguided hatred for Kinect, you won't be able to connect to Xbox Live. Sorry, the era of Kinect is here, and you'll just have to accept it.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Aaanyhow... I hate the fact that we're forced into accepting every single bloody update that MS decides we should have, else we can't use games, Live.. whatever. I have no interest whatsoever in any of the changes contained in this update (since I don't use netflix/zune/all that stuff) Kinect seems like is a cheap gimmicky fad, and I LIKE how my 360 menus are laid out right now. Le sigh... sod all I can do about it, I guess, but it's annoying, nonetheless.
 

Thunderhorse31

New member
Apr 22, 2009
1,818
0
0
So... instead of 3D panels (set behind one another in cascading fashion) we're moving to 2D (set side by side)?

Talk about being counter-cultural. Next thing you know M$ will try copying technology that's 5 years old, like motion-controls or web-cams.

o_O

Oh sweet Jesus...
 

Anton P. Nym

New member
Sep 18, 2007
2,611
0
0
Ephraim J. Witchwood said:
Someone explain to me how the hell they are "upgrading voice quality" without making their mics better. It doesn't make sense to me. >.<
Well, it won't help folks with absolutely crap hardware... like the massively-useless free headset I got with my first Live annual card.

For those with reasonable headsets*, though, there are at least two ways that I can think of because voice over XBL is digitally compressed to save bandwidth for the rest of the gaming data:

a) they could have improved the compression algorithm, so that it loses less in transmission quality while taking up the same or less amount of your uplink/downlink bandwidth.

b) they could have used the same compression algorithm but decreased the amount of compression, meaning a better signal but at the cost of more bandwidth.

There are probably other ways, but I'm not an expert.

-- Steve

* I have an awesome headset; back when Halo 2 came out I got the Halo-branded green Plantronics one. It was a bit on the expensive side, but it's lasted me for six years (so far, and still going on strong except that I'm down to my last foam-rubber thingie for the earpiece) while giving me a much better voice signal than the cheapies. I use Plantronics gear at work, and I've always been impressed with their quality... even if the price is a bit high for a gaming accessory. Then again, it's also compatible with cellphones if you don't mind looking like a gaming geek on the street.
 

Ophiuchus

8 miles high and falling fast
Mar 31, 2008
2,095
0
0
It looks fancy. That's pretty cool. The rest of it won't be coming to the UK so... whatever, I guess.
 

RUINER ACTUAL

New member
Oct 29, 2009
1,835
0
0
Crunchy English said:
Canadians can look forward ot Msn.ca and CBC content on their Xbox... yay? I saw this in Toronto on Monday and was unimpressed.
Me too. What's the point of having content from select places, like CBC, NBC, and ESPN3? Just put a web browser in or put up tons of spare apps for the thing. I'm sure the stuff is going to take forever to find, as things have been since the blades for eliminated.

OT: Oh, I still have an avatar, AND I still can't see my entire background that I paid for? Fuck off until you come out with a new update. At least everything won't look like a toddler picked the colors. (Navy and Lime? WTF?)
 

mjc0961

YOU'RE a pie chart.
Nov 30, 2009
3,847
0
0
Sweet, it'll be nice to get out of the beta and be able to use all my avatar awards and party chat with everyone (not just other beta testers) again.

A very nice surprise too, I was expecting it later in the week. Thanks for the nice treat in my Halloween bucket, Microsoft!
 

Scizophrenic Llama

Is in space!
Dec 5, 2007
1,147
0
0
chemicalreaper said:
On the other hand, if Microsoft announced that, with the dashboard update, they were going to reduce Xbox Live Gold to $40/year, then I'd have a reason to be excited.
Ironically, it's quite the opposite. It goes up to $60 tomorrow.
 

GeorgW

ALL GLORY TO ME!
Aug 27, 2010
4,806
0
0
I like all the improvements, I just think it's really ugly, especially the guide menu. But, I won't ***** about something so trivial, as I've heard so many others, and choose to focus on the good things. I don't like however that almost all the awesome new features aren't available here in Europe. And I think they're still charging me more for them...
 

silentsentinel

New member
Mar 16, 2008
784
0
0
The last time we had a big update my xbox red-ringed. It had been a perfectly fine first-generation 360, one of the last of its kind...

*Sigh*
 

Requx

New member
Mar 28, 2010
378
0
0
Im totally getting a six pack hulk costume just for the glorious occasion of being the most ripped guy on xbox live.
 

samsonguy920

New member
Mar 24, 2009
2,921
0
0
NotAPie said:
Whatever. If the price changes I'll get this fancy Kinect...I wonder where I can fit it in my room...
The real question is can you fit yourself in the room being all wiggly and spaztastic playing Kinect games?
Cue self injuries piling up due to Kinect-related accidents.
Tom Goldman said:
Minor updates include upgraded voice quality, an improved virtual keyboard, and avatar proportion changes to fit with Kinect games.
So I am guessing you will get to play with your avatar via Kinect? That does add to the creep factor abit, but will you be able to proportion your avatar to how you are really built? We weren't all made in an assembly line like Skynet wants us to be:
Electrogecko said:
"avatar proportion changes to fit with Kinect games"
So if your really short and fat it'll make your avatar into a dwarf for you? Awesome!
Word.
 

Dr Megadeth

New member
May 23, 2010
39
0
0
Nouw said:
I really hope it affects the NZ one...
Amen. To be honest, they should have changed the voice codec last dashboard update, they're just soo damn lazy at Megasoft (I refuse to use the term 'Micro' to such a large corporation)