A few select individuals were given early behind the scenes access to the next update coming to the Xbox 360 dashboard today and were welcomed to a myriad of different and exciting features. Upon downloading and installing the new update, the familiar welcome section of the Xbox 360 dashboard will greet users. From there they can traverse to a new section of the Xbox 360 dashboard called Xbox Preview, which highlights many of the new features in this update. Provided you were allowed into the Xbox Preview Program before August 11th, 2009 you will see this section on your Dashboard. It helps greatly to go through all the announcements and information regarding this dashboard update as Microsoft has packed in quiet a lot of new features and tweaks.
Starting with the Xbox 360 Avatar Editor users will be exposed to the changing face and involvement of our virtual selves. The Avatar editor now has an “Awards” section, which has no use as of now but eventually, will be filled with trophies and items given by unlocking conditions in games. What these will consist of has yet to be announced by considering Microsoft has released screenshots of Halo and Gears of War armour sets, I believe we are in for a treat. Also the Avatar Editor has its own Marketplace where users can now shop for clothing items from a variety of different styles such as steam punk or pick out a selection of unique fashionable wears from different game worlds. The first thing I purchased was a mini remote controlled Warthog car for my Avatar to play with.
Microsoft has done a lot of work on the face of the Xbox 360 dashboard by changing and adding features to the user interface. One of my favourite features is the addition of an “Eject” button for the disc tray when a game is occupying it. For the achievement addicts out there, you will find your favourite accomplishments slightly reorganized. Under the “My Xbox” area of the dashboard, selecting the your own gamercard will have a summary tab of all the achievements unlocked next to all the possible achievements and completed games. Going to through this route via the Xbox Guide will now display achievements in a grid like pattern (and load faster) rather then a longer list. Lastly the gamercard is adorned with a “Gold Veteran Status” indicating how many years the gold subscription has been active.
When the NXE was launched there were a few complaints about the party interface and its constant dropping of friends during games. While Microsoft has not addressed this completely, they have implemented an automatic re-connect to bring you right back into the party you disconnected from without any interaction. At the time of writing this article I haven’t had the displeasure of being dropped from a party (as it rarely happens to me) so I cannot comment on whether or not you will experience several “Player has left the Party” messages that appear one after another.
Behind the scenes there is an improvement of speed in many areas. I found launching programs, loading the Xbox 360 guide and managing other activities to be quicker this time around. Account recovery time is cut nearly in half for those who find themselves using this often. There is a new rating system now for every single piece of game content in the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Content is rated out of 5 stars and shows an average rating plus total number of rating entries. This information is neatly displayed when scrolling over content and can really make the difference now between good and bad downloadable content.
For those video and audio junkies Microsoft has finally allowed more control over television resolution with the option to override audio and video formats. This enhances compatibility with a wide variety of televisions and computer monitors which run on HDMI or DVI outputs. On top of that Microsoft has also given more support to monitor resolutions.
The newest update to the Xbox 360 dashboard has added a variety of many different features both welcomed and surprising. While there is no support for Games on Demand, Last.fm radio stations, Twitter and Facebook, this small offering of what is to come in the future definitely has the Xbox 360 community excited. The Xbox 360 dashboard has an intense range of capabilities with no limit to where Microsoft wants to take it. I for one cannot wait until August 11th when this update drops for the whole of Xbox LIVE.
Written by Daniel Mannella
Thank you Daniel for the article!!
