Xbox 360 – Huge Live Update Today
It’s like Christmas come way early for 360 gamers.
A huge 360 dashboard update will be making its way up your pipe later today (Ooh, Matron! – Ed) if you are an Xbox Live connected 360 gamer.
And, according to Microsoft, whilst over half of 360 gamers are already hooked up, this means that there is still nearly half of you out there that do own an Xbox 360 and aren’t yet connected to Xbox Live. What in Brian's name are you playing at, people? Get it hooked up immediately!
Users who are already connected to the Xbox Live uber-brain will receive a prompt at some point today (June 6) to access what Microsoft refer to as “...a vigorous system-wide update creating a new pinnacle for next-generation gaming and entertainment.”
Big talk, you may be thinking, but it turns out that they are the exact type of words needed to express the scope of this update, which introduces more than 125 revolutionary features and enhancements, many of which have been developed directly as a response to what the members of the Live community have requested from Microsoft. And most importantly, providing you have a broadband connection, it’s free and should take you less than a minute to download.
And here, in full, is the full list of features and enhancements you will instantly have access to:
And, according to Microsoft, whilst over half of 360 gamers are already hooked up, this means that there is still nearly half of you out there that do own an Xbox 360 and aren’t yet connected to Xbox Live. What in Brian's name are you playing at, people? Get it hooked up immediately!
Users who are already connected to the Xbox Live uber-brain will receive a prompt at some point today (June 6) to access what Microsoft refer to as “...a vigorous system-wide update creating a new pinnacle for next-generation gaming and entertainment.”
Big talk, you may be thinking, but it turns out that they are the exact type of words needed to express the scope of this update, which introduces more than 125 revolutionary features and enhancements, many of which have been developed directly as a response to what the members of the Live community have requested from Microsoft. And most importantly, providing you have a broadband connection, it’s free and should take you less than a minute to download.
And here, in full, is the full list of features and enhancements you will instantly have access to:
Xbox Live Marketplace Enhancements
* New background download manager gives gamers the ability to queue up and download six high definition items at a time including playable game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, music videos and movie trailers while actively playing games or browsing the dashboard. As an added benefit, if gamers engage in multiplayer gameplay while downloads are in process, the new background download manager will automatically pause the download queue until the multiplayer session is complete ensuring a continuously optimal gameplay experience.
* Updated Xbox Live Marketplace menus makes it easier for players to find and store all of their gaming and entertainment content. This includes the addition of new menus for media and entertainment content as well as enhanced menus making it easier for gamers to find what’s new in each section as well as a quick view at all downloads by category.
* Full remote control features for Xbox Live Marketplace videos allow gamers to fast forward and rewind at various speeds (2X-16X) during all videos downloaded from Marketplace.
Music Player Improvements
* Custom background music now continues to play without interruption during game loads and when transitioning from game to game or disc content.
* During music play, the music playback screen now showcase the artist, song title and time remaining on the song along with a visualizer showing which song on the playlist or album is currently playing.
* DVD Movie Playback Upgrades
* DVD movie bookmarking now allows gamers to pause a movie at any point, put in a game for gameplay and return to the movie at the exact point it left off.
* Improved DVD movie playback for a smoother, higher quality viewing experience, including additional VGA support.
* New background download manager gives gamers the ability to queue up and download six high definition items at a time including playable game demos, Xbox Live Arcade games, music videos and movie trailers while actively playing games or browsing the dashboard. As an added benefit, if gamers engage in multiplayer gameplay while downloads are in process, the new background download manager will automatically pause the download queue until the multiplayer session is complete ensuring a continuously optimal gameplay experience.
* Updated Xbox Live Marketplace menus makes it easier for players to find and store all of their gaming and entertainment content. This includes the addition of new menus for media and entertainment content as well as enhanced menus making it easier for gamers to find what’s new in each section as well as a quick view at all downloads by category.
* Full remote control features for Xbox Live Marketplace videos allow gamers to fast forward and rewind at various speeds (2X-16X) during all videos downloaded from Marketplace.
Music Player Improvements
* Custom background music now continues to play without interruption during game loads and when transitioning from game to game or disc content.
* During music play, the music playback screen now showcase the artist, song title and time remaining on the song along with a visualizer showing which song on the playlist or album is currently playing.
* DVD Movie Playback Upgrades
* DVD movie bookmarking now allows gamers to pause a movie at any point, put in a game for gameplay and return to the movie at the exact point it left off.
* Improved DVD movie playback for a smoother, higher quality viewing experience, including additional VGA support.
Companies:
Microsoft
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Comments
crs117 6 Jun 2006 16:44
1/1
I for one am very excited to see this update to the dashboard. While the original dashboard was well designed, many features that are included in this update where soarly lacking. I am glad that MS listened to the feedback and this will greatly enhance one of the biggest selling points of the xbox360.