Xbox Live Spring Update

[CaptainZombie]

Quote: Originally Posted by Holic

Post his e-mail addy, or PM me cause I'm lazy. And I'll shoot an e-mail his way.

Here you go:

[email protected]

[CaptainZombie]

New Update:

Spring Cleaning for Xbox 360
Microsoft updates Xbox Live in a dozen handy ways. First details and images.
by Douglass C. Perry
May 25, 2006 - Ever since the November 22, 2005 Xbox 360 launch, gamers have been exposed to Microsoft's slick, bladed interface, Xbox Live Arcade, Marketplace, and the actual gameplay functionality of Xbox Live itself. The top-down subscription network will see a big update next week when Microsoft deploys a huge new upgrade, enhancing dozens of sections to the interface to make it easier to use, faster, and more functional.



As part of Microsoft's plans to constantly grow and improve Xbox Live and the thriving economy it's created, the company will update the system twice a year, in spring and fall. Next week's deployment (Microsoft wouldn't pinpoint an exact day) will be its first big spring cleaning, which will affect three major areas of the system, Xbox Live Marketplace, Media, and general usability. In other words, based on user feedback, criticism, and input, Microsoft's 70-person development team fixed a bunch of things and made user functionality smarter and faster. The automatic update will take place when you connect to Xbox Live and takes approximately one minute to download.

In the Marketplace, gamers will now find new categories for downloads. So, if you want to differentiate a movie from a game download, it's now easier. Download sections are clearer: you'll find games, media and entertainment, demos and game videos, and themes and game pictures categories, as opposed to one section for downloads and then a confused search thereafter.

Also under the marketplace menu, you'll also find a new menu link called Active Downloads. Guess what that means? You'll be able to queue up to six different, be they movies, game demos, or themes. The download feature is niftier than that. You can have six downloads queued up and play a full retail or Xbox Live Arcade game simultaneously without interruptions or slowdown, according to Microsoft. You also can prioritize the order in which you download the items mid-stream, if you want to. Finally, if you want to play a multiplayer game, the downloads will automatically stop and pick up when you finish playing online. Nifty.

New functionality has been added to movie and game trailers, too. Once you've downloaded a flick, you can get to the actual movie one step quicker, since Microsoft eliminated a menu in the process. You can now go straight to watch the movie and control it with fast forward, review, pause, stop, and play options with the 360 or the universal remote controller. We watched the Halo 3 trailer being downloaded, played, fast-forwarded, etc. Microsoft also added bookmarking functionality to movie playback -- though that functionality is always on, requiring players to manually turn it off.

Xbox Live Arcade games will be better organized. When you go to download a game, a new header, Newly Released Downloads, enables you to see the most recently released available games. You can also search by choosing an "All" category, or by selecting Arcade Game by Genre (which is more familiar). Once a game is downloaded, you can go directly to the game to play, as Microsoft has again eliminated a step to get you to play that game faster. That's important because previously, the game was often a little hard to find once it had been downloaded.

Changes to the Media section might send little shivers of relief up your spine. Music is now seamlessly integrated into your desktop to such a degree that you can now play the music of your choice while playing a game with fiddling around. Microsoft demoed the functionality to us by using a CD with the song "Big Pimpin'" and playing Geometry Wars Evolved simultaneously. HAWT. Basically, your choice of music overrides the in-game music. You can also choose to have your music override movie or game trailer music, too.

The new update has many built-in uses for the upcoming USB Camera, due to ship this September. The first game to use the camera is the Xbox Live arcade game UNO, but Ubisoft's Rainbow Six: Vegas enables players to map their face onto an in-game character (like Neversoft first did with Tony Hawk's Underground). World Series Poker also uses the camera and several additional Xbox Live Arcade games will use the camera. Microsoft stressed other notable games will make use of the camera, though it wouldn't reveal which ones. We'll just settle on speculating that perhaps Gears of War, Mass Effect, Too Human, Forza 2, and maybe even Viva Pinata will possibly use it.

Finally, and most importantly, Microsoft fixed the start-up functionality. Now, if you have left a disc in the system and boot it up, there's an option to go straight to the main desktop, as opposed to automatically (and frustratingly) launching the inserted game. You won't have to stop the game, and then switch to the desktop.

Next week's spring update is filled with dozens more additions, such as the ability to see the battery charge level of a backward compatible game on the Guide blade, easier to find themes, and more.

[RockyTop1]

Quote: Originally Posted by candyman56

Here you go: [email protected]

[email protected] is another one

[CaptainZombie]

Quote: Originally Posted by abates21

[email protected] is another one

Cool, that was the other one.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by candyman56

Here you go: [email protected]

well i emailed requesting that clear cache be added in a future update.

[ODogg]

Quote: Originally Posted by ODogg

well i emailed requesting that clear cache be added in a future update.

GOT THE FOLLOWING OUT OF OFFICE EMAIL BACK

-----Original Message-----
From: Xbox Live Programming [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 11:20 PM
To: Shaun H
Subject: Out of Office AutoReply: Clear Cache on Xbox 360 dashboard

Thanks for your email.

If you are trying to contact me, please do not use this email. The correct email address to contact me is [email protected]

I do not check this email box frequently, and therefore do not expect a response if you have emailed me here.


Major Nelson / Larry Hryb
Xbox Live Director of Programming
My blog: www.majornelson.com
My Podcasts: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MajorNelsonblogcast

[Fiddy]

good stuff....

[Flawless]

Videos

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/article...0&RSSid=710240

Kotaku has a little more info.

Quote:

The rework will include the addition of a New Media and Entertainment menu with the following categories: New Releases All Media and Entertainment Movie Trailers and Short Films Television, Music, Sports and More Gaming Community Videos Game Tips and Support Videos Optional iPod Support. Gaming community also has some amazing possibility, but so far it looks it will be free of your buddy playing DDR. Instead expect to see things like episodes of Red Vs. Blue and tons of machinima stuff. Greenberg added that they hope to one day allow users to upload their own original content in some way.

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