Xbox Live’s Major Nelson announced last week that the Xbox team would be starting another Preview Program for the latest Xbox 360 Dashboard update, which is slated for official release on August 11th. Upon randomly finding out about the opportunity to help test things out, I figured I had just as good a chance as all the other millions of Xbox gamers out there, and entered my information. The first wave of invites were sent out by the team on Tuesday, but alas, I had no luck getting in. Then last night I fired up my 360 to play some ‘Splosion Man, only to find an update system dialog. Long story short, I had been accepted into the Preview Program, even though I had received no email saying so. If you haven’t signed up to be in the program, what are you waiting for? Find full details right here.
For the past six hours or so I’ve been exploring the new features added in this update. It’s also worth noting that, as of writing this, not all of the additions are currently available. For example, Games on Demand (the ability to digitally download full Xbox 360 games) has not yet been launched, but the features list says that it will be coming to the Preview Program soon. I just thought I’d give a brief rundown of the major features I have come across and explain my experiences with them thus far. Of course, my coverage of the new tweaks will continue as more roll out leading up to the official launch of the update.
- Avatar Props & Avatar Marketplace: The Avatar Marketplace is an online store, much like the Game Marketplace, where you can purchase clothes and props to customize your avatar. Avatar Props are interactive items for your avatar, that can be purchased through the Avatar Marketplace. The clothes are currently divided into two categories: Recessionista and Steampunk. The props are at a minimum right now, but obviously that will change over time as the collection undoubtedly grows. Eventually Avatar Awards will be available, which are unlockable clothes/props that developers can implement in their games. For example, ‘Splosion Man is one of the first games to have Avatar Awards. Personally, it seems like a waste of money to download digital clothes, but the props are pretty tempting. You can see two of my favorites below:
- Games on Demand: This option lets players digitally download full retail Xbox 360 games. More info coming soon.
- Netflix Party Watch & Improved Playback: Netflix subscribers will absolutely love what has been added to the viewing experience! For starters, you can easily add movies to your instant queue, right on your 360. You are now able to form parties and invite your friends to simultaneously watch the same thing as you. If you’re in a party, you are taken to a virtual movie theater, where you can make your avatar perform different animations. Don’t like a particular movie you’re viewing or hate a certain character? You can virtually boo them. Find this to be a total distraction? Fret not! There is also the ability to change into a handful of display modes. After viewing Pineapple Express, I can confirm that the playback has been improved upon. The movie never needed to reconnect or adjust itself, and looked pretty great in the process. Check me out here, watching Pan’s Labyrinth:
- Party Reconnections & Streamlined Invites: Let’s say you’re playing a game with a few of your friends in a party, and for whatever reason, you’re disconnected from the rest of the party. Instead of having to manually navigate through the menus to rejoin, a disconnected user will now be automatically reconnected. It is relatively easier to invite friends to your party; just select their name and press X. It’s as simple as that!
- User Ratings: Now each piece of game content on the Marketplace can be rated on a 1-5 star scale. Gamers can now see if a particular piece of content is worth the price and easily find games they have looked over at first glance.
- UI Improvements: There have been several changes to make the dashboard much more organized. Community Games will now be known as Indie Games. You are now able to launch a game directly from the Achievement browser. Achievement Tracking presents a summary of Achievements earned across all the games you’ve played. Seeing how to obtain achievements is made easier by the new Achievement browser.
- Additional Info: There are several other minor fixes that don’t really warrant their own category. Gold members will now have a number imprinted on their gamer card, which will show off how long they have been a member. If your Xbox Live subscription is about to run out, you will be notified as soon as you log into Live. Account Recovery has been made a speedier and more reliable process.
glory by the gram 