From IGN
Finally, it cures most of the beefs I had with it. 👍IGNMay 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.
[SIZE=-1]Cue up six downloads simultaneously while playing games.[/SIZE]
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.
[SIZE=-1]Find stuff easier.[/SIZE]
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.
[SIZE=-1]Stop! Let's see it again![/SIZE]
Changes to the Media section might send little shivers of relief up your spine. Music is now seamlessly integrated into your dashboard to such a degree that you can now play the music of your choice while playing a game without 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 dashboard, as opposed to automatically (and frustratingly) launching the inserted game. You won't have to stop the game, and then switch to the dashboard.
Next week's spring update is filled with dozens more additions, such as the ability to see the battery charge level while playing a backward compatible game on the Guide blade, easier to find themes, and more.
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