XBox 360 dashboard fall update

Death

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gh0d (Administrator)
I just downloaded it and accepted the new terms of service (not sure what was changed, offhand), and... visually, I'm rather unimpressed.

They made the dashboard even more obnoxious (blocking more of the view of any background image you have, like the Arena theme stuff), and where that doesn't cover, the bottom half of the screen is blocked out with white, even further reducing the pretty pictures. Yeah, you don't use a 360 for its themes, but if I pay for something, I want to be able to see it, dammit. :p

I'm also not a big fan of them rearranging the guide (my first step after turning on my 360 is to hit the Xbox logo button, where I can actually get most things done in a reasonable timeframe), in particular moving the "quick launch" option for games to another tab from the tab that the guide opens on, and not even having it as the top option on that tab.

I know I only have to wait a relative few months for a new dashboard, but I suspect that it will be even more ugly. Blech. :mad:
 
Dude, I'm sorry, I used to be a fan of Xbox 360, but I refuse to play it anymore. Mine broke and couldn't be fixed, so I bought another one. I couldn't afford a new one, so I bought a used one. It was console banned so I couldn't use XBOX live... so I returned it and got another... I repeated this process three times. Finally I'd had enough. So I bit the bullet and didn't buy another Xbox at all. I waited three months and bought a PS3. I'm sorry, but with MS going ban happy, I've just had enough.
 
Eh, that isn't Microsoft's fault--someone in your area is running a scam. Xboxes are banned when they're modded to run copied games... someone where you are is modding it, using it to steal games for as long as he can and then trading it in again when it's banned.
 
frostytheplebe said:
I'm sorry, but with MS going ban happy, I've just had enough.
Click to expand...


That's because you are buying boxes that have been banned for the reasons LOAF mentioned. I've gone through 2 boxes. My original died late last year because I kept it vertical and the DVD drive stopped spinning discs. Got a new Arcade one (kept my old HDD) and have been playing fine since.

My first box got a RROD in 2007 after I'd had it about a year. So all things considered I've probably had an average experience with mine.
 
Don't get a used video game system. A used game is fine - you can see if it's scratched up and be 98% sure it'll work. But a system has moving parts, components burning out, dust accumulating in the vents and all kinds of crap that you don't want to inherit from someone else for a $20 discount.

There are some under-the-hood improvements in the new dashboard update that are kinda nice. It seems faster to me, and the updated interface pop ups seem higher quality. Voice quality over xbox live is much better now.
 
I have to admit, this is the one update where I think I need to apply a theme to it - the plain default theme is too bright and garish. It used to be more subdued and less bright. Retina-burning, yowch.
 
Unfortunately, neither Arena theme does anything with the rest of the UI package (unlike with the last two dashboard updates), they just put up the background pic that you can't really see much of anyway because what I mentioned in the OP.
 
I'm not sure what to make of the update just yet. The dashboard does seem to respond quicker now and the new paintjob and the guide pop-up is going to take some getting use to.

The main thing is that I really do not like the new look of Netflix Streaming. Before, it started you off in your queue and now starts you off with your last viewed shows. Also, the menus have moved around and the black text on red backgrounds isn't really great on the eyes.
 
To be honest the WC background image (Confed at least) is outdated, the images are centred so the new dashboard covers it up.
If you get the Black Ops one which is free you'll see they've made the image nearer the top and it actually looks quite nice.
Guess we'll just have to deal with it, its been a few years remember. Anyway, you're only on the dash for a few seconds before loading a game :)

Had the dash for a week or two and I now much prefer it to the older, its faster and looks so much nicer. You'll see, just wait ;)
 
I think I do like the new dashboard; it was kind of a shock at first but I like the altered color scheme (the harsh white/darker green) that the new dash and new game box art now sports. Of course, I will keep my Arena themes until they pry them out of my cold, dead hands. (... or until I can get a Wing Commander 7 enhanced theme. :))

Anybody using the Kinect yet? I wish it was more integrated--I thought the whole point of the new (now fairly old) menu redesign was that we were going to be able to minority report our way through all these menu bars.
 
Yeah, I like Kinect. It does need more dashboard integration though - I'd like to see the hub integrated properly. I've seen all the bad things about it, but I'm impressed - it's effectively version 1 hardware and it works well. People are complaining it doesn't work as well as Move, but Move is 10+ year old technology which is mature so it has to work well.

Something like Kinect hasn't really existed outside of research departments, the military, and very specialized machines, and certainly never in consumer's hands, and Microsoft has now packaged it up as a $150 accessory. I'm sure before November 4th, to get something like Kinect would have one paying $10,000+ easily.

I had to apply a theme to avoid my TV from burning my eyeballs out on the dashboard, though I wish the theme also changed the My Xbox list of stuff - the white is really bright.

I will say though, Kinect Adventures is quite tiring, but I wasn't sore after playing it.
 
I'm quite impressed with Kinect. I figured it wouldn't be much of an improvement over the Wii, so I didn't preorder one. And then I tried it at someone's house on Friday and subsequently spent the weekend trying to find one (they're all sold out). It's very impressive how it's actually tracking and understanding what your whole body is doing, which makes the games pretty slick.
 
Here's some of my recommendations I gave to people.

Dance Central - if you're into rhythm games, you need this game. (Harmonix - Rock Band)
Kinectimals - If you have kids, this is a must-get.
Kinect Sports - Your standard Wii Sports/Move Sports collection

Kinect Adventures (which comes with the Kinect) is more of a demo game but is also quite playable.

There's a couple of other games as well I've seen recommended - EA has a fitness program similar to what they had on the Wii, except you don't have to tuck a controller in anywhere. The other one I've seen was a boxing game if you're into that sort of thing.

I personally just have Dance Central, but I'm feeling I should get Kinect Sports after playing the instore demos of it.
 
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