The Dashboard, pt 2
What is noticably different is the dashboard. It is much more streamlined than the original with a lot of added features.
There are 4 tabs to it: XBox Live, Games, Media, System.
XBoxLive
The Xbox live is where you can see your friends, messages, start a game or go to the MarketPlace. The MarketPlace is kind of cool, another way for MS to make more money off of you. As if asking you for $400 per 360 and $60 per game wasn't enough, you can now download games, demo them, and if you like, pay for them. You can also buy skins, setups, etc for your characters in the games. I'm guessing that this feature will not be used that much by me except for free stuff. The coolest thing about the marketplace is the free content: videos on up coming titles, demos, etc.
Another new thing on the XBox Live screen is the GamerTag. You can now see some great detail behind games. The tag consists of your gamertag, a Rep, Gamerscore and the zone you play in. The rep is based on you getting feedback from people you play with online, the gamerscore based on acheivements in games, and the zone the type of player you are. I think the gamerscore is kind of bad because it is not consistent per game.
But, the thing I like is you can drill into the gamertag and see what games you played and achievements made. Not only that, but you can drill into your freinds gamertag and find out the same thing. But wait, there's more: say you want to find out which gamer had the high score for a particular round/mission/etc., you can do that also! Pretty cool stuff.
The chat now is pretty cool also. You can find a freind, they could be in a game already, invite them to a chat, and then talk to them. This is while you are playing another game or just on the dashboard!
Games
Games will show your acheivements, games played, trailers, demos, etc. It is a summary of your gamertag and it's the place you go to get to your demos and trailers after you download them from the marketplace.
Media
The Media tab is pretty cool because you can now link into your music, videos and pictures that you have stored on your computer. NO, you do not need Microsoft Media Center edition to do this, all you need is Windows XP SP2. It does require an install on your PC, but once complete, you are now streaming content to your XBox. You can also change the background of your dashboard to a favorite picture (thanks Killer for showing this). I put a nice picture from Hawaii when I was parasailing up there. Took the camera up with me and snapped away.
The pictures look awesome on a big screen HD TV. The music is fantastic because you can have the music playing in the background while playing other games.
The slideshow is pretty cool because you can have some music playing in the background, pic a folder for your pictures, click on slideshow and you have a nice big picture book if you have company.
System
The system tab is where you set your theme, see your network settings, etc. The themes allow you to set the color of your background.
Overall, I think the improvements to the dashboard plus all the added content are incredible. The streaming media is awesome, the ability to download demos is great, just a nice improvement to a boring dashboard in the original xbox.
There are still some impovements that can be made, such as adding a multiperson chat. I'm sure as I look at it more, I'll find more and add them here.
There are 4 tabs to it: XBox Live, Games, Media, System.
XBoxLive
The Xbox live is where you can see your friends, messages, start a game or go to the MarketPlace. The MarketPlace is kind of cool, another way for MS to make more money off of you. As if asking you for $400 per 360 and $60 per game wasn't enough, you can now download games, demo them, and if you like, pay for them. You can also buy skins, setups, etc for your characters in the games. I'm guessing that this feature will not be used that much by me except for free stuff. The coolest thing about the marketplace is the free content: videos on up coming titles, demos, etc.
Another new thing on the XBox Live screen is the GamerTag. You can now see some great detail behind games. The tag consists of your gamertag, a Rep, Gamerscore and the zone you play in. The rep is based on you getting feedback from people you play with online, the gamerscore based on acheivements in games, and the zone the type of player you are. I think the gamerscore is kind of bad because it is not consistent per game.
But, the thing I like is you can drill into the gamertag and see what games you played and achievements made. Not only that, but you can drill into your freinds gamertag and find out the same thing. But wait, there's more: say you want to find out which gamer had the high score for a particular round/mission/etc., you can do that also! Pretty cool stuff.
The chat now is pretty cool also. You can find a freind, they could be in a game already, invite them to a chat, and then talk to them. This is while you are playing another game or just on the dashboard!
Games
Games will show your acheivements, games played, trailers, demos, etc. It is a summary of your gamertag and it's the place you go to get to your demos and trailers after you download them from the marketplace.
Media
The Media tab is pretty cool because you can now link into your music, videos and pictures that you have stored on your computer. NO, you do not need Microsoft Media Center edition to do this, all you need is Windows XP SP2. It does require an install on your PC, but once complete, you are now streaming content to your XBox. You can also change the background of your dashboard to a favorite picture (thanks Killer for showing this). I put a nice picture from Hawaii when I was parasailing up there. Took the camera up with me and snapped away.
The pictures look awesome on a big screen HD TV. The music is fantastic because you can have the music playing in the background while playing other games.
The slideshow is pretty cool because you can have some music playing in the background, pic a folder for your pictures, click on slideshow and you have a nice big picture book if you have company.
System
The system tab is where you set your theme, see your network settings, etc. The themes allow you to set the color of your background.
Overall, I think the improvements to the dashboard plus all the added content are incredible. The streaming media is awesome, the ability to download demos is great, just a nice improvement to a boring dashboard in the original xbox.
There are still some impovements that can be made, such as adding a multiperson chat. I'm sure as I look at it more, I'll find more and add them here.
posted by McTiger at 8:36 AM
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