The New New New Xbox Experience Halo4 Dash

[Uli]

the recent dash update is a bad joke for me. i am not a kinect user yet and there's basically not a single new feature for me, just more annyoing advertising and Pay TV. but Sky Go Germany offers even the least interesting channels yet: Sports and Movies - no History or Discovery channel for the oh so young gamer demographic.

i had hoped for some more customization options but the opposite happened - i can't even change my theme anymore (at least i can't find the option).

oh, and there's still no option to search for free marketplace content - a shame!

[SUMIRE]

I agree with the adverts, you shouldn't get them on gold. To change you theme etc just select your avatar in "social"

[Charlie]

I can't see myself using any any of the existing new features either, but that might change in the next few months when apps like Youtube, BBCiplayer, 4OD, 5 Demand, Blinkbox and others start appearing.

[Julio III]

Have no intention of updating until I decide to play a game (which could be a while) - but this "cloud profile" thing intrigues me. Does it mean I can effortlessly switch between my two consoles without having to type for ages and wait for ages for my profile to download like it does on the current system? If so, I'm in.

[Julio III]

I can see this happening further next gen. An all in 1 set top box with tv, internet, social media and gaming rolled into one. Couple it will less actual retail gaming content with a bigger focus on huge selling franchises and the more interesting titles restricted to download only.

I like the first half of that actually. The whole thing sounds like what I want the PS3 to be. Apart from a lot of features are crippled. Ie, internet is crap, social media is crap, TV stuff not as good as on the dedicated Sony set-top boxes. It doesn't notice half my memory sticks, and it blew up my external hard drive power supply. Anyway, enough PS3 moaning in an xbox thread...

[sj33]

I can't see myself using any any of the existing new features either, but that might change in the next few months when apps like Youtube, BBCiplayer, 4OD, 5 Demand, Blinkbox and others start appearing.

It's been described as 'BBC Content', which is code for iPlayer without the live stuff.

[Lebowski]

I Iove this thread its reminiscent of some of the rants Facebook users do everytime it changes, I'm sure everyone hated the last dash too so this thing must be auful, Either that or we have a thread full of people that are scared of new shiny things.

I don't mind it to be honest the play game button is right there when you switch the xbox on and it certainly is easyer to navigate, the once a week I check demos and live arcade will take me two seconds more as I skip last social and tv

I love being able to bark orders at my xbox too. "Xbox XBOX XBOXXXXX PLAY GAME **** it where's my pad"

[Skull Commander]

I think EVERY single update of the dash has been worse than the last. Ease of use doesn't seem to be a priority when they approve these new designs unfortunately.

[Blade Runner]

Does Cloud profile allow being able to sign into a different console without having to 'download' the profile or use a memory card/USB stick?

[Mayhem]

At the end of the day, the main reason for the update is to put the 360 frontend in line with Windows 8. But if you don't have Kinect, then yes, it makes life a lot harder to find or search for things. Even though I realised the bumpers still worked to switch tabs (or you just move the cursor up to the top and shift along with the joystick).

When using the cloud saves and cloud profiles, what happens if you lose connection? Does it temporarily download them until you turn the machine off or something? And if your profile is online, can you still keep one offline? Confused.

I believe when you enable Cloud Storage, a 500MB cache is created on your hard drive (what you actually see listed in the devices screen). From there, you can actively "move", "copy" and "delete" the saves in question. When you switch off the 360 now, it doesn't immediately shut down, it is actively synchronising any changes to saves between cache and Cloud first. Or that's how I interpret what's going on from someone who tried to explain it to me.

[EvilBoris]

Yeah that's what happens, just be ware you cannot access the saves in said cache unless you are online.

[MartyG]

Then that's a really sucky implementation given the internet is not known for its 100% reliability (and it'll be a particular ball ache for game saves that can't be copied/moved, Forza, Mass Effect especially if you cancel that Gold membership - never understood the point of unmovable saves). The PS3 implementation just allows you to choose if the game syncs the save on the harddrive giving you access even offline.

[Charles R]

When I was with talktalk, that would have been an issue, but I might give tip a go. I presume you can bring them back down he you change you mind

[Mayhem]

Yeah, no mention yet what happens if you use Cloud but then stop being a Gold member...

[Yakumo]

You can still play your games, I think it takes, what two or three button presses to launch them? You sound like Microsoft are doing it to spite you personally, many people like social gaming and Kinect.

I don't. It really pisses me off when I'm trying to play a game and people keep asking me to join their game. If I wanted to join their game I would be playing that game No, the whole social thing is a pain in the arse which I can't stand. same goes for facebook and Twitter. I am a social guy, I love to talk and hang out with mates but when I game I want to relax. You know, a bit of "me" time.

Yakumo