Xbox Live Fall 2011 Dashboard Out Now - 12/06/11.

I disagree that it (the Dashboard) isn't functional. On the contrary it's easier and quicker to navigate (if you use LB/RB to page between categories), and you always know which way to go to get to something else, which wasn't true of the old dashboard where I'd inevitably choose the wrong direction and go the long way. I guess YMMV, though.

I also really love that I can have my profile on more than one Xbox and then be able to play on either of our xboxes without having to move a flash drive containing my profile on it. Also cloud saves. I haven't tried beacons yet, but they sound like a good thing too.
 
hmm i installed it today. am I happy? Yes! is there stuff that should be fixed? Yes!

i hate the big ad in the middle compared to the play video game box..

there is more things ill name later as i explore it.
 
One thing I find pretty cool is the Beacons. I put Battlefield 3 as one of my Beacons, and now it tells me whenever one of my Xbox buddies starts playing Battlefield 3. Could get a little obnoxious with games like Modern Warfare 3 since people will be popping on that 24/7, but overall it's an alright feature.
 
The new dash is good.

Here are two things people have every right to complain about.

1) not that there are tons of big ads in your face, but that the play game box should not be put off to the side in place if a huge ad. That's no good.

2) the friend list is basically totally minimized to nothing. I now only look at my friends list through my Xbox guide. That's pretty shitty.

Other than these two things, and they are somewhat very important, I see most of the other complaints as just nitpicking.
 
Is this update an "all or nothing" kinda thing, where you have to accept all the new features? Maybe I want to turn beacons off. Is that possible?
 
I haven't used Netflix yet, but so far I love the design and browsing my games and the marketplace seemed much better. Cloud saves are awesome as well.

Does anyone know if logging into multiple xboxes(moving profiles, I guess) is any faster?
 
[quote name='hufferstl']I haven't used Netflix yet, but so far I love the design and browsing my games and the marketplace seemed much better. Cloud saves are awesome as well.

Does anyone know if logging into multiple xboxes(moving profiles, I guess) is any faster?[/QUOTE]

I think it is faster, but it still takes a few minutes. You can leave the profile on the other xbox (if it's somebody else's, you can require the password every time) if that's an option for you. You can't be logged on to more than one xbox at the same time, but you can switch. There is a period in which the 2nd xbox might not see that you have logged off on the other one, but it does work.
 
Yep, there be issues...just saw this on the Xbox.com forums --

Xbox Live Service alert - 12/7/11 12:33pm PST
"Hey guys, we just wanted to bring the following service alert to your attention: "Users may experience difficulties with ... signing into Xbox LIVE from an Xbox console." We're looking into the issue and hoping to resolve it ASAP. :)
 
[quote name='HydroX']They have completely fucked Netflix browsing, unless I am a dumb ass and cant figure out how to turn off the autostart when you click on a show or movie.[/QUOTE]

Nope the Netflix app is a piece of shit now. Gotta love 'improvements' that make things much worse. Here's a rant I wrote on another site, haha:

If their justification for removing the Party watching was that they were focusing on the interface, why is it such an absolute mess? Are they simply admitting that they suck?

Auto Play when you are trying to see a list of episodes is flat out BRAIN DEAD. And I suppose because they are playing things constantly now without being asked they had to remove the Recently Watched list, which was actually quite useful.

"More like This" seems OK until you realize there is no way to add an item to your queue from that view. Really guys, you didn't notice that? Or better yet since you were focused on the interface, you consciously thought this was a good design choice?

The 'rows' remembering where you are in the list is one of the few interface improvements, and even that acts wonky.

Oh and they no longer show they year the movie was released. Kind of important info there kids.

Better luck next time.
 
[quote name='porieux']Nope the Netflix app is a piece of shit now. Gotta love 'improvements' that make things much worse. Here's a rant I wrote on another site, haha:.[/QUOTE]The old interface was garbage, too.
 
[quote name='porieux']Nope the Netflix app is a piece of shit now. Gotta love 'improvements' that make things much worse. Here's a rant I wrote on another site, haha:

If their justification for removing the Party watching was that they were focusing on the interface, why is it such an absolute mess? Are they simply admitting that they suck?

Auto Play when you are trying to see a list of episodes is flat out BRAIN DEAD. And I suppose because they are playing things constantly now without being asked they had to remove the Recently Watched list, which was actually quite useful.

"More like This" seems OK until you realize there is no way to add an item to your queue from that view. Really guys, you didn't notice that? Or better yet since you were focused on the interface, you consciously thought this was a good design choice?

The 'rows' remembering where you are in the list is one of the few interface improvements, and even that acts wonky.

Oh and they no longer show they year the movie was released. Kind of important info there kids.

Better luck next time.[/QUOTE]

My 'Recently Watched' list is still there (when it wants to be), but half of it is shit that I have stopped on for 5 seconds which allows the autoplay to run whatever ridiculous show I've stopped on while I'm trying to keep my 1 year old out of trouble. haha
 
I had no idea they removed Netflix Parties, I'm fucking pissed. I used that all the damn time. Whole update is complete balls in my book.
 
[quote name='porieux']
Oh and they no longer show they year the movie was released. Kind of important info there kids.

Better luck next time.[/QUOTE]

I see release dates on mine. I am watching American Chopper and it says "American Chopper 2003"
 
just did a quick search, looks like my Quake 4 gamer pics and theme are no longer available on the marketplace i bought when the 360 came out. I wonder if that happened right now or way before. :(
 
Using netflix is garbage now. I don't give two shits what movies are similar to what I am watching and still no option to not choose american over dub garbage.
 
I don't get the point of cloud saving if you're a solo gamer. You need to be online at all times to have access to your saves, and if you don't take games to other people's houses, which I don't, there's no need for it. What's the benefit of this for players like myself?

Also not a fan of the large size of the new apps. The new video apps alone take up close to 400mb of HD space. When I saw that I deleted everything except netflix (only gonna use it as a backup to my PS3's version as the new improved xbox version sucks munkey butt).

I've been messing around witht the dash today and still gotta say I loathe it. There's no getting used to it, just hating it so much.
 
[quote name='praxus07']I don't get the point of cloud saving if you're a solo gamer. You need to be online at all times to have access to your saves, and if you don't take games to other people's houses, which I don't, there's no need for it. What's the benefit of this for players like myself?

Also not a fan of the large size of the new apps. The new video apps alone take up close to 400mb of HD space. When I saw that I deleted everything except netflix (only gonna use it as a backup to my PS3's version as the new improved xbox version sucks munkey butt).

I've been messing around witht the dash today and still gotta say I loathe it. There's no getting used to it, just hating it so much.[/QUOTE]
yeah no point for a recluse gamer who only plays on one xbox such as myself
 
[quote name='GUNNM']yeah no point for a recluse gamer who only plays on one xbox such as myself[/QUOTE]

Then don't enable it. I love the idea because I have two 360s, one in my living room and one in my bedroom. This will make things much easier for me.

I also don't get why people are saying the friends list is ruined. If you go to the tab that shows your (and three friends) avatars, go to the Friends box (left side, middle box) and it pulls up the avatar line-up, much like the old dash's friend list.
 
[quote name='praxus07']I don't get the point of cloud saving if you're a solo gamer. You need to be online at all times to have access to your saves, and if you don't take games to other people's houses, which I don't, there's no need for it. What's the benefit of this for players like myself?[/QUOTE]

If you experienced a hard drive failure in the future, you'd be glad your saves were in the cloud.
 
[quote name='Gerry P.']The old interface was garbage, too.[/QUOTE]

They made it even worse. Not sure exactly what your point is.

[quote name='Superstar']I see release dates on mine. I am watching American Chopper and it says "American Chopper 2003"[/QUOTE]

I haven't used it that much yet but release dates were not showing on the films I looked at.
 
While i'm complaining...

Why does Microsoft keep claiming there are features that aren't really there? With the Spring 2011 update they said there was a new feature called Auto Standby that could put your xbox into a low power mode, then when it came out all it had was the same old Auto Shutdown with 1 or 6 hour options instead of 4 (which is also stupid, yeah let's take away options).

Now, after they claim you can move your XBL Profile to the Cloud Storage, there is apparently no way to actually do that, unless I am missing something.

From the letter released yesterday about the update: "we’ve added cloud storage so you can access game saves and your LIVE profile, including achievements, from your friends’ consoles as well."

EDIT: apparently it is because they suck at explaining things. You don't use the 'cloud save' to store your profile:http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/xbox_support/f/2388/t/153312.aspx

Still no answer on the Auto Standby though.
 
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[quote name='AshesofWake']just did a quick search, looks like my Quake 4 gamer pics and theme are no longer available on the marketplace i bought when the 360 came out. I wonder if that happened right now or way before. :([/QUOTE]

Its not available in your download history? I know some items you can redownload. Not sure if you meant its not on the marketplace or not in your download history.
 
[quote name='BingoBrown']If you experienced a hard drive failure in the future, you'd be glad your saves were in the cloud.[/QUOTE]

Ok, guess that could possibly be a benefit if you don't own a USB stick.

Got an 8gb that I have a lot of smaller marketplace games and DLC stored on, all my themes and gamer pics, avatar gear, and all of my gamesaves go right onto it. It's already always connected since I only need one controller. Also have a smaller 2gb stick that I always transfer over old game saves for games I'm done with.
 
Seriously this update is horrible, you can't use the triggers to switch categories (i know you can use the bumpers but that just feels wrong), Shit I care about is hidden in tiny squares while ads for crap i don't care about are in huge ones. the bottom half of the wallpaper is still all white for no fucking reason now.

But worst of all they've completely fucked up Netflix. None of the HD content plays in HD anymore, the most i get is 2 bars and I have 20Mbps+ connection. WTF? It looks almost as bad as on PS3 now. When you click a TV show it just starts playing it without giving you a chance to pick episodes and when the episode is near the end it'll go back to the menu while it's still playing and show it in a tiny window so you can choose to play the next episode. Why don't they just let me finish the one I'm watching now in peace and in fullscreen? But seriously the quality thing is what pisses me the most, I mean Netflix in HD on 360 looked amazing, almost blu-ray worthy at times, but now it looks like shit, at least for me. Anybody here able to get more than 2 bars?
 
[quote name='roymustang']when the episode is near the end it'll go back to the menu while it's still playing and show it in a tiny window so you can choose to play the next episode. Why don't they just let me finish the one I'm watching now in peace and in fullscreen? [/QUOTE]

W.T.F.

I hadn't watched anything to the end yet.

Now I want to throw something. :hot:
 
Apparently people are super pissed about the new Netflix 360 app. http://blog.netflix.com/2011/12/netflix-unveils-new-xbox-experience.html

From what I gather I guess the reason I only get 2 bars is that now instead of taking 2 secs to test your connection at the beginning like it used to it automatically starts you off at a shitty quality and then as it plays it will upgrade you eventually if your bandwidth allows for it, pretty retarded. Also they completely canned the Watch w/ Party feature apparently and though I didn't use it much I can see that it was important for some and they are pissed.
 
Netflix works just fine and is even call it a big improvement over the old version. The only thing I don't like about it is the auto play. It should be optional.

About it starting at low quality. I like that. It actually starts playing for me now. It used to take 30 seconds minimum to start playing anything. And even then it always started in low quality and then stopped playing while it upgraded, then started again. It was one of the big reasons why i always used my PS3 for netflix. It always worked (when PSN is up anyway).
 
A. If I say I like the "metro" look, I start to think I probably shouldn't say that in public.

B. First movie I tried to stream it got stuck buffering at 7%, I let it run for about 4 minutes before hitting B and backing out. New Netflix App BLOWS. Dang their subscriber base is upset with the loss of the party feature. This is two giant eggs on Netflix's face within half a year - not good.

I do like the new dashboard though.
 
[quote name='roymustang']Apparently people are super pissed about the new Netflix 360 app. http://blog.netflix.com/2011/12/netflix-unveils-new-xbox-experience.html

From what I gather I guess the reason I only get 2 bars is that now instead of taking 2 secs to test your connection at the beginning like it used to it automatically starts you off at a shitty quality and then as it plays it will upgrade you eventually if your bandwidth allows for it, pretty retarded. Also they completely canned the Watch w/ Party feature apparently and though I didn't use it much I can see that it was important for some and they are pissed.[/QUOTE]

The autoupgrade has worked for me. Starts off low quality but goes to max seemlessly within 30 secs.

Maybe it's buggy for some people.


They tried to make it more like youtube. This whole update takes a while to get used to. I assume for a new user it's easier. It's more like youtube and smartphones.
 
[quote name='wakawakawa']The autoupgrade has worked for me. Starts off low quality but goes to max seemlessly within 30 secs.

Maybe it's buggy for some people.


They tried to make it more like youtube. This whole update takes a while to get used to. I assume for a new user it's easier. It's more like youtube and smartphones.[/QUOTE]

I've watched entire episodes of shows where it never kicks in at all.
 
So wait, I can't restart a show? So if I watch something and then my wife wants to watch it she has to rewind the entire episode? WTF is that noise?
 
[quote name='DestroVega']They'll fine-tune the problems guys. No need for the freak-outs just yet.[/QUOTE]

Maybe they should've had a Beta for it.



Oh...
 
The overuse of Bing is obnoxious. Your search engine sucks, Microsoft, give it up already.

Anyone know if the old Kinect Hub can still be accessed? I can't figure out how to get to it. Or maybe just Kinect Fun Labs? Getting to it through Bing is not ideal.
 
OK, I have been dicking with this thing for a couple hours and I can't think of a single thing about it that I like more than the previous dashboard.
 
[quote name='BingoBrown']Anyone know if the old Kinect Hub can still be accessed? I can't figure out how to get to it. Or maybe just Kinect Fun Labs? Getting to it through Bing is not ideal.[/QUOTE]

Okay, so I figured it out. From a forum post on GiantBomb:

Wow. If anyone else wants to know its GAMES tab, Games Marketplace... you'll start at the Featured tab and Kinect Fun Labs is in the bottom-right-corner.

Yeah, cause that makes sense. The Games Marketplace tab. Ugh. What moron designed this dashboard?
 
[quote name='DestroVega']They'll fine-tune the problems guys. No need for the freak-outs just yet.[/QUOTE]
I thought that was what the beta was for.
 
Honestly, outside of the fairly unapologetic 'hey, we want you to see our ADS!'-ness of it, I don't have any huge issues with the dash. It's not that intuitive, but I never really thought previous versions were either. I'll get used to it.

Though, uh, it does sort of make the premium themes and avatar stuff almost irrelevant, yeah? Making people take an extra step to see those things we paid money for is just a weird choice.

That said, I fucking despise what they did to Netflix. The tv set-up is nothing sort of atrocious. Starts playing and THEN I pick an episode? That just makes no goddamn sense. None. On top of that, the assumption is that if you finished watching an episode it'll play the next one whenever you click play again... which would be great if it ever actually seemed to know which episode I watched last. It's both jumped seasons ahead AND restarted the entire series multiple times tonight. That's nice that it'll restart a series, too, but NOT A fuckING EPISODE. Gah.

Look, it's not like the old Netflix app was amazing. It had issues, but at least it allowed you fairly easy access to the things you'd expect Netflix to do. This just broke things for the sake of breaking them. Like, very basic things. It's mind-bogglingly stupid. Plus, I see mention of it here, but my picture quality has taken a hit since the update. I never had any issues with it being "HD" (what Netflix calls it, anyway), but now I'm averaging one to two bars.

Not happy. fuck the dashboard, they need to fix Netflix. At least the dashboard sort of, you know, still ultimately functions the same way.
 
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