Preview Dashboard Themes Before Buying [Archive]

Oddmaker

01-02-2007, 11:27 AM

Preview Xbox360 Dashboard Themes Before Buying! (http://dashboardthemes.com/)
I'm extremely happy to announce the "top secret Xbox related site" I've been working on for the past few months is up and running! Dashboard Themes is the first and only site that allows you to preview Xbox 360 dashboard themes as they appear within the dashboard before dropping any coin on them. The current state of the Xbox Live Marketplace doesn't give you an option to preview content before you pay and Microsoft's online components for Marketplace content don't do much better. I came up with an idea to fill this gaping whole, and along with my good friend Andrew McTeer, made it happen.Very nice site, I'm gonna start browsing.

Montolio

01-02-2007, 01:25 PM

Thank you. You are a great human being. This has been sorely needed.

Sandman

01-02-2007, 01:27 PM

Or you could just go to the official source....they have gamerpics too.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/themes.htm

Oddmaker

01-02-2007, 01:31 PM

.. with blades added ;)

Mortis

01-02-2007, 01:31 PM

Or you could just go to the official source....they have gamerpics too.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/themes.htm

They just show the background images there, sometimes it looks like ass when you overlay the menus. This site shows each blade with the menu overlays, I like it.

Johan

01-02-2007, 01:38 PM

They just show the background images there, sometimes it looks like ass when you overlay the menus. This site shows each blade with the menu overlays, I like it.

Neither site has all of them, though. :(

Montolio

01-02-2007, 01:39 PM

Or you could just go to the official source....they have gamerpics too.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/themes.htmFunny, these aren't even labeled correctly for Star Trek:

www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace/startreklegacy/themes.htm

Sandman

01-02-2007, 01:40 PM

The site in the topic does look better....I just wish MS would update their site more and clean it up.

smith186

01-02-2007, 02:05 PM

Maybe it's just me, but I think pretty much all the themes look horrible. I can understand why the system is set up how it is, but just about every single one makes the contents of the dashboard difficult to read.

I'd like to see themes that don't just change the background images behind a set of universal overlays. I don't expect that to happen though, given how much work it'd take to do it well.

captainspankypants

01-02-2007, 02:23 PM

Wow, as someone who doesn't own a 360, I was a little surprised to hear that the marketplace didn't already let you preview themes.

Kefkataran

01-02-2007, 02:35 PM

Nice feature, even if I'm mostly uninterested in dashboard themes.

wyeast

01-02-2007, 02:49 PM

I was so let down by the Galactica Theme. I never got over it. :(

goc_sin

01-02-2007, 03:02 PM

You have to pay for dashboard themes on the xbox360? I would have thought they would give product themed ones away for free.

Camel

01-02-2007, 03:04 PM

Wow, as someone who doesn't own a 360, I was a little surprised to hear that the marketplace didn't already let you preview themes.
It is indeed stupid. I didn't realize you could preview them on the official site though, so it's nice to have these resources listed here.

You have to pay for dashboard themes on the xbox360? I would have thought they would give product themed ones away for free.
I agree. I especially think that gamer pictures should be free too, since it's pretty much free advertising for a game. To make an example, if I see that lot of people on my friends list have Gears of War pictures, I'll probably think to myself, "Hey, maybe I should try that out." Some games give you free pictures and themes, but the vast majority do not.

Soap

01-02-2007, 03:20 PM

You have to pay for dashboard themes on the xbox360? I would have thought they would give product themed ones away for free.

Certain dashboard themes are actually free. Example, The "Family Guy" dashboard theme that promotes the Dvd should still be free.

Vermillion

01-02-2007, 03:25 PM

I love my Galactica theme. It was free and I've never used another since.

Though, I'm always on the lookout for a new one. I am still disappointed there was never a Ninety Nine Nights theme. The art for that game (that you unlocked) was pretty damn good.

goc_sin

01-02-2007, 03:26 PM

Certain dashboard themes are actually free. Example, The "Family Guy" dashboard theme that promotes the Dvd should still be free.

At least there are some free ones out there... I guess everyone want to make a buck where ever they can these days.

Kamalot

01-02-2007, 04:03 PM

There are free themes out there. The site in the original post shows the price of the theme as well. You'll note that a number of them are 0 points.

UglyPimp

01-02-2007, 04:34 PM

God these themes are so friggin ugly. Is it just me or is the default one the best yet, by leaps and bounds? Every other theme seems to either clutter the interface or just be flat out terribly composed. I want something slick and asthetic, not something that reminds me of the branding of whatever game/tv show/movie franchise. And for the love of God, do they all have to be so cookie-cutter?

Kamalot

01-02-2007, 04:38 PM

UglyPimp: You can use your own photos. I do.

ProfPuppet

01-02-2007, 05:54 PM

Nice, thanks! I think you should get a couple themes free when you get the game. (IE Oblivion) Never bene tempted to buy a theme, and this kind of clinches it, as none wow me, even the Penny Arcade one.

maharahaj

01-02-2007, 06:01 PM

UglyPimp: You can use your own photos. I do.

Wow, thats pretty cool. I did not know that. This is also a cool link, despite the fact I have yet to buy a theme or gamerpic on LIVE; but its nice to see the backgrounds with the blade overlay.

serioustommy

01-02-2007, 06:23 PM

After browsing most of the themes on that site... the default theme is still the best, clean and stylish.

KingGorilla

01-02-2007, 06:25 PM

OK, so we now have
Wireless Headset
Racing Wheel
Quick Charge Kit

And NOW Preview dash themes all in the bin of "Why the fuck did we not have this already."

Still waiting on that external video support from a Hard Drive, and USB storage.

Anthony W

01-02-2007, 10:28 PM

Man, the Star Trek Dashboard could have been so much better! I was hoping that the actual dashboard itself would be changed. How sweet would it be if the dashboard actually looked like a Star Trek computer.

Wolvie

01-03-2007, 12:25 AM

Nice, no more buying a theme expecting something cool, and getting crap.

Venkman

01-03-2007, 06:55 AM

Thanks for the site! Cool.

Kefkataran

01-03-2007, 11:59 AM

I actually use the Penny Arcade one and find it pretty good. It annoyed me at first, but the longer I've used it, the less it seems to get in the way.

Pluvious

01-03-2007, 01:17 PM

Hands down the best is PREY's. Now that I see the rest, I'm sure glad I got that one over the others. What's nice is you can then customize each "Theme" and use the 'Carbon' blades which really set off the PREY one.

Yeah.. I broke down and got a 360 finally. Glad I did.

51|RandoM

01-03-2007, 02:38 PM

Certain dashboard themes are actually free. Example, The "Family Guy" dashboard theme that promotes the Dvd should still be free.

All of them should be free, since they're 100% marketing materials.

What they should do is release a theme creator on XBLA for 800 points in then let people make and swap themes willy nilly.

...on the other hand, that might be too much freedom for the typical xbox user to handle---in Microsoft's opinion. :rolleyes:

I use the emergence day theme on mine.

dena miscreant

01-03-2007, 04:20 PM

UglyPimp: You can use your own photos. I do.

I've never been able to get more than one, though. Like, I set one photo as the background and I can't change them for media, system, live, etc..

Can you set more than one custom photo so it changes with the blades, like themes?

Tell me how.