Xbox 360 Spring update - Tonight!!!

[Jack B]

According to Major Nelson the dashboard update "should" happen tonight May 9th at 2:00am PST.

Ok, we’re getting closer. I just learned that the May ‘07 dashboard release is set to be released just a few hours from now. To be more specific, the LIVE Operations team expects to start rolling out the update after 0200 PT tomorrow morning. I’ll make another post when the team start the roll out.
Click here (http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2007/05/08/Media_Blast_Spring_Dash_Update_Details.aspx)
In addition to the availability of Instant Messenger on Xbox LIVE, the Xbox 360 Spring Update will bring with it hundreds of other features and enhancements to the console. Here are just a few:

On-screen pop-ups that immediately display the name and gamerscore value of a just accomplished Achievement, allowing gamers to see their progress without leaving or pausing the game.
An even safer way to communicate through Xbox LIVE with enhanced family settings that enable different default settings for video chat and voice chat.
A new, standalone Xbox LIVE Marketplace blade houses all Xbox LIVE Marketplace content in one easy to navigate space.
Xbox LIVE Arcade enhancements that showcase what games friends are playing directly from the friends list. Boasting about high scores, comparing progress and checking out leaderboards are all easier now as well.
Faster access to free, trial version of Xbox LIVE Arcade games through an improved Auto Downloads feature.
The ability to fast-forward, pause and rewind video as it is being downloaded on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
Owners can now set their consoles to turn off after downloading content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace to help save energy, and download speeds have been increased.
Good stuff!

[UnderHero5]

... 2 AM is tomorrow, not tonight!

[Jack B]

... 2 AM is tomorrow, not tonight!

Technically yes, but it depends on how you look at it. When I cruise in at 3:00am on a Saturday night; the next day I don't tell my friends, "wow, did I ever get hammered this morning!". ;)

[Sl1pstream]

Is this tonight (Tuesday), tonight/tomorrow (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday)?

Also, does this mean that I'll log on and get a bunch of spam from my MSN contacts?

[Jack B]

Is this tonight (Tuesday), tonight/tomorrow (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday)?

Also, does this mean that I'll log on and get a bunch of spam from my MSN contacts?

Sl1p, In about 5 1/2 Earth hours from now, so I'd guess that would be about 10:00am in the morning on Wednesday in Belgium. :)

[AkumaATR]

Technically yes, but it depends on how you look at it.
How you look at it is wrong! :D

[wyeast]

Oh dear lord. We're gonna get blacked out for days again, aren't we? :eek: All y'all with replaced 360's, go download some demos. Thems the only things you'll be able to play right when Live goes down. :o

[Jack B]

How you look at it is wrong! :D

So, if you're going out with your friends and won't meet them until after your movie ends at say 12:01am, do you say, "hey, I'm going out to the movies tonight, do you want to meet me afterwards for a drink tomorrow morning?". ;)

[Tel Prydain]

So, if you're going out with your friends and won't meet them until after your movie ends at say 12:01am, do you say, "hey, I'm going out to the movies tonight, do you want to meet me afterwards for a drink tomorrow morning?". ;)
*zing*
10 characters

[bone_matrix]

So, if you're going out with your friends and won't meet them until after your movie ends at say 12:01am, do you say, "hey, I'm going out to the movies tonight, do you want to meet me afterwards for a drink tomorrow morning?". ;)

When you said tonight, I was excited and thought "Sweet, update before I head to bed." I was wrong, but I believe the way you put it is also correct. its not the next day until I go to bed, I don't care what a clock says.

[Zecon]

This may be a dumb question, but will this allow video chat over msn too, or is it just text?

[T-Dawg]

Happy Birthday to me

[Jack B]

This may be a dumb question, but will this allow video chat over msn too, or is it just text?

Hmmm, I doubt it. You'll probably just be able to chat with a boatload of MSN people using your keyboard and tv...

If MSN works via cell phone it might come in handy. I'm not a bit text chat guy, but it's a way to text someone using your cell phone, while you are in the movie line or at a bar and your buddy is being a couch potatoe playing Catan or whatever! :)

[Jack B]

Happy Birthday to me

It seems like every 365th or so person I talk to is having a birthday. Wierd. :D

[Zecon]

Hmm damn, looks like I'll have to get a new PC then, the In-laws want to see their granddaughter.

[KarmaGhost]

Niiiice. This means the update will be out on the day my 360 arrives from Amazon. I'm giddy!

[Jack B]

Hmm damn, looks like I'll have to get a new PC then, the In-laws want to see their granddaughter.

You know, I would guess video chat will work cross platform (ie 360 to PC) soon with Live Anywhere. Not sure about cell phones, but I bet PC to 360.

[Shodan2020]

Awesome! I can't wait to get home and update.. and get Double Dragon!!! :D

[OUX]

So unplug my 360 from the net and wait a couple of days to see if this update summons the lidless eye of Sauron is what you're telling me?

[DeathtollWRX]

The update features are impressive and to boot we get to play Double Dragon. I can't wait to elbow my way into a flawless finishing of the game!

[Camel]

So unplug my 360 from the net and wait a couple of days to see if this update summons the lidless eye of Sauron is what you're telling me?
That's exactly what I'll be doing!

[askheaves]

The update features are impressive and to boot we get to play Double Dragon. I can't wait to elbow my way into a flawless finishing of the game!

Is there really any other move in Double Dragon?

Well, I guess there are the occasional kick and punch when you don't press the two exactly at the same time. But those are largly ineffective as you are looking the other way.

I guess there is the old grab some dude's hair and knee him in the face before hurling him at his friend knocking them both off a cliff maneuver.

[Wolvie]

Damnit, looks like it's another late night game-fest... as usual. :D

[Disgustipated]

So awesome, this is Microsoft's present to me for moving out. Thanks, MS Xbox guys!

[Tyrant]

I'm looking forward to trying out the VGA colorspace adjustment option to see whether or not the VGA connection on my monitor is just plain worse than the component input.

Che from Turn 10 also mentioned that some info. regarding the Forza 2 demo will be revealed tomorrow. Additionally, he hinted in some other posts that perhaps the demo itself will be made available.

[JimmyDanger]

Whee - just dl'ed Double Dragon - didn't get past the title screen and - boom - update city!

How exciting..

More live reporters to follow - onto you...

[Scramble]

Hmm, I'm not being asked to update. Do I need to do anything?

edit: Scratch that, ran a game and got the update message.

edit edit: Wow, update only took about 3 minutes. I was expecting more traffic. Have only had a chance to look at the MSN integration, but it seems to work nicely. Don't know if I'll be starting conversations using it, but it's nice to have if I'm not at my PC.

[Yeti]

Ohhh...it's nice. Welld done Microsoft, give your selves a scooby snack.

Doyble Dragon is good too :)

[Scramble]

Hmm, seems that the console doesn't shut down after your downloads have completed at all. It's like Nintendo's connect24 system, it downloads to your drive while your console is off. EVEN BETTER! Very, very cool MS.

[Don Chichon]

Well I just did the update; took about 30 seconds :)
Downloaded Double Dragon demo but didn't try it yet. That took about 10 seconds to download...Seems like Microsoft wasn't bsing about faster download speeds :D
However still no Forza Motorsport 2 demo :( Over on the official forums one of the mods said that the release date was now set, but couldn't give the date yet...Hopefully we can finally play the damn thing by Friday.

[Micasa]

I wasn't impressed by the game name being displayed, but 'mousing over' it displays your Achievement total, along with the recent ones you've gotten. Kind of a nice, if unexpected, touch.

The Marketplace is much faster, and the info on the right side is a good idea. I didn't mind it the way it was, and would really love to see them have NEW content fall off the NEW list once I've viewed it and/or downloaded it, instead of sticking around for a week or two, but I guess you can't have everything.

[Morratut]

Ohhh...it's nice. Welld done Microsoft, give your selves a scooby snack.

Doyble Dragon is good too :)

Hey Yeti I still remember you beating me at the end of the game. One of my first tastes of defeat at a arcade game :o :D

I can't wait for the game. It's one of my favorite arcade games ever.

[drakkarim]

personally i hate the achievement popup crap during gaming, i personally never give a F*ck about achievements and don't want to see the shit popup on my screen in the middle of a game. i hope this time there's a way to turn the shit off alltogether.

[Scramble]

personally i hate the achievement popup crap during gaming, i personally never give a F*ck about achievements and don't want to see the shit popup on my screen in the middle of a game. i hope this time there's a way to turn the shit off alltogether.

Nope. The popup's even larger this time. I think it's time you went to PS3 :P

[Telefrog]

I just got the update. Overall, it's a very nice package. IM works very well. It even has video chat functionality. Very nice. I'm not sure I would use this rather than stepping over to the PC to chat, but it's still a nice idea for those that don't PC much.

[Johan]

Nice, but nothing that really trips my trigger.

The ONLY feature I was interested in was the potential ability to delete titles from my "games played" list...I have 20 or more demos that I never purchased cluttering up the list and I just don't like that. It's not a big deal; more like a bit of sand in my eye or a splinter...just a bit irritating.

Come on, MS...let me delete titles that have no achievements attached to them since I only demoed them!!! COME ON!!! :)

[FullTilt]

Video streaming is broken for TVersity and Orb.

[GunnSgtHartman]

I did the update this morning. My console wasn't bricked. This is the third time I'm updating the dashboard.

Is it some kind of running gag that 360's fail after an update?

[Gott]

I LOVE the achievement pop-up. LOVE IT!

MS raising the roof on this MoFo...

Bravo MS...Bravo!

[Gott]

How are those wireless headsets working these days by the way? They better than they were to start? Think the update helped those at all?

[Mdot23]

Hmm, seems that the console doesn't shut down after your downloads have completed at all. It's like Nintendo's connect24 system, it downloads to your drive while your console is off. EVEN BETTER! Very, very cool MS.

Nice! Perfect for when the beta drops where we'll have to leave the console on all day to finish the DL.

[maja]

I did the update and my 360 is still alive and well. Messenger works. And it's easy to enable/disable the messenger people from your Live people. Very cool. But I do have to say that the "name of the game in the tray" feature doesn't work consistently. Sometimes it displays it, sometimes it doesn't. Maybe me having an HD DVD has something to do with it? Anyone else experiencing this problem?

Oh and there's a feature in the Display setting that lets you set deeper black level when watching DVDs in 480p. Very nice, too.

[J-Dizzle]

Video streaming is broken for TVersity and Orb.

Seriously ? Completely ??????

I've only just got the damn thing working properly. I was so thrilled. All my movies on my TV.

If I can just take a moment to ramble logic at ya ... TVersity (for it is that wot I use) converts whatever movie file your playing into a 360 compatible format and streams the result to the XBOX yeah ?

So just because they have increased the list of compatible formats, shouldn't stop the current system working right ? At worse, files which fall into the newly added list of formats shouldn't need converting, and might be converted needlesly ??

I'm going to wander over to the TVersity forums and see what's cooking, but that's going to annoy me so much. GRRR.

[Jack B]

personally i hate the achievement popup crap during gaming, i personally never give a F*ck about achievements and don't want to see the shit popup on my screen in the middle of a game. i hope this time there's a way to turn the shit off alltogether.

There has always been a "enable/disable notifications" option in personal settings. I've used it only when playing a movie, but you could use it for games.

[Jack B]

Update took a few seconds. Works fine.

[51|RandoM]

I can finally get 1080p out of the VGA cable, I'm happy.

[J-Dizzle]

Just by way of an update... It looks like the problem with TVersity (and presumably other streaming technologies) is a simple one, which will hopefully be fixed shortly.

MS have updated the XBOX so that for video lists from the PC it inherits the folder structure that the video files live in from the PC's filesystem. So instead of one huge list of files (over 300 on my machine) everything should be seperated into sub-folders. I was pretty excited about this change.

Problem is that the streaming software now needs changing to take account of these multiple folders for video in the same way as they do for music and pictures. Which is why at the moment the list of available videos on your PC shows as empty.

My advice would be to keep an eye on the forums/releases of the appropriate sites for your software of choice, and they should have a fix out in the next day or two.

[DoubleUranium]

Any word on Xvid support?

[Mdot23]

Oh and there's a feature in the Display setting that lets you set deeper black level when watching DVDs in 480p. Very nice, too.

Is this via VGA? Or component too?

[UglyPimp]

Any word on Xvid support?

I thought the update included MPEG-4 decoding... from my understanding doesn't that encompass xvid or does xvid require a different codec for playing back files? Video codecs confuse the crap out of me.

[OUX]

God bless the first souls over the wall, and for their report of it.

[Micasa]

I thought the update included MPEG-4 decoding... from my understanding doesn't that encompass xvid or does xvid require a different codec for playing back files? Video codecs confuse the crap out of me.

Simple versus complex - it supports simple, so no divx or xvid.

[NeoSuplex]

Anyone figure out how to get the transparent Messenger Overlay to work? Or is it only for the Controller Keyboard?

[bapenguin]

There's so many little things in this update that are very cool.

1) Hovering over the game in the drive shows recent achievements, gamerscore for it
2) Arcade now has a "who is playing" section to show how is playing what arcade games.