Stupid download screen limbo (Xbox 360 annoyance #003)
by Vladimir Cole 
{ Dec 5th 2005 at 11:29PM }
File this one under bad UI design. When downloading content in the Xbox 360 Marketplace, a small dialog box shows your download progress. While this dialog box is in place, you can access no other content on the Xbox 360 if you want your download to finish.
Surely the system can multitask, but perhaps the designers of the system wanted to make sure that the hard drive and Internet connection on the Xbox 360 wasn't busy with any other task when gamers were playing a game. In this way, the system would appear to be speedy and there would be no risk of the sluggishness that tends to plague any computer that is tasked with too many jobs.
And yet, we still think it dumb. The download feature should allow users to select content, add it to a download queue (see the playlist feature of the music player-this functionality should be extended to downloads), and then do other stuff on the system.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Let me just head some comments off at the pass. Yes, these things are nitpicks. That's why they're called "annoyances" and not "MAJOR DESIGN FLAWS."
We're loving the Xbox 360, but every product can be improved. These annoyances are intended to catalog the things that we'd like to improve with the 360.
Clone45 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Well, you could always just watch TV while downloads are running. That's what I do and it's worked out okay for me, since nothing has really taken any longer then 5-10minutes.
striegs @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Psssh, your face is a major design flaw.
OMFGBURNT!!¡
Toast @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This one sounds pretty reasonable and sensible to me.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I'd say that a game console that forces you to "watch TV" has a flaw. No game console should ever do that.
funkyflea @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Minor annoyance...feck sake, you guys get bigger better computers and still find stuff to complain about.
Snake2k9 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I'm buying a HDTV tomorrow.
Clone45 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Well, you could always just watch TV while downloads are running. That's what I do and it's worked out okay for me, since nothing has really taken any longer then 5-10minutes.
DOWN @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Microsoft didn't send anybody over to help me unpack my Xbox 360, and the tape was really sticky.
Deth @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Yeah, i find it annoying, too. maybe microsoft will release a patch to at least allow us to play arcade games.
I will usually watch some seinfeld, 70's show, or whatever other tv shows i have on DVD, as well as imbibe some alcoholic grape juice and inhale other "natural substances" while i am downloading.
Snake2k9 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
how can you watch TV if you only have one TV in your room? your stupid unless you have a TV like mines where you could have split screen and fucking do crazy shit!!
Minisnarf @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This is poor design.
The XBOX 360 has a triple core that can handle a total of 6 threads simultaneously. This XBOX POS should multitask 6 different functions simultaneously and there should not be any lag.
Deth @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
there is this great device called a receiver that acts as a audio/video switchbox, integrated amplifier, and tuner all in one!?
just razzing you! receivers are essential if you have many devices hooked up to the same TV.
pete @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I understand how this could be annoying, but I really hope you guys intend on nitpicking minor flaws in the other 2 consoles when they come out also.
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Download manager!
Lazy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This is no design flaw.
Start downloading at 300k/s and tell me what happens when you try to play an online game... we dont want laggers =/
Lone Starr @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
You poor things.
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Oh, I'm sure it was not ACCIDENTAL. It's still a flaw. There are other ways to handle that same issue. You could simply allow the download to proceed at a variable rate (depending on bandwidth requirements of the game or application in use).
GamerZero @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I think it's exciting to watch a green bar filling up.Good reason to plug in the charger.Excellent way to test if your HD Plasma screen suffers burn in!
theburn16 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
i agree, this is something that needs to be fixed soon. it drives me crazy knowing that i have to turn off my tv and go find something else to do just to make sure that my tv doesn't get burn in while the console is downloading a video. if they're afraid it might slow down gameplay on xbox live just make it where you cant play online while its downloading
Adam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
What is going on with Joystiq? I thought you guys were gamers.. not complainers. What annoyance next? You don't like the colors of the buttons? "Having a yellow button and red button so close together is giving me a headache!"
God I hope you guys don't go that low, which is coming close BTW
vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Adam: just because we love a product, we're not beyond criticising it. No product is perfect. When you stop being critical, you start buying crap.
Everything has flaws, but nothing gets better unless those flaws are discussed.
Being a gamer does not mean that you take whatever companies shovel at you. The majority of all games released into this market are mediocre. By your logic, we should buy them and like them.
That's not the way we work here. We owe it to ourselves as discerning gamers and we owe it to our readers to make sure we retain our critical facilities, no matter what.
Mikael Torslund @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
One other thing is that if you stop a download when it's on 6 % , next time you restart it jumps up to 50% , that just stupid.
itai195 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
More annoying is that, IIRC from when I downloaded the Kameo demo (over 500MB), after a certain amount of time the wireless controller automatically shuts off and the download pauses. So you have to actively watch it.
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Loading bar? I thought that was an Xbox Live Arcade game!
Well, it's still fun!
Blueman @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Hey snake2k9, you mean Picture in Picture?
Ali @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
AHA!
I have an ultimate solution!
Just buy 2 Xbox 360s.
Then, while the 1st is downloading content,
you can still play games on your 2nd Xbox 360!
Its the biggest NO-BRAINER in the history of the EARTH!
Problem: You have to buy another Xbox 360 on eBay for about $11,000 ;-[
Ali
John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
FOR POST 25:
You said No-Brainer, BECAUSE,
You have No brain. OHH!
You SO got p'wned!
John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
FOR POST 25:
You said No-Brainer, BECAUSE,
You have No brain. OHH!
You SO got p'wned!
murph @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
is it just me or do these downloads time out on anybody else and need to be restarted 4-5 times to get the bigger ones?
ayumi_xx @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
YOU SEE!? WHICH IS WHY I'M GOING TO WAIT TO GET A PS3! PS3 ain't gonna have problems like DAT LOLZ
Embassy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
it only go tannyoing when i went to download a DEMO of nba live which was a pretty big file...it wud be cool if they cud at least set it up where u cud play the arcade..even if its not online while u download..but its really no big deal i wud rather have a downlaod screen than have the 360 try and do a bunch of shit and crash...and why not jsut switch over from AUX and watch tv for a lil while???
bob @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
i do to agree i like cheese too
Silversmith @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Yeah this one bugged me a lot. I understand that this shouldn't work during normal games (PDZ, PGR3, COD2, etc.) but some of us could waist the time playing non-CPU intensive games like Zuma, Smash-tv, gaunlet, etc.
mirobin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
The problem with downloading during games is that the game has full control of the hardware. It can't just run as a random background thread like you can on a general purpose computer designed for multi-tasking.
How much would it suck if one hardware thread had to be 'reserved' for background downloads, in addition to a certain amount of memory bandwidth, a certain amount of cache on the cpu, and a certain amount of IO? A lot.
Now, there is work they can do to make this better, such as suspend/resume of downloads, the ability to queue downloads, the ability to tell the console to power off after downloads complete, and the ability to do other things in the dashboard when not running games. But wanting the downloads to function WHILE you're playing a game isn't going to happen.
ByeLaw @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
(Xbox 360 annoyance #004)
Having Joystiq360 moan about irrelevant or insignificant flaws with the XBox360, jeese guys... find an Xbox forum!
Wil Harris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Actually, download something, back out, then go back to resume download. You'll find that even though it says it is cancelling the download, it actually downloads (at a slower rate) in the background. I went to download the Need For Speed demo, got about 20MB through the 900 and thought 'forget this...' I quit out and played some PGR, and by the time I came back a couple of hours later to get the NFS demo overnight, it had already grabbed 50% while I was playing SP Gotham.
Ron @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I want to publish joystiq comments in like a leather bound best of book, I swear if I ever want to laugh I'm never let down.
JulioC @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Hmm.. its the guy's blog and ya want to tell the what to put in?
We Nintendo fanboys want our "company-apologist trolling" back please.
Every console has its minor annoyances. And its Joysticks damn right to post on its own blog what it thinks could be improved.
Dont like it? Go read another game blog.
MarkTAW @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Sheesh.
Microsoft builds an operating system that claims to be able to multitask. They also build a gaming platform they claim can cure cancer. (Okay, not really, but close enough.)
Bandwidth capping a download while it's in progress is trivially easy if you have control over the whole system, and hard disc seeks/RAM usage could be minimized as well.
I mean seriously, at least let me play some of the less processor & bandwidth intensive downloadable games.
gunforhire @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
Yea, this one bugs the hell out of me, as does the random time-outs, but I can put up with those because it's easy to resume where I left off.
And in response to #28, yeah, the PS3 won't have any problems like that because it'll be using another crappy system like the PS2's online network, which was a right mess.
Hopefully a patch will sort this out and let us do other stuff whilst downloads are going on, even if it's only on the Dash. As for the other Engadget annoyances - the charger thing for the wireless pad is a moot point I think. You have to be real, real lazy to not bother to plug/unplug one cable into your pad every 25 hours or so. A little dock would be nice though.
The annoyance about the video options is definitely valid though - it also applies to music as well though. You thought they'd have learnt from the original Xbox that people wanted expanded controls over their media. Other annoyances for me include - only being able to copy music to the HDD off audio CDs. This one's a real PITA. It can read data DVDs loaded with my entire music collection no problem, but it won't let me rip from them. Instead I have to burn and reburn a CD-RW all the time just to get my music on my 360. WTF is with that? I'm way too lazy for that crap, and streaming is just impractical for most people, unless you like keeping your MP3 player tethered to a charger and your 360.
Patch please MS!
James @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This is one "annoyance" and only that, an annoyance, that have to agreee with. I don't know how many downloads I have interrupted because I forgot that I can't change screens or how many times I wished I could queue up other downloads. This is something I am sure will be fixed in a firmware upgrade, though.
in5ane @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
You can still listen to music, as long as you queued up music beforehand.
You can also stop the download at anytime, and it appears in your download history, so you can quickly resume the download at any time.
It's no biggie.
Sorry for my bad english @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
I use my laptop for online: chat and download trailer while I play Gamecube or DS. Isn't that easy? :)
hydrogen @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
#32 - On my PC, I can download stuff and play games at the same time, and it only has 1 processor...
It should do trhis... Nice download box out of the way.. load a game to play online, it does a bandwidth test (detects max bandwidth), and Limits the download to 10% of max bandwidth and let's the game have the other 90%. Your download will take longer, but you won't have to sit there and watch it.
optimiss @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
"Actually, download something, back out, then go back to resume download. You'll find that even though it says it is cancelling the download, it actually downloads (at a slower rate) in the background. I went to download the Need For Speed demo, got about 20MB through the 900 and thought 'forget this...' I quit out and played some PGR, and by the time I came back a couple of hours later to get the NFS demo overnight, it had already grabbed 50% while I was playing SP Gotham."
Not true. Start a download like Need for Speed, exit and come right back in. It will jump up to 50% as stated but it obviously did not download 450 megs in that split second.
ulises @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM M$
For M$, downloading files from internet is more fun that games, thats why they release patchs for all their products, to have FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ENJOY IT !!!!!!!!!!!!
Buy M$, Live M$ Way
Minisnarf @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM
This is M$ not linux or unix.
If you want to multitask while playing games you obviously have to pay for the upgrade fee!!!