Paradise by the dashboard light

4. Count all the items in XBLM that you can't buy when you only have 50 Gold Gamer Points.

5. Wonder what the Live update to Table Tennis was all about.

Ken,

Again not to be critical of your work but...

a) This is nearly a week old...

b) If by "final hours" you mean the 70+ until next week starts, then I feel you. Otherwise I'd think you would know they NEVER release something that needs potential overtime/weekend staff work on a Friday. This goes for Marketplace content, and I'd suspect especially with a major update like this. History shows this, and in interviews with Live staff, they mention pushing big release items at the beginning of the week "just in case."

I want to give you the benefit of the doubt for being a writer on this site, but lately Briscoe & Grant have got you beat on every single juicy/XBOX360Fanboy-exclusive story (besides your e3 coverage--but then again that was certainly a content-holiday)...

Hmmm..............I have a sneaking suspistion that some company out there that starts with an "S" and ends with an "ony" will have a demo of their dashboard tomorrow that performs just like the 360, wouldnt be the first time that company copied somebodies idea...

Sony can copy all they want, but it's got to actually work in the end.

Hello, and welcome to last week.



... and you guys call yourselves fanboys.

what is wrong with this site? it used to be the fastest and best newssite about 360..

The first update scared me. I thought I was about to see the Red Ring of Death! I'm used to them now, and I appreciate MS's ability to improve it's product after purchase for no extra charge.

I'm wondering why the XBL team even mentioned it coming out this week when Major Nelson doesn't even have a date for it. Just keep your mouths shut next time so people don't get their hopes up. Everytime they say they're going to release anything it's late... which is okay, but just don't tell us a week before and then wonder why people get antsy.

Or do like me - not really give a toss because most of the "big new features" are either nothing, or stuff that should of been in from the start.

Wow, I've never seen so many people attack an article for almost no reason. I guess all of you must have just been following his advice (#3). No one if forcing you to re-watch the video if you've already seen it. He is just trying to share his anticipation for the upcoming update and give us some entertainment at the same time. If you dont like his posts then dont read them.

NEWSFLASH!

Today we have something called the Internet that allows digital distribution of all kinds of information... anything from simple text documents to complex software. The gaming console manufacturers have started building Internet connectivity into their hardware. So now you can download games, music, videos, and even extended content for games onto game consoles.

The Xbox360 is the most recently released gaming console to have this Internet connectivity. Unfortunately, the console's makers didn't think to poll every single potential user of its hardware before creating the operating system and its interface. There were some things that they either didn't think of themselves or just did not have enough time to implement. But fortunately, they have this whole Internet connectivity thing that lets them make changes to consoles that are already in owners' hands. Through the magic of the Internet, the Xbox360 makers can actually update the firmware that serves as the base operating system of the console, allowing them to add in the features that their users have requested of them.

Some people, however, don't "give a toss" about the fact that a company (or at least one division of the company) would actually care about Customer Relationship Management and provide updates that address its customers' desires... for free. Instead, they assume that everything should be done completely and perfectly in the first go-round.

I suppose some people would prefer to wait four years for the next console to come out and get it right instead of getting iterative updates to the system.

MS needs to take a page from Apple. Announce something only when it's minutes from going live. That way everyone is pleasantly surprised and no one will be ticked that everything always seems to be delayed.

NO THANKS #13, ID RATHER KNOW THAT THE COMPANY I ADMIRE IS WORKING ON SOMETHING RATHER THAN THINKING THAT THEY ARE LAYING AROUND LIKE LAZY ASSES. AND BY THE WAY I DONT THINK MS SHOULD FOLLOW ANYTHING OF APPLE. ISNT APPLE THE ONE STARTING TO RUN MICROSOFT WINDOWS ON THEIR MACHINES? YEAH I BITCH TOO ABOUT NOT KNOWING EXACTLY WHEN IT COMES OUT BUT I KNOW ITS NOT OUT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THEY ARE TESTING IT TO MAKE SURE I GET THEIR BEST WORK.

I had always heard thing same thing about no downloads going live on Friday, but I got an email saying that the new PD0 maps are coming out today, so maybe this isnt as true as we thought.

As far as those attacking Ken, get a life. If you dont like the amount of updates or the timeliness of those updates, then go elsewhere. Dont shit up the comments with your bitching.

#15 it sounds like you're the one bitching. If you're willing to settle for sub-par blogging then by all means defend away.

However, I find that slow, often inane reporting that gets served up as front page news is nothing else but filler. It takes up space in place of quality content that could easily be provided with a higher caliber blogger, or simply anybody who can post the same day news is delivered to their inbox via MS PR, developers, reader tips, etc. Or better yet, if there's no news get an interview, write a review, whatever.

And yes I targeted Ken, because more than half his posts always fall under the aforementioned category of "filler."

Please prove me wrong.

#16, Could this post be considered 'filler'? Yes.
But I dont see why that is such a bad thing. It's not like it is replacing what you would call 'quality content', it is just something to look at until the next post. It is not like there are 100s of posts on this site a day and the so called 'filler' pushes other posts onto the next page where some people may not look.

As I mentioned before, no one is forcing anyone to read this site, or Ken's posts. If you have something against the topics Ken writes about then just dont read them. And if you like some of them you can normally tell if it is 'filler' by reading the title which will waste none of your precious time.

Do I enjoy this site? Yes. Do I like or agree with all of the posts? No. There may be some reasons to attack a blogger like this (racism, sexism, etc.) but I dont really see any reasons above that justify an attack.

This video was posted on Joystiq ealier, but I thought it deserved a second look here for those who may have missed it. I said "re-watch."

I know this blog has been hurting lately. We kind of gave it short shrift by directing everything towards Joystiq during E3, and after that exhausting trip, events converged to make posting difficult for me. Anyway, I'm back on point and we have a new contributor lined up, so hopefully we'll be hitting 10-12 posts a day soon enough with the timely-ness you guys demand.

I can always count on our loyal readers to kick me in the balls if things get slack.

I am surprised that this hasn't made it out yet, especially given that they made such a point of trotting out all the new features to the mags and blogs... Oh, well - better to be more stable and clean than quick, right?

The background downloading thankfully will put an end to the frustrating "do I play or do I grab a 400MB demo" routine, this I cannot wait for...

Now if only XBL in general would make it easier to challenge specific users on your friends list to online games, we'd REALLY have something!

Forget what I said above about the Friday download of PD0 Maps. Apparently the MS Marketing team jumped the gun announcing it.

as a xbox 360 owner i find it annoying that i can't listen to my costume 360 soundtrack when i play my gta san andrea or other xbox titles, is there a update coming out for that?

"2. 5. Wonder what the Live update to Table Tennis was all about."

i heard one of the guys was hung like a horse, and they had to reduce his feature

Okay, so this video clip auto-playing EVERYTIME I visit the site is really annoying!