Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update rumored to include Xvid support

by James Ransom-Wiley { Aug 21st 2007 at 11:57AM }

The first list allegedly detailing the feature set of the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update has landed on Xbox Forums, and promises some wonderful possibilities. None more so than Xvid codec support. But opening up the console's media player to this popular video format would almost certainly take away from the blossoming success of Video Marketplace; an apparent contradiction that makes this rumored feature list both suspect and deliciously compelling.

Also included in the supposed leak are plans for a new XBLA blade, IPTV support, integrated clan functionality, a PIP setting, and improved slideshow effects. But it's not all good, as the list also anticipates the emergence of Flash-based advergames -- yuck! If it's true, let's hope the following Spring Update includes a pop-up blocker.

[Via X3F]

Tags: dashboard, update, xvid

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

copa @ Aug 21st 2007 12:04PM

I'm speechless. I'm scared to get my hopes up, because this sounds too good to be true. Support for open video formats and user-generated content are currently the major holes in the 360 platform.

bak8807 @ Aug 21st 2007 1:22PM

No they're not. If you're tech savvy enough there's a way around everything. All you need is a transcoder (link below) and you could be enjoying Xvid on your 360 right now. I've been able to stream such videos to the 360 for months if not years now.

http://www.runtime360.com/

Eric @ Aug 21st 2007 1:33PM

@bak8807:
But that's still a pain in the ass. I want native support. I want to browse files and folders on my 360 like I do on my original Xbox with XBMC.

Crono @ Aug 21st 2007 1:47PM

Tversity is a much better program and alot simpler to use, and more customizable. Plus, you need XP MCE or Vista for Transcode360 to work, and then it only works half the time.

copa @ Aug 21st 2007 2:02PM

Transcoding is a craptacular workaround that involves piping your video through a second lossy compression.

Brought you by the same people that thought burning ITunes songs onto CD, and then re-reripping them, was a good idea.

deaftly @ Aug 21st 2007 12:06PM

freakin sweet! (peter griffin voice)

Erwos @ Aug 21st 2007 12:08PM

Sounds too good to be true. That said, I'll be a seriously happy camper if it is.

mr nimblewick @ Aug 21st 2007 12:09PM

When you say Advergames, where would these show up? In the menu? The marketplace? Is there any place that would be tolerable?

Patrick @ Aug 21st 2007 12:20PM

maybe a game o pacman sponsored by verizon during a loading screen

schuebellive @ Aug 21st 2007 12:28PM

Read the forum post.
Advergames would be a new feature. There would be a option in the supposed live arcades blade.

mr nimblewick @ Aug 21st 2007 12:39PM

Microsoft: We're slipping in advertising, but it's completely optional!! That is, of course, until the next update. When it creeps in even more. BTW, in Halo 4, MC will be able to drink a Pepsi to regain health!

jsn @ Aug 21st 2007 12:29PM

please let this be true. I'd love to be able to dump T360 and get some proper xvid support via media center.

Also, I don't see what supporting Xvid has to do with hurting the video marketplace. Xvid is little more than the codec of choice for home rippers and video pirates. It doesn't change anything for those who currently use and enjoy the video marketplace.

whatever @ Aug 21st 2007 12:32PM

While like many I would like to see support for xvid. However because 360 is a closed platform, one of the major issue supporting xvid is licensing.

kinshadow @ Aug 21st 2007 12:43PM

errrr... You can already put MPEG4 video on the 360, so they are already paying those fees. Otherwise, Xvid support should be royalty free. Perhaps your thinking of DivX?

copa @ Aug 21st 2007 1:06PM

You're thinking of DivX, whatever. As long as Microsoft implements XviD playback in a separate, self-contained module, there's nothing in GPLv2 that is going to prevent Microsoft from supporting playback.

Neebs @ Aug 21st 2007 12:45PM

Holy crap! Now, not only can I watch my HD-DVDs and DVDs on my 360, I can now watch 700MB illegal, pirated, DVDRips!

Martin @ Aug 21st 2007 12:51PM

Word bitch. That's what I'm looking forward to.

Martin @ Aug 21st 2007 12:52PM

To add on to that, you can already do so by streaming Divx / Xvid movies from your PC or Mac using Orb (http://www.orb.com/gamers)

razer @ Aug 21st 2007 1:03PM

My Media Center PC does it and the 360 is blocking it. Why not remove this block and let ME control MY media! Giving me access to movies I've purchased and encoded onto my network will not take away video marketplace business.

So can I assume if MS decides to start selling music on the Marketplace they are going to block me from accessing my own MP3 collection? It's stupid and should of been supported when console launched.

Isn't there an open-source XViD codec and wasn't it originally based on an MPEG2 codec developed by MS? If you can pay $50mil to Rockstar for some extra d/l content, adding this feature, even at a cost would make many of your costumers very happy.

If MS wants this console to be the center of the living room then why not support the most popular codecs?

Stef Geiger @ Aug 21st 2007 12:54PM

MAN this would be sweet. Not because I have a 360, but because Sony would definitely follow suit within months.

ExMcloud @ Aug 22nd 2007 2:44AM

Low Blow, Low....Blow

Stef Geiger @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:56AM

Dude, that wasn't a low blow. I actually own a PS3 - because I wanted a console that I would spend more time playing than sending back to the manufacturer.

See? THAT was a low blow.

superberg @ Aug 21st 2007 12:59PM

MORE ads? I've already given up a quarter of my screen to them. What's worse, I'm PAYING for this service.

*sigh*

Advertising FTL. This crap is getting more and more invasive. Can I go fifteen minutes without someone trying to sell me something?

Patrick @ Aug 21st 2007 1:31PM

rofl, i find it funny people get pissed about ads. Do you complain on the highway when you see a billboard? "I already pay for the highway (tolls) I should have no ads!"

superberg @ Aug 21st 2007 2:24PM

Patrick,

In the case of billboards, people are buying up public space and throwing up ads. Furthermore, people DO complain about many billboards, just not to you.

No one is buying up space on my 360. I've yet to see a single check. And as I pay for the services rendered, well, I don't see why I am being served ads on my private console.

I'd feel the same way if I paid for access to a web site. Imagine commercial breaks in premium cable content, on channels like HBO or Showtime. If there was a commercial break in the middle of The Sopranos, people would throw a fit.

I suppose one should note that channels like Discovery and Comedy Central are NOT premium channels. You are paying the cable company to feed you a stream that is technically free.

ThornedVenom @ Aug 21st 2007 8:57PM

I would feel your pain if I had a 360. I mean, come on, developers/publishers are already butt-plugging us by putting ads in videogames.

Necki @ Nov 1st 2007 5:25PM

Has anyone played rainbow six vegad multiplayer?
At least on the 360 version there are a bunch of ads on the posters on the walls of calypso casino.
The last one I can remember was for Resident Evil: Extinction (the movie)

VampireHunter Z @ Aug 21st 2007 12:59PM

I'm ashamed to ask this, but what is Xvid? It's not a file extension like avi, mp4 or wmv. I'm assuming it's a certain type of bastardization of avi. What file extensions are Xvid??

Crono @ Aug 21st 2007 1:10PM

What you haven't been told is that the extensions like avi and mkv, mp4 and to a lesser extent wmv are just containers for a video stream and 1 or more audio streams. Xvids usually sit in the avi container, but the file extension is practically useless in identifying the required codec for playback. You could have an AVI file and an mp4 file that use the exact same codec (h264 for example). I've even seen avi's that are incoded with mpeg2.

Xvid is an MPEG-4 codec. So is DivX (DivX is actually Xvid spelled backwards, and I believe is the hacked/pirated version of Xvid) Both codecs are rips/mods of WMV 7 or 8, I can't remember which.

Currently, the 360 only supports h264/MPEG4, and all varieties of WMV. Media center extender only supports WMV and MP3 (not MPEG4/h264, which sucks).

My PC at home is currently undergoing the arduous task of 2 pass VBR converting all my torrented anime (in Xvid, DivX, h264, and mpeg) all into WMV9 AP (Thats the VC-1 codec that HD-DVDs use). I use VC-1 because it also allows for 5.1 surround playback on 360, and is natively supported by 360 media center extender.

Check out www.doom9.org for all your video format needs.

dan stabbingworth @ Aug 21st 2007 1:14PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xvid

VampireHunter Z @ Aug 21st 2007 1:34PM

Thanks for the info Crono. I just hate the idea of codecs. Everything should just be mpeg4 and the world would be a better place.

Also just to add, I recently downloaded an update to the 360 that allows playback of mpeg4. This works through media center extender. So now the videos that work on my PSP works for 360. They just need to be encoded at 720x480.

Eric @ Aug 21st 2007 1:42PM

"So is DivX (DivX is actually Xvid spelled backwards, and I believe is the hacked/pirated version of Xvid)"

Divx was first and was named after the failed video disc format DIVX (pushed by Circuit City and the like, kind of a rent to own DVD, sort of).

Xvid is Divx spelled backwards and is a branch project of Divx:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DivX

Gappy @ Aug 21st 2007 1:01PM

Well, I think I have confirmation that IPTV support is coming, because I already seem to have options for it in a couple places in my dashboard, though it can't properly display the menu label. I first noticed this a couple nights ago, and I've had contact with Major Nelson about it. For pictures of my dashboard with some of the option summaries shown, I have a Flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11828327@N04/

zero2dash @ Aug 21st 2007 1:04PM

For the love of god, let people customize blades with more than 1 picture.

Charging for dashboard themes yet not letting users add pictures on individual blades (rather than dumping the picture on all 4 blades) is ridiculous.

And the ads...enough with the f'n ads. I pay for Live Gold, as do many others. I should have no ads. You want to say "hey, a new game is available", fine. Make it a small square near the bottom of the screen somewhere. But enough with the movie ads, Axe ads, etc. etc. What's next...Viagra ads on the 360 because the majority of 360 owners are male gamers? Come on.

razer @ Aug 21st 2007 1:06PM

The file extensions are .avi

BNinjaC @ Aug 21st 2007 1:08PM

A real mixed bag this one, if it's legit. Xvid ftw, more advertising on dashboard ftl(sliver accounts I can understand up to a point but adverts on gold!? ANNOYING) hmmm guess we just sit back and wait for confirmation.

/crosses fingers

kokuryukai @ Aug 21st 2007 1:14PM

If this is the case, time to purchase a 360!

James @ Aug 21st 2007 1:16PM

F**K YEAH

Kouse @ Aug 21st 2007 1:20PM

great news!

but...wouldn't this be microsoft shooting themselves in the foot? wtf, from their perspective it makes zero sense at all.

Dale @ Aug 21st 2007 1:25PM

IPTV FTW!

No seriously, my building's satellite is always going down at the most inopportune moments.

TK00 @ Aug 21st 2007 1:39PM

I thought Xvid was a pirates codec?

Keep it up MS, one of these days you'll catch up to Xbox Media Center!

http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/

Sean @ Aug 21st 2007 1:45PM

*keeps fingers crossed*

Crono @ Aug 21st 2007 1:55PM

Yeah, I had it backwards. I always thought Xvid came first because the name makes more sense in terms of video (X-Vid?). My mistake.

casey chesnut @ Aug 21st 2007 2:11PM

3rd party (Pika) Media Center Extenders are supposed to be released this holiday, and its been rumored for some time that one of those will have DivX support ... so i hope that MS is adding XviD support to keep the 360 competitive.

WizarDru @ Aug 21st 2007 2:40PM

All these 3rd party solutions like Transcode 360 (which requires Windows Media Center) and TVersity (which requires a hefty PC and doesn't handle HD resolutions very well at all) requires tons of hoop-jumping.

If the 360 supported the XviD codec, it would be a truly great day indeed (assuming it would start recognizing AVI files). I would be able to permanently retire my streaming media box in favor of the 360.

That said, I really suspect this won't happen, much as I'd love it to. Luckily, TiVo is adding DivX/Xvid support to it's media software, so if nothing else, I'll have that fall back on.