E308: Dashboard overhaul and Avatars

by Terrence Stasse on Jul 14th 2008 2:27PM

After our initial reveal of the Xbox 360 avatars, it was still in the realm of rumors. Now, after the Microsoft press conference, we can be sure that they are absolutely real. And they're just a small part of a much larger overhaul to the entire 360 Dashboard. Avatars will integrated into the larger 360 experience via a community "channel", when your friends come online, their avatars will appear in said channel.

Microsoft is also creating a party system via the community channel which will allow for users to chat in large groups, share the media from their hard drives, and more. Demonstrated was the ability to move the party from photos, to videos, to games all while keeping the party of Avatars and players together.

Also unveiled was "Xbox Live Primetime" which allows for Avatars to be used in a mix of game show, video game and traditional TV. Additionally, Microsoft promises to have "real prizes" available through Primetime.

Tags: avatar, e3, e3-08, e3-2008, e308, xbox-avatar, xbox-avatars

Reader Comments (69)

And Home...
http://i36.tinypic.com/sw37md.jpg

And what the Dashboard could have been:

http://bp2.blogger.com/_s7TzhGa9Ous/SGrwaeDVEXI/AAAAAAAAAP4/N7t5q7cuDbY/s1600-h/dash-2-0.jpg

Looks.... different
the dash was old but i dont really like this.

Not sure if this is much of an improvement over the old dashboard. The avatars are pretty much a shameless rip off of the Miis.

Whats up with the WII looking avatars?

XBox Avatars = me clawing my eyeballs out.

HORRIBLE, ALSO-RAN IDEA, MICROSOFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While I appreciate all of this... "innovation", I'm worried they're kinda throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I mean, stuff like gamerpics, gamercards, and friends lists were stuff that I LIKED about the 360 interface. Are they getting rid of those in favor of Avatars and "Community" channels?

If so, WTF Microsoft? Even Sony has stated they're not dumb enough to get rid of the XMB when home launches.

I agree.
I like the Wii, but never really got into the Miis...
I liked the gamertags and the gamerpics and hope to god they include an option to choose between them.

As for the interface, I'm not impressed from the initial picture, but would have to see it in motion.
It looks like WAY more wasted space and I would guess it would take longer to scroll through those pages to find something.

Ah well.
Color me not impressed, but I'll reserve final opinion for when I see it live (heh. "Live" Get it?) and in motion.

Man, I just got a 360 and I love the dashboard. That just looks... boring. And slapping a 2D interface or picture onto an unnecessary 3D environment has never impressed me :/

I am in the Home beta and Home sucks, I was hoping MS wouldn't waste good money on a similar type service. Although I will laugh my ass off if this comes out before Home.

The avatars are stupid. I hope there's a way to avoid making one.

Agreed. No Ava-tard for me, I'd prefer to stick with my Gamerpic.

What about those people who bought Dashboard themes and Gamerpics?

Such a happy day ruined by dashboard changes and avatar =(

And why is there so much wasted screen space? Was this concepted by retarded, blind chimps? Seriously, this makes me cringe! It's just awful.

What about all the people that paid for gamer pics and themes? Fuck 'em? All this 'innovation' better be optional.

At least party up with Lego for some avatars with style, those plastic dough creatures look HORRIBLE!!!! And yes, the dashboard was the best feature about the 360, it is the reason I cite when I try to get friends to get an Xbox, I guess I won't try to convert any more friends...

The current dashboard is fine, it just needs a a slight re-ordering and tidy.

The new system looks O.K, but the Mii thing is daft. The gamercard with your rep and points and gamerpicture at the top of every blade was good, they should stick with that. I hope gamerpictures remain as an option as the Avatars look crap.

you guys worry way too much... i'm sure gamerpics will still be an option. has live really let us down yet? wait for further pics and vids of the new dashboard before you jump to conclusions

Dude, were you watching this trainwreck being announced on G4? It's absolute shit. There's no info that I've seen yet about it being optional, but I'm very hopeful. I have a sinking feeling that we're going to get stuck with this mess, though.

Are they changing the Guide blade as well?

Yeah, in a cool way too (hopefully) apparently all the other blade content is going to be buried in the guide, so you have 1-button access to any part of your drive. Switch directly from game to xbla title, or video, or whatever, no need to return to the dash first.

NO NO NO..... I didnt buy a freeking Wii !!!!!!!

OMG stupid avatars...

Next thing is we will be facing off against senior citizens on multiplayer. Are we gonna see a X-FIT coming out next?

Microsoft dont copy Nin-Dumbo!!!
no offense to Wii fans... not trying to start a flame war. I would rather have a webpage looking interface instead of some ridiculous bobbing avatar looking at me.
Sh1t

To be fair, Even Nintendo doesn't bring up your Mii on the home screen. They use it in games, but the starting screen is more like dashboard or XMB on the other systems.

Was lego batman already announced ?

A long time ago.

Looks like the Vista experience is being forced onto the 360.

The new dashboard layout seems a copy of Flip 3D in Vista, one of the features of Vista that I am not keen on.

Wow you are right- the new dashboard is a sideways version of flip on vista!

Looks f'in awesome. I'm bored of the xbox interface, this looks new and refreshing.

Most of you act like this is some sort of finished product, these are relatively concept images.

Also people with negative comments tend to post or comment more on a topic than those with positive views. FYI to anyone actually reading these.

Actualy im live streaming the keynote and it was fully functional already.. looked crappy tho..

Stream:
http://livewire.ign.com/2008/e3/index.html

It's not concept. It's functioning, was just demoed on G4 and is set to release this fall. It's way beyond the concept stage, kid.

I'm all for redesigning the dashboard but this is not a good direction. Wasted screen space, awkward navigation and those horrible avatars does not equal improvement.

The term "concept" does not equate dysfunctional, it can refer to a product early in design and or still in the works, man.

Ugh, feel like I'm surrounded by pretentious morons here.

Sadly, you are surrounded.. The sky is always falling around here. Remember, change is bad mmmmmk?

You know, I got an Xbox a few months ago and actually really liked the Dashboard.
It all flows well and there's a synergy that doesn't exist in the PS3 OS which feels like an upscaled PSP.

Microsoft had the best home console OS and I think they've messed it up.

Eh, not a fan. I like the current dashboard. I hope they give us an option to keep the current dash... :(

So far, this looks horrible... I hope that's just a bad first impression...
-Taylor

Ok seriously, Please..Please tell me the xbox community is seeing this for what it is. I have yet to see a really good ORIGINAL idea in this keynote.

The new dashboard seems to be as other stated, a bit ugly and lots of wasted space, on tops of that looks a lot like vista which is pretty much doing alot of apple cloning.

The avatars is Wii's meet services that will be provided by home

Lips...well singstar

I mean I'm a usually pro sony, but I even admitted when trophies where needed but yes, they did copy gamerpoints etc...

Wait... what? Did you fall of the apple cart yesterday dude? Please go back through history and point out the the single thing that MS did that WASN'T a ripoff of someone else's work. Did you find it yet? Here, let me help:

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

Now, aren't you glad they've learned their lesson and stick solely to ripping off others ideas?

that shit looks ugly, i dont like it.

I would of preferred an internet browser but avatars obviously were more sought after than the community!

I hope this is optional,also a big "hate to be you" to all those people who payed for themes/gamerpics as they might be getting screwed over on this one.

Key question is this:

Before Home, or after?

not sure how i feel about the dashboard... but i do like the new guide. Sometimes that old guide is really sluggish, this looks nice and compact.

Oh, and the inevitable bitch fest of people wanting to stick with the old begins.

I like the new dash,
will look a bit livelier with different backgrounds. The community games look awsome and we finally get party chat that we always wanted. Plus with neat little touches like being able to see a picture of what is in the disc tray.

I love coverflow on my ipod and on itunes and this looks a lot like this and seems like it will be easier to navigate and looks a lot less cluttered (there are no adverts that i can see! Awesome)

I just want to see what the new Marketplace will look like

I don't mind change at all, in fact I welcome it. But there appear to be some severe problems in the coming dashboard redesign. The avatars are embarrassingly bad and make me feel like I'm getting pushed into owning a Wii inside my Xbox. The pseudo-Coverflow interface seems a lot clunkier than the smooth-working tech it's ripping off from Apple.

I agree that the party chat is awesome, but if it's coming along with all the visual Wii-barf, I'd just as soon pass on it. Is this really the best the minds at Microsoft could come up with? Doubtful.

I like the avatars since they show how much of a wasted concept the Miis are.

The actual new dashboard, though? Ugh.

I really like the way this looks. Streamlined. Im intrested in the avatars. I mean the wii blows balls, but with a much more powerful system microsoft might pull this one off.

What exactly is it in the concept of the Mii that was held back by inferior processing power? Now they have necks?

I was refering to the way they are laying out the dash board in general. With a more powerful system you can add things like avatars and such without loss of performance. As for the avatars. I like the idea.
maybe they can make your avatar dress like the character of the game you are currently playing while you are playing it, or something. Anything new is an improvement or can be improved upon. Not trying to keep your product freash is a bad idea.

And im not afraid of change.
(sorry for the rambling)

Check out Gamerscore blog they have more details about the update.
-8 person voice chat!
-16 x 10 support!
and more...

Holy cow to MS hit this one out of the park...

http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/default.aspx

there we go. So the blades are still in and the guide is more than I thought it was.

Not to mention game installing, though not sure i would use it that much.

Installing a game completely to HDD is a good feature. I can finally put my 120gb HD to work and I won't have to put up with that extremely loud DVD drive.

I didn't think I would be turning my 360 on again until Gears2, but the updates from today may warrant some use.

Not very good at math, but what kinda of tv is that resolution size meant for?

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E308: Dashboard overhaul and Avatars

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