Video walkthrough: the new Xbox 360 Dashboard

by Randy Nelson { Jul 16th 2008 at 2:30PM }

GameTrailers has posted a very nice direct-feed walkthrough of the new ~~Apple TV~~ Xbox 360 Dashboard refresh, "hosted" by Xbox Live chief of staff Steve Willett. Every little detail is covered, including the new Guide, which looks like a super-condensed, zippy way to navigate all of the Dashboard features introduced since the system's launch. That includes everything from the games library to viewing active downloads. We like what we've seen so far, although it's a far cry from what some people were hoping for.

Tags: dashboard, e3-2008, New-Xbox-Experience

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

el serpiente @ Jul 16th 2008 2:33PM

terrible...

Tiptup300 @ Jul 16th 2008 3:21PM

Apple TV!?

I understand the coverflow comment, not the XMB. I also get the wii comment.

But Apple TV!??!?!?!

jsn @ Jul 16th 2008 3:31PM

Looks fine to me. Still seems simple to use, only now it's 3d-ish and not so flat. It could fellate you and people around here would bag on it though.

xFenixKnightx @ Jul 16th 2008 3:36PM

It looks even better here with your theme and all.

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/07/16/e308-dashboard-with-themes-downloads-and-launch-area/

Vol @ Jul 16th 2008 3:45PM

Looks good to me. Seems more responsive.

jsn @ Jul 16th 2008 3:50PM

damn that does look good with a theme on there.

tcc3 @ Jul 16th 2008 4:22PM

You can actually *see* the themes now.

CB @ Jul 16th 2008 5:06PM

^Yeah, themes actually looked pretty ugly most of the time because the dashboard didn't blend in well with them.

CB @ Jul 16th 2008 5:08PM

Dammit, that was @Benny.

SimbaDogg @ Jul 16th 2008 7:35PM

umm...
as someone said earlier, this really reminds me of coverflow or xmb (rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise)

FNG @ Jul 16th 2008 8:16PM

It looks almost exactly like aero, not cover flow.

theturtle363 @ Jul 16th 2008 2:36PM

That certainly didn't calm my worries about themes and gamerpics

Obie @ Jul 16th 2008 3:40PM

Here is how your downloaded themes will look with the new dash:

http://209.11.233.26/archive/2008/07/16/what-your-themes-could-look-like-in-new-xbox-experience.aspx

But for gamerpics...no idea. :(

Benny @ Jul 16th 2008 3:59PM

With a theme on, the new dash actually looks delicious.

theturtle363 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:20PM

thanks Obie. You and your cigar smoke filled wisdom is always appreciated

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jul 16th 2008 2:38PM

Ugly.

GreyFox @ Jul 16th 2008 3:04PM

I wouldn't say ugly I'd say it's over simplified and uninteresting. It feels like they're trying to be Apple without the innovation, style or simple control. I really hope this is optional or I have some way of using the old dashboard because I think this is nothing short of bad.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Jul 16th 2008 3:23PM

Wow I didn't know an interesting dashboard had to be a fucking mess.

Obie @ Jul 16th 2008 3:47PM

Not ugly...it's liked their grabbed Apple and Nintendo ideas and mixed em together haphazardly.

Not that it matters, I like it for the 8 person private chat.

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jul 17th 2008 2:06AM

I repeat: Ugly! Why did I get rated down? It clearly IS ugly. Extremely painfully ugly. Boring. Dull. Aesthetically displeasing. Garbage. Utter Shit.

The blades, the way they are now, are sooo much better.

SugarDaddy @ Jul 17th 2008 9:22AM

Why'd you get voted down? Probably because it was a shitty comment. Any asshole can give their opinion. You gave no constructive criticism and not even any reason why you think it's ugly. You just think the current blades are better. Who cares about functionality, right? As long as it looks nice... Yeah, I think we want Microsoft to stay away from that concept. Vista anyone?

Next time you think something is ugly and that's all you have to add to this discussion, keep it to yourself. Ugly is a subjective concept, and unless you want to provide some reason WHY you think it's ugly, no one gives a damn.

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jul 17th 2008 12:32PM

@SugarDaddy

The blades, in addition to looking nice, are perfectly functional. Microsoft needs to just add the avatars, etc. to the existing interface. This redesign is pointless and looks horrible. It has a boring, gray background and the text is too small and, despite the massive amounts of empty space, it's still too "busy", because you've essentially got an overly-long list of horizontal tiles without the color-coded, organized interface of the blades system.

JetPogi @ Jul 16th 2008 2:39PM

it looks good but this dashboard looks like it will bring more confusion to casual owners.

Dwag @ Jul 16th 2008 2:40PM

I've seen how themes and marketplace are implemented now all that is left is to show how gamerpics are implemented.

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 16th 2008 2:50PM

Still need icons, ya know.

ryanpolly @ Jul 16th 2008 2:41PM

I like the current one better. This is way too much like Apple TV.

Zoesch @ Jul 16th 2008 2:47PM

It's like the Apple TV had a drunken one night stand with a Wii who then took a life of drinking and drugs and this was the result.

I hope there's an option to turn it off, I seriously hope so.

Dwag @ Jul 16th 2008 2:41PM

Hey guys themes have been explained/shown in the 360 fanboy site.

Fuzz @ Jul 16th 2008 2:41PM

I like how they are called "channels" now. . hrmm Wii anyone? And it looks like it isn't very expandable. Once you get a whole bunch fo things in each "channel" it will become tedious to navigate.

I also understand that "whitespace" is good, but there is WAY to much of it. Sony was guilty of this too. All this "HD" stuff just serves to make everything so small. Watching Sony browse the new video store was so dumb. Have the screen was empty and you couldn't read anything.

T @ Jul 16th 2008 2:49PM

Yeah I thought that too as I watched this. This has a VERY Wii Channel esque vibe. Though they take the Channels layout and make it far more...sterile.

All that empty grey space....

rom @ Jul 16th 2008 2:42PM

I must be the only one that thinks this looks really neat. Not to mention less cluttered than it did before.

Can't wait for that games on hard-drive feature. Best thing ever.

Knight Marquise @ Jul 16th 2008 3:29PM

The avatars do absolutely nothing for me, and initially I was a little dismayed over this new dashboard...but it's grown on me, and actually I think it's going to be pretty nice. So no, you're not the only one liking it. :)

Brian Fantana @ Jul 17th 2008 2:32AM

I'm with you man. The current UI sucks big time. It reall yt is hard to find just about anything the way they have it set up now.

Mrblonde @ Jul 16th 2008 7:24PM

Im liking it too =)

Tuxy79 @ Jul 16th 2008 2:47PM

I really like the overlay balde now. Combines the old blade menu into the overlay. Excellent.

Much more causal presence. Strong Apple cues.

Jomolungma @ Jul 16th 2008 2:49PM

Well, since I spend more time playing games than navigating the dashboard, I'm not too concerned with this redesign. As long as I can find my stuff quickly, fine - even if that means a brief 5-10 minute learning curve when it arrives in the fall.

343 Guilty Fart @ Jul 16th 2008 2:49PM

Though I like the current dashboard, this one does look a lot cleaner and more accessible. And as for themes, it looks like it should be easy to just incorporate them as the background image. Currenly you can't even see most of the background images because of all the ads and clutter.

I just hope it's as smooth and fast as the demo shown here.

ice~ @ Jul 16th 2008 3:04PM

actually you make a good point about the fact that you cant see the background picture now because of the ads. I never looked at it that way, but still, this new one is too plain and ugly

frogprince @ Jul 16th 2008 2:49PM

Hmm, where are they hiding all the ads?

Microswirl (MKWii:1676- 4270-3674) @ Jul 16th 2008 3:15PM

The ads will fill in all that white space ;)

Nick Spacek @ Jul 16th 2008 3:35PM

The sad thing is you're probably right.

dark_inchworm @ Jul 16th 2008 2:50PM

I was mostly happy with how things were.

*shrug*

phobic99 @ Jul 16th 2008 2:50PM

I like the interface. Avatars? Not so much.

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 16th 2008 2:52PM

The avatars do help with the gameshows that'll be on Live (ie 1 vs. 100)

Jonah Falcon @ Jul 16th 2008 2:52PM

One word: Hotness.

By the way, Microsoft took the GUI from the Mac and improved it, too (Windows). It isn't who comes up with an idea first. It's who makes the best version of that idea.

Meanwhile, an ex-Sony Creative Designer had this to say:

http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/07/15/microsoft-on-the-move-while-sony-continues-to-flounder/

deaftly @ Jul 16th 2008 2:55PM

Looks very nice and I love that little xbox logo with the rings coming off of it. Beats the other guy's dashes by a mile.

xFenixKnightx @ Jul 16th 2008 3:12PM

Yeah I really like it too. Looks clean and sleek. I just hope we also get to have our gamerpics on our new gamercards right along with our avatar and gamerscore. That would be awesome. Looks like there is some blank space on there so it just might happen too. Overall it looks very easy to use and I cant wait to get the new update. Netflix here I come baby.

ThePerfectCompanion @ Jul 16th 2008 3:16PM

I love it...

Dragod @ Jul 16th 2008 2:56PM

Very disappointing.
This is going to alienate all of its current users who love the blades interface, myself included.

If these updates weren't mandatory to play online, I wouldn't update.

Why Microsoft? WHY? I love my blades. I love my gamerpics. I love my themes. I love my software. Why do you have to get rid of the best part of the Xbox? The software was what was so strong, because it certainly wasn't the hardware.

Duke @ Jul 16th 2008 3:23PM

Explain how it alienate's you please. Are you going to be unable to use it now? Has it caused such disruption that you will no longer use the console? Sounds a bit dramatic to me. We all will move on and use it and in a short time you won't even be concerned. Your gaming life didn't just get torn apart.

Besides, not doing it would alienate the people who don't like the blade system right?

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