Oh, you thought
NXE was the last dashboard update you'd be able to sink you mitts into? No dice. Xbox Live spokesman Major Nelson said
on his show this week that the next update for the 360 would increase the speed of the guide. "
Whatever we call it (and it's not going to be called the NNXE), but whatever the next version of the dashboard is called, it's better with a lot of very cool new features," he said. "That update will be out later this year."
We haven't talked about this sort of thing in a while, so we're curious: What updates would you still like to see to the dashboard?
[Via CVG] 
{ Jun 22nd 2009 at 1:45PM } 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Ample Salty @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:48PM
Maybe this will put a stop to the endless 'fix the guide' comments after every article he posts.
That just leaves 'fix the RRoD' posts to eradicate.
baby sea tuna @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:05PM
Yes, but will it stop all of the "Fix the comment system" posts here on Joystiq? Methinks not!
dru @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:48PM
how about they just give us what they promised last time around?
Lustis @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:51PM
What did they promise that they didn't give?
chris.rackley @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:56PM
Lustis
They promised Xbox LIVE primetime for one. And when they did they promised "Games LIKE 1 vs. 100." Well, I'm still waiting to see that SECOND game. Shoot, I just want to see the final build of 1 vs. 100.
FNG @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:13PM
How about they give us and themselves a boost. As in readyboost for the 360. If Vista and Windows 7 can benefit from readyboost, why not the 360? How great would it be to be able to "upgrade" the 360's RAM via a readyboost capable USB drive?
Bundle it with a top game or 2 that would require the drive if they need to. Or just let us use any readyboost capable USB drive.
The N64 did this with the optional chip you clicked into the top of the console too.
dru @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:20PM
How about the entire Primetime Channel Lustis? Does that count for something?
ssuk @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:39PM
FNG: In theory, sounds great in practise:
1) Microsoft would have some Xbox 360 Memory Extender device or something which would be a propitiatory MS device (like propitiatory HDDs, Memory Cards, WiFi adaptors, Controllers, Cameras, HD DVD players, etc) at a MS price (extortionate).
2) There are inconsistent read/write speeds between USB drives, plus the inevitable that it may get pulled out or knocked loose while playing a game which demands the ReadyBoost... Loosing 2GB of RAM in a second wouldn't bode well...
3) Where would you cap it? 1GB? 2GB? I mean, if the rationale is "cap it at $X" then in 6 months time double the capacity memory sticks will fall somewhere near that price bracket.
hunter2223 @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:49PM
Custom quick jump selection in the guide... Like reserve most of the fist blade for 4-5 quick launches that are customizable. Anything from Netflix app to that one Arcade game I can't stop playing. It would be nice to be able to have them right there to launch without the normal navigation.
Nefariousity @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:51PM
That's what I'm talking about. A customizable channel/blade/row that you can set to community games, video store, whatever!
Lustis @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:53PM
Great idea!
WINterfang @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:54PM
The could be selected on the D-pad for example.
UP= Netflix
Left=Arcade game of your choice
Right=Marketplace
Down=Settings
or whatever you want to put on those things.
copa @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:58PM
I have my XBox configured not to log me in on startup, because that is the only way I can boot into the 'My XBox' channel on NXE.
I would like an update that allows me to opt out of booting straight into the "Showcase" adver-tainment channel.
Ignatius @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:03PM
I'd like to see the damn 360 not asking me to redownload Netflix everytime I click on it. I just want it to launch when I click on it.
Access Granted @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:36PM
That would be cool... But something I've been waiting for is allowing us to use the guide in the middle of an xbox original game. Why can't we chat with friends or choose music in the middle of an old xbox game when we can do it with games that are more demanding?
deanb @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:41PM
@copa You can turn it off in the settings somewhere, I can't walk you through it as it was a while since I did it ( about a2 hours after NXE hit), but it's possible as mine log's me in at boot but on the "My Xbox" 'blade'
NOOK @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:06PM
@Access Granted:
Because it's an emulator. It's like running a PS1 emulator fullscreen on your windows machine, you just can't use your ICQ inside the PS1 game.
Did I explain that understandable? I kinda don't think so o.O
Ghen @ Jun 22nd 2009 4:27PM
@ ignatius
if you wait for your friends to load then try netflix it goes right in every time. doesn't save much time, but its less annoying.
Misfit Toy @ Jun 22nd 2009 7:23PM
Hunter gets a cookie for an idea full of win.
maveric101 @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:44PM
i agree with booting straight to My Xbox. i know i only have to tap up, but it's one less button press when i want to play a game (i like having it boot to dashboard because i play arcade games and stuff fairly often).
Mazrael @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:50PM
I only find Marketplace to be rediculously slow
Dirty @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:52PM
Yes, it shouldn't take 2 hours for me to select download on a demo or anything else for that matter.
Lustis @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:54PM
It never takes me two hours to download a demo. Sounds like your ISP because I get my demos in less than 45 minutes.
Snowblind @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:23PM
It's not the actual downloads, just the blades that are slow.
Dirty @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:31PM
I was exaggerating. Just a minor quip really, much less painful that downloading anything on my ps3.
Lustis @ Jun 23rd 2009 8:24AM
My PS3 does take ages to download anything! Then you have to wait longer because of the install. It's never fun
Misfit Toy @ Jun 23rd 2009 10:15AM
Yes, a PS3 download is like...well...let me download this. OKAY...time to go get some laundry done and clean the kitchen. Oh, and I suppose I do have time to look at paint swatches at the store before I re-paint my living room. Well hell, maybe I'll just paint it today while this demo downloads.
Looks at PS3 at 53%. Hmm...maybe I'll go watch that paint dry...
Swackhammer1 @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:50PM
How 'bout some Hulu?
Hashbrown Hunter (OneGiantCluster.blogspot.com) @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:43PM
Not while Netflix is still around.
Swackhammer1 @ Jun 22nd 2009 6:03PM
Why not both? It would be perfect. Movies from Netflix and TV from Hulu.
gameplace123 @ Jun 24th 2009 1:07AM
not gonna bring Hulu around when people are paying to see the same thing. I suggest showing Hulu in standard def with limited ads and when the show/clip is done give me the option of buying a higher resulution of what I just saw. That's the only REAL way Hulu is going to happen.
SibSpi @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:51PM
How about a browser and mouse support?
genaldar @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:08PM
Yeah, why is it the only one of the 3 console manufacturer's that had a web browser before this current gen is the only one that doesn't support web browsing? It doesn't make any sense at all.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:51PM
Is he talking about the guide that pops up when you hit the xbox button, or the actual dashboard? Cause the guide is and has always been fine for me, but that fucking dashboard can't load anything in less than 30 seconds. It was great for a day or two after the maintenance, but it seems to have reverted back to its old incredibly slow ways.
I miss the old dashboard so much. Fuck NXE :(
chris.rackley @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:54PM
There's always one. . .
. . . or a thousand.
I thought the blades were more user-friendly. I like NXE's atmosphere better; but man, every time I dig into the video or game marketplace, I'm like - "Where am I?"
Vidikron @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:01PM
I'm right there with you! The NXE has never been blazing, but mine has been painfully slow ever since the maintenance. It locks up for 5 or so second each time I boot up... it appears to be happening when it is checking the status of my friends because the pop-up showing how many friends are online is the first thing that happens after it comes out of the lock.
cuteSAVAGE @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:04PM
@ chris: That's exactly what happens to me. I don't do too terribly much on our Xbox, but whenever I want to branch out from the norm of playing a quick game... I get buried in menus. I personally never liked the blades, but NXE brought an entirely new set of navigation issues to the table.
I can't imagine trying to navigate facebook and twitter on the current dashboard. It's already a hassle trying to find 1vs100 or even Netflix.
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:06PM
Here's how it goes for me when i log on.
Takes a good 30 seconds to 1 minute to load the avatars of my friends that are on and what games they are playing.
I go to the game marketplace, takes a good 10-20 seconds to just load the pictures of whatever game's on each section.
I click on a game, let's say a demo...there's another 30 seconds at least for it to load the information on the game so I can hit "get demo".
If I browse a full list of games it takes about 30 seconds to load each game's info, but what really sucks is if something finishes downloading on my queue while I'm browsing, for some reason it has to refresh the page I'm on...so there's another 30 second wait minimum.
It's an excruciating experience and it really makes me avoid downloading things on 360. The actual download times aren't bad, but just getting to the things takes a ton of time.
Vidikron @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:14PM
Ditto to everything on your list, tmac. The friends list being completely blank is especially annoying. Sometimes I end up scrolling down the list just so I can see their names appear in the bubble above their head because that appears before their avatars. Unfotunately that doesn't immediately tell you if they are online or not and sometimes, if your friend is in a party, you see the name of their friends before you see the name of the actual person in your list. It's often just easier to hit the guide button and browse the list there.
Badboy1979 @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:18PM
Here's the fix I used... if you have a lot of stuff you've downloaded, go to you system settings -> memory and delete your marketplace download history data (fyi, MS keeps a master list on their servers so don't worry about re-charged for something you've paid for already).
That worked for me... at one point, my guide/marketplace was taking too long to load and that fixed it.
Cody @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:35PM
"MS keeps a master list on their servers so don't worry about re-charged for something you've paid for already"
Yeah I can see that potential situation going over without a hitch with Microsoft Customer Support.
Badboy1979 @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:37PM
@Cody - Maybe I should have said it this way: It'll let you download previously purchased DLC WITHOUT charging you again, even if you delete the cached history off of your hard drive.
BudzMcGee @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:41PM
I think you guys complaining it's super slow need to look at your internet connection. My house has 3 people all online, 2 xbox's at any given point and a third usually streaming netflix or hulu on his computer and I don't have any of these slow connectivity issues (except it does take a second to boot up but I blame that on the fact I have a super long Ethernet cord and a total of 3 routers it goes through before it even gets to the xbox).
Cody @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:43PM
I hear ya Badboy...
I guess a more pressing issue would be, why does the 360 keep a cache of your downloaded content on the harddrive anyways? If that really is affecting system performance, then MS Support needs to be the one suggesting the clearing out of said cache to EVERY USER, not tech-savy blog posters!
Badboy1979 @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:47PM
@Cody - Yea that's a good point... I guess it was originally to help speed up the marketplace but somehow it has only helped to slow down the experience for some users. I was at a lost at first when it started happening because one of my 360s was working fine on the marketplace and the other one was taking forever to load anything. I knew it couldn't be my connection so I had to do a search to find a solution... and I'll admit that that's not the best of solutions. Hopefully the next update will fix the problem for those who are effected.
Duke @ Jun 22nd 2009 2:56PM
Tmac, that list is spot on. All that crap makes me just avoid using some of the features on the average day.
Vcize @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:18PM
I can deal with all that other stuff, the annoying thing for me is that about half the time I pull up my in-game guide pop-up thingy, it freezes for 10-15 seconds. It's especially annoying when you're playing online (no pause option so you're probably dead by the time it unfreezes).
tmacairjordan87 @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:21PM
My internet is fine. It's not the fastest in the world or anything, but I have no issues playing games online or anything like that. It's just how much RAM the XNE takes up and MS doesn't cache it properly (or at all from some of the thigns I hear) so for most people it takes forever to get it going.
OWENR22 @ Jun 22nd 2009 3:50PM
I totally agree! Give us the option to have the old dashboard back! The only things they added last time were avatars and Netflix. I've still never used my Avatar. and I'm in Britain so I can't get Netflix other than that all they did was change the colour scheme and move everything around.
It's slower, more difficult to navigate, my old themes don't fit and it takes up 128 MB of space on the HDD. I've only got about half a GB left on my HDD, so pretty soon I'm gonna miss that 128MB.
chris.rackley @ Jun 22nd 2009 1:52PM
I think it's high time we see clan support. Some would call it a "2nd Friends list" and that's what it would be for some . . . but for others (like us PG boys - http://praetoriaguard.com), it'd be a very welcomed addition. I mean, Facebook and Twitter apps have "groups."
It's time to bring in clan support.