This one is for all the unlucky souls that didn't make it into the Xbox Live Update preview program: Your wait is over! The Xbox Live Update is finally here, and it's here for everyone. That's right, now everyone has access to the update's many riches and wonders, including better (and "exclusive") Netflix functionality, Avatar Awards, Games on Demand, User Ratings and more. And let's not forget you can also purchase clothing for your digital doll.
Getting the update is easy. Just turn on your Xbox, connect to Live and BAM, instant update. For a quick look at some of the new features, check out the video above, and find a Netflix video tour after the break.
Joystiq still has a few writers that like to bash the PS3 and Sony...but for the most part Joystiq has warmed up quite nicely to Sony in 2009. How can they not? Sony appears at least to me to have the software that every gamer wants in 2009-10 and beyond. To be biased against Sony now would be illogical.
It's designed to let people decide whether it should have been downvoted or not. Since you can't state a logical, non-inflammatory opinion on this website without being downvoted, apparently.
Problem is getting downvoted just makes people want to read that post even more, but it's hard on the eyes. Just seems silly to gray out the text like that.
The problem isn't that you tried to voice Your opinion, it's that you tried to speak for all of us. We don't typically like it when you speak for us (especially when it's not our opinion).
I guess since I was in the preview they didn't bother giving us another download (they had given us several for "fixes"). I went ahead and bought Battlefield Bad Company since I never played it and gamestop had it listed as $20 new which is what it is on the xbox store.
But yeah it is a really meh update overall. Most of the games on demand are overpriced, avatar items cost money, and I don't have netflix so I couldn't care less about any changes there. They made the dash load everything almost instantly though, which is nice.
Items in Avatar Marketplace are WAY overpriced BIG TIME. Average of 400-500 points for a full costume. Nothing cost less than 80 points ($1), not even accessories.
Err, you people irritate me. When you buy the game, you get it for LIFE. You don't lose it. Anytime in your life you feel like playing the game ever. You just have to queue it up and play.
This is good except for games like Sonic the Hedgehog, where you would never want to play the game ever. For any reason at all.
The same is true of a disc, as long as you take care of it.
Does anyone know yet if you have to be on xbox live to play games on demand if you've had your console replaced? I know that's an issue with arcade games, I'm kinda guessing it's the same for these.
I'm not sure why you were downvoted so quickly for that, but I don't understand how anyone could prefer the blades, the new dashboard is a lot better, especially now this update has finally made it run at a decent speed, it's faster than the blades ever were.
I say give give users a choice but don't expect them to maintain both UIs. I prefer the NXE but I know a lot of people don't.
Of course it would probably mean no Netflix, Avatars, Game ratings (which probably means no game marketplace either), expanded monitor support, game installs or any other new feature added since the NXE and NXE update were added.
Also, I think games are now being coded to take advantage of any behind the scenes improvements made to the core 360 OS so certain games would be off limits as well.
But give users a choice, I doubt many would go back.
I don't hate the NXE or avatars. I even like using the avatars in games like 1 vs 100, they fit perfectly. But one of the major bullet points MS gave us for the NXE when it launched was that it was supposed to be far more user friendly than the blades. That turned out to be no where near true. It's flashy and pretty, but speed and usability went out the window. I mean, come on, you still have to bring up the miniblades if you want to quickly browse your friend list. The 3D version is just too cumbersome.
i'm pretty much indifferent either way to Blades or NXE as far as appearance and speed. they both pretty much got the job done. i do however think the NXE is EXTREMELY cluttered and some of the settings and stuff are put in very illogical places. i mean if i had the option to disable the spotlight channel, it would probably make all the difference in the world. i could play games just as quick on either though and that's what really matters in the end.
See, I totally think that's bullshit how you were downvoted for your own personal perference of the blades.
(Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:07AM
I still miss the Blades....)
(Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 11:42AM No, the blades were still faster. They were also less cluttered and easier to navigate.)
(Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:47AM Yea like Vidikron said ....the blades are less Cluttered)
(Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 12:00PM But one of the major bullet points MS gave us for the NXE when it launched was that it was supposed to be far more user friendly than the blades. That turned out to be no where near true. *snip* I mean, come on, you still have to bring up the miniblades if you want to quickly browse your friend list. *snip*)
How does the downvoting make any sense? Seems like someone just wants to downvote your every post just for the hell of it. (which is pretty lame)
I haven't seen much of a change myself. Some people have said that the mini-blades pop up quicker for them when they hit the guide button. Seems about the same overall to me.... or maybe a slight improvement.
Well Vidi, the major issue before was with the in-game dash commonly freezing for 15 seconds or so if you had more than 70 gigs used or more than a couple games installed.
The in-game dash is still unusably slow. Fixing this ought to be Microsoft's #1 priority, but instead they add a purchasing system for avatar fashion accessories.
I didn't have that issue going into the update, but I've also never had more than 2 games installed or that much of my hard drive used. I have had that issue in the past though, just not recently.
I still get a pause of maybe 5-7 seconds when booting though. When it gets to the dash everything is empty and I see that litte 360 with the radiating rings indicating it is working. I had that before the update and still have it now. The friend list seems to populate quicker, but everything else seems the same to me.
All I know is Splosion Man will get a title update sometime and will be the first game to have avatar awards. No news on when, what they'll give, or how to get them though.
Splosion Man has awards, it's coming in a patch later today. Gives you two t-shirts, nothing fantastic but at least it's free. No word if anything else will give anything yet.
But I imagine more new games will support it though, I don't see too many going back and patching in free content when they can make us pay for it.
{ Aug 11th 2009 at 11:00AM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Bradwart @ Aug 11th 2009 11:05AM
Crying face. No blades! And Emotars galore!
The beta wasn't great. No one get their hopes up.
Snowblind @ Aug 11th 2009 11:35AM
Say something stupid about Sony or Nintendo and you'll get downvoted just as you did for saying something stupid here.
Killjebus...PSN Killjebus @ Aug 11th 2009 11:50AM
Bradwart...
Joystiq still has a few writers that like to bash the PS3 and Sony...but for the most part Joystiq has warmed up quite nicely to Sony in 2009. How can they not? Sony appears at least to me to have the software that every gamer wants in 2009-10 and beyond. To be biased against Sony now would be illogical.
Help me! @ Aug 11th 2009 1:16PM
The downvoting on this site is so retarded
It just makes the posts hard to read, but they're still up in your face
IMO, we need to delete the posts, move them, or not obscure them
Bradwart @ Aug 11th 2009 1:53PM
It's designed to let people decide whether it should have been downvoted or not. Since you can't state a logical, non-inflammatory opinion on this website without being downvoted, apparently.
Neuromancer @ Aug 11th 2009 2:38PM
Problem is getting downvoted just makes people want to read that post even more, but it's hard on the eyes. Just seems silly to gray out the text like that.
Weasler @ Aug 11th 2009 6:33PM
The problem isn't that you tried to voice Your opinion, it's that you tried to speak for all of us. We don't typically like it when you speak for us (especially when it's not our opinion).
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:06AM
I guess since I was in the preview they didn't bother giving us another download (they had given us several for "fixes"). I went ahead and bought Battlefield Bad Company since I never played it and gamestop had it listed as $20 new which is what it is on the xbox store.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:08AM
But yeah it is a really meh update overall. Most of the games on demand are overpriced, avatar items cost money, and I don't have netflix so I couldn't care less about any changes there. They made the dash load everything almost instantly though, which is nice.
Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Aug 11th 2009 11:09AM
It's only $20 new in the store, ebgames or Walmart. It should be cheaper online.
Great game IMHO.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:19AM
The demo was really fun but I never got around to playing it for whatever reason.
Vcize @ Aug 11th 2009 11:31AM
There's some good ideas in there, but everything is way overpriced.
Ballistic H @ Aug 11th 2009 1:41PM
Items in Avatar Marketplace are WAY overpriced BIG TIME. Average of 400-500 points for a full costume. Nothing cost less than 80 points ($1), not even accessories.
Tiptup300 @ Aug 11th 2009 1:53PM
Err, you people irritate me. When you buy the game, you get it for LIFE. You don't lose it. Anytime in your life you feel like playing the game ever. You just have to queue it up and play.
This is good except for games like Sonic the Hedgehog, where you would never want to play the game ever. For any reason at all.
WiredKnight @ Aug 11th 2009 3:18PM
@TipTup
The same is true of a disc, as long as you take care of it.
Does anyone know yet if you have to be on xbox live to play games on demand if you've had your console replaced? I know that's an issue with arcade games, I'm kinda guessing it's the same for these.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:07AM
I still miss the Blades....
Cody @ Aug 11th 2009 11:29AM
Damn the 360 lames are out in full force today!!!
Didn't think it was possible to be pleasing ones self with a 360 controller handle AND downvoting on Joystiq at the same time!
Bradwart @ Aug 11th 2009 11:31AM
@Cody
If you're a douche, maybe...
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:33AM
I'm not the ONLY person that preferred the classic Blades to the NXE layout....some people are just full of themselves...
Snowblind @ Aug 11th 2009 11:36AM
I'm not sure why you were downvoted so quickly for that, but I don't understand how anyone could prefer the blades, the new dashboard is a lot better, especially now this update has finally made it run at a decent speed, it's faster than the blades ever were.
Bradwart @ Aug 11th 2009 11:41AM
The blades were similar to the Xbox 1 layout, and I was used to them. Now I have to navigate through rows of crap just to change the clock.
Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 11:42AM
No, the blades were still faster. They were also less cluttered and easier to navigate.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:47AM
Yea like Vidikron said ....the blades are less Cluttered
Sean Kelley @ Aug 11th 2009 11:50AM
I say give give users a choice but don't expect them to maintain both UIs. I prefer the NXE but I know a lot of people don't.
Of course it would probably mean no Netflix, Avatars, Game ratings (which probably means no game marketplace either), expanded monitor support, game installs or any other new feature added since the NXE and NXE update were added.
Also, I think games are now being coded to take advantage of any behind the scenes improvements made to the core 360 OS so certain games would be off limits as well.
But give users a choice, I doubt many would go back.
Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 12:00PM
I don't hate the NXE or avatars. I even like using the avatars in games like 1 vs 100, they fit perfectly. But one of the major bullet points MS gave us for the NXE when it launched was that it was supposed to be far more user friendly than the blades. That turned out to be no where near true. It's flashy and pretty, but speed and usability went out the window. I mean, come on, you still have to bring up the miniblades if you want to quickly browse your friend list. The 3D version is just too cumbersome.
WINterfang @ Aug 11th 2009 12:09PM
You can still press the guide button for the "blades" menu.
Glen Quagmire @ Aug 11th 2009 12:35PM
Trust me you dont want blades back.
I brought a aracade edition recently and had the last blades update....NXE is better. Blades imo are slower
SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Aug 11th 2009 1:01PM
i'm pretty much indifferent either way to Blades or NXE as far as appearance and speed. they both pretty much got the job done. i do however think the NXE is EXTREMELY cluttered and some of the settings and stuff are put in very illogical places. i mean if i had the option to disable the spotlight channel, it would probably make all the difference in the world. i could play games just as quick on either though and that's what really matters in the end.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 1:12PM
yea when I want to do anything I pretty much pull up the MiniBlades anyways
BlazeKing @ Aug 12th 2009 12:50AM
@ Chris D.
See, I totally think that's bullshit how you were downvoted for your own personal perference of the blades.
(Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:07AM
I still miss the Blades....)
(Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 11:42AM
No, the blades were still faster. They were also less cluttered and easier to navigate.)
(Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 11th 2009 11:47AM
Yea like Vidikron said ....the blades are less Cluttered)
(Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 12:00PM
But one of the major bullet points MS gave us for the NXE when it launched was that it was supposed to be far more user friendly than the blades. That turned out to be no where near true. *snip* I mean, come on, you still have to bring up the miniblades if you want to quickly browse your friend list. *snip*)
How does the downvoting make any sense? Seems like someone just wants to downvote your every post just for the hell of it. (which is pretty lame)
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Aug 12th 2009 8:47AM
yea dude I have haters....lol
Smoke_me_a_Kipper @ Aug 11th 2009 11:07AM
At least now all my friends can see my eye patch. :)
Which is about all you get, with a UI speed increase, in Canada.
Professor Lario @ Aug 11th 2009 11:09AM
Yes, but has performance improved?
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:13AM
Yes everything loads almost instantly for me
Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 11:13AM
I haven't seen much of a change myself. Some people have said that the mini-blades pop up quicker for them when they hit the guide button. Seems about the same overall to me.... or maybe a slight improvement.
Captain Planet (now accepting new Planeteer recruits) @ Aug 11th 2009 11:28AM
Yes, extremely improved as in stupid fast.
Vcize @ Aug 11th 2009 11:37AM
Well Vidi, the major issue before was with the in-game dash commonly freezing for 15 seconds or so if you had more than 70 gigs used or more than a couple games installed.
Not sure if that's still happening or not.
emagius @ Aug 11th 2009 11:45AM
The in-game dash is still unusably slow. Fixing this ought to be Microsoft's #1 priority, but instead they add a purchasing system for avatar fashion accessories.
Vidikron @ Aug 11th 2009 11:46AM
@Vcize
I didn't have that issue going into the update, but I've also never had more than 2 games installed or that much of my hard drive used. I have had that issue in the past though, just not recently.
I still get a pause of maybe 5-7 seconds when booting though. When it gets to the dash everything is empty and I see that litte 360 with the radiating rings indicating it is working. I had that before the update and still have it now. The friend list seems to populate quicker, but everything else seems the same to me.
Husher @ Aug 12th 2009 2:14AM
Not really
Home Skillet @ Aug 11th 2009 11:14AM
I know I heard this a long while ago, but I thought they were going to start using actual dollar amounts instead of points. Whatever happened to that?
Josh @ Aug 11th 2009 11:15AM
they changed it.
allowing credit card and Microsoft points now, which was a good move
Clatu6 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:37AM
I'm pretty sure only Games on Demand can be bought using a credit card directly through the the UI.
Josh @ Aug 11th 2009 11:12AM
my dashboard still runs slow.
:(
when in the preview it went a little bit faster..
now its back to normal slow self
ScottG13 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:12AM
Avatar Awards? Any examples?
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:14AM
All I know is Splosion Man will get a title update sometime and will be the first game to have avatar awards. No news on when, what they'll give, or how to get them though.
ScottG13 @ Aug 11th 2009 11:15AM
Avatar Awards could be huge if they're pretty prevalent. 3 per title would be awesome.
Retroactiving them would be even better.
Snowblind @ Aug 11th 2009 11:15AM
Splosion Man has awards, it's coming in a patch later today. Gives you two t-shirts, nothing fantastic but at least it's free. No word if anything else will give anything yet.
But I imagine more new games will support it though, I don't see too many going back and patching in free content when they can make us pay for it.
Snowblind @ Aug 11th 2009 11:17AM
And Tmac, you get them for breaking a pane of glass, and the other for finishing the game :)
Storm Eagle [Resident Capcom Megafan] @ Aug 11th 2009 11:12AM
Can't wait to get home and try it out...on both my Xboxes nonetheless.
Just gotta make sure the wife doesn't go crazy buying Roxy gear for her avatar.