Sound off: New Xbox 360 Dashboard

Finally came out for everyone, that's great. ESPN on Xbox is amazing, even if it is just ESPN3.
The new UI ain't halfbad either. Though the new marketplace takes a little girring used to. But after you do you can navigate it MUCH faster than previous versions.

@Robborboy

"ESPN on Xbox is amazing, even if it is just ESPN3."

But see, that's exactly why it ISN'T amazing. It's ESPN3. On the 360. Nothing is amazing about that, especially considering you have to have ESPN3 provided by your local cable/internet provider and be signed up to it in order to access it on your 360 anyways.

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@Robborboy

ESPN on XBox is great if you don't have the most b*tchass service provider in the history of man kind.

Here's looking at you Time Warner, quit licking nutsacks and trying to rip us off! I wish comcast was an option, but Time Warner won't even lease their lines to other people.

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@Co Even though you quoted it, you respons as though I DID NOT ALREADY ACKNOWLEDGE it was only ESPN3. I mean, really?

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@Co

I fairly certain you don't have to be signed up for it, that's why XBL cost a bit more now, but your net/cable provider has to be a part of it. So... only half your argument is factually correct.

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@Co

You don't have to be signed up for it. You automatically have access to it if your ISP gets it. Also, saying it's not great because it's just ESPN3 is like saying having Netflix on your console isn't great because it's already on your computers. People like both because they're convenient ways to access the content on your TV.

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@Robborboy

Xbox Live, the new AOL. Pay extra for content you can get for free with a good service provider. And here's a crappy interface to go with it.

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@guttertalk

ESPN 8 "the Ocho" or bust...

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@guttertalk I don't quite understand this. I am paying less now than I did for Xbox Live when it first launched. And I am getting this extra features all the while.....so uh...

Nevermind the fact that I'd rather watch ESPN3 on my TV instead on a monitor. And not decently sized TV even approaches the pixel density I want for using a PC so....

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@oJMan240o I can't imagine a situation in which I would say "I wish Comcast was an option." I wish I had any other option...

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@Robborboy

Yes I too enjoy the convenienceof being charged twice for the same service.

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@Co It's an improvement for me so that I know longer have to hook my laptop up to the TV, to watch my college football team(Go Dawgs!) when they're not nationally televised. I'm interested to see if the search functionality on Netflix is as good as advertised. Other than that, it looks like a fresh coat of paint and that's about it for those not interested in Kinect.

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@Robborboy

Microsoft's raisred the Gold rate from $49 to $59 per year.

Yes, I know you can get it for less than $59, but those places (Amazon and Newegg) are still charging more for a year's subscription than I paid before.

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As oppossed to PSN Plus? Which still doesn't have a compelling reason to pay for yet.

The "discounts" don't make up for the initial price.

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@guttertalk Fully aware of thoat, but between sales, and piles of coupons, I don't plan on paying more than 30$ a year for Gold for roughly the next 5 years.

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@oJMan240o I wonder how much TW is actually saving by not paying for ESPN3. I am now with Insight...and wonder how much MORE my bill is because of it.

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@Robborboy

I still object to the model here, which is still very AOL-ish. I understand the 360 isn't a computer and requires some modification. Then again, I'm getting good service with the Wii. No, the game chat experience isn't nearly as good, but until this update at least, Netflix on the Wii was better and actually faster than the 360. I have the Wii Opera browser, too, to get access to more content, although it's still inconsistent and leaves a lot of room for improvement.

How long do we have those coupons and deals? They're available now, but there's no guarantee. The fact is that MS is still charging more, and they're establishing a precedent of what gamers will accept.

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@Vidikron

Not true if you have Time Warner. They do have an agreement in place with Disney now for ESPN3, but the only way you can get it is if you subscribe to a Time Warner cable package that includes ESPN. If you only get RoadRunner from them, no ESPN3. How do I know? I'm one of the many shafted non-cable Time Warner customers.

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@Robborboy

Can someone explain to me how 50 bucks to 60 is cheaper, I keep on hearing it here but I still don't get it. Its not sarcasm, I'm serious.

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@oJMan240o ESPN3 is available on TimeWarner. Has been for a few weeks now. You have to have a tv package though that receives ESPN, so if you just have an internet pipe then yeah, its not available.

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@philmcfail I don't use auto renew. I show around online and in-store. And there is ALWAYS atleast one sale for years of Xbox live for around 30$ between the time of me having bought my last year card, and it expiring.

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@Elranzer.

I'd just like to point out with Playstation Plus that the games you get for free more than make up for the cost of the actual service. In Australia I pay $70 AUD for the service, and just last month I received all of Sam and Max which costs $60.

Add pretty much any free game over any month and I've already got all my money back, and I still have 10 months to go. :|

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@Robborboy

I never do auto renew, I look up yearly for 30 dollar cards (amazon) but now it has inflated to 40 bucks. How is that still any cheaper?

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@philmcfail Because sales are random on discounts. Prior to the raise it sometimes it was down to 40$ other it would top as low as 9.99 for a year. I just did not order any unless they were 30$ or low. And even with the price raise, those sales will still be there. Just a little less common at being that low.

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@PhilipJWitow Games which are yours as long as you remain a subscriber. Subscription lapses, goodbye games.

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@Robborboy

Let me rephrase this, since your not really answering my question. You said: "I don't quite understand this. I am paying less now than I did for Xbox Live when it first launched." XBL launched as 49.99 (w/360) back in 05. Now it has raised to 60 bucks. :| Do you mean when it was launch on the original Xbox or inflation or something?

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@philmcfail I mean back when Xbox first launched I used auto-renew as there was really no other way to do it. With the advent of prepaid cards, now I shop around and get Xbox Live for less than when it launched.

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@guttertalk
A friend of mine has Netflix for his laptop (Mac), Xbox 360, and Wii. The Wii version didn't have HD, didn't autodetect the net speed and adjust the stream as often (sometimes not even doing it at all) which meant that oftentimes it would be playing the video in a higher quality than it could broadcast so every 5-10 seconds it would have to stop and buffer.

From what I saw of the 360's Netflix it was much faster, adjusted to better suit the network speeds, and almost never had to stop and buffer. I'm not saying you're wrong, but really either one can be faster.

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@Robborboy

Okay, its a bit clarified but you know the discounted cards inflated with the price increase too right? http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Month-Live-Gold-Card/dp/B0029LJIFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288652377&sr=8-1 (30-40 bucks) We'll be lucky if we'll ever see a 30 dollar one again. I should of bought two when I had the chance :(

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@philmcfail

That's not really a fair comparison though. That Amazon link still says the MSRP is $50. So at $50 for 12 months MSRP Amazon decided to only take off about $7. You can probably still find $30 around black Friday, which is only a few weeks away now. Just stock up and have XBL Gold for $30/year for several years.

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@sonicspike41

Sorry but that's not my experience at all. I've seen the Wii Netflix check and buffer appropriately but most of the time, there's no need. On the Wii, the Netflix UI comes up far faster and movies are ready to play faster than on the 360. And I see the 360 Netflix have to constantly buffer at times. I switch to the Wii, and it works fine. I know others with the same experience, so, while performance can vary, I hardly have a unique experience.

As for HD, I honestly don't see that much of a difference on most of the stuff I watch. Whatever the difference, it's easily offset by the better performance on the Wii.

RE: Cheaper XBL rates

Sales can be found, yes, but there's no arguing the price has increased. It's silly to argue otherwise. Microsoft charges for content that's free on the web. Obviously, the fanboys here don't like contrary opinions and chose to downvote the facts. (nanananana I can't hear you nananananana.)

All three companies have major issues, but Microsoft is by far the worst between this AOL model and the red ring fiasco.

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@Spartan117458 The problem now is they won't allow remote access for live games. Which means I can watch all the games I want from 2 or 3 days ago that I probably already watched. No live games what so ever

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@guttertalk I would image that the reason for buffering is because Xbox supports HD and matrixed surround sound. Both of which require a faster connection than the SD programming that Wii is locked too.

On Xbox Live Pricing:
You are either a fanboy, immature, or unable to read. All three would fit the bill as well.

At no point did a single person say that Xbox Live prices were not increasing. Only that we were smarter than the ignorant masses who lock themselved into paying MSRP through using the auto-renewal feature. If someone does not shop around they deserve to have every penny bled from them.

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@LoveYouSomeEric Never say that! Things can't be THAT bad to wish for comcast!
8 more months till dish, 8 more months till dish, 8 more months till dish.....

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@Elranzer Yea PSN Plus is a joke too. Luckily I pay for neither service. Xbox Live is a waste for now. I play all the online games I want as well as instant watch Netflix for free with regular PSN.

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@Robborboy

No need to be an pretentious ass. What I said is that XBL is increased no matter how you look at it. Even if you buy it at a discounted, the discounted price will still 10 dollars more (because that is the new standard). There is no logical reason behind your statement at all. The fact that you bought it on auto renew when it was mandatory is irrelevant because it is not required/has not been required for years. That's all I'm saying man.

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@philmcfail
Prententious: Adjective - Observing the feeling of self importance.
I am not exibiting the slightest traits of this.

That said, your logic is terribly flawed. That that could only be ever true provided there was a set system for discounts that everything followed. And that IS NOT how a discount works. By that every story that has a discount should follow a specific paradigm and all sells that any place would have would follow a certain pattern. And again they do not.

Please, before insulting me, learn the basics of how markets work.

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@sonicspike41

Before the increase, Amazon used to discount it around $29.99 to $33.99 as their standard, (now of course its standard is $43). All I'm saying is that the price increase affected XBL wherever it is sold, even if its discounted. Its weird though, I thought they would would show the list price as 59.99 to show that the new MSRP standard was.

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@philmcfail So if I come across an amazing deal again, that being that I can snag a year for 9.99, but your logic they would have been giving them away for free if there was not an increase in Xbox Live prices.

And to be mild, that is laughable.

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@Robborboy

Not pretentious my good man? "Only that we were smarter than the ignorant masses who lock themselved into paying MSRP through using the auto-renewal feature. If someone does not shop around they deserve to have every penny bled from them." Plus, the fact that you looked it up just to prove your not pretentious is well...

lol

Hey man, I'm not trying to make enemies here. You really want to defend this to the death? Fine by me, I love my 360 as much as the next guy but spent any more of my time arguing this. My bottom line is just that don't say that the XBL pricing is cheaper now than it was 5 years ago. Idc if you somehow got it for 5 bucks, the fact remains that the standard pricing was increased by 10 dollars, okay? if you want to continue this "fight" hit me up on (XBL: ph2802) or something, I think we've taking up enough threadspace :P

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@Robborboy
The way I see it, is that if the price is raised then it's more expensive.
Every item that gets a price raise will EVENTUALLY drop in price or momentarily go on sale, but the point is that the majority of people will purchase it for full price

Here's an example:
You go to the store and see that Oreo Cookies now have 10% more icing. But they cost you an extra dollar. You're not gonna be saying "no worries everyone, they will have coupons eventually"
No, because you're gonna be straight pissed!

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@philmcfail I think people are talking about value. Live is the most stable, largest user group of console online gaming. Tons of content, alot of it free, with Dashboard/OS improvement 2x a year. Plus all the "backend" hardware they keep expanding to keep the quality high, even as the stress load increases over the years. More partners are being added Netflix now, Hulu later, what else can come?

I used to pay $19.99 a month for AOL dial up in the 90's, now I pay $49.99 for RoadRunner and get better service and can get more work done, faster. I am saving money even though the price went up in dollars, my time and the value content added, is an overall savings.

The great thing about Live is, stop paying for it if you don't like that they raised it 0.83 cents a month.

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@Elranzer

I own a Xbox and even I think the "plus" idea is a better way to go. You say there isn't enough reason to buy it, but thats the beauty of it, you don't need to.

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@guttertalk
what planet do youlive on saying netflixis better on the wii? first the 360 was the only way to stream nf in hd.( until the recent ps3 update ). second you don't have to stick a disk to stream nf. thrird is you have surrond sound the audio is 10x better on 360 with its 5.1 support. please come back to earth we miss you.

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I miss the rounded edges of the windows, and the catchall 'all new items' in the games marketplace. now you have to go to each individual section (arcade, ad-ons, ect), then scroll to the new items tab in each individual catagory to see the new stuff. They claim to have streamlined it for fewer clicks, but that doesnt seem to be the case if all you want to do is see the new stuff thats been added. Unless I am missing something? Other than that, it is a nice upgrade. i was on the beta.

@WMcPete I think that's what showcase is supposed to do now.

For me ESPN said it needed an update but failed...netflix did the same.

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@WMcPete

I thought this same thing, but then I caught that the "previews' show the newest items, so it's kind of "built in".

I think it's limited to three from each category, but it does actually show things a little sooner in the process now.

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Slow and visually unappealing, some neat features though.

@stukorn

I'm not gonna say it's visually unappealing because it's still quite a nice interface. However, it does seem like they took a step backwards in terms of design. I miss the angled view of the different slides in the previous dash. Probably just a personal preference of mine though.

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@Triblade101

Yeah, I liked the older angled view of the windows as well. the icons on the friends tab look really weird without the angling, especially when scrolling through them.

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Sound off: New Xbox 360 Dashboard

Reader Comments (265)

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 12:30PM Robborboy said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 1:29PM Co said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 1:32PM oJMan240o said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 1:33PM Robborboy said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 1:34PM oJMan240o said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 4:51PM philmcfail said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 5:19PM MrMichael said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 6:19PM philmcfail said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 6:40PM Flapjackal said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 6:42PM philmcfail said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 6:46PM Robborboy said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 7:02PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 7:05PM philmcfail said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 7:14PM sonicspike41 said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 7:39PM Robborboy said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 8:55PM philmcfail said

Posted: Nov 1st 2010 9:15PM Robborboy said

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Posted: Nov 1st 2010 10:00PM philmcfail said

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