360 Fall Update News

The Benny (Macho) · 11-26-2007, 12:20 PM

The Fall Update for the 360 Dashboard has now been confirmed as coming next Tuesday, December 4th. The official announcement is here on Xbox.com, which seems to be a little slow right now, but Major Nelson also has the info.

Other than the Xbox Originals service confirmed a while back the only feature revealed is 'Friends of Friends', allowing you to view (and interact with) the friends lists of people on your friends list, which apparently is similar to how social networking sites function. It will be enabled by default, with the default setting differing depending on the age setting of your account, but you can change that now by going to www.xbox.com/fof.

There are apparently more features included but this is the only one being talked about right now. The press release in full:

Quote:

Microsoft is making it even easier to expand your Friends network on Xbox LIVE®, starting with the Fall Dashboard Update on December 4. You'll be able to check out the friends lists of fellow Xbox LIVE members right from the Dashboard. With this new feature, members can find old friends or connect with new ones within the community of more than eight million people on Xbox LIVE around the globe and send messages and game invites, as well as compare games and Achievements.

With the prevalence of social media websites such as MySpace and FaceBook, this type of capability has largely come to be expected from consumers as a means to relate in an online community. Xbox LIVE continually seeks new ways to better serve the expectations of its members, which often result in free enhancements made available through the bi-annual Dashboard updates.

Friends List Settings
When the Fall Dashboard update is distributed on December 4, the new default setting on Xbox LIVE will be active, enabling members to see the Friends lists of other Xbox LIVE members. If you'd like to keep your friends list private, you can take the following steps to change your settings beginning today:
Log in to www.xbox.com/fof and select one of the three options available for your Gamertag:

Everyone (only available to members 18 and older)
Friends only (available to members 13 and older)
Blocked (available to all members, and automatic for anyone under the age of 13)

Stay tuned for more information about the Xbox 360 Dashboard Update later this month!

The Benny (Macho) · 11-27-2007, 04:24 PM

Today Joystiq says that Engadget Japan says that Microsoft Japan says the following features will also be part of the Fall update:

Quote:

The most significant addition is the reorganization of the "games" blade (pictured above), which now features the "Game Library" (in place of "Xbox Live Arcade"), in addition to the old "Achievements" and "Played Games" sections.

When opened, the Game Library is nearly identical to the current XBLA menu, with a vertically-scrolling games list and an info box appearing for the highlighted game [Famitsu image]. New, however, is a horizontal sorting menu, broken down by filters like "All Games," "Arcade," "Demos," and "Recent Downloads." (This new horizontal and vertical organization is not unlike Sony's XMB design -- Microsoft calls it "twist" navigation, the same UI used for Zune.)

Additional Fall Update features:

Top level of "marketplace" has been reorganized and reduced to four categories: "Featured Content," "What's New," "Game Store," and "Video Store" (below top level, categories will be navigated by twist, just like the Game Library)
"Personal Profile" added to Gamer Profile; text field allowing approx. 500-1000 characters, providing space to publish name, nationality, region, and self introduction. (Further social networking tools to accompany 'Friends of Friends' functionality)
XBLA demos deleted from "Played Games" and Gamercard lists

I know a tidier Marketplace has been requested for a while now and lots of people have complained about the latter point, having their Gamercard filled with demos of games they tried out but didn't think were worth buying. It all sounds plausible enough to be genuine but the language barrier prevents me from knowing for sure.

These additional social networking-style features are interesting. Not for me personally because I have no interest in that sort of thing, but for Microsoft in general. Xbox Live has a lot of members and it seems they could almost be trying to build it up into a Trojan horse social networking site, perhaps with greater integration into Windows Live Spaces further down the line.

The Benny (Macho) · 11-30-2007, 12:13 PM

Triple post! Um, Major Nelson has confirmed the details of the Fall Update, or there's a fairly dry, technical list on Xbox.com. Nelson's key points:

Xbox Originals - 1200 Microsoft Points per game.
Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits – Best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade at permanently reduced prices
Inside Xbox – Direct news feed from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard
Enhanced online profile – Personalize your profile with an expanded bio, either “Friends Only” or the entire Xbox LIVE community.
Expanded Friends List access – Members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members.
Enhanced Parental Controls – Family Timer enables parents to set the amount of time their Xbox 360 can be used on a per-day or per-week basis by their children or other members of the household.
New video features – Full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support
Easy-to-use navigation features – New Game Store button, Video Store button and enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library.

Major Nelson has also revealed that they're adding the ability to promote child accounts to adult ones and change the Passport account associated with your Live ID. Under 18s will also be able to use Messenger through Live now.

EDIT - More info on the video playback changes.

11-30-2007, 12:13 PM	#3
The Benny (Macho) Complainer of the year Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: England Posts: 1,081	Triple post! Um, Major Nelson has confirmed the details of the Fall Update, or there's a fairly dry, technical list on Xbox.com. Nelson's key points: Xbox Originals - 1200 Microsoft Points per game. Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits – Best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade at permanently reduced prices Inside Xbox – Direct news feed from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard Enhanced online profile – Personalize your profile with an expanded bio, either “Friends Only” or the entire Xbox LIVE community. Expanded Friends List access – Members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members. Enhanced Parental Controls – Family Timer enables parents to set the amount of time their Xbox 360 can be used on a per-day or per-week basis by their children or other members of the household. New video features – Full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support Easy-to-use navigation features – New Game Store button, Video Store button and enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library. Major Nelson has also revealed that they're adding the ability to promote child accounts to adult ones and change the Passport account associated with your Live ID. Under 18s will also be able to use Messenger through Live now. EDIT - More info on the video playback changes. __________________ The poster formerly known as Macho Man! Last edited by The Benny (Macho) : 11-30-2007 at 02:06 PM. Reason: More info.

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