Xbox 360 User Interface Revealed 78
Eric writes "BetaNews has some screenshots up of the new Xbox 360 user interface, which appears to be greatly refined over the original Xbox Dashboard. The new UI can be customized by the user and offers access to four main screens: System, Games, Media and Xbox Live. The big focus seems to be on tying Xbox Live into all aspects of the console, be it gaming or entertainment. Consequently, Xbox 360 will ship out of the box with a free Xbox Live Silver-level subscription."
Temporary UI (Score:3, Insightful)
I hope that MS learned from the modchips of the past to find out that people want to fully harness the power of the machine, and not be limited to playing only XBox games on it. If they provided a dashboard that allowed for more customization, or the installation of emulators that would be great. I don't ever see that happening.
I'll probably wait to get the new xbox until Team Xecuter figures out the new platform.
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1, Insightful)
?
You hoped that they would give the box and games away for free of course, and maybe line up so you could smack them with a bat just for kicks, but alas, they didn't. What a woefully unenlightened company. Seriously, they do not care about the
G
Re:Temporary UI (Score:2)
Non-pirate Reasons for Modding an X-Box
1. Replace a failed DVD drive (which happens at a shocking rate on the X-Box) with an inexpensive, industry-standard DVD drive instead of buying inflated X-Box specific hardware.
2. Run Linux on it to use as a general-purpose computer system.
3. Use it as a TV media console.
4. Make back-ups of your game media which can be used if the originals are damaged.
5. Inspire "Imagine a Beowulf Cluster" trolls.
6. Expand the hardware add-on options.
7. "Ov3rcl0x0r, b4
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
Not Playstation discs, not shady ROMs, and certainly not uncertified third-party software. It sounds like you're expecting for MS to start making some sort of general purpose PCs.
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
Why would Microsoft learn from mod chips? Especially not in a positive way, as far as the modders are concerned. Microsoft are in the business to make money, and they do that by selling games. Xbox Games. They don't make any money from PS2 games someone tries to play on a modded Xbox, so they aren't going to make it nice and easy t
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
If you're going to hack up your Xbox, just keep it off Live, and you'll be set. If you want to play Live, get an unmodded one.
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
To be honest, something akin to the hardware hashes that Windows Activation uses should be put in place. Then, every time the user connects, the server queries the Xbox and allows connectio
Re:Temporary UI (Score:4, Insightful)
Not only should Microsoft not stand in the way of your piracy, they should make piracy easier on the 360! Yes, that makes perfect sense...
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
My point is that MS might actually reduce the amount of modding by giving us features we seek out in the modchips. Obviously they aren't going to support hacked games, but sup
Re:Temporary UI (Score:2)
Percentage of modders who mod their Xbox to pirate games:
98%
Percentage of modders who mod their Xbox to use Japanese-locale games or a media center:
2%
Percentage of the former who play pirated ROMs or MP3s with the mod chip:
1.5%
Re:Temporary UI (Score:1)
Re:Temporary UI (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:1)
2004 Superbowl day they had a message in there to play xbox during halftime. I read that and I played my xbox (new then) during halftime( I distinctly remember I played TopSpin).
I will never forget the message that made me miss the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:1)
All of this is targeted at teens that play video games and will rack up the bill on Mommy's credit card. Who wants to als
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Most Xbox owners fall in the 20-30 year old age range.
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:1)
True, but the majority of the 20-30 year olds probably don't impulse buy things just because a flashy graphic pops up. A 14 year old might just purchase the game without caring that a parent is going to get billed. It's kind of like all of the cigarette ads. They might not be targeted directly at teens (even though they really are), but teens are the most impacted by them because older individuals already have formed an opinion one way or the othe
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Parents who cede that sort of control to their children utterly deserve everything they get.
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Cable companies. (Score:1)
I hate those damn things, in fact, my cable company used to have them right in the show info banner itself! Unfortunately, looks like they are here to stay. I wish it wasnt so.
Re:Cable companies. (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
What's that? You mean you want to buy a machine with equal performance for MORE money?
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:5, Insightful)
Is that a banner ad, or is it an 'informative message.'
I would go with the 'informative message' myself.
When I am on a website that sells shoes, and they have a 'see our new stuff' button, I don't see it as advertising. I see it as a convenient way to find ou what new products they have at their store.
I'm already there, I've already expressed interest...I just want to find stuff.
I don't want to sort through a list of all of the Xbox Live Arcade games just to see if there is anything new- it is so much easier when they tell me about it...
On the other hand, here we are at Slashdot...right now I have a huge Vonage banner at the top of my screen. I am not interested in Vonage, nor does Vonage have anything to do with this section of Slashdot...but I keep coming back.
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2, Redundant)
It's Microsoft, so everybody's on a witch hunt to find anything that's wrong with it. If it were Sony or Nintendo, everybody'd be jumping up and down at the implication that game teasers and demos would be avabilable through their on-line service.
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
You can honestly tell me that when a MS story comes along people don't go to stupid extremes to describe how what they're doing is wrong?
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
The banner ad in the image shown by the grandparent (which I doubt you looked at) is actually a graphic advertising a new addition to a service you are already paying for. It's the best way to find out about new features on the service.
To me, it's not an advertisement if you're already paying for it. It's an informational message telling
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:1)
Re:Oh GAWD. (Score:2)
Because we all know how badly StarCraft turned out.
Themes (Faces) (Score:1)
Someone scoring geekpoints... (Score:5, Funny)
Either MS is wanting to suck up to the /. crowd, or they are anticipating really bad virus problems this time round.
Re:Someone scoring geekpoints... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Someone scoring geekpoints... (Score:1)
You forgot pirate [penny-arcade.com]:
Re:Someone scoring geekpoints... (Score:2)
Who Spends Time in the Interface? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a nice interface, clean lines and all that, but the thing I notice most about interfaces in video game consoles is that you want to spend as little time as possible in them.
You want to get to the game, after all.
Re:Who Spends Time in the Interface? (Score:2)
Re:Who Spends Time in the Interface? (Score:2)
You don't want the interface while watching a DVD or using the machine for some video function. There's probably a remote for that, and that's a better interface than any on-screen one. You don't want it while playing games, although connecting to game servers will require it. You don't want it while listening to music, as it's good, but not *that* pretty - there'll be a
Gag (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm not opposed at all to being able to acquire and even pay for new content. I've played enough Blizzard games to be familiar with the concept of the expansion pack. It's more some lurking fear about how Microsoft will implement what wou
Re:Gag (Score:1)
Re:Gag (Score:3, Insightful)
If you take a look at the downloads
Re:Gag (Score:2)
1) Halo 2 isn't the first game to charge for premium content. I think MechAssault was the first, but I may be wrong.
2) As with almost everything people whine about on Slashdot, if you don't like it-- don't buy it! If a lot of people don't like it, it will go away. If a lot of people do like it, it'll stick around and you'll be in the minority. Sorry, that's just how a free market works.
Gag Revised (Score:1)
1) I do in fact realize the maps will be made free via Microsoft's Xbox Live service in a few months. It is notable that you have to pay for the Live service or ~$20 for the physical manifestation appearing in stores.
2) Concerning the tweaks and balances of Blizzard, those are availible for free without any additional cost save for what you already pay for an internet connection. I am not informed as to whether one can download t
Anyone have a 360 to PS3 side by side comparison? (Score:1)
Re:Anyone have a 360 to PS3 side by side compariso (Score:1)
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/617/617951p1.html [ign.com]
It's IGN, though, so take this with a measure of salt -- the individual articles at AnandTech are much better.
Re:Anyone have a 360 to PS3 side by side compariso (Score:2)
CPU power; Both platforms are going to deliver a huge leap in power, but the cell is going to deliver more, and it's looking like a lot more.
GPU;Tough call. The PS3's Nvidia claims "twice the performance of two 6800 Ultras", and doesn't talk pipelines, the 360 says 48 pipelines + USA, whatever that means for performance. Both will look amazing, and I think the killer games this generation will be more about pushing physics and simulation than graphics.
I/O; The PS
Re:The X-Box has an interface? (Score:2)
The XBox interface is useful when you want to use it to listen to some music or to edit settings. The Gamecube also has an interface which appears if you turn it on without a disc in the machine. You ca
Re:The X-Box has an interface? (Score:1)
Re:The X-Box has an interface? (Score:2)
Re:The X-Box has an interface? (Score:2)
The Xbox also has network settings, but they're only there for enviroments that don't use DHCP, or need a specific MAC address.
Jeff Minter! (Score:2, Insightful)
HELL YEAH!
Jeff Minter is doing the things, and with what he's done on the Jag and the Nuon platform with lightsynths and trippy effects, it's safe to say that the visualizations on the 360 will be nothing like the poor things on the Xbox. They're sure to be amazing displays, and I'm really looking forward to them!
I think I used my JagCD more for the visualizations than for gaming...
Any PlayStation3 UI Screenshots? (Score:1, Offtopic)
PS3? Riiiiight... (Score:1)
Another link (Score:1)
http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?
Xbox360 == Modded Xbox 1? (Score:1)