Xbox 360 Fall Update – 4th December 2007

Updated 3rd December, 2007

Xbox.com Australian General Discussion Official Thread

   Long awaiting and highly anticipated, the latest Dashboard Update for the Xbox 360 is only just around the corner. So far, there have been only a few features announced with (hopefully) many more on the way. As the announcements have been progressive, I’ll keep this article updated as a tally of sorts, to give you the latest known updates to have been announced.

The running tally -

• Xbox Orginals
• Friends of Friends
• Various Dashboard Changes (Announced by MS Japan)
• Final Fall Update Features (@ Major Nelson’s blog)
• Final Fall Update Fixes (@ Major Nelson’s blog)
• Fall Update Video Playback FAQ (@ the Xbox Team blog)

Xbox Originals

Official page here @ Xbox.com

Have you ever wanted to play an original Xbox title, only to have difficulty finding it in the, now over populated, second hand market? Microsoft has revealed plans (not unlike the current option on the Nintendo Wii) to release Original Xbox titles over XboxLive electronically – for a fee of course.

Although no additional features as such will be added – including in game messaging and achievements, this is still a welcomed addition to XBL and I will be looking forward to those titles, such as KOTOR, to be added to this list moving forward.

Lucky 13 X has posted a brief rundown on what features to expect from the Xbox Originals feature. The first titles to grace our HDD’s this December are -

• Burnout 3: Takedown
• Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex
• Crimson Skies
• Fable
• Fuzion Frenzy
• Halo
• Psychonauts

Friends of Friends

Official Press Release here @ Xbox.com

With social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook becoming the norm now, Microsoft have come to the table with a new feature, allowing more interactivity between members and friends of friends. Now you’ll be able to check out the friends list of other XBL members, opening up doors that were previously closed to you and encouraging further interaction with people you didn’t know you knew.

Obviously when it comes to private areas, such as your friends list, you will have the option (depending on your age) to open (either to everyone or just those on your friends list) or close (completely block this feature) it. This feature won’t be for everyone, although I can see the appeal to those members already neck deep in sites like Facebook.

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)

My biggest worry with this feature stems from the (still limited) 100 member friends list. Now that Microsoft have given the community a way to find each other, there should be an extension, as anyone familiar with MySpace would know, 100 friends just isn’t enough.

One sidenote that Major Nelson added on his blog was in response to the “Child Accounts stuck to those over 18″ issue is a warm welcome to the noise around the community for this restricting flaw in XboxLive. I’ll post an update once there are further details of this fix.

Edit: Regarding those who have child accounts but who are now over 18..we are very aware of this and we are working on the technology to properly ‘graduate’ your account (the official term.) We’ll have details on this very soon – Link

Various Dashboard Changes (as announced by MS Japan)

Report by Joystiq – here

It seems that a small gathering of press were privilege to an announcement made by Microsoft Japan this week. There were some changes announced to reorganise and reshuffle some menu layout items in both the Games and Marketplace blade – adding in the Microsoft Zune’s “twist” menu layout.

As well as the renaming of the various menu options in these blade, the other notable changes are -

• “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

Both these changes are very welcome. First of all – the “Personal Profile” section added will allow gamers to add in a short description of who they are as they normally would on any other social networking site. This will compliment the already announced “Friends of Friends” function, allowing further interaction between XBL Members.

Also – the clearance of XBLA Demos from the Played Games and Gamercard lists is in response to the cries of many a gamer, hoping to rid their Gamercard of any 0% completed games. I welcome this as an act of house cleaning my Microsoft, however, many will herald in the raise of their game completion rate as part of their gamerscore.

Final Fall Update Features

Report by Major Nelson – here

Xbox Originals – With this new service, announced on Nov. 13, consumers can download-to-own full original Xbox games that were previously only available at retail. The digital shelves will always be stocked with classic titles, such as “Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex” “Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge,” “Halo,” “Fable,” “Fuzion Frenzy,” “Psychonauts,” and more as the catalogue grows over time, at 1200 Microsoft Points per game.

Xbox LIVE Arcade Hits – On Xbox LIVE Arcade, the Arcade Hits program kicks off where some of the best selling Xbox LIVE Arcade games will become available at permanently reduced prices, making it easier than ever for everyone to build a library of downloadable games! The first games to become Arcade Hits will be “Bankshot Billiards 2” and “Lumines LIVE,” which will be available for 800 Microsoft Points each, and “Marble Blast Ultra,” “Small Arms” and “Zuma Deluxe,” which will be available for 400 Microsoft Points each. With free trial downloads for every game and over 100 games to choose from, Xbox LIVE Arcade offers something for every member of the family.

Inside Xbox – A new direct feed brings current news straight from Xbox.com into the Xbox LIVE Dashboard providing members an easy, predictable entry point where they can discover what’s new in game releases, events, and Xbox LIVE Marketplace offers. (It will also feature brief weekly segments from myself, TriXie, Games Editor Denny Atkin, and SoozyQ.)

Enhanced online profile – Members interested in sharing a few more details about themselves will have the option to go beyond their motto and further personalize their profile with an expanded bio. The extended bios will be visible to “Friends Only” or the entire Xbox LIVE community.

Expanded Friends List access – A quick and easy way for gamers to expand their personal community on Xbox LIVE, members will be able to see the Friends Lists of other Xbox LIVE members, boosting their social networking experience on the service.

Enhanced Parental Controls – Family Timer, a strong and flexible new addition to the Xbox 360 Family Settings, 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 – The convenience of full-screen movie previews and enhanced video codec support further expand the options when it comes to the Xbox 360 entertainment experience.
Easy-to-use navigation features – With several noteworthy changes in the Xbox LIVE Dashboard, from the new Game Store button to the Video Store button to enhanced visuals and descriptions in the video library, Xbox LIVE members can find what they want, when they want it.

Above are the main features and descriptions of some of the more general updates announced for the December Fall Update – for a more indepth listing including all fixes and new codecs supported – head here.

Final Fall Update Fixes

Report by Major Nelson – here

Very very welcomed by many XboxLive members globally – are the 2 main fixes announced for the Fall Update 2007. First, you can now “promote” your child account to an 18+ account. Second, you can now also change the Windows LIVE ID associated with your gamertag, previously not even a function that Microsoft could specially organize.

Fall Update Video Playback FAQ

XboxTeam blog – here.

With the new additions to supported codecs on the Xbox 360, the XboxTeam have created this FAQ to list (in detail) all the supported codecs/input devices and compatiblities with the new Dashboard Update. If any of your Xbox 360 experience involves media, take the time to read through this as it will answer most (if not all) of your questions about the video side of the update.

For more info – check out the above link or head here for the official Xbox.com listing. Finally – Joystiq’s article is an interesting read and goes into the feature in detail. One piece there mentions the 100 friends limit – although Microsoft are aware of the limitation and are looking to increase it in the future, there are no such plans in this update.

All I can say is – on the 4th of December many gamers around the world sporting a big will definately turn that frown upsidedown.

Filed under: 1st Party Titles, Console gaming, Hardware News, Microsoft Games, New Xbox 360 Games, Xbox 360 3rd Party Games Tagged: | Dashboard, Fall Update, Friends of Friends, Microsoft, Xbox 360 News1, Xbox Originals