The new Xbox dashboard update is due to go live across the world , and a fortunate number of gamers have already had about a month or so to play around with all the new settings, and get familiar with the new look and loads of new features.
The most striking difference is the new feel – it’s been designed to look like the Metro UI for Windows Phone, and features a number of tiles (or blocks) in each section. It’s a refreshing design, and something that gamers should take to immediately.
The layout has also made it easier for players to jump straight into a game, as all they have to do now is simply press A and the game in the tray will load.
Instead of having blades like in the past, it now features tabs, which work rather well. These tabs consists of the Home screen, Social, Games, Music, Apps, Settings and Video. The European design is slightly different to the American one, but the functions are essentially the same.
The Home screen is where the real business will take place and it here where gamers will start a new game. While the screen is divided into five blocks, the game in the tray will show in a different block, depending if gamers are connected to Xbox Live at the time. If not connected, the game in the tray will occupy the large square in the middle. If connected, it will shift to the upper left-hand tile.
The rest of tiles will be populated by advertisements or content that is available from the Xbox Live Marketplace. As a small Easter egg, players should pay attention to when the Xbox reaches the dashboard, as the player’s avatar will vigorously wave and shoot over to the next tab on the right.
The Friends tab, which should be one to the right, is where gamers will be able to see who on their friends list is online. It will show the three most recently-online friends and also what they are playing (and indicate if there game is joinable).
It works well, and provides a quick way to interact with them. The other friends can still be accessed by simply selecting the appropriate tile, and users can also use the tab to sign in and out of specific profiles.
While browsing through the tabs, it’s still possible to make use of Premium Xbox Themes, but they might become a thing of the past. Only the upper half is visible, and while most themes had different images for different sections, the new dashboard only features one image. An avatar’s pet (for example) has also mysteriously disappeared, only to be visible in a handful of places.
Speaking of friends, one of the biggest additions is the creation of beacons. They act as signposts, letting friends instantly know that gamers are playing a specific game and would like anybody to join them. In example, a gamer can set up a beacon for Battlefield 3 and add a personalised message saying “I want you to join my game”. As soon as other users log into their Live account, the beacon will show on their screen. The beacon will also remain there until the user manually removes it. A quick-share option has also been added to achievements, so users will now be able to share their most prized accomplishments through Facebook and Twitter.
A lot of gamers also hoped for the addition of cloud storage, and luckily Microsoft made it possible. Once activated in the settings, users will receive around 511MB of cloud storage space, which can be used to save profiles or save game. This comes in real handy when players would like to continue their progress on a different console, or play at a friend’s house. Naturally the cloud storage can only be access if the user is connected to the internet.
In terms of added featured, the new dashboard also allows users to add a password to their profile when copied to a different storage device, and passwords can also be added for Xbox Live. This is a great feature, as parents can restrict their children’s online play, and also prevent unwanted purchases.
To the far left of all the tabs, gamers will find the new Bing search function. But before players get too excited about having a browser on their Xbox, it’s only used to search for Xbox Live Marketplace content and games already on the user’s system. No internet search just yet.
There are a host of other functions that users will have to discover on their own, as part of the fun of a new dashboard update is searching for and locating hidden features, functionality and new options.
The new dashboard does make the Xbox a slight bit faster, and it’s very easy to just sit and browse around all the new stuff. The design looks really well, and the layout is clean and simple. The button sounds have been changed as well, but that was to be expected.
Overall, the update is very user-friendly and it shouldn’t take gamers a long time to figure out what they want to do. Try to examine every screen and spot the subtle changes – it’s extremely rewarding to go digging behind the packaging to see what it can actually do (especially with the new Kinect functionality).
Charlie Fripp – Acting Online editor
