XBox 360 firmware update next week!
 

Apparently the plan is to update the 360 firmware twice a year, with the first update being next week. It can be downloaded through Live, with the possibility for it to be on discs later. It applies itself directly to the 360's flash memory, so you don't need the HDD or a memory unit to download this update. Among the things it does are (things that I personally feel needed changing are bolded):

Marketplace/Download Enhancements

• One of the things they're adding is a new Media and Entertainment section, which contains sections such as:
  • New Releases
  • All Media and Entertainment
  • Movie Trailers and Short Films
  • Television, Music, Sports and More
  • Gaming Community Videos
  • Game Tips and Support Videos
  • Optional iPod Support.
• Game trailers and movie trailers are being separated into their own separate categories.
• Gamerpictures and themes are being separated into separate pages.
• Game demos will be searchable by genre and various other criteria.
• BACKGROUND DOWNLOADING. The update will FINALLY allow you to download things from the Marketplace without having to stare at that godforsaken download screen. You'll be able to queue up 6 downloads at a time, with the downloads automatically stopping when you start to play a game online, and according to Microsoft, this doesn't slow down the system at all.
• When downloading things like trailers, demos, and arcade games, you're now able to head straight to the demo/trailer/whatever when you hit the Guide button while the message that says "Download complete" is showing, instead of being shunted to the menu screen and having to press 50,000 buttons.

Media Enhancements

• Preserve folders on your memory cards when you transfer them to the 360, and slight changes to the slideshow functionality.
• DVD Bookmarking. This allows the 360 to remember where you left off on a DVD and start back up at that same spot when you boot the DVD up again.
• When browsing through your music, the system will remember where you were last.
• Booting a new game or going back to the dashboard will no longer stop your custom soundtrack and require you to boot it up again.
• Downloaded videos can now be fast forwarded, rewound, and such.

Interface/General XBox Live Enhancements

• You can now choose to have the system always boot to the dashboard, even when a game is inserted in the drive.
• When your system is idle for 15 minutes, you are now listed on the friends list as "idle".
• Some things relating to the camera have been added, even though the camera doesn't come out until September.
  • Video chat
  • Apparently you'll be able to take a picture of yourself and use it as your gamerpicture.
• The ability to set two separate gamerpictures, one for people on your friends list and one for everyone else, is being added.

And just for emphasis, here's my favorite part of this whole update:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...s/2ab771a6.jpg

There's no release date as of yet, but it's apparently at some time next week. It takes around a minute according to Microsoft to download and to install.

I just have one comment:

WHERE'S GROUP VOICE CHAT?

Definitely looking forward to this. Microsoft will just keep adding to this great service. In the future, you will think it can't get better and then BANG they will release something else.

There may have been a reason for only two people in a chatroom. It had something to do with people cheating in multiplayer games or something. This was not what Microsoft said, but something I heard. I can't remember the specifics.

I like this a LOT. I prefer to go to the dashboard before the game loads.

Yeah, I'm also happy with the boot to dash option. Any other game console it's unnecessary, but with all the shit to do in the 360 dash it's just better not to auto-play anything.

Me three.

All of those updates sounds great. I like how they're making folders on the Market place. I hate wandering through a mysterious jumble of things before finding that exact thing I'm looking for.
/props

Sounds like a nice update, that whole background downloading thing was probably the most common complaint I heard about Xbox Live. I didn't expect as many other updates though, they must've been keeping this project under wraps for a while now. Now if they can make a few updates to their backwards compatability, that would be icing on the cake.

What happens if you update the firmware and something interupts it though (power failure, reading error, etc.)? Is there a way to recover it from that, or are you basically screwed like you would be on a PC?

They haven't said anything about that, but I did read that they'll eventually have it pre-loaded on game discs, so I'm assuming when you buy newer games (or even newer pressings of games) once they start doing that, you'll automatically get the update downloaded.

Well, if Solis's concerns take place, the 360 would be bricked and you wouldn't be able to update the thing any other way, so later games having the update would be kinda pointless in his case. I dunno though. Maybe there is a countermeasure or some kind to prevent accidents like that.

On a side note though, having the update on later discs would be a good way to prevent piracy and other modifications. Worked for the PSP to some extent.

I'm stoked about most of the features in this but I don't like the fact that you can't turn off the DVD bookmarking feature. DVD bookmarking is a plague and annoying as hell. >=(

The same thing was true to a certain extent on original xbox. The Dashboard software went through about 5 revisions. It didn't update the firmware, though. You were never told that it had happened, I don't think. It was one way for MS to beat the pirates, because most of the softmods stopped working on later dashboards.

Any updates on this? I have not logged onto Xbox Live yet.

No update on this just yet, I've been wondering that myself.

Fuck you MS and your never making a fucking release date. AIAOOAISDFJ.

This is depressing a tad bit, because all the new and interesting stuff hasn't been making it on time or isn't even scheduled for another month. Practically no new full fledged games and the good arcade stuff and feature updates being pushed back, it's making me us the 360 for very little outside of voice chat.

Damn summer gaming doldrums. ;_;

Has anyone else not been able to connect since last night?

I was just connected as I was watching an episode of Stargate and sent BZ a message, so it's up and running for me. It's also running for Ani and Tube, since I saw them online as well.

Probably your internet again.

Does anyone know if, once the update is released, new 360 consoles will come with it pre-installed? Look slike I won't be able to afford one until at least september (£600 car repair bill fucked me over a bit) and I don't want to spend the first day of ownership downloading stuff...

It wouldn't take a day to download all the updates. Maybe like 10 minutes.

Double Post:
P.S.

It's "Xbox" not "XBox".

Took me literally 2 minutes, probably add a minute or 2 when he new update comes out.

That's not technically answering my question but I'll at least rest easy now knowing when I get a 360 I'll be up and running in no more than 4 minutes.

Sorry in regards to it being pre installed, yes Microsoft should do, but of course I'd give it a month after the release of the update to make sure all exisiting old firmware 360's have gone through the market and for the shops to get the new firmware one's in stock. It doesn't take long for it to update once you have downloaded the firmware, it went smoothly without any crashes or errors, hopefully that will be the same for the upcomming update.

Although in saying all of that when I got my 360 3 days ago I did have to download an XBox update while my friend didn't which was probably because the store where I bought mine from probably had the older firmware one's in stock. But by September the 360's should have the new firmware I'd be somewhat surprised if they didn't.

All in all setting up my 360 took 5 minutes, the only problem was Zone Alarm and Xbox Live not playing nicely together which took an additional 15 minutes to fix after a call to Microsoft for what ports to open to get an open 'NAT' as I'd get disconnected from most games.

Also may I suggest Shin you buy your Xbox from GAME as they have a premium plus 2 games for £320 which means you get both games for around £25 each instead of £40. The problem is that they don't let you choose which games and there are like 6 combinations but you can always trade in one of the 2 games and get the premium plus one game for £295, plus who knows by September you may even see a price drop.

I'd probably go to GAME anyway. My reward card keeps wearing out from overuse and I think they owe me a tenner or so at the moment.

Now all I have to do is find £300 from somewhere... ;_;

So....yeah. Still nothin'. Has anyone heard any sort of update on this thing's release or is everyone still as confused as I am.

Damn this is getting aggrivating.

Yup, looks like it comes out tomorrow: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/press/2006...ingrelease.htm

It contains over 125 features and tweaks: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/press/2006...e-features.htm

Not bad at all, looks like a pretty solid upgrade.

Ok then, that's a concrete date. Let's hope they stick to it this time. Thanks for the link.

Solid upgrade, that is an unbelievabely HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE upgrade.

Man I actually am most excited for all the music upgrades personally, but the more improvements the better.

Awesome that Microsoft finally released their own list of crap that's gonna get added in the update. It's irritating that they don't do that more often. I really hate downloading an update for a game and not knowing what exactly I just updated.

I've just downloaded the patch, and while I'm sure that I'm not gonna notice most of the fixes, some of them are obvious. I like the All Arcade Games for exampel. Now I'd just wait for several things worth downloading so I can try out the Download manager...

I'm loving the update it only took one minute and you can notice some of the major features like background downloading and boot to dash make a big difference.

Hell, I just downloaded two

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDGE RACER

trailers to try out the download manager.

My favorite parts are:

• The download manager, of course.
• BOOT TO DASH. OH GOD MICROSOFT HAVE MY BABIES THANK YOU FOR BOOT TO DASH.
• Putting the themes button in the Console Settings menu. Makes a shitton more sense for it to be there.
• Reorganizing the Marketplace and Arcade downloads so they make sense and are easy to browse.
• Remembering my volume setting, AND letting me carry over music between games and the dashboard. SO awesome.

There's one thing that bugs me, though. The shuffle button on the guide player feels backwards to me. The button apparently does shuffle when the icon is displaying something that doesn't look like shuffle. I hate it when buttons do that, I want it to display what the button is doing now, not what pushing the button changes the function to.

That's just a minor gripe, though, and one I'm sure to get used to thanks to the fact that it REMEMBERS MY SETTINGS. Now if I could just get the damn thing to load all the songs off of my computer a little bit faster...

Overall, Microsoft I think is really proving that they know what the fuck they're doing. NOW START UPDATING US ON GAME UPDATES MORE! ARJAGIOJASDIOFJAKLDJIO!

So, the update would take obvious precedence over any people playing halo 2 on 360. Or any game for that matter. It does not have a mind of its own to please Devo at all times, it is making the service better overall. Why get mad at having problems during a time where probably most of the populaton east coast is asleep.

For some odd reason, after the update my Zen Micro no longer is being recognized. :eyebrow: Good thing this is going back to Texas in a few days. :)

Why? What's in Texas?

The Microsoft repair center, just waiting on the prepaid sticker and box/coffin from MSFT. It should arrive sometime this week.

***Downloaded videos can now be fast forwarded, rewound, and such.***

So now we can fast forward and rewind video's? ZOMFG!!! I've always wanted this *sigh*... yet we can't fast forward and rewind music? :eyebrow: That's gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I've always wanted to rewind and fast forward the music I play on my 360 but there's no option to do that. In fact, that is something that should have been possible from the very start. This simply proves how cheesy they were when putting this machine together. Maybe it's the remote I use?

*Alrighty, let's just throw in a generic sound player and I think we'll be ready to ship it off 7:00am tomorrow!*

I swear I don't whos stupider, Microsoft or Sony.

The only "fast forwarding" you should really need for music is just skipping tracks.

Otherwise, just sit through the song.

I would agree with you if I were an average listener. It was thoughtful of them to add this function for videos, but music is prime and should of had forward/rewind from the beginning.

Let me ask you something man. How often do you find yourself simply sitting in front of your tv listening to music on your 360? Do you not have a computer? Or a CD player or something? I have to say that it is really strange for your primary music player to be a gaming console.

I have to admit, though, that sometimes I am guilty of thinking that others are governed by the same level of logic and by comparable levels of common sense that I am, so forgive me if I wrong to assume this of you.

Is it completely illogical to think that maybe some people have their 360 connected to a nice surround system and prefer listening to music on that over their dinky computer speakers or $1 CD player headphones.

Is it completely illogical to think that if someone shelled out the cash for a nice surround system, they would also shell out the cash for something more than a gaming console through which to play their music? If a person cares so much about sound quality as to buy high quality audio equipment, I would find it silly and illogical that the best thing they have to generate sound to push through their high quality audio system is a gaming console. But maybe that is simply flawed common sense speaking.

Also if they cared so much about audio quality, why are they using dinky computer speakers or cheap headphones. This would be counter intuitive.

I'd like to throw out the fact that Ani listens to his music through his 360 because his laptop speakers are broken. Living in res means he can't get a huge sound system. Just throwing this out because there seems to be a valid reason for advanced audio controls on the 360.

ON THE OTHER HAND, russ has a point because the 360 doe not seem like the best solution for a network music player.

If you're listening on an unfiltered digital out, it would sound the same on your audio equipment whether you're playing from a $400 Xbox 360, $50 DVD Player, or $83,000 CD player. Stop digging yourself into a hole.

The point was not how well the console produces the sound, but how versatile an audio player the console is {or isn't, in this case}. The point was that a gaming console is not designed to be an audio player, and is not going to do all the things that a traditional audio player will be capable of doing, which is what this individual apparently expects from his gaming console.

Also I don't think that Microsoft is really going to give some feature like that a high priority rating for all three hundred people on earth who really really want it.

By that logic though, if the lack of fast forward and rewind was upsetting him so much he should just go and spend fifty bucks on a cd player...

It is completely reasonable to be upset that there isn't a fast forward or rewind function for music playback. There is absolutely no reason for them not to have that feature available since they do for video, and having the same for audio would be even easier to implement. "It's not meant to primarily be a music player" is a terrible justification for leaving out such a basic feature.

Oh absolutely, to not have one defies logic really. I'm just saying that rather than get upset about it he could have taken some fairly simple remedial action...

Yes Tube I agree, there are several reasons. I happen to enjoy my 360 very much, and the sound quality is satisfying when I feel like keeping my PC off for a while. http://www.gamingforce.com/forums/im...ons/icon14.gif


@ russ, my point still remains. It would be nice to fast forward and rewind your music on your Xbox 360; period. Anything that plays music for that matter should have this. It shouldn't even be a question.

Double Post:
I agree, another one of my points. It's not even about the music right now. It's the fact that they haven't added that from the start which sort of makes me wonder. What if I decide I want to play a song during CoD2 and I want to simply fast forward a part I don't like? I mean, come on. Hello

Double Post:
And you think I have't already tooken remedial action? That's not even the point, sir. The point is they should of had that "basic"... I'm sorry, I mean "Very basic" feature from the get-go. Would you not agree, that one may want to use that handy dandy forward/rewind feature someday? Seeing how I paid so much for the system, I would imagine it's only natural to ask myself this question.

The bottom line is that if Microsoft went through all the trouble to include a music player in the 360 as part of their strategy to make it a multi-media machine, they should at least have such a basic function as intra-track seeking (rewind and fast-forward).

Also, maybe the listener doesn't want to have to go buy/hook-up another CD player just to be able to seek. Has anyone thought about that possibility?

The conversation is moot. I'll be deleting any further replies on the subject (Shin excepted).

And Merv, russ, go back under the bridge already.

Furthermore, this update has allowed custom soundtracks to be used in every backwards compatible game. However, I hear you cannot stream music from your PC to them, only with music on the harddrive. People who play Halo 2 or whatever need to confirm.

Custom soundtracks are not officially supported. You kind of have to cheat by starting up a custom playlist on the dashboard, then putting in an Xbox 1 game. The custom soundtrack will continue to play in addition to the Xbox game's music, so it's not the best "feature" in every case.

In something like Halo 2, where it doesn't really play music most of the time, I can see that being pretty cool.

Speaking of which, does anyone know why, exactly, the Guide can't be accessed while playing an original XBox game? I mean, it's able to put the damn blade over the screen, what's stopping it from letting you do messages and stuff?