Fall Dashboard Update DELIVERS!!!

[Animalor]

XBox Originals, Friends of Friends(pseudo clan support), limited DivX/xvid from the Dashboard video player, Live Arcade Hits(permanantly reduced price for hit arcade games)

List of new stuffs!
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/syste ... atures.htm

*edit* This caught my eye at the bottom of the update list
Improved Xbox guide performance ~2x
If they pulled this off, I'll be damned impressed.

Dash Update new video playback FAQ
http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/ ... k-faq.aspx

It's going to be an awesome update (and I really hope that the video marketplace launches in Canada with the new Dash).

[Winnow]

That's a monster list of improvements.

While Sony has had to release patches for the last several major games to get them to run properly (Assassins, Orange Box, Rock Band, CoD4), Microsoft has been busy improving things.

I saw .divx support but didn't see xvid. Where did you see that it would have xvid support specifically? They need the same codec support on their Zunes.

Do people really want "friends of friends" lists? I know many have friends from various places. I don't see the point in that. I could see something like "friend groups" being useful though where a VeeshanVault group is created which would be open to everyone in the group. Is that possible on Live?

[Animalor]

An ingenious way of using this would be someone creating a VeeshanVault Silver Account and everyone from the vault adding that account to their friends list.

This way, we would have some sort of logical grouping of accounts.

I kinda wish they would let us create groups within our own friends list(even if they were saved on the console/HDD as opposed to the Gamer Profile.

I might have messed up with xvid but I thought the Major had mentionned it on his blog(I'd link but the site is getting swamped right now.)

Regardless here's the link to a hugely technical FAQ on the new video playback.
http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/ ... k-faq.aspx

*edit* Here's a 10 minute video by GamerScoreBlog of the Fall Update in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKy9OrCt ... 169#379169

[Winnow]

It turns out Xvid is also supported and that you can play these files from a USB drive. To me, the combination of divx/xvid support and USB Thumbdrives is the best addition.

Not everyone networks their 360 beyond connecting to Live (if even that). Being able to slap a few Divx/Xvid movies or TV shows onto your thumbdrive and then stick it into your 360 or take it over to a friend's to watch on their 360 is a huge move in making life easy for people.

With cheap 8 and 16GB thumbdrives now, you can take your entertainment, music, movies, etc with you on your keychain. It's especially good for those that whine about watching movies on their PCs and are too lazy or stupid to network things (which is more useful than ever now that divx/xvid is supported).

Kids don't have to worry about converting their porn and it being discovered on their 360 or PC now. They can keep their dirty stuff on thumbdrives and just pop it in when the coast is clear. Life is so easy for kids these days.

Here's the scoop on the video part of he update: (very nice, clear FAQ)

http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/ ... k-faq.aspx

Some highlights:

9. What are the different ways to play video content on Xbox 360?

You can play video from a USB 2.0 FAT32 removable drive, optical media, and by streaming from the Zune software, Windows Media Player 11, or Windows Home Server.

12. What size USB storage device does the Xbox 360 support?

The Xbox 360 will support as big of a storage device as you can format using FAT32. Unfortunately when formatting a device in Windows Vista or Windows XP you will be restricted to a maximum FAT32 size of 32GB. You can work around this limitation by using a 3rd party utility or using an alternative Operating System that does not have this restriction. Please note that the maximum size of any single file on FAT32 is 4GB.

It looks like there's support for multi part video files so if you have an HD file larger then 4GB, breaking it up isn't an issue.

**15. What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile. These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files. Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4. Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc). The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file.

16. Why don’t some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0.

This should only be a minor issue (supporting Divx 5+ only)

**18. Does the Xbox 360 support video artwork when browsing my collection from a USB 2.0 FAT32 removable drive or optical media?

For all video types we will search for a corresponding .jpg file and use that as the artwork. For example video1.avi would display the artwork in video1.jpg if it existed. In the absence of this file, for the mp4 container, we will search if the video file has embedded album artwork and display that instead. Please note you cannot use this method when streaming from Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune PC software. See question number 21 for more information.

I think that's a nice touch, being able to make the videos look good with thumbnails on the 360 if you wish when viewing external videos.

[Funkmasterr]

I haven't messed around with it too much yet, but there are a lot of subtle differences in how menus are and how things are displayed that I actually like. The friends of friends thing is cool too, I just set mine so that only my friends can view that info right away. I haven't got to mess with the video playback at all yet, but I'll do that at some point today.

[Animalor]

Video playback worked great for me. All the media I had worked great except for the subtitles that didn't display with Pan's Labyrinth.

I'm a bit irked that when you choose video from the Media blade that you get the HDD that comes up automatically and have to hit X to choose other media sources. I can live with the change however.

Inside XBox doesn't work in Canada. I was kinda bummed about that one.

Aside from that it's a very solid update. The placement of just about everything seems very intuitive and easy to navigate.

Ooh Another thing I with the Marketplace would do is add Themes and Gamerpics that are free to the free stuff area.

[Funkmasterr]

Yeah I didn't like the whole having to hit X thing to switch source either, but it's definitely not anything major

The inside Xbox was kinda cool actually, bummer it doesn't work for you in Canadia

[*~*stragi*~*]

so i can watch my downloaded HD rips of heros in HD on my hd tv or does it not work like that

[Winnow]

so i can watch my downloaded HD rips of heros in HD on my hd tv or does it not work like that

You should be able to watch those as long as they're in one of the supported formats which covers most of the common ones used these days.

[*~*stragi*~*]

edit again
ok i think i have it and it shows a bunch of new folders but it says there is no media in the video folders which is pretty odd
do i have to make the zune software the default player for xbox to see the files?

[*~*stragi*~*]

and now it's back to saying video sharing isn't enabled
i uninstalled shitty zune software and got it working with wmp 11

[Animalor]

Is it my imagination or is the Divx playback in the dashboard being upconverted even though it's via component? I mean I realise that MS isn't bound to the DVD upconversion regulations via component since it isn't coming from disk and all... (the max upconversion you can do to a DVD via component is 420p).

My daughter was watching Flushed Away streamed from my PC last night and I swear that it looked a hell of a lot better and crisper through the dash than it did when it was run through Transcode360 in the Media Center Extender.

It also looked to be a much sharper picture than the other SD content I usually get on my TV.

[Winnow]

I've been reading comments on 360 forums and people have been very happy with the divx/xvid, and update in general. The only thing it doesn't do is support external subtitles. They have to be encoded within the main file. Microsoft converted quite a few people with this update. There are multiple posts from people saying the divx/xvid support was the deciding factor in buying an Xbox 360.

Microsoft may be having it's PR problems with Vista but it's been doing great things with the 360. Whether you like the 360 or not, this addition of divx/xvid support should spur the other people to support it (Sony/Apple) If those Apple non codec supporting losers would add divx/xvid to their ipods, I might hate them a little less.

[Boogahz]

It might be lighter than in the US, but at least there will be something available in Canada, and Europe, next Tuesday!

Xbox Live Video Marketplace to launch a little lightweight in Canada, Europe

For over a year, the Xbox Live Video Marketplace offers Xbox 360 owners nearly immediate access to a wide variety of television shows and movies, some of which in high-definition, making for an accessible and convenient video download service – unless of course you live outside the U.S.

Xbox 360 users in Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Germany will finally get to check out what their American counterparts have been spending their Microsoft Points on since launch in November 2006.

According to GamesIndustry, films available at launch include 300, Clash of the Titans, Demolition Man, Mars Attacks!, The Matrix Trilogy and more. The rental charge for standard definition films is 250 MS Points, while the high-definition version commands 380 MS Points. Interestingly, the prices are lower than the 320/480 MS Points level for the U.S. Xbox Live Video Marketplace, though Joystiq proposes that the difference in pricing reflects the current strength of the Euro.

Pricing for Canadian Xbox 360 users will be 310 MS Points for older films, 440 MS points for newer releases, with HD versions going for 460 points and 660 points, respectively, according to Canoe.ca’s Load This blog.

Sadly, the Xbox Live Video Marketplace for Canada and Europe will pale in comparison to the breadth of content available to U.S. customers. While the U.S. has access to hundreds of TV series and movies, the Marketplace available in the new territories will be made up of only about 35 films.

Those outside the U.S. will just have to be content with the small selection of movies, at least for now. “We don’t have any answers right now, but as with the movies we’re always evaluating every opportunity,” Scott Nocas, global marketing manager for Xbox Live Marketplace, said to Canoe.ca. “We thought, ‘Let’s focus on the best experience with a really popular offering, and then we can roll out other content as we go along.’”

[*~*stragi*~*]

I've been reading comments on 360 forums and people have been very happy with the divx/xvid, and update in general. The only thing it doesn't do is support external subtitles. They have to be encoded within the main file. Microsoft converted quite a few people with this update. There are multiple posts from people saying the divx/xvid support was the deciding factor in buying an Xbox 360.

Microsoft may be having it's PR problems with Vista but it's been doing great things with the 360. Whether you like the 360 or not, this addition of divx/xvid support should spur the other people to support it (Sony/Apple) If those Apple non codec supporting losers would add divx/xvid to their ipods, I might hate them a little less.

I also encountered issues where the sound codec wasn't supported but the video codec was which is a little bit annoying, but I am very happy with the update. I watched stuff pretty much all last night and it was awesome getting to sit in my recliner and relax. I suggest everyone who is using normal XP use WMP11 instead of the fucking Zune software; WMP doesn't sit in the background 100% of the time eating up 40 megs of memory and works right off the bat. Zune was randomly sharing and unsharing my xbox and stuff kept disapearing out of my media library.

[Sabek]

Best feature of this Xbox Live update without a doubt is the ability to change the Live ID associated with your Gamertag.