Xbox 360 Spring Update Released Tomorrow!

Live We’ve just received a breaking press release from the Microsoft’s Xbox 360 team stating that the Spring update for the console will be tommorrow, 6th June 2006. Together with the release, we have a host of details to tell you about, including some of the 125 huge updates that will be available for Xbox Live connected users. In order to to get the update, your console must be connected to Xbox Live via a broadband connection, on either a Silver or Gold subscription. You do not need to have any disks, or a hard-drive taking use of built in memory dedicated to the running of the console. Downloading of the update takes a mere minute or two.

The update includes features to further unleash the power within your 360. Taking the media offerings, graphics capabilities and online content to a new level. During the long months since the 360’s release, Microsoft constantly listened and shaped things to the gamers’ views. Constant feedback has allowed for these updates, and one can only hope that even more features would be included in future Xbox Live offerings.

View the whole list of updates plus the major ones after the Jump:

We’ve just received a breaking press release from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 team stating that the Spring update for the console will be tomorrow, June 6th 2006. Together with the release, we have a host of details to tell you about, including some of the 125 huge updates that will be available for Xbox Live connected users. In order to to get the update, your console must be connected to Xbox Live via a broadband connection, on either a Silver or Gold subscription. You do not need to have any disks, or a hard-drive taking use of built in memory dedicated to the running of the console. Downloading of the update takes a mere minute or two.

The update includes features to further unleash the power of your 360, taking the media offerings, graphics capabilities and online content to a new level. During the long months since the 360’s release, Microsoft constantly listened and shaped things to the gamers’ views. Constant feedback has allowed for these updates, and one can only hope that even more features would be included in future Xbox Live offerings. Anyway, onto the updates:

The main addition and upgrading goes to that of the background manager. The new manager allows the user to download and queue up to 6 high definition items including movies, demos, music and Live Arcade Games while playing on games offline. New features allowed improved usage when browsing and gaming on Live. The manager will instantly pause and queue downloads when you are competing in multiplayer action, and only when the online session has ceased, will the manager continue with the downloads. This means that there will be no lag, and stuttering within gameplay for the optimal experience.

The Xbox Live Marketplace menus will all be redesigned, allowing for gamers to find and store their content much more easily. Menu’s will be extended for the media and entertainment content and also they will be shaped to make it easier to find items, as well as quick views within download categories. New remote features for the trailers and video’s will be implemented, meaning that now you can fast forward and rewind at various speeds, stated as 2X – 16X, and this feature extends to any video downloaded from the Marketplace.

The music player will also be redesigned. Custom background music will now constantly play even when games load and also the transition from game to game. What this means is, is your music will constantly play even when switching disk media. During the playing of the music, the playback screen will show the artist, song title and time remaining, as well as displaying a visualiser which also shows the album or playlist the track is from.

As with the rest, the DVD function will also get it’s upgrades. A new bookmarking feature now means that you can place a tab on certain spots in your films, take the disk out, play a game, and then go back to where you was playing in the film at the exact point you left off. DVD playback will now be smoother than ever, improving on the high quality experience even more, as well as offering a new VGA support.

The whole detailed list of 125 improvements:

Download manager – Marketplace items now download in the background, queue up to six pieces of content
DVD bookmark support will remember the filmÂ’s timing and location when resuming viewing
Fast-forward and rewind now offered at 2x -16x for any videos saved to hard drive
Â“Boot to DashboardÂ” setting will bypass the loading of any disc in the drive and open directly to Dashboard during power-on
Begin slideshows from any photo
Music player saves Â“shuffleÂ” setting
Much player save Â“repeatÂ” setting
Music player now displays which file is currently playing in the playlist
Music volume level persists between game / reboots
8 new locales added (Chile, Brazil, India, South Africa, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia)
Separate settings now offered for Game and User volume controls
Themes can now be set from the Â“SystemÂ” blade on the Dashboard
User-selected music continues play when switching from Dashboard to game or game to Dashboard
Â“All Arcade GamesÂ” added as a selection in the Xbox Live Arcade area
Personal gamer pictures allowed as Gamertiles Â– displayed only to those on your Friends List
Added support to disable sound effects when navigating Dashboard
Instantaneous Â“Change ThemeÂ” option added upon downloading new Dashboard themes
Preserve folder structure of source when viewing photos
A / B labels now provided to identify memory units in Dashboard
Online status set to Â“AwayÂ” when screensaver becomes active

SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

DVD Player

Improved audio/video sync after extended pauses
Improved visual quality
DVD player outputs at native resolution over VGA connection
Improved playback smoothness
Improved fast-forward and rewind smoothness
DVD play continues to attempt to read a disc after Â“disc readÂ” error
DVD play – pause & play jitter / out of synch issues improved
DVD play – slow Play & play jitter / out of synch issues improved
Repaired issues with missing menu selection icon from DVD disc menu for certain films
Improved Xbox 360 Guide efficiency during certain films
Repaired playback stutter during certain films

Music Player

Player now populates music data (Title, Artist, etc.) when no track information is available
User music is now pauses, instead of stopping, when games override user-selected background music
Selecting an artistÂ’s album no longer displays albums for all artists
Improved performance when retrieving playlists from a Windows Media connection
List music tracks in track-order when viewing albums by specific artist
Unified music controls for music player in Dashboard and pop-up Guide
Improved playback for Mono AAC-encoded files
Improved connection timing between console and CD database over Internet
Player no longer allows hard-drive selection when no hard-drive is connected
Removed handling of MTP/USB devices when playing music from them more robust
Improved error codes / messaging associated with unplayable content

Localization Improvements

Fixed partially truncated strings in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian
Korean clock / date format corrected after initial set-up
Fixed system hang when changing the language of the console immediately after signing out
Korean virtual keyboard Â“downÂ” navigation now works for lower-right button
Korean virtual keyboard caps disabled for input mode
Fixed overlapping characters for pre-paid Gold membership card (Japanese localization)
Removed extra spaces in several translated words (French localization)
PC name displayed properly when containing Japanese characters
Support single apostrophe character for Japanese virtual keyboard

Memory Area Improvements

Streamlined selection Â– no profile selection required
Improved overall performance, allowing quicker access to content
Improved content views including name, file type, size, profile owner and location
Faster identification of file types and fewer steps for actions such as copy, move, delete, etc.
Capacity (or percentage-full) of storage device now consistent between select-a-device and storage scenes
Device selection now shown on each screen to improve usability

Miscellaneous System Improvements

Time elapsed now displayed when playing music files
Enhanced categorization of media library
Accelerated scrolling of large music lists
New Â“shuffleÂ” icon
Repeat / Shuffle icon now operates as toggle button
Default button for manual IP address is now Â“AÂ” instead of Â“DoneÂ”
Hidden and system folders are no longer displayed from MTP / mass storage devices
Difficulty levels for gamer profiles ordered correctly
Added additional line and word-wrap to Â“PublisherÂ” in video area
Shuffle / Random no longer skips last image in list when viewing photos
Improved handling of Friend Requests between Gamertags that have changed names
No longer asked Â“Exist to Dash?Â” when switching between areas in the Dashboard
New error messages for when Windows Live ID requires password change
Unlocked Achievements now displayed first in Game Summary page
Selecting an Achievement now shows the specific Achievement details
Full date now displayed for Â“Member SinceÂ” and Â“Next Bill DateÂ” tabs on Membership scene
Updated messaging for deleting arcade games purchased by different profiles
No longer launch music CD in disc-tray when moving from Live sign-up to Dashboard or Network Troubleshooter
Improved voice quality when connected through wired gamepad
Show Â“Last Played GameÂ” selection in Xbox Live Arcade first before enumerating all games (when Arcade game was last game played)
Improved performance of picture enumeration from iPods formatted for Mac
Adopt latest updates to Cero-based ratings for Family Settings
Show videos downloaded from Marketplace in the Video area of the Media blade
Improved usability around Â“Play NowÂ” when downloading demos, trailers and videos
Added support for South Africa-specific Family Settings
Updated support for Japanese game ratings
Video area changed to include game trailers and entertainment videos
Improved robustness of Gamerscore when doing account recoveries
Improved messaging around handling corrupt or non-fully recovered profiles
Improved download performance for popular content being downloaded through Marketplace
Total USB keyboard support
Testing Live connection while streaming music from PC works correctly
Next item / Focus sound not played when scrolling past the bottom of the video list
Handle profiles on memory units inserted into system while enumerating profiles from other storage locations
Warning / Alert icons now show as part of deleting items in Memory area
Repeat rate for remote control matches game controller repeat rate
Â“AÂ” button disabled when in a list with no items available
Wireless battery level added to mini-pop-up guide over backward-compatible games
Pop-up guide / Dashboard now supports USB keyboard
Console no longer enters Â“chargeÂ” mode when shutdown and the battery has been removed from wireless controller
System no longer waits indefinitely when attempting to contact Windows Media Connect service on XP PC
Improved Marketplace storage device selector
Correctly set focus on selected item when back button pressed on Â“select a gameÂ” scene
Notify users when multiple wireless SSIDS with identical names are within reach
Provide Gold membership information when trying to join a session or accepting game invites with Silver accounts
New text to highlight the ability to clear the passcode for Live account signing
Photo slideshow no longer resumes when pressing Â“previousÂ” or Â“nextÂ” from paused state
Improved handling of corrupt profiles when deleting them
No longer turn off wireless gamepads after system update reboot
More robust handling of initial setup experience for memory unit users
Improved handling of backward-compatible update experience, reboot back into Xbox v1 environment instead of Dashboard
Improved handling for “block communications” from other players
Improved keypress sounds when using USB keyboard
Improved usability and performance of content enumeration for storage devices
Show visual location for where Xbox Live Arcade games reside
Improved user messaging when overwriting content while copying
Improved consistency of messaging between “sign out” and “switch profile”
Updated troubleshooter text for connection to Windows PC’s joined to domain
Better support for Xbox 360 game disc recognition
Improved initial setup text messaging
Improved overall error message terminology
Game updates downloaded to memory unit no longer show “please reinsert” notification when memory unit removed
More robust support for handling game deletes from memory unit and simultaneously removing memory unit
Improved system performance between console and affiliated Windows Media Connect PC

Related Posts

Add a Comment