Category: Gaming

Apparently Xbox 360’s proud Xbox Live service is getting a complete update on August 11th.

From Xbox.com:

One of the amazing things about the Xbox LIVE experience is that it’s always getting better. The upcoming August 11, 2009 Xbox LIVE Update truly cranks it up a notch – with features that improve your entertainment experience and give you new ways to express your individuality and connect with friends. With this update, you can download full Xbox 360® games and play them without a disc, and you and your friends will be able to party watch movies online through Netflix! Dress up your avatar to impress with premium props and branded apparel from fashion labels. And this update allows every piece of game content on Marketplace to be rated, so add your personal ratings and see what others think is cool. But that’s just the beginning.

Seems like Microsoft is finally releasing some well needed features.

To highlight a few, “Games on Demand”, the new service from Microsoft, adding to the Xbox Live Marketplace, where users can now purchase video games, right in the comfort of their own home. This starts on the 11th, along side the update, but the same options of purchasing games will be available on the web too on August 13th.  Along with that is Netflix. This was already sort-of gaining popularity through Xbox, but now it installs with the update regardless if you had it installed or not before. Let’s just hope that they don’t get too pushy with the Netflix member service. If I don’t want to join the service or rent a movie, please don’t bug me! Unless, of course, it’s free. I will always enjoy free.

And then we move onto the avatars. The poorly stolen / Wii knock-off avatars. I will give Microsoft props on this one, only because they did finally go just a little bit over the boundary with this update. Nintendo didn’t think of this — but something tells me a Wii Update in the future will present this — the avatars now has what Microsoft is calling “props” and “branded apparel” from fashion labels. The branded apparel isn’t all that interesting too me, but the props certainly opens up a wide variety for 3rd parties everywhere. Let’s see where it goes.  Now, just how interactive can these props be?  That is the question. We’ll find out soon enough.

Ratings. Something that I honestly never saw Microsoft allowing. They usually aren’t big on letting consumers know if the general public thinks a product is shitty. But, for some reason now the Xbox must be different. I think it’s a great tool. We can already “Submit Player Reviews”, granted most people don’t even look at those scores anymore, but all of the xbox live members out there never really got a chance to just completely down size a video game or movie (etc). But now we can!

Continue reading “Xbox Live Service Update: August 11th, 2009”