Xbox 360 Spring Update this Monday
That’s right, people. This Monday will be a good day for us all — as Microsoft is releasing it’s spring update to the world. Now, the big thing about the update, as we all know, is the new ability to talk with people via Windows Live. Through Windows Live, you can talk to people on your Yahoo! Instant Messenger, by the way. The keyboard attachment will be released sometime in the summer, so I don’t expect the new IM program to be all that popular for a few weeks.
But that is hardly the only thing included in this update. Some of the other stuff includes:
~A new Marketplace blade that allows you to access all the content you seek, whether it be games, film, downloads, etc.
~New updates to the Arcade allow you to see what games your friends are playing, and give you the option to join in. You’ll also be able to compare scores and achievements with their friends on that good ol’ friends list. (A feature that is readilly available on the Xbox website)
~You’ll now be able to rewind, fast foward, pause and resume as your video is being downloaded off the Marketplace. This, of course, implies that you will now be allowed to view videos as they download.
~Your videos will also be bookmarked with the last known settings, and will remember the file location and last known aspect ratio of said video.
~Which reminds me, you’ll now be able to switch the aspect ratios on the fly. So if you wanted to turn your Letterbox “Widescreen” version of Star Wars into a fullscreen viewing, it can be done with relative ease. Which is good for you with sight problems, I’d imagine.
~Each video has been divided into ten chapters, and you’ll now be able to skip between chapters to get to the good parts of the video at any time.
~You can now choose to have your console shut down automatically upon completion of downloads.
~Family settings are now exclusive to the Video Chat and Voice Chat. Meaning you have two different family settings, one for each.
~You’ll now be able to “auto download” all trial versions of Xbox Live Arcade titles. This, surely, will be more of an inconvenience than a convenience.
I think there are a few other things, but overall, that’s what you get. I had thought you already could do half of this stuff, but if this is what is in the press release, this is what I’ll pass on. Mostly, it’s a good update. Unfortunately, you do have one or two things Microsoft threw in that, really, have no purpose. Hell, who wants to download every God damn trial game on the Marketplace?!
Microsoft, Xbox 360, Dashboard, Spring Update
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