360 Dash Update - End May?

[[maven]]

I see where the articale says 'parallel' but now that you mention it, I would actually prefer it to work in serial. That would get the first piece of content on your HD quicker, since youre focusing all the available bandwidth (on both sides) on getting one download at a time instead of all simultaneous. In theory you would have more stuff available to you quicker this way, even though the entire operation would finish at about the same time.

I am German and thus I did read the original announcement by Boris Scheider-Johne, which explicitly explained the queuing system.
On a more exciting note, the blog is now gone without comment... :-/

And Sis, I agree with you (about developers most likely running out of time), but I was in a fairly foul mood when I wrote that comment, but sometimes all this blind enthusiam is getting to me (and I feel reminded of this).

 

[kyleb]

College Hoops 2k6, Fight Night Round 3, Far Cry Instincts, MLB 2k6, and TopSpin 2 claim to render at 1080i according to XBox.com.

They don't claim to render at 1080i, they just list 1080i in the goofy marketing specs even though the 360 can always output 1080i.

 

[Sis]

And Sis, I agree with you (about developers most likely running out of time), but I was in a fairly foul mood when I wrote that comment, but sometimes all this blind enthusiam is getting to me (and I feel reminded of this).

Ah, taken from that perspective and I agree. Basic functionality, which something like a download queue should be considered, (and while understandable that it wasn't there at release) is nothing to be excited about. Agreed.

 

[Wunderchu]

The Xbox 360 can certainly render internally at 1080i, though no games I know of do.
I'm pretty sure that if you set it to 1080i the Dashboard will be rendered at that resolution.

DOA4 may render @ 1080i (I'm not sure);

version we saw was running at 1080i

[source: http://www.gamespot.com/features/6132968/p-3.html ]

 

[kyleb]

It doesn't.

 

[Tap In]

more teasers

no date yet but maybe soon.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6151874.html

Other updates to the various media functions of the 360 include fast forward or rewind capabilities (up to 16x speed) in Marketplace videos, improved data retrieval for names of CDs and individual tracks, and the ability to resume playback on a DVD from where it was last stopped.

Sometimes, 360 owners just want to unwind with a game of Geometry Wars Evolved or listen to some tunes, but when powering on the machine, the game that was in the drive boots up. Not anymore. Gamers will have the option of setting the 360's default startup to the dashboard or whatever disc is in the drive.

The system's online functions will also have a few extras as well. Now when a gamer is idle, it will say so on players' friends lists. There will also be an option to have separate gamer pics for friends and the general public. Presumably, this is gearing up for the compatibility with the Xbox 360 camera peripheral, which is supported by this update even though it won't be released until this fall. Until then, gamers can use available pics.

Though the update sounds like it will take up a large chunk of space, it doesn't require a single byte on the hard drive. It actually doesn't need a hard drive at all. The update is flashed to the 360's internal hardware, and won't be stored on the hard drive, making it compatible with either SKU of the Xbox 360. It will initially be available online, and may be available on disc further down the road.

Microsoft is already at work on a fall update, which the company says will be even more robust and will include more features.

a few pics, more at GS

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2006/news/05/25/xbox_screen007.jpg
http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2006/news/05/25/xbox_screen012.jpg
http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2006/news/05/25/xbox_screen001.jpg

 

[sonyps35]

The Xbox 360 spring platform update does not have an official release date yet, but Microsoft hopes to have it ready for download over Xbox Live about a week from today

Today=25th.

One thing I was wondering about, dont downloads require a surprising amount of CPU power to manage?

Basically how do they handle playing a game while downloading? Is it that 5% of CPU power that's supposedly reserved for the os or what? Wouldn't it require more than 5%?

I think I recall, that just dialing up on dial up would shoot CPU usage to 100% momentarily on my pc back in the day for example.

One thing I'm not sure I like, is I read an article criticizing Microsoft for being too slow and geared to lengthy large updates, rather than being nimble, now. For example, the massive undertaking that is Vista. In that vein, IE7 is taking forever. It seems microsoft does things in one huge update, that takes a long time to come out, rather than being nimble versus the Firefox's and googles of the world nowdays.

Basically, I'm not sure I wouldn't rather they be constantly tweaking live in a nimble fashion, fixing and updating things constantly, than these big six month updates that we are going to have to wait for.

 

[RobertR1]

I'll prefer signing into the Dashboard. Live is really taking off and it's a pleasant interface to use each time. I hope they keep it functional and clutter free in the long run.

 

[Tap In]

I'll prefer signing into the Dashboard. Live is really taking off and it's a pleasant interface to use each time. I hope they keep it functional and clutter free in the long run.

yep

that will be my default.
the dashboard makes this system a living organism.

It is very cool.

 

[pegisys]

Today=25th.

One thing I was wondering about, dont downloads require a surprising amount of CPU power to manage?

I doubt downloads take much from the cpu, I play games(offline) and download all the time on the PC, with no performance hit

I wonder how much ram it uses though, I don't think a console would have any to spare like a PC does

 

[Hardknock]

Well it only states "games"... so we have no idea if they only mean XBL Arcade games or retail games...

 

[Tap In]

geez I can't rememeber the source for this now but...

I think blim Blim (Xboxyde)

Active Download

With an active downloads list, you receive the following benefits:
• Each item that you download is downloaded separately in the background. This lets you continue to use the console while you download an item.
• You can stream music, play DVDs or CDs, play arcade titles, and play games while you download an item from the marketplace.
• If you start to play an online game, the download is automatically paused while you play the game to help prevent game lag because of network congestion. This helps you receive the best online gaming experience that the network can provide.
• All downloads are associated with your profile. If a download is paused or if the download is interrupted, the download will resume the next time that you connect to Xbox Live.
• You can add items to the active downloads list at any time by selecting more items from the marketplace.
• You will receive a notification in the Xbox Guide when an item starts to download and when the download is completed. You will also receive a notification if the download fails.

 

[sonyps35]

I wonder how much ram it uses though, I don't think a console would have any to spare like a PC does

Maybe it uses the 32 MB reserved for the OS, and regularly swaps that cache out to the HDD.

 

[pipo]

Maybe it uses the 32 MB reserved for the OS, and regularly swaps that cache out to the HDD.

That would be my guess too.

Edit - well, not the complete 32MB of course...

 

[expletive]

I'd like it if they could somehow determine your internet bandwidth before they go ahead and pause downloads in the background. My internet connection is way wider than what is required for live. Also, the Live gaming requirement does not saturate 100Mb ethernet or wifi either so i'm not sure why they couldnt do this.

FYI, you could launch to the dashboard today by using the guide button on the controller to start up the 360, not nearly as slick as it will be now though.

 

[NavNucST3]

I'd like it if they could somehow determine your internet bandwidth before they go ahead and pause downloads in the background. My internet connection is way wider than what is required for live. Also, the Live gaming requirement does not saturate 100Mb ethernet or wifi either so i'm not sure why they couldnt do this.

FYI, you could launch to the dashboard today by using the guide button on the controller to start up the 360, not nearly as slick as it will be now though.

If there was a game disc in though, it would still launch the game, my fix for that was to immediately hit the guide button and drop to the dash, or use my preferred method which is to use my Harmony remote (or the Holiday remote) and hit the open/close/eject button which will also launch the 360. The other other method was to hit the Media Center button and then hit some other button. Its always been easy enough for me to hit the eject button, so I never used the Media Center method.

 

[expletive]

If there was a game disc in though, it would still launch the game, my fix for that was to immediately hit the guide button and drop to the dash, or use my preferred method which is to use my Harmony remote (or the Holiday remote) and hit the open/close/eject button which will also launch the 360. The other other method was to hit the Media Center button and then hit some other button. Its always been easy enough for me to hit the eject button, so I never used the Media Center method.

AH i'm sorry, you are correct, it was the media center button. Apologies to anyone else who was trying to figure out wtf i was tlaking about.

 

[NavNucST3]

AH i'm sorry, you are correct, it was the media center button. Apologies to anyone else who was trying to figure out wtf i was tlaking about.

Its cool bro, me correcting you, is better than me calling you out, right...:smile:

 

[Jabjabs]

Basically how do they handle playing a game while downloading? Is it that 5% of CPU power that's supposedly reserved for the os or what? Wouldn't it require more than 5%?

I think I recall, that just dialing up on dial up would shoot CPU usage to 100% momentarily on my pc back in the day for example.

If you where using an internal modem the chances are that your CPU was doing all the modem work (modulate, demodulate) and your card was just a analog to digital converter. Nice and cheap to build and sell but chews through your systems power. This will not be a problem for 360 I would guess.