its not as bad as you think it loads much better over time. I dont know if maybe its just my perception as i have been in the beta but i certainly dont see it taking longer. it is actually loading quicker.
I like the layout now more than before. Oh and to the guy below complaining about the ads. Its funny how the ads are usually related to content available on xbl.
i mean i would agree the ads suck if they were for air fresheners or maxi-pads but go figure the ads are for either movies, games, or something of the like offered within the live environment.
I never thought the ads were intrusive as they were completely optional if you wanted to stop on them to see more info. sometimes, you got free stuff. Jack links had some funny ads and gave away some dlc too.
the argument about it being a paid service and should have no ads is stupid. you mean they cant promote from within? Advertising that a new movie is available on the marketplace. Or a game? Or new DLC? No offense but I see ads on the PS store as well.
difference is the PS store is a separate thing you have to make an effort to go into. The 360 dash would be the xmb AND store fully integrated together.
As of this morning I have 2 separate Subway ads and a Sportchek. The 4th ad is for the new Silent Hill movie but has a free avatar prop at least. The other 3 are useless. Other than that I usually get garbage like CIBC, Rogers, Scene cards, car stuff. Nothing related to XBL content at all.
@P_bomb i wont disagree. I will say it must be all about the timing of such things because i have not seen a subway ad as of yet. I had seen jack links ads (as mentioned before).
That does not mean what I am saying is wrong or what you are saying is wrong. i believe there is ad content unrelated to live (as mentioned before) but 'my personal experience' shows me the ads are generally more related to something available through the live marketplace.
The view (by many) seems to be that live advertising is equal to that of broadcast tv. Clearly they must not watch allot of tv or they would know there are WAY more ads than even show content.
Also, to be fair, broadcast ads are intrusive. Live ads, are not.
I like pinning, it's like a page of bookmarks. I've already used it to pin Metro 2033 as I waited for the THQ 50% off sale to kick in (bought it for $9.99 yesterday), pinned Indigo Prophecy for future considerations, Trials HD sale at 800msp, and the new Gamespot TV app to ironically watch some PS AllStars streams.
Aesthetically, I like that since the beta, they re-fit the UI in such a way to allow more of the premium wallpapers to be seen. Before, any titles on the bottom half would either be too grayed out as a sort of half hearted floor effect for avatars to stand on, or just cut off entirely. I get more picture now.
Some 360 fans may not like ads but they don't run around crying with a tone that suggests the dash is infested with ads. If anything owners ignore them and the ones that do open them do so for the free stuff(and god forbid genuine interest)
The ads already pay for xbox lives service. Or at least a good part of it. Yet the price for xbox live has gone up. What's up with that, huh? Sounds like corporate greed to me.
Oh donbear, believe me. It cannot be anything more than corporate greed when Microsoft have a market value of $247 billion. They're certainly not pro-consumer in the way that such a large business should be.
Compare it to a company like Google which (as of 1st October) has a larger market share and offers services and bandwidth that SHOULD cost you, (you guessed it) for free, and have open standards and all that jazz.
On topic, it's nice that Microsoft is committed to improvement. Less ads would be an improvement, especially since most premium services don't have them for the reason that it is PREMIUM.
You do realize the dash only has one ad and the rest are for things offered on the system. Sonys new copy looks to do about the same thing. So stop crying about ads when they are no big deal and you have to make a effort to click on it to even see it.
@pillsbury1 yeah you go ahead and stick to your free games on psn, till psn gets hacked again for a whole month lol yeah you do that. who cares its just ads like seriously. facebook has ads but i bet you use facebook everyday and if you dont use facebook at all its probably because you have no social life and troll on n4g just like all sony fans do, i think they spend more time on here bashing 360 and glorifying ps3 than they actually do playing it lmfao! like come on, google is specifically looking at what websites we use most so they can place ad's there, still doesnt take away from the fact that google is the best search engine. i remember when ps3 fans use to say, oh you just hate ps3 because you cant afford one, and yet now all ps3 fanboys have to say about 360 is "oh yeah have to pay for live" but 3 years ago it was were to cheap to afford ps3...yeah lmfao who's cheep now?
still cannot believe Microsoft get away with charging for LIVE. i paid for 3 years back in launch days but i wouldnt do it now. you could have an extra game or two a year or PS plus membership though i see that as equally bs. £40 a year isnt much but its kinda cheeky on the part of the companies. PS Plus offers more in terms of content Live offers more in terms of "Service" (Dunno if service is the right word) that being said isnt online gaming your right when you've paid an internet subscription without being milked by another company for the privilege
The upside to having a South African Xbox Live account is that we have ZERO ads. Nothing at all. I guess local businesses don't see it as a big enough medium yet which is okay with me.
Down side is we don't get any give aways or competitions, xbl is basically online play and marketplace.
Believe me when I tell you: It is not worth crying about. You do not see a bunch of ads thrown in your face on XBL.
The voice command integration makes the dash truely shine for me. You don't need to go through the menu's. Just "Bing" what you want or say what you see.
Definitely a troll because i never notice the one ad. But i agree only silver members should probably get it. Doesn't the ps3 have that ticker ad in the top right? I know you could turn it off but it was flashing at me the other day trying to get me to buy something.
Definitely a troll? You never notice the one ad? Are you blind? It's right there right bang in the middle of your tv screen when you load up your console. Even the stuff advertised as being on the marketplace are still ads and most likely pay Microsoft to have it shown there.
No it's not a huge deal but if you're a gold member, there should be an option to turn them off.
"Even the stuff advertised as being on the marketplace are still ads and most likely pay Microsoft to have it shown there"
doesn't sony do the samething on the psn if this is the case. they have a big ass card advertising PSN+. that's a ad right or is that not a big deal either.
like you said the ads aren't a big deal. especial if you look at how websites make you watch an ad or have on pop up in your face just for going to that site. it's not like ads are plastered all over the place so stop crying.
Why bring Sony and PS into this? When I load up my PS3, I can access my games without a single noticeable advert albeit I still really dislike the ps3 interface.
The ads are plastered all over the place and that is precisely why I'm "crying" over it. There are big boxed adverts for everything I have no interest in all over every single screen on the main menu.
Tbh it's not a big deal but a nice customization option would go a long way. It would be nice to be able to fill those boxes with artwork from my favorite 360 games and other such stuff. Hopefully next gen if they keep that interface we can make the boxes smaller and they'll work like widgets do on android phones.
Well what I meant was, on the homepage of the dashboard, there's really only one option you ever need and that's the one to play the game in the drive or maybe the one under it to access your library. The rest is just stuff that's new to the marketplace etc. and the one ad. I honestly just never notice any of that stuff.
So far I don't like using the new dash. My favorite dash this generation had to be the second dashboard update. (grey-ish with green) Once they went with the white interface and the Widnows 8 looking square boxes is when it went downhill.
It kinda blows The took alot of the cluster chuck out, but instead of having smaller windows you now have larger. The avatars themselves are bigger , the browser is a nice input but the lack of flash sucks but Hey ! its in beta right ? To me theres just no excitment on the dashboard its bland. I hope the for neXtBOX 3 they add more of a 3d universe to it instead of a 2d back drop. intiutive interfaces and a longitude of much needed social upgrades
The lack of flash may suck at the moment but everything is going HTML5, so soon flash won't even matter. Even Adobe themselves see the writing on the wall and are developing HTML5 tools.
Nice seeing MS copy Sony for the XMB, the built-in web browser, the Music Unlimited-like app and whatnot, even though they retain their bad habit of forcing ads down your throat while you pay for the damn service.
At least they're officially recognizing the PS3 interface was always the better one.
No let's see them take a page off sony's book when it comes to exclusive games.
Nice to see Sony take a page from the MS dashboard on the new PSN. Just saying. Why does everyone always get accused of copying someone else? It gets old.
Nice to see sony copy the wiimote and the achievement system while we are at it.
The XMB and Live interface look nothing alike. And what ads are shoved down my throat? I can see the argument of why they shouldnt be there....but they are minimal and by no means forced. I dont even notice them most of the time.
I try to respect others opinions...but when they are this misguided its awful difficult.
More like Nintendo and Sony copied "le stick" which was the first motion sensitive controller that's looks like the wiimote and move. Le stick came out two decades before the wii and before nes. Le stick was baseless, so its safe to assume it could also be held like you would a wiimote or move. Achievements have been around in games prior to Xbox, they were usually in-game achievements.
Yup, I also dislike misguided people disseminating misinformation.
Nice to see ms copy sony hdmi,wifi,internet browser, and yes look at 2,3,6,7,8,9,10 Sony has all that b4 ms The only thing that ms have that is so old school is regular batterys on The controllers, they have all that money but they can't make a controller with lithium battery like Sony,sh!t even my 3d glasses that came with The ps3 display got lithium batterys
It's never been about the money, it's the fact you have to pay at all which is the problem.
5cents a year would still be 5cents too much.
Same goes for things like toll roads, you can just as easily take another road which is free to get to your destination so why pay the toll just to line someone else's pockets?
That there free notion, sounds like communism to me boy. With your entitlement rights to thinking everything is free makes you either a blood sucking welfare mooch or a Commie.
Sweet! Love being part of a premium online service that upgrades and changes its interface, I mean its not 2006 anymore.
I love the dash, been a part of the beta since the start and I've really been digging the new larger and colorful dash, pins are awesome and IE works really well, definitely the most stable browser on a home console.
No complaints from me, I feel like my $35 a year is more than worth what I get in return, now were getting free games and annual dash updates, no maintenance downtimes and superior apps, not to mention exclusive beta's like Medal Of Honor and early maps on COD, Skyrim DLC isn't half bad either.
Omfg quit this bitching with the ads, they can be ignored and its not like you're forced to buying the damn product that's being advertised. People complain over the dumbest of things sometimes....
I actaully think that the people who complain either don't use their Xbox or don't have one. They just heard it has advertisements and now act like it takes up the whole screen lol.
If they had an xbox, they would know the ad's are so small, in a corner, and they mostly advertise DLC on sale, games on sale, games coming out, and/or movies, which, if you watch the trailers you can win tickets!! (I won 2 tickets to see Abraham Lincoln......bad movie, but still.......lol)>
The only thing I can complain about with the ad's is that it still plays the video even when you don't select it, which I would assume is eating at the Xbox 360's aleady limited RAM.
Am I missing something here. Is it me or is there an add in the bottom right hand corner which you can't hear unless you click on it. I went on YouTube today & couldn't watch a video until I watched 5 seconds of an advert before I could skip it, now that is forced advertising.
Never on the Xbox dashboard have I ever been forced advertising. Don't wanna see it, don't click on it. On topic, the IE is pretty cool & works really well, I was surprised. Not that ill use it instead of my PC, but for people who will use it, I found it worked very well.
It's great, had a play about with it this morning and I was genuinely surprised how well internet explorer works to be honest, didn't expect much there at all.
I love being able to pin my favourite games and apps to the home page and I like how streamlined the Xbox Music service is. They've definitely sped things up a lot (compared to the old Zune app) and after pinning artists or albums to your home page it only takes a few seconds to play. Great stuff.
The recommendations thing is a good idea, and I'm particularly glad that the games page is now ahead of TV and video, which makes more sense.
Now - We are looking for awesome people who are interested in testing the new N4G and other new services that are set to launch later this year. | Promoted post
40°
40°
30°
40°
Ad 
40°
But either way finding them was never an issue.
Evil
it loads much better over time. I dont know if maybe its just my perception as i have been in the beta but i certainly dont see it taking longer. it is actually loading quicker.
I like the layout now more than before. Oh and to the guy below complaining about the ads. Its funny how the ads are usually related to content available on xbl.
i mean i would agree the ads suck if they were for air fresheners or maxi-pads but go figure the ads are for either movies, games, or something of the like offered within the live environment.
I never thought the ads were intrusive as they were completely optional if you wanted to stop on them to see more info. sometimes, you got free stuff. Jack links had some funny ads and gave away some dlc too.
the argument about it being a paid service and should have no ads is stupid. you mean they cant promote from within? Advertising that a new movie is available on the marketplace. Or a game? Or new DLC? No offense but I see ads on the PS store as well.
difference is the PS store is a separate thing you have to make an effort to go into. The 360 dash would be the xmb AND store fully integrated together.
As of this morning I have 2 separate Subway ads and a Sportchek. The 4th ad is for the new Silent Hill movie but has a free avatar prop at least. The other 3 are useless. Other than that I usually get garbage like CIBC, Rogers, Scene cards, car stuff. Nothing related to XBL content at all.
i wont disagree. I will say it must be all about the timing of such things because i have not seen a subway ad as of yet. I had seen jack links ads (as mentioned before).
That does not mean what I am saying is wrong or what you are saying is wrong. i believe there is ad content unrelated to live (as mentioned before) but 'my personal experience' shows me the ads are generally more related to something available through the live marketplace.
The view (by many) seems to be that live advertising is equal to that of broadcast tv. Clearly they must not watch allot of tv or they would know there are WAY more ads than even show content.
Also, to be fair, broadcast ads are intrusive. Live ads, are not.
Aesthetically, I like that since the beta, they re-fit the UI in such a way to allow more of the premium wallpapers to be seen. Before, any titles on the bottom half would either be too grayed out as a sort of half hearted floor effect for avatars to stand on, or just cut off entirely. I get more picture now.
Assuming you're not a troll.
Some 360 fans may not like ads but they don't run around crying with a tone that suggests the dash is infested with ads. If anything owners ignore them and the ones that do open them do so for the free stuff(and god forbid genuine interest)
Compare it to a company like Google which (as of 1st October) has a larger market share and offers services and bandwidth that SHOULD cost you, (you guessed it) for free, and have open standards and all that jazz.
On topic, it's nice that Microsoft is committed to improvement. Less ads would be an improvement, especially since most premium services don't have them for the reason that it is PREMIUM.
*sigh*
Lets face it, c'mon: The Ads are bullshit. I love Xbox, and hey, theres still some bullshit things about it.
I love showering. And I think that the shower being slippery is bullshit.
Everything I love has some bullshit parts about.
I mean c'mon
c'mon.
it's a voluntary service. you don't like it, don't pay for it. a lot of people do like it.
you know...you pay for cable television. you still get tons of commercials. do you complain to comcast or time warner about that?
xbox live isn't a forced service. it's not taxes. it's entirely up to you whether you utilize the service or not.
please stop crying.
Down side is we don't get any give aways or competitions, xbl is basically online play and marketplace.
The voice command integration makes the dash truely shine for me. You don't need to go through the menu's. Just "Bing" what you want or say what you see.
No it's not a huge deal but if you're a gold member, there should be an option to turn them off.
"Even the stuff advertised as being on the marketplace are still ads and most likely pay Microsoft to have it shown there"
doesn't sony do the samething on the psn if this is the case. they have a big ass card advertising PSN+. that's a ad right or is that not a big deal either.
like you said the ads aren't a big deal. especial if you look at how websites make you watch an ad or have on pop up in your face just for going to that site. it's not like ads are plastered all over the place so stop crying.
Why bring Sony and PS into this? When I load up my PS3, I can access my games without a single noticeable advert albeit I still really dislike the ps3 interface.
The ads are plastered all over the place and that is precisely why I'm "crying" over it. There are big boxed adverts for everything I have no interest in all over every single screen on the main menu.
Tbh it's not a big deal but a nice customization option would go a long way. It would be nice to be able to fill those boxes with artwork from my favorite 360 games and other such stuff. Hopefully next gen if they keep that interface we can make the boxes smaller and they'll work like widgets do on android phones.
No, thanks!
The took alot of the cluster chuck out, but instead of having smaller windows you now have larger. The avatars themselves are bigger , the browser is a nice input but the lack of flash sucks but Hey ! its in beta right ? To me theres just no excitment on the dashboard its bland.
I hope the for neXtBOX 3 they add more of a 3d universe to it instead of a 2d back drop.
intiutive interfaces and a longitude of much needed social upgrades
Html5 as of yet is terrible and nowhere near as stable and reliable as flash in its implementation.
maybe someday but not soon.
-___-
At least they're officially recognizing the PS3 interface was always the better one.
No let's see them take a page off sony's book when it comes to exclusive games.
Psn new update is a copy of Microsoft metro. Ui
The XMB and Live interface look nothing alike. And what ads are shoved down my throat? I can see the argument of why they shouldnt be there....but they are minimal and by no means forced. I dont even notice them most of the time.
I try to respect others opinions...but when they are this misguided its awful difficult.
Yup, I also dislike misguided people disseminating misinformation.
If it's not broken you can still improve on it. New looks with the same concept in mind.
After genuflecting, I sort of agree with you man. There's nothing wrong with it. The themes are positively awesome, especially the dynamic themes.
I have this Mexican "Day of the Dead", and about 20 other dynamic themes. I wouldn't want to lose those to an update.
I wish my ps3 did the same. So boring. :(
C.H.E.A.P. B.A.S.T.A.R.D.S.
~FIN~
5cents a year would still be 5cents too much.
Same goes for things like toll roads, you can just as easily take another road which is free to get to your destination so why pay the toll just to line someone else's pockets?
Which one is it?
I prefer to be on the non-receiving end of things, i fight for what i believe in.
I love the dash, been a part of the beta since the start and I've really been digging the new larger and colorful dash, pins are awesome and IE works really well, definitely the most stable browser on a home console.
No complaints from me, I feel like my $35 a year is more than worth what I get in return, now were getting free games and annual dash updates, no maintenance downtimes and superior apps, not to mention exclusive beta's like Medal Of Honor and early maps on COD, Skyrim DLC isn't half bad either.
If they had an xbox, they would know the ad's are so small, in a corner, and they mostly advertise DLC on sale, games on sale, games coming out, and/or movies, which, if you watch the trailers you can win tickets!! (I won 2 tickets to see Abraham Lincoln......bad movie, but still.......lol)>
The only thing I can complain about with the ad's is that it still plays the video even when you don't select it, which I would assume is eating at the Xbox 360's aleady limited RAM.
SIR
Hopefully it works nice, I had no idea it was being released soon (or already released in some places)>
1. Watch any video
2. Download any video or music
3. Can't use Dropbox
It's only good for searching the news.
I mainly use my Xbox to watch Boardwalk Empire lol, until Halo 4 comes out.
I love being able to pin my favourite games and apps to the home page and I like how streamlined the Xbox Music service is. They've definitely sped things up a lot (compared to the old Zune app) and after pinning artists or albums to your home page it only takes a few seconds to play. Great stuff.
The recommendations thing is a good idea, and I'm particularly glad that the games page is now ahead of TV and video, which makes more sense.
quote: Your Friends List is now a bit more revealing: select a friend and you'll see their real name.
Hopfully there should be an option to turn this off.