The Official Xbox 360 Dashboard/Update Thread - Page 12

Yeah, it's be nice to customize it. But the simple reason why we can't is that it's not in their interest to let us. No one is going to stop using the 360 because of that, the ads, or the dashboard in general. They know that. So they push it as far as they can without discouraging and really annoying people.

I liked how the new dashboard finally fixes some bugs with switching controllers and with my joystick.

I have a Tekken 8-button joystick. LB, RB, RT, and LT are mapped to the 8 buttons. In the old dash, these buttons worked inside of games. But at the dashboard itself, they wouldn't work so I couldn't use them to navigate. But in the new dashboard, they always work anywhere.

In the old dashboard, if I started off with the regular 360 controller as controller 1, and then wanted to switch to the joystick, if I went to shut off controller 1 and start the joystick, the joystick would map as controller 2. The only way to fix this was wait a certain amount of time or to restart the system with the joystick as controller 1. Now, it just works. Turn off the 360 controller, turn on the joystick, and the joystick is controller 1.

The more you use the new dashboard, the more you'll realize it's better than the old dashboard. my friend was griping about how slow it was to move around via the thumbstick but I told him to use the bumpers and he felt sheepish afterward.

and then he'd rattle off one gripe after another and then I told him how it's supposed to be done in the new dash. and then he was starting to feel comfortable after he knew how to do things.

you really do have to let go of old habits to embrace how it's done now. once you do, things will be faster and more efficient. I've had the dash for over a month now and most things are pretty second nature. I've even kind of forgotten the shortcuts of the previous dashboards. But even after a month, there's still some things I find out as I use the dash.

it's just the anxiety of totally changing everything. the only familiar thing is the guide menu and that even has some changes. People talk about how the old blades dashboard was intuitive to them. But that's because they were used to it. I didn't get a 360 until 2009 when the blades dashboard was gone. Before that, I had played at my friends' places and at the store. and the blade design confused me. I'd just tell my friend to just load the damn game. It's not intuitive at all but people got used to its design.

So far my biggest annoyance is that with the new dashboard, themes are essentially useless now. Scrolling through my friends list is about the only place where it is relevant. I know I wont purchase another one, although I only purchased 1 (Mass Effect 2).

One thing I can't find on the new dash is the Fun Labs for Kinect (we just got one a few days ago and were playing around with some of them which was easily accessible under the Kinect section of the old dash).

I had to do the "XBOX - BING - FUN LABS" thing to get to it. Anyone know where that's actually at on the new dash? It's not listed under the games section or anywhere else I could find. I did see ads for it, but when you go there there's no option to launch it.

I also noticed the fun labs don't seem to download in the background for some reason (if I backed out of the download, they never showed up and didn't appear in the Active Downloads section). But if I downloaded it and left the screen up to see the progress, they did. Weird.

I have no clue what you are talking about with ads stuffed in your face as soon as you start your system. You start at the home screen that gives you the option to hit launch or guide button and play. You mean the advertisment that shows you new DLC content for Batman Arkham City? Or the Hangover II is available on Zune? That is like going to the dental office and having issue with them showing brochures about dental care. You have a Home screen that gives you the option to just go and game. I mean this is a serious question. Are you having some sort of seizure becuase you saw that Hangover II was available in the Zune Marketplace? Or you go to a website with popups even though your popup blocker is on?

At least with regards to receiving notifications while watching movies, this is indeed already supported (and is not new in the latest dashboard). You can customize your notification preferences so that you receive notifications (e.g., for friends logging on) in general, but so that you don't see them while watching movies. I would hope the latest versions of the various applications for the new dashboard still honor this setting.

Did you try the Kinect Games section? I have seen Labs during Bing searches, but I have not really looked for it after the update.

The new dashboard doesn't use that much of the available screen real estate, so each of the small boxes where content is displayed is relatively precious. To have a box (on many screens) dedicated to advertising wastes this limited space. I'd be okay with having DLC advertised there for games one already owns (i.e., based on play history), but having random crap, much of which has nothing to do with gaming, is an eyesore.

Shouldn't the advertising be only for Xbox Live Silver accounts, anyhow? I mean we're paying for the "premium" service tier but have no customization options even for something as minor as pre-selecting which advertising we'd like to see (if we're forced to see some). Worse, many of the ads are now full video advertisements with sound, while the actual games and applications are limited to a static image.

There was a hyundai ad in the lower right box on the home screen. Its pretty easily ignorable, but it's the principle of the matter. Still, they got us locked in. The only way this is going to change is if people start leaving XBL for PSN because of it.

Its not nearly as annoying as what blu-rays do though. This is at least tolerable since it doesn't really prevent you from doing anything.

I have seen many tabs on the previous dashboard and this one that were actual videos that were game related like COD, Halo Reach and Forza which all required you to actually move to that box to hear any sound from it. To get to the ads your descibing I have to hit RB button to go to Games and Social to see those video ads which currently is showing Chuck Norris World of Warcraft. So if all you want to do is just play your at the Home screen that is ready for you. The new dashboard just launched. I see a Xbox 101 about cloud service. Is that considered and ad. If so why is that a bad thing when people come all the way here to a website to ask the same question that video actually provides right on the system to answer the question.

I just don't get why this is such an ordeal with the consoles when this is everywhere you go. It is on the apps with phones and you pay for some apps that still show you ads for other games that they offer or something that is unrelated to the app itself as well.

I need to try that out. So does that mean I won't need to carry a Memory Unit from box to box?

Hyundai has literally nothing to do with XBL.

It's a matter of wtf am I paying for live for? I mean it's seemingly nothing at this point. Its just because they can get away with it.

Listen, no one is saying lets get together and burn down Redmond. People just don't like the idea of it, and they're speaking out.

Well rock on then bro, because you're a marketers wet dream. Ad supported pay services piss me off, and from the comments, a lot of others in here too. If they are gonna take ad money, then cut the cost of the service, because as it stands, it kinda comes off like a double-dip to me.

Well that's kinda the "duh" statement of the year, lol. I know what it is, I know why they do it, but for the same reason HBO doesn't have commercials, I think Microsoft should do the same. We're paying for a premium service are we not?

Yes with the combination of game saves on the Cloud. You can be logged into one 360 and go to the other 360 and just log in. The first step is to download your profile. Then it will ask if you want that console to save your password or require it. Thats it.

The ship has sailed complaining about advertisement on this forum is futile. Either bring up your complaints with Microsoft or learn to live with it.

I have found that people who complain about ads will always complain no mater what or the people who do not mind will continue not to care.

Perfectly said.

I never.....EVER, had an issue finding anything, or doing what I needed to do on the Blade system, now, we have to jump through 86 hoops it seems, to download something from the service. Bah, drives me batty, but this whole social media/avatar/casual crowd appeal stuff is a viral infestation on console gaming today and yet another reason why outside of Call of Duty, the majority of my gaming is on the PC.

HBO has plenty of advertising. They are always advertising the content on the HBO channels instead of playing the next movie.

Are you guys telling me you really didn't see the constant Hyundai ad blitz that went on for the last few weeks on your 360's? It was in more than one spot, saw it a bunch, and the same goes for the Axe body wash stuff.

Look, I know the Microsoft Defense Force is unified in their belief that the console is infallible, I get that, but guys, come on, you guys really ok with there being advertising be pretty prevelant on the system? Man, ya can't make a criticism about this system without it turning into a shooting war here.

Come on, lets not be so obtuse, you know the advertising I am speaking of. There are no deodorant commercials or ads on any Premium network.

THANK YOU! Glad to see another person "get it".

I myself hate the change. I like things simple, direct and easy to use. Putting everything into little boxes and then needing to specifically move up to move to the different sections does none of the those things. I don't like the ads either, but they aren't too noticable. But yes, we pay for the Gold service and having to put with that crap is not acceptable.

And just think, we lost the ability to play original Xbox games over the net so we could have a crappy Kinect oriented expierence with more ads. The majority of people bought a Xbox 360 to play core games. A few bought it as a Windows Media Extender, but for the most part it was "hard-core" gamers that made the console successful. It really burns me up when MS eliminated the "blade" interface, which did everything I described above fairly well for something that is harder to use, unless you buy their newest gimmick. If it wasn't for online gaming, I wouldn't even have Gold anymore. Neflix, Hulu+, HBOGO, Epix, Crackle, etc. can be done over a $49.99 one-time purchase Roku box.

Yes, I kow MS has sold more 360's because of Kinect. But so did RROD!

So because it's ok for one medium to do it, we should just accept advertising all over the place. Got it.

That's what is wrong with the country right now, we're all living in an era where the corporation has become so engrained into society, you cannot escape them or their logos and advertising, even on a pay service.

mboojigga (feels weird typing that out to someone), look at it from our point of view....we're paying for a service, not paying for advertising from outside, non-360 related companies, and although I am sure it's buried in the TOS somewhere, that doesn't mean that we, as citizens and paying customers, need yet another medium where we can be bombarded by corporate America's incessant shilling. Sometimes people want to escape from that and now, we can't even PAY to get away from it. That's all I am trying to say, not gonna leave the service, but I don't like the idea that we're getting spammed on what is supposed to be the more "premium" of the two services they offer.

And I have found that those that just take whatever is thrown at them, become complacent and just accept anything, regardless of whether it's right or not,

For the record, when the NXE came out, I did complain to Microsoft and got a nice form letter response back, where they basically gave me a virtual middle finger.

I couldn't agree more. PS3 service is free and I don't see ads anywhere on their dashboard. We pay for XBL and we gotta deal with all the ads. Kind of like why I cancelled by Hulu Plus service because they expect me to pay for a the service AND make me watch commercials. Bump that!

Microsoft defense Force?

I have been in the beta and you are assuming everyone sees every ad at the same time. What you see on your dash is going to be different at times on mine.
I am not saying it is good or bad but damn how hard is it to just press play and game? Your coming off as if as you have a medical condition to seeing an ad on a service you pay one time a year on. How do you deal with commercials that have nothing to do with the content you are watching. I DVR and skip through them and that is a monthly bill for sat. Microsoft is no different than Apple, Sony and every cable/Sat/Internet provider out there. Ads are everywhere. My recommendation is to disconnect your 360, start COD plug your Ethernet back in and start Live. You have now avoided the ads. Otherwise tweet Major Nelson and Greenberg and ask them. Why bother gaming on the 360 if it bothers you so much? How many times are you going to say the same thing over and over each year. We get it you don't like whatever ads you are seeing and you have options.

Yep. I'd never even dream of paying for Hulu plus. I'm not paying for ads if I have a choice. And there are much better places to get that content than Hulu. Not so with XBL.

Is it bad I don't ever notice the advertising? They could have a naked woman in the ad space and I wouldn't notice it. With nxe I just knew where the section i wanted was and would navigate to it without thinking. I really haven't messed with the update much except to find MW3. I guess I know what picture I am looking to find and block out the rest.

For the record I agree we shouldn't be getting outside ads. Advertising games on XBLA or expansion packs is fine because it may alert people to something they are looking for or want.

Beacons seem awesome so far. It solves the problem of joining a full lobby and then having to leave. Notifying friends you want to play a game is fantastic. I think last night when people dropped out we knew who to send invites to so we didn't miss a beat. People dropped in an out but we still kept GW full.

I need to get my kinect setup and try out the navigation. People here make it sound like it actually works well. Kinect may finally get more use!

Why do people always say "corporate america" and "thats whats wrong with THIS country". Have you never watched a sporting match overseas. Advertising is everywhere in every country. Love it or hate it but if you have a business you will be doing it and that includes small businesses and the people that give you whatever job you have. The jobs that mean you dont have to go out and hunt and grow your own food and mine your own coal or cut down your own trees.