The Xbox 360's new dashboard: what you need to know
The Xbox 360's dashboard is about to undergo a transformation. Nick Cowen takes a look at the new features and analyses the reasons behind the change
The Xbox 360's dashboard is about to undergo a transformation. Nick Cowen takes a look at the new features and analyses the reasons behind the change
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| The new-look dashboad for the Xbox 360 |
At some time in the next 48 hours, Xbox 360 owners will notice the appearance of their console's dashboard has changed considerably. The list of tabs that they are used to navigating exclusively with a control pad will have been replaced by a format that resembles a giant version of the Windows Phone 7 interface.
That is, the dashboard will be a series of squares that encompass different functions and aspects, such as gaming, social music and video. Players will lose none of the functionality they currently have, but they may need a couple of days to familiarise themselves with where everything is.
Facebook and Twitter, for example, will be positioned in the menu marked "Social", along with Kinect's video calling functionality. They'll also notice the dashboard boasts quite a few new features.
The Bing search engine is also bundled into the dashboard, although players can only use it to search for content on their own Xbox 360, and anything on offer in the dashboard – VOD services, Xbox Marketplace and so on.
Xbox Live Gold members gain access to Cloud Storage, where they can save games and also upload their profile, enabling them to log in to any Xbox 360 with their Gamertag (provided the console is connected to the internet).
Gold members also have access to the console's new on-demand services, which are all bundled together in the Apps menu. These include Lovefilm, YouTube, 4 On Demand, Channel 5 On Demand, Blinkbox and Crackle among others, as well as Sky, Last.fm and Zune, which are already available on Xbox Live.
Players can download apps from the Xbox Marketplace to add to the list as more content is rolled out (such as the BBC iPlayer, which is expected some time in 2012).
The new menu system also offers a better level of integration in functionality between the Xbox 360, the Windows Phone 7 and Kinect.
While the new dashboard isn't any more or less difficult to navigate using a control pad, it's far easier and faster to do it using a Kinect controller.
Unlike the current dashboard, where Kinect's functionality is relegated to a small sub-menu, players are able to use voice commands to access every menu available.
So, for example, a brief process that involves flipping through a couple of menus with a thumbstick to find Bing and then entering the phrase "Harry Potter" into the engine to find all content relating to the bespectacled wizard, can now be accomplished in seconds with Kinect by saying, "Xbox, Bing, Harry Potter".
The new dashboard, in fact, may be the one instance on the Xbox 360 console, where the Kinect module has the edge over traditional control pads.
Changing the dashboard to resemble the Windows Phone 7 is also a pretty canny move on Microsoft's part. It familiarises users with that device's interface and may poke a few undecided smartphone purchasers in the direction of a Windows rather than Android or iOS device.
Players can also earn Xbox Achievements in games on their Windows Phone 7, as well as share music they've downloaded on it with both their Xbox 360 and their PC. There are already several WP7 titles that connect with Xbox 360 games, including the excellent Fable Coin Golf, which allows you to earn in-game currency to transfer to and then spend in Fable 3.
The pet sim, Kinectimals, also lets you transfer your favourite cubs between console and handset versions. Gamers can even use their Windows Phone 7 as a remote control device for the Xbox 360.
So the new dashboard increases the functionality of both Kinect and the Windows Phone 7, and offers greater integration between those devices and the Xbox 360.
While the console's new interface makes neither device essential, it does make the prospect of owning them a tad more enticing. It's also further proof – if any were ever needed – that Kinect is set to play an even greater role than ever in the Xbox 360's future, which only fuels more speculation that the sensor will probably be bundled into the next iteration of the console.
The Windows Phone 7, for its part, is more has more integral functionality with the console than before, which is a clear enough indication that Microsoft considers the smartphone to be a gaming platform of the future, and is quite happy to let Sony and Nintendo duke it out in the handheld console market.
There are bound to be some gamers who don't like the new dashboard, as should be expected when a perfectly good system is changed for what seems, initially, no good reason.
But it shouldn't be too long before this resistance transforms into enjoyment or, at the very least acceptance, and looking at Microsoft's overall vision of the Xbox 360 as a central hub, the changes make sense.
They also offer more integration between Microsoft's hardware and software and it's a safe bet that if the changes help to shift a few more Kinect units and smartphones, that'll be just fine with them.
