X360 Spring Update today News
Xbox 360 News by Tom Bramwell
The first of Microsoft's biannual Xbox 360 updates for 2007 should start to filter through to users at 10am UK time this morning, 9th May, the platform holder said while we were trying to get some bloody sleep you'd think they'd turn the thing off at 3am wouldn't you.
The "Spring Update", as it's known among people who need a handy way of referring to it on the Internet, counts support for Microsoft Live Messenger among its many introductions and tweaks. Once installed, users will be able to have up to six conversations at a time with people on their friends list, regardless of whether they're on the dashboard, in a game, listening to music or watching a film, with support for up to 20 people in one conversation window. Hopefully it still has the "block" function too.
Part of the attraction is the ability to chat with people who are on their PCs as well as those messaging you from their Xbox 360s, while any of you with mobile phones that support Messenger will also be available for a bit of inter-platform banter. In addition, you will be able to see at-a-glance whether people on your Windows Live Messenger list have gamertags and then add them to a unified friends list.
Along with support for a USB keyboard, the Xbox 360 version of Live Messenger will offer an on-screen keyboard option and support for the forthcoming Xbox 360 Text Input Device due out this summer.
Live Messenger isn't the only update to the Xbox 360's functionality though, with Microsoft using the Spring Update to roll out a broad range of additions to all areas of the console's user experience - from the way that Achievements identify themselves when you unlock them to the depth of support for various media formats. A list of changes can be found on Xbox.com.
For those of you waiting eagerly for the update to hit, Xbox Live's director of programming Larry Hryb says he will post notification on the Major Nelson blog when the Live Operations team starts to roll it out across the service, hopefully within minutes of your reading these words. Or some time ago if you're trying to confuse me by reading this after lunch.
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Hmmm, lots of nice little improvements there according to that link above but no mention of whether VGA has been improved (richer colours, fixed v-sync tearing for Dead Rising which is absolutely dreadful with VGA compared with component video for some inexplicable reason, etc.) which is of more interest to me.
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ostrasized
09/05/07 @ 08:54
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when are we gonna see something decent on XBLA?
Worms, Catan, Geometry Wars? Back in your hole, troll! ;-) |
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kangarootoo
09/05/07 @ 09:11
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@andromeda
"i wouldn't want someone talking to me while watching a film!" It will be an option. An OPTION you hear? |
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Disco_Stu360
09/05/07 @ 09:29
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I dont care about the messenger stuff all I want is VGA screen tearing to be fixed... oh please oh please oh please!!!
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I've read on the OXM360 forum that there's a new "Reference Level" setting under Display settings with this new update... anyone know what this does exactly? Is it only available under VGA? I've heard that there are three settings, default (normal), intermediate and expanded... do they affect the colours?
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Mentalist(air)
09/05/07 @ 10:18
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Does this entended video support mean I can watch my downloaded Lost (I wouldn't have had to if Evil Murdoch hadn't denied Virgin the sky channels) on my Xbox without a transcoder, then?
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superdelphinus
09/05/07 @ 10:25
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What happened to this thing about changing the dvd read speed so it wasnt so noisy?
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The Bodybuilder
09/05/07 @ 10:27
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>"V-sync tearing for Dead Rising which is absolutely dreadful with VGA compared with component video for some inexplicable reason, etc.) which is of more interest to me. "
I must be the only 360 owner that hasn't suffered from v-sync issues. |
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Mentalist(air) - "The VGA tearing is probably your TV's fault, by the way."
Sorry but you're wrong and here's why... Prior to the Autumn 2006 update, Dead Rising had roughtly the same amounts of minimal v-sync tearing in both component video and VGA for me (it's difficult to say exactly the same because tearing was dependent on how much is going on onscreen, etc.). After that update though, Dead Rising had constant tearing with VGA but next-to-none with component video ON THE SAME SAMSUNG HDTV. Thus, I can confidentally conclude that the dashboard update messed the game up and it has nothing to do with the HDTV. I suspect Microsoft changed the VGA timings slightly which the game relies on to keep the tearing at a minimum and that's why it is so bad. Saint Rows, even when patched with v-sync enabled in the options, has slight tearing with VGA, noticeable on the trees and lampposts near the top of the screen, where it has none at all with component video. If the game is v-synced then there shouldn't be any tearing at all.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 09/05/07 @ 11:48
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I use component cables and never had this v-sync issue. I can't really tell if it's the setup or whatever, but I'm inclined to think it is.
This v-sync issue isn't dierctly related to the 360, me thinks, a friend of mine bought a Samsung LCD, and he has terrible, terrible v-sync problems while watching normal cable TV. I also have a Samsung, altthough no the same model, and the image is perfect while 360ing, and very good while TVing. |
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The Bodybuilder
09/05/07 @ 10:39
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So I guess I'm not the only one that's v-sync free? And it's throuh VGA on my tv too.
I've only ever seen ONE single tearing, and that was once in PDZ. |
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BadBoyBonner
09/05/07 @ 10:49
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Anyone who has played MotoGP though VGA without -sync tearing must have the default setting to 1024x768 or something. As I have yet to see a TV that dose not do it. In fact the way he program renders the image is the cause (you can read all about this on Gamasutra - in a post mortem the dev team did).
It has nothing to do with the TV and everything to do with the program. I can confirm Dead Rising s also a prime suspect f it through VGA. Anyone well versed i the age old art of PC performance will be all to aware of the benefit against cot of frame rate V-Sync ensures when the machine is up against it. I always disabled it, and lived with the tearing, which didn't seem so bad some how at 19" but at 50" in the front room with others watching it can be a little worrying for some users. MS will do well to note that some users think that their 360 is about to pack in when they see it. Would be great to be ble to force it on or off in hardware as a system option - but be what ever the software producers wants when online to help connection synchronisation. edits - currently on a friends laptop with Vista running. Either it is shit and slow (vista with a couple of windows open) or I can now type faster than computers can register the keys - what a pain in the aarse checking it over.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 09/05/07 @ 11:51
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miiiguel - "... a friend of mine bought a Samsung LCD, and he has terrible, terrible v-sync problems while watching normal cable TV."
Why does that sound so very, very, very wrong! LOL Answer: it is simply not possible to have v-sync tearing while watching normal TV programmes as far as I'm aware anyway, either he's describing ghosting/smearing/motion-blur or there really is some other technical fault with his HDTV. Either way that is *not* v-sync tearing... |
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BadBoyBonner
09/05/07 @ 10:55
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VGA is a much better picture. To check the differnce ause motoGP and look at the detil on buildings in the distance. The difference is even more pronounced if your set is actually 1360 x 768 (which mine is).
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BadBoyBonner
09/05/07 @ 10:57
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might have a set with high Ms refresh anything above 16ms normally spells trouble to the discerning viewer (i.e. me - take that shit back to the shop!lol)
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@The Bodybuilder - It's very much dependent on the game to be honest... unless you use VGA and play Dead Rising, Lost Planet or use component video and play Saints Row (pre-patch) and Splinter Cell: Double Agent then you might well never see it or really notice it as the better games use hybrid v-sync which ensures tearing is kept to an absolute minimum. Games like Test Drive Unlimited, Gears of War, Viva Pinata and Dead Rising use this method but they still has some minor v-sync issues from time to time but in the case of the latter it is borked up badly with VGA for whatever reason and tears all the bloody time.
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BadBoyBonner
09/05/07 @ 11:00
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"borked up badly with VGA for whatever reason and tears all the bloody time."
And right in the middle of the screen most of the time! Which is a shame as at times it looks amazing (the speach given by the clown by the mono-rail is arguably the 360's finest hour. Obviously Gears is awesome non stop, but the dithered shading does detract quite heavily at times - when pheonix looks like a dirty tramp who never washes his neck.) edit - Vista + Laptop + only 1 gig of ram and a AMD Turion 64 + Radeon Xpress = crapiest performance I have witnessed since my 4 Mb 25Mhz 386.
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 09/05/07 @ 12:03
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Disco_Stu360
09/05/07 @ 11:15
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VGA SHOULD be better than component if they could get it to work correctly... sigh!
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The Bodybuilder
09/05/07 @ 12:10
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>"Bodybuilder: guess not, allthough I use components. Any reason why you use VGA? Is it better ? "
It does look better on VGA for me. But it looks better on composite on my brother's tv. |
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The Bodybuilder
09/05/07 @ 12:12
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>"I can confirm Dead Rising s also a prime suspect f it through VGA. "
I've never played moto go, so I can't comment. I have played DR however, and that was v-sync free for me. I don't care about the technical gibbergabber, all I know is that I'm v-sync free. In fairness though, I did play it b4 I downloaded the autumn update, so things may have changed. |
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The Bodybuilder
09/05/07 @ 12:15
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@ Darren.
Well I don't know why. I guess I should rejoice that I am lucky. |
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Hypnopedia
09/05/07 @ 12:32
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Divx - Xvid?
Stuck at work, can someone confirm yay or nay for streaming of them? Ta! |
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NO to xvid and divx, I'm afraid, not with their default file extensions anyway. So far I have got .mp4 files to play successfully. These were encoded using VisualHub on the Mac using default settings for the Apple TV! Files with .mov extensions showed up but wouldn't play. I want to try a HD h264 file but I dont have any! Not sure what file format these would be in anyway. But .mkv and .avi and .ts files do NOT work straight off the bat.
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