360 update out today

jester77

I read an article, don't have the link now, where MS clarified that the only thing this update will do is prevent you downloading content that is not allowed for your region. Otherwise your account will not be affected if you have it set up for a different region.

Sucks for me as I've an Irish a/c but based in Germany. Gears of War is banned here so don't know how this will effect getting maps and stuff!

Found the link:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13823

Dave

I've seen alot of germans play gears online, so are you sure it's banned?

jester77

Dave wrote:

I've seen alot of germans play gears online, so are you sure it's banned?

Definetly. Just look here
http://www.google.com/search?q=gears+of+war+germany

Anyone that's playing it didn't buy it here. But with this update maybe the online feature will now be disabled

KTRIC

jester77 wrote:

Definetly. Just look here
http://www.google.com/search?q=gears+of+war+germany

Anyone that's playing it didn't buy it here. But with this update maybe the online feature will now be disabled

I knew there was something up when I tried to buy it in Media Markt (Bayreuth) at Christmas. The guy behind the counter never heard of GOW !!

What if I bring a UK /IRL machine to Germany with my copy of GOW , will I be able to play it online there with my IRL Live account ?

jester77

KTRIC wrote:

I knew there was something up when I tried to buy it in Media Markt (Bayreuth) at Christmas. The guy behind the counter never heard of GOW !!

What if I bring a UK /IRL machine to Germany with my copy of GOW , will I be able to play it online there with my IRL Live account ?

Thats the question I'm wondering if this update will prevent German IP addresses from playing it online now that they are enforcing region control!

Edit: Oh and be careful buying 360 games in Germany as alot of them don't have English language. It's total hit and miss. Even though the packaging states that it's only German language it can still contain English language but no way of knowing. Best to rent first or order online!

wes

jester77 wrote:

Thats the question I'm wondering if this update will prevent German IP addresses from playing it online now that they are enforcing region control!

Edit: Oh and be careful buying 360 games in Germany as alot of them don't have English language. It's total hit and miss. Even though the packaging states that it's only German language it can still contain English language but no way of knowing. Best to rent first or order online!

I think its based on the region your credit card is in. Also, its only for buying content and its easy to id the region your CC is from to prevent you from buying content in other regions.

kensutz

The update won't stop the Germans playing GOW online. It is only to stop Europeans gaining access to the US Marketplace and downloading HD Movies etc, same with accessing the Japanese Marketplace.

lee_baby_simms

kensutz wrote:

It is only to stop Europeans gaining access to the US Marketplace and downloading HD Movies etc, same with accessing the Japanese Marketplace.

Well apparently it hasnt done that.

8T8

JeanClaude wrote:

Did it take long to download? I've been trying for a while and after getting a few "update cannot be downloaded, please check your network connection" messages, the update just freezes (the update bar stops moving) and i have to start all over again. Should i just leave it, cos i know it takes a while to download demo games and other such things from Xbox live.

Like Ciaran500 said the update is fairly small it only took a few seconds to download the update only appeared for me when I stuck a game disc in the drive it didn't prompt me the update when I turned on the console though it's been so long since the last update I cant recall if that's normal or not.

johnny_ultimate

Instant messaging aint so instant anymore
When are they releasing that mini-keyboard periphiral the 'training' video for the update pimped?

lee_baby_simms

johnny_ultimate wrote:

Instant messaging aint so instant anymore
When are they releasing that mini-keyboard periphiral the 'training' video for the update pimped?

August at the earliest.

Ciaran500

The release date is just Summer 07

kensutz

lee_baby_simms wrote:

Well apparently it hasnt done that.

yet

lee_baby_simms

kensutz wrote:

yet

People are saying they can still browse the US video marketplace since the update, maybe the downloads are blocked.

TheDoc

finally that thing i bought to let you plus in your keyboard and mouse has added use, msn on my xbox, class stuff, now if they just make a web browser of it

Ciaran500

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote:

finally that thing i bought to let you plus in your keyboard and mouse has added use, msn on my xbox, class stuff, now if they just make a web browser of it

You can use any keyboard on the 360 to type anyway.

um7y1h83ge06nx

Here's the list of new features:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2007/0408-im.htm

Picks of the bunch for me apart from the messaging stuff:

A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.

Show folder hierarchy for video content played from all devices. Handy for Tversity etc.

Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete. Power of one

Kristok

And yet another update without adding a browser, sony and nintendo can do it and microsoft have the leading browser in the market yet they cant. Update ads some nice "little" features but nothing great.

8T8

I dunno I would say proper H.264 high profile support is pretty big addition it's picky about H.264 on the PS3 and the Wii has terrible video support. A web browser personally to me is the most least useful thing in a games console and adding Internet Explorer to the Xbox 360 opens up a major can of worms.

The update supposedly adds some fixes for VGA users like the washed out look though it is a manual fix if you go into the display settings you should find new profiles basic, intermediate and extended which may correct the washed out look on VGA.

stev2604

Got the update, MSN is pretty cool on it, but can you connect keyboards to the 360? Was there any more word on that attchment for the controller actually?

EDIT: Oops, didn't read the whole third page of this thread!

Scruff

8T8 wrote:

I dunno I would say proper H.264 high profile support is pretty big addition it's picky about H.264 on the PS3 and the Wii has terrible video support.

pitty they didnt add divx and xvid support as well. probably wont ever though

A web browser personally to me is the most least useful thing in a games console and adding Internet Explorer to the Xbox 360 opens up a major can of worms.

yeah we'd be downloading critical updated every other day or have to install antivirus software :rolleyes:

Fingleberries

A web browser personally to me is the most least useful thing in a games console and adding Internet Explorer to the Xbox 360 opens up a major can of worms.

Aboslutely agree - Why open up the 360 to a whole world of trouble by adding a web browser??

Putting a web browser in would be like all the people that think installing Linux onto your console is a cool idea? I mean, why?

ciano1

did anyone here try to use a keyboard yet....and also can i change the email address thats connected with my gamertag because i want to use my msn messenger address

keithkk16

Anyone try playing any x.264 or h.264 videos yet do they look any good on the 360?

mik_da_man

mik_da_man wrote:

Is this update blocking non US users that have US Accounts?
I meant to purchase my live sub last night but forgot :mad:

Mik

To answer my own Q I got the update and went ahead and purchased the 12 month sub for $49 just now

And watched a few trailers - no probs

Happy Days

calex71

Any one check out the new setting in the display settings??
makes the 360 colors look alot better and less washed out over vga on a normal pc monitor which im sharing with my pc till i get my hdtv here from my parents house.

shortys94

Ummm was just wondering whether you can check if any of your xbox live friends have msn messenger on xbox live, would be pretty nifty.

Dman001

Anyone get Mpeg4 video streaming to work?

8T8

keithkk16 wrote:

Anyone try playing any x.264 or h.264 videos yet do they look any good on the 360?

Yes working fine no problems.

If you want to encode content into H.264 use AutoMKV or XviD4PSP. MeGUI also works but that is not so friendly to use.

XviD4PSP is probably the easier of the two though it does not have an Xbox 360 profile (yet) so it may not be making the most of what the hardware can do as you are relying on it's built in generic MP4 H.264 profile.

The only condition you need to be aware of is that the container is MP4 and the audio is AAC LC as the Xbox 360 does not support AAC HE.

Nero Recode with it's NeroDigital AVC profiles also works but is nowhere near as good as the x264 powered programs above.

AutoMKV is probably the best bet in the interim as it uses the same profiles for H.264 that MeGUI does but is easier to use if a little messy in operation (It requires a few things be installed first before it will work the thread has all the links to what you need).

Once everything is in place to get it going pick the settings below in AutoMKV these are all on the main window as well;

Codec & container properties, I suggest the High Profile but you can use any of the lower profiles like Main or Baseline but they are not as good for retaining detail.

The HQ Slow, Slower, Insane are the very best for retaining detail but will crucify your computer as they take a very long time to encode. I use HQ-Slow on DVD movies and it takes 6-8 hours per movie with an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ for reference.


Resize and cropping, this will auto resize & crop away any black bars in content you provide to AutoMKV, recommend leaving as is because the auto setting tends to do a good job. The Spline36 Resize filter is a good middle of the road option as different resize filters give different results in the video.


Audio config, with Nero audio encoder present click the !!! symbol and change the settings to the below this will set it so that it uses AAC LC only and displays the bitrate;




Click the save setting in the bottom right hand corner on the main Window so it remembers all these changes and are you are good to go.

Oh and it's probably obvious but the Output File/Name Options under disk settings is where you set the file size it has stock profiles like 1 CD or half a DVD but I prefer using the custom option just write in MB the desired amount like for instance 2000MB is roughly 2GB. High profile retains a lot of detail so don't be afraid to set it low or if size doesn't matter go nuts with whatever.

If anyone needs any more help ask away.

Edit: Forgot to mention all of this is for standard definition video in other words at or below 720x576 to encode video at HD resolutions will require a custom H.264 profile for the Xbox 360.

Edit: Apple H.264 HD trailers also play on the console there is a program here that will auto download them for you which is handy for broadband users. Though you have no actual control over what downloads as it simply grabs everything. Also as a tip I would avoid using any encoders that use Apple H.264 profiles as they only support the basic Baseline profile and is nowhere near as good as the High Profile setting.

Anyone get Mpeg4 video streaming to work?

As far as I'm aware none of the software real time transcoders like Tversity support the MPEG-4 SP profile the Xbox 360 supports yet. Though there is talk on their forums of support being added in the future. I doubt any of the software programs would be transcoding into MPEG-4 AVC {H.264} given the performance cost. Finally TVersity itself no longer transcodes into WMV with the new Xbox 360 update so a newer version of the software I think is needed to get that feature back up & running.

shreddedloops

ahhhhh what! what is the deal with Live Messenger?? I cant access it because I have a 'Child Account'. its ridiculous. There isnt even an option to change it in th Family Settings GRRRRRRRR