Xbox Experience Beta Program

unklerosco

God he's a handsome divil.... :p:p

Mr E

Monobrow FTW.

unklerosco

I call it the slug, keeps the rain off my eyes... All i remember is when I met my first gfs mam n she said, never trust a man with a monobrow. We got on like a house on fire... after i took a match to her ;-)

Vegeta

unklerosco wrote: »

I don't think load times has much to do with the games quality... If its a crap game having faster load times just means you'll get pi$$ed off quicker ;-)

I meant technical/production quality really (frame rate, load times, bugs, draw distances etc) rather than things like gameplay, controls, story or characters.

We got on like a house on fire... after i took a match to her ;-)

Which, the slug or her ma :pac: Only joshin ya.

They look good, could one give them a gun/weapon/instrument to hold. Dress them up like game characters maybe?? Or is it just match what a normal person looks like. Would love to make one that looks like a game character (Big Daddy) or something like that.

unklerosco

There isn't that much in the way of accessories for the avatars... I read somewhere that outfits n that will become unlockables in games... So in GOW2 when u finish it u could get some COG gear for ur Avatar etc etc. Don't know if thats gonna happen tho

Scruff

Vegeta wrote: »

This is a bit worrying and disappointing for me.
....
The last 2 games I have invested a bit of time into are Mass Effect and Fable 2, both of them are as buggy as an ant farm to begin with and then there's the frame rate drops, textures loading in while watching a character conversation, horrible loading times, for a universe where faster than light travel was possible you'd think they would have mastered elevators ffs.
....
Its disappointing as it only marginally improved load times.

I was hoping for much improved load times too. Still havent finished Mass Effect and was hoping a HD install would improve the tedious load times and texture pop ins. Am amazed with the amount of complaints about them and lift times that they they never put out an update to address the problems. *sigh* its not like it'll ever get addressed now

if load times were significantly better i would have either bought a bigger HD or a new console. wont bother now, will just install the 1 or 2 games i'm playing most and delete\install accordingly. M$ missed out on a big revenue earner there imo.

Lamposts

oooh yeah

unklerosco

In relation to the load times i'll time it when I get home on a few games n post the results...

Vegeta

unklerosco wrote: »

In relation to the load times i'll time it when I get home on a few games n post the results...

That would be deadly, would greatly appreciate it.

I know this is going to seem ridiculous but what kind of standard deviation would one expect loading the same part of a game over and over. Lets say you load the first level of a game, then go back to the main menu and then again load the first level. Wonder how repeatable the times will be?

unklerosco

U mean to see if the game is cached or similar?? So say if you die the level loads much quicker the second time??

Vegeta

unklerosco wrote: »

U mean to see if the game is cached or similar?? So say if you die the level loads much quicker the second time??

That is something I hadn't thought of actually

but no what I meant is, say you load the same thing 4 times and the results are 10, 12, 9 and 14 seconds. It will be hard for you to really see an improvement if the loading times vary.

So I know if I was doing the measurements I would pick something not installed and load it 10 times to see the repeatability of the load times. Is it always the exact same time or does it move around a bit.

I would then install the game and load the same thing and again do it 10 times.

Now that's a lot of work and I don't expect you to do it, but if I was looking to characterise the improvement I would definitely measure the load times pre installation a number of times to see if the result is the same or if it moves around a bit.

Do I make any sense

unklerosco

I getcha... Kinda.

Started off with pure, before I installed the game.

16.8 secs to load a single player race. Did it 3 times n got the same time on each one.

With the game installed

12.0 secs to load the same race. Did it 3 times n got the same result..

So 4.8 secs quicker to load

Gow

Loading my last level from disc

15.0 secs.. Same again, did it 3 times

From HD

11.0 secs

4 secs quicker...

That should give u an overall idea of the difference

dazftw

Lamposts wrote: »

oooh yeah

state of that looks nothing like you

Lamposts

Spitting image of me mate. The facial features are uncanny.

miju

unklerosco wrote: »

4 secs quicker...

That should give u an overall idea of the difference

I still remember the tape decks and load timers on the Commodore 64 so 4 seconds is nothing

unklerosco

miju wrote: »

I still remember the tape decks and load timers on the Commodore 64 so 4 seconds is nothing

I've a C64 sitting at home somewhere, must dig it out n bring back some memories...

weeder

heads up to those who didnt get in, the update has been leaked but once installed you cant connect to live till the release date of the dash, works on unmodded boxes

tman

http://kotaku.com/5072909/so-how-much-faster-do-360-games-load-after-an-install

Seems to be a pretty good decrease in loading times... Shame that I'll have finished with Fable 2 by the time this update becomes available to me.

Cow Moolester

weeder wrote: »

heads up to those who didnt get in, the update has been leaked but once installed you cant connect to live till the release date of the dash, works on unmodded boxes

Once again, the Xbox Team ARE working on this. You run a very high risk of getting console banned from Live if you do this

weeder

Cow Moolester wrote: »

Once again, the Xbox Team ARE working on this. You run a very high risk of getting console banned from Live if you do this

well its too late now, if so is the case ive an excuse to get that second xbox i was after and/or cancel my live sub

tman

Cow Moolester wrote: »

Once again, the Xbox Team ARE working on this. You run a very high risk of getting console banned from Live if you do this

Kind of assumed that was a risk when I updated mine... I'm not going to be renewing my sub in the foreseeable future anyway, so that's no biggy...
Impressed with the install game feature so far anyway, shame that it doesn't work on original xbox titles though

Antigone05

Im not a fan of it so far, apart from the HDD loading. It feels all very pointless.

I wont go into it too much as i have already on my blog.

The friends list is awful. Why would i scroll through it just to see a Avatar? and you have to go to the end of it to add a new GT, ill just use the guide instead.. bizarre.

The once downloaded backgrounds are useless. you cant see them. They arent integrated into the new look of it.you can only see about 35% of it now.

Since the update it keeps knocking me off Xbox live, that and it wont see new folders from my PC.

I can only imagine this is the final build, it needs alot of work!

In saying this i know its a free update, but i didnt see anything wrong with the standard dash.

I use the Xbox to play games, and watch the PC files, the dashboard is something i would only use to access these things..it doesnt need to be fancy.

i just dont understand this new look

unklerosco

I'm guessing the reasoning behind the new look is to make the 360 more of a family thing... Hence the Wii style avatars n sounds. The new mini blade system is great I think, u can fly around using that..

I like the new system... In the states it makes perfect sense with the new netflix integration. I think the main idea is to get the 360 into peoples living rooms... Instead of just in the kids bedrooms..

Cow Moolester

Antigone05 wrote: »

Im not a fan of it so far, apart from the HDD loading. It feels all very pointless.

I wont go into it too much as i have already on my blog.

The friends list is awful. Why would i scroll through it just to see a Avatar? and you have to go to the end of it to add a new GT, ill just use the guide instead.. bizarre.

The once downloaded backgrounds are useless. you cant see them. They arent integrated into the new look of it.you can only see about 35% of it now.

Since the update it keeps knocking me off Xbox live, that and it wont see new folders from my PC.

I can only imagine this is the final build, it needs alot of work!

In saying this i know its a free update, but i didnt see anything wrong with the standard dash.

I use the Xbox to play games, and watch the PC files, the dashboard is something i would only use to access these things..it doesnt need to be fancy.

i just dont understand this new look

Have you gvien Microsoft the feedback through the Microsoft Connect Site??

These issues could be fixed before launch if you do

Antigone05

yeah cow i let them know .

cheers mate

McDermotX

Seems to be a love/hate relationship for a lot of early users..
Personally, I think its a great improvement over the original Blades system, but its most certainly not without its bad points..

Visually looks excellent......Striking, pin-sharp over HD, fast and responsive (far better than an earlier version I was witness to a couple months back)..

HDD install.....while some games benefit from the install loading time-wise (although anyone expecting a quantum improvement of PC levels will be major disappointed), the biggest plus is obviously the lack of optical drive access resulting in a much quieter gaming experience.. Fan noise obviously kicks in, but I certainly believe the improvement is worth the initial 10-12min install and/or the investment in a larger HDD)..

Avatar.......50/50 this one.......While there are some who may end up having a thing for this level of "Wii-theft", it is as useless and out-of-place as expected IMO..
But that's not to say that everyone will hate it, and you can see MS' angle by introducing this element, but hopefully its something that'll become less obtrusive........but with MS having designs on incorporating the avatars into certain titles its something we may just have to put up with..

However,
the interface is still far too cluttered for my liking..........this was to be expected or course, but from someone who appreciates the minimalist design of the likes of Sony's XMB, it means that it loses a few points..
Purely subjective of course, and over time we will get used to it in the same way the Blades system was overloaded, but was fairly functional..
Adverts/Direct links for marketplace items litter each "rolodex" section so it can be somewhat off-putting at first, but you do have quick direct access to that areas particular function so its not all bad..
This is a downside, if you pardon the expression, of the 360's excellent Live-intergrated nature and is not something that MS will want to do away with so its here to stay..

Mini-Blades need some work as well............seems out of place with the rest of the update, but it at least offers the user access to all his/her previous 360 options, in a relatively familiar, if ugly, manner. It can also be a little unresponsive when system is under stress (much like the old version), and it also appears to be using a curious style of filtered font (almost like Cleartype effect), which is a bit strange.
I wonder if it is actually designed to help with 360s on non-HD displays........haven't been able to test that myself, but I have seen information GUIs designed in such a way before


All in all, looks a good update over the tired Blades system (although the HDD install is the real winner), and at times feels like a completely new console experience which is always enjoyable...........No obvious bugs or deficiencies on show even after hours of use so its looks like a success from here.

unklerosco

Ur right about the cluttered interface... Would be great if you could remove some of the menus, same way u can turn off that welcome menu...

Mr Freeze

Quick question for ye..Do you have to set up an avatar when you get the update?

Vic Vinegar

CKWPORT wrote: »

Quick question for ye..Do you have to set up an avatar when you get the update?

Yeah, you can just choose a default one if you can't be arsed though! I didn't mine setting mine up, looks a bit like me too

Mr Freeze

uh crap, i was hoping that could be skipped:mad:, i have no interest in the Avatars at all...just looking forward to the HDD install, thats all.