Joystiq Asks: What features should MS spring for the Fall Update?

by Christopher Grant { Oct 29th 2007 at 8:32PM }

So, we know those IPTV screens are "unrelated" to the Xbox 360's Fall Update, but that's about all we know about the last of this year's major 360 updates. Last year's Fall Update (was that really the first?) included 1080p support, HD DVD functionality, XNA functionality, WMV compatibility, and more. Some pretty big-ticket items in there, to be sure. And there's been two Spring Updates ('06 and '07), both of which came with some huge improvements including background downloading and chat and IM functionality.

Just two days before the one-year anniversary of the Fall Update, we'd like to ask you Joystiqers, what should we expect to see in this year's Fall Update? We've heard rumors of DivX video support, an XBLA blade, and integrated clan functionality. Surely there's more up the sleeve of Redmond's oversized fall-themed sweater. Us? We'd love to be able to change the listed gamertag of 'xXsmokezmadbluntz420Xx' to the more frequently used title: 'Mom'. And what do you, dear readers, want to see in your Fall Update? Vote up the comments you like best and we'll compile the best answers later in the week.

Tags: Fall-Update, IPTV

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)

Myke @ Oct 29th 2007 8:39PM

Hey, I thought you guys said you didn't have any photoshop skills? ;)

ReverendGadgetBoy @ Oct 29th 2007 10:08PM

They don't.

Qitsyoj @ Oct 29th 2007 8:39PM

How about low-def tv support so I could read the damn screen.

Bagel @ Oct 29th 2007 9:23PM

16:10 screen support!

mfed3 @ Oct 29th 2007 10:50PM

16:10 support, adjusted media blade interface to mirror zune 2's, increasted codec support, and multi person voice / video chat.

Penguin Warlord @ Oct 30th 2007 12:39AM

How about the cake those bastards promised us!

ssuk @ Oct 30th 2007 9:47AM

The cake is a lie!

*hangs head in shame, sits in the corner*

Lurker @ Oct 30th 2007 3:09PM

.AVI SUPPORT

Synner @ Oct 29th 2007 8:40PM

Seperate save files for different profiles.

Neebs @ Oct 29th 2007 8:42PM

I swear this was at least in Bioshock.

Hashbrown_Hunter @ Oct 29th 2007 9:05PM

yeah i was playing at a friend's house and this was the one thing that annoyed the crap out of me. I really hope they change that.

mfed3 @ Oct 29th 2007 10:47PM

you already have separate files for separate profiles, its separate saves for a single profile that you want. on the xbox 360 each profile has its own invidiaual sets of files, but if you try to have 2 players on the same profile have 2 separate games, the auto save feature will always overwrite a game with the latest save. advice: do not play any games with autosave features on the same profile (or with no profile) as another person. my idiot brother learned this the hard way the first time he played oblivion for a whole day without logging in. always use ur own profile and log in.

MegaSnort @ Nov 2nd 2007 10:33PM

mfeds right, its the profile. the only game which lets me have multiple save files on a single profile is MA:UA, which coincidently also has the biggest file corruption glitch(I think cause of DLC) as well.

Lex @ Oct 29th 2007 8:41PM

How about a bandwidth tester in the network settings. So all the 10 dollar dsl users out there can know just how much there connection sucks.

Foggy Bottoms @ Oct 29th 2007 9:12PM

seriously

but it's not like they'd admit it anyway. they're the ones telling you they're at 900 mbps

Greg @ Oct 30th 2007 2:48AM

You must also know then that bandwidth doesn't mean much in gaming right? The amount of bandwidth used in a game isn't close to your maximum. It's all about the ping! I'm a cheap dsl user who loves his 10-20 ping in TF2(PC version, i dont know if the console version tells ping but probably not). It's all about the fiberoptic baby! Pings keep getting better(except in Gears of War, what the hell is up with that?) And my cheap dsl is only 3 Mbps, so what is your super amazing connection? 5 Mbps? 10 Mbps tops? For how much more? triple, quadruple the cost? and you dont even get a lower ping

Foggy Bottoms @ Oct 30th 2007 4:31AM

but you obviously don't know that bandwidth means just as much as ping in gaming. if your ping is fast but you have shit for bandwidth then you're just sending smaller amounts of data at a fast speed, so someone with more bandwidth and a comparable or better ping sends more information just as fast or faster than you, hence they have a better connection and clearly a better job because they can afford a better connection than you. and, if they're smart, they can easily change bandwidth allotment in their router settings to allow more for gaming. your reply clues us in on why you can't afford a better connection, and i have to wonder why you give a shout out for fiber optic when you don't have it? woo i love ferrari's.

Viridium @ Oct 30th 2007 9:03AM

Wow. Foggy Bottoms, you don't know WTF you are talking about, and you obviously know nothing technical about networking and specifically how it's implemented for online gaming. Programmers try to keep the amount of data sent to an absolute minimum. Unless your bandwidth is so absolutely minimal that you are having trouble sending the small packets that gaming requires, it has an effect several orders of magnitude below what your latency/ping does for performance.

But thanks for trying.

Clasifyd @ Oct 30th 2007 10:56AM

I claim no expertise in the arena of networking or any such thing.

That being said, my roommate was messing with the router the other day while I was playing Halo and noted that our bandwidth (we're on cable) was absolutely floored. I don't know how this actually affects the argument, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

flash2000 @ Oct 30th 2007 12:07PM

I would love to have this option as I always wonder what my 360 is getting on my shared connection (I have 10 megs down and 1 meg up, but shared with a router to 3 computers and a 360).

Foggy Bottoms @ Oct 30th 2007 2:16PM

do i need to bring up dildos again, viridium?

Banstyle @ Oct 29th 2007 8:41PM

At this point, they really need clan support. I know it's just a rumor, but it's such a strong rumor that it will be a huge let down if it isn't included in this update.

fyreblazer @ Oct 30th 2007 9:33AM

I'm with you Banstyle, clan support would be awesome.

NATO_Duke @ Oct 30th 2007 10:46AM

This seems to be the most appealing idea to me as well. We have wanted this for a long time - c'mon MS, why not give it?

bounchfx @ Oct 30th 2007 10:55AM

clan support yes please

C. T. @ Oct 29th 2007 8:41PM

It's not glamorous, but I'd like to see support for 16:10 monitors. A simple letterbox would suffice, just so the image doesn't have to be stretched out of proportion.

AmgKmpsR @ Oct 29th 2007 9:33PM

It's in there buddy, make sure you look thoroughly.

The Purveyor of Justice @ Oct 29th 2007 9:44PM

Here, here. I'm tired of the interpolation, and want to see things in my native 1440x900!!!!

okenny @ Oct 29th 2007 10:58PM

Can't you just set your monitor to 1:1 pixel ratio?

frrs @ Oct 30th 2007 12:20AM

More and more people are getting 1680 x 1050 and users like myself who has been using it for a while would really love it.

Russell @ Oct 29th 2007 8:42PM

more video codecs.
organize the gamer pics.
preview themes and gamer pics before buying.

boxmyth @ Oct 30th 2007 12:22PM

Yes, previewing gamerpics and themes. I'd love to see this feature.

And being able to change priority of downloads in the download queue. I often just pick things as they come up and sometimes I have to wait forever just to play a demo because I'm downloading a movie. Small beef, but it'd be nice.

Synner @ Oct 29th 2007 10:22PM

People wouldn't buy half the gamer pics and themes if they knew how shitty they were

gonk @ Oct 29th 2007 11:26PM

that's why i never buy any

FR3SH JIV3 @ Oct 30th 2007 9:44AM

I would like to create my own themes. Ones that have a different picture for each blade and a guide skin of my own.

Oh and 4 way private chat!!!

Neebs @ Oct 29th 2007 8:42PM

I want the DivX support still.

Shotgun Steve @ Oct 29th 2007 8:43PM

Support for 1680x1050 over VGA would be nice.

Paradox @ Nov 4th 2007 4:26AM

I would love 1650 x 1050 displays to be proper over VGA as well. I only have enough space in my room with all my current crap that I cant fit a TV in here no matter how hard I want to, so im left with my moniter as my only means of gaming.

Zertoss @ Oct 29th 2007 8:44PM

Widescreen resolution support over the VGA cable would be great. Other than that, I'm pretty happy with my 360's functionality (and yes, it still functions, stupid fanboys). Anything else would just be a bonus for me.

William Sun @ Oct 29th 2007 8:47PM

The alias idea is pretty nifty and never really thought about that. I think that would be a great feature. Every now and then I pop up my friends list to only see gamertags I don't remember who they associate with, with the ability to nickname them, it'd make things much easier to remember.

I'd also like to see a wider support for monitors. I have a 20-inch monitor using VGA and it sucks having to use that 13xx resolution needing to stretch it to 1680px.

Fixing the auto sign-in for Xbox Live would be good too. I've noticed when you don't have a game disc in, it automatically signs into Xbox Live whereas if you don't, it just signs you into your game profile.

Also, I hope they fix the child/parent account issue (how when you register as a child account, and you turn 18 during this time, you don't get removed as a child). I hate seeing those nasty dull Xbox 360 ad placements and also wouldn't mind checking out Windows Live Messenger on the 360.

There's nothing else really that I have any complaints about and would like them to add/change.

TJ @ Oct 29th 2007 8:48PM

A nice addition would be an option to delete xbla demos from your gamerscore. The 0 is very unsightly. It's to the point now where i have to sign out of my xbl account and use a dummy account just to try the games. Talk about redundant.

Big Ed @ Oct 29th 2007 9:06PM

Amen! I just want to get rid of that *shudders* YARIS game history! Why oh why did I download that godforsaken game!?

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Oct 29th 2007 11:19PM

same here lol, damn yaris

turbopoker9000 @ Oct 29th 2007 11:47PM

yeah no kidding what is the point

not being able to clear out crap like yaris drives me crazy

if it just fixed that it would be worth it

james f. @ Oct 29th 2007 11:58PM

I agree with that also on the converse I think they should have gamerscore points for demos. Nothing more than 15 or 20 points for disc games and perhaps 5 for xbla demos. It would tempt me and many others to play games I'd normally never bother with. And it would avoid those unsightly zeros.

William Sun @ Oct 30th 2007 3:45AM

If I remember correctly, I think Major Nelson said they show up on your played list as when you play the Arcade trials, you can actually unlock achievements but they won't appear on your account rather save it and if you do decide to purchase the full game, the achievements will then be unlocked.

Yeah, I don't really like the idea of the trials appearing on my played list and a reason why I don't download trials if I know I won't buy the full version in the end.