Microsoft details new Xbox Live

Author: Joe Martin
Published: 15th July 2008
Comments (20) Stumble
Microsoft has confirmed a few new features for Xbox Live, including the ability to copy games to a hard drive.

Microsoft has confirmed a few new features for Xbox Live, including the ability to copy games to a hard drive.

E3 2008: Microsoft has offered some new details on the upcoming update to Xbox Live as part of the E3 2008 press conference, most notably confirming the ability for players to copy games from a DVD to the Xbox 360's hard drive.

The new system will allow gamers to copy games from the DVD to the Xbox 360 hard drive, bypassing the need for the noisy disc drive to spin up and start making a racket while also allowing games to run faster and smoother.

Microsoft hasn't offered any information yet on copy protection, but the safe bet is that the disc will still need to check the disc periodically to avoid piracy.

The press conference also saw the announcement that users will be able to access the Xbox Live Marketplace on any computer or web-enabled device and download new content from there.

Another new feature is the Live Party function which will allow up to eight friends to join up and play with each other as they move from game to game, while also sharing videos and photos with each other.

New display support is also being added - including 16x10 over VGA or HDMI and support for 1440x900 and 1680x1050.

Microsoft's Marc Whitten has confirmed a number of these features in an open letter to Xbox fans, which you can read here. When you've had a look then why not let us know what you think in the forums?
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Quote Paradigm Shifter 15th July 2008, 11:14
The 16:10 support is pretty nice - shame they couldn't do 1920x1200 and 2650x1600 too. :) Also... I imagine that copying the game to the HDD will not copy whatever the XBox equivalent of the .exe is... so that the disc has to be in to boot the game, but after that it just pulls data off the HDD. Now, if only MS would let people install their own HDDs. ;)
Quote Bauul 15th July 2008, 11:22
They would never allow custom HDDs and installed games ability, and given that 99% of 360 owners probably wouldn't even understand the benefits of a custom HDD, I think this way suits more people than not.
Quote Joeymac 15th July 2008, 11:26
Be cool to install some games.. but I could only fit one with the space left on my 20GB 360. I've already got a xbox originals game on there. So which to choose!!
Maybe I'll get an Elite around christmas time, HDMI port would be handy anyway. Then again maybe I won't bother and just get a PS3... choices choices.
Quote alastor 15th July 2008, 11:35
1680x1050 support = happy alastor
Quote spazmochad 15th July 2008, 11:46
Finally 16:10 support, too late for me after the year and a half of pain I went though with apsect ratios and overscan on my Benq 24".
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 15th July 2008, 12:16
16:10 support is great and all..

But what about 1920x1200? A stretched 1920x1080 is okay.. but not as sharp as I'd like it to be.
Quote salesman 15th July 2008, 15:08
Finally MS is doing what it SHOULD have done to the 360 before it was released, the party update god how many times have a thought that would have been cool to have.
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 15th July 2008, 15:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by salesman
Finally MS is doing what it SHOULD have done to the 360 before it was released, the party update god how many times have a thought that would have been cool to have.

Aye.. partying up is LIVE's strongest point, so this is definitely a good direction.

I can see me and my mates having a hell of a lot of fun on Primetime too.
Quote DXR_13KE 15th July 2008, 15:15
custom hard drive capabilities would make me consider buying the console... that and lower failure rates.... (are the new ones failing much?)
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 15th July 2008, 15:43
Quote:
Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
custom hard drive capabilities would make me consider buying the console... that and lower failure rates.... (are the new ones failing much?)

With the Xenon die shrink last year, and this year's Xenos die shrink.. I think we're going to see a much lower failure rate from now on.
Quote Jojii 15th July 2008, 16:44
they needs to keep updating xbox live with new features. eventually its going to be the only selling point ;)
Quote p3n 15th July 2008, 18:19
holy crap, someone pinch me
Quote -EVRE- 15th July 2008, 19:26
I bought an Xbox 360, I played PGR and Mass Effect........... took 10 min to play the game because it kept telling me 'to play this game you need to put it in an xbox 360" DUH..... now I play Mass Effect on PC.. @ 2560x1600. PC is still the best choice if you plan to game ^^
Quote Cadillac Ferd 15th July 2008, 19:27
Quote:
Originally Posted by spazmochad
Finally 16:10 support, too late for me after the year and a half of pain I went though with apsect ratios and overscan on my Benq 24".

Oh I totally hear you, I have a nice Samsung 24" that I have my 360 hooked up to and using a non-matching aspect ratio coupled with a relatively low resolution (1280x768) has been bugging me ever since I bought it.
Quote mikeuk2004 15th July 2008, 23:08
Yay, i can copy one game to my tiny hard drive.


Seriously, are they blind to space problem. If you are going to put forward the option to download movies and now install your games to the hard disk, then somebody seriously needs to point out to them that 20GB, 60GB and 120GB aint going to be sufficient.
Quote Veles 16th July 2008, 00:39
Awesome!

Oh, and 120Gb is still sufficient, I don't know why people keep saying it isn't. Downloadable movies are for rent, AFAIK, there are no plans to be able to purchase a movie, so they're only temporarily on your HDD. I'm guessing they'll still keep compression, so each game will be no more than 9gig, most xbox games are about 6 gig if I remember right. Yeah, I'm not gonna be able to install every game in my collection to the 90gig I have free, but that doesn't bother me. Why would I want to install LEGO Star Wars the complete saga? The games I will install would be the ones I play most and the ones that would benefit from it noticeably.
Quote leexgx 16th July 2008, 03:32
the hard disks are to small for this Xbox disk to HDD copy, Xbox need to alow us use are own bigger hdds at ot rip off prices
Quote docodine 16th July 2008, 04:07
Quote:
Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
custom hard drive capabilities would make me consider buying the console... that and lower failure rates.... (are the new ones failing much?)

Mine just did today, and I bought it in December...
Quote DougEdey 16th July 2008, 09:46
They still haven't recitified the lack of motherboard support in the centre (no microsoft, foam padding is not support, but the fix is easy to do at home to prevent RROD :)). And I think that they are supporting 1920x1200,
Quote:
Originally Posted by Microsoft's letter to consumers
· New display support. Because you asked for it, we are adding 16X10 over VGA or HDMI, and support for 1440x900 or 1680x1050.
That says those resolutions are as well as the 16x10 support, not that it's JUST those two.

I've seen the trailer for the new dash, I have to say it does look good.
Quote Veles 16th July 2008, 12:08
I'm not so sure myself, looks like a lot of wasted space and it'll make browsing through those 400 or so games on the marketplace a real PITA. But you can never tell till you've actually used it.
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