The most common Fall update questions answered

by Dustin Burg { Sep 11th 2008 at 5:15PM }

If you're totally clueless in regards to all the "New Xbox Experience" talk, confused to no end and just want some of your basic questions answered, then TechRadar's "everything you need to know" article is just for you.

Have New Xbox Experience n00b questions like "what is it?", "why is this happening?", "what's an Avatar" or (our favorite) "what if I don't want the new dashboard?" Then their helpful guide can help and give you easy to digest answers. We'll even give you a freebie: Even if you don't want the new dashboard, you're out of luck, because it's one of those mandatory Live updates. Then again, why wouldn't you want it and all of its hotness?

Tags: avatars, dashboard-update, fall-update, new-xbox-experience

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Cj @ Sep 11th 2008 5:21PM

What about being able to talk to friends and such while playing a Xbox 1 game?

Cj @ Sep 11th 2008 5:24PM

Link doesn't work btw.

Neuromancer @ Sep 11th 2008 5:25PM

What about being able to show your private bits to other players in Uno? Or will that somehow be compromised by the advent of Avatars?

Doll @ Sep 11th 2008 7:05PM

Oh wow. Let's hope not.

Michael @ Sep 11th 2008 5:26PM

When will it be released? Can i haz specific date?

joeybeast @ Sep 11th 2008 5:28PM

Nov 26

Nick @ Sep 11th 2008 8:09PM

November 26th? That's not anywhere here, there's no confirmation of an actual release date that *I* know of, so it seems like you're completely pulling that date out of your proverbial rear :)

raggoal @ Sep 12th 2008 9:08AM

anytime now to Oct. 28 because scene it 2 comes at Oct. 28 in it uses the avators

philmcphail @ Sep 12th 2008 1:48PM

Your questions are quite noobish, I got better ones! :p

1)Will the new dash let me add songs to the HDD via usb? I mean I got this awesome playlist I wanna try on LIVE.

2)Will I be able to add my own Gamerpic from my own collection of pics. I know you can use the live camera, but its too much work.

Software wise, thats about it lol.

netgem21 @ Sep 11th 2008 5:26PM

Link's down for me :S

Neuromancer @ Sep 11th 2008 5:27PM

502'd!!!

http://www.homestarrunner.com/adfoajwe4tou

DaveC @ Sep 11th 2008 5:30PM

Silly TechRadar, working links aren't for you.

ryan @ Sep 11th 2008 5:31PM

i have a question: Why does the link give me a "502 Bad Gateway"?

xboxfreak91 @ Sep 11th 2008 5:33PM

I keep getting "502 Bad Gateway" as well

Joe @ Sep 11th 2008 5:37PM

I dont want this new dashboard.
It looks really stupid, I like the current one a lot more.

flameofdoom666 @ Sep 11th 2008 7:14PM

The look is ehhhh.

BUT, the functionality is much better.

Look > function (I think I did that right!)

Nick @ Sep 11th 2008 8:08PM

no, look > functionality means that look is better than functionality. Good try, though!

But >/< fail!

webster1990 @ Sep 11th 2008 8:24PM

@flameofdoom

think you mean Function>Look

I'm looking forward to this update, I like change. Don't know if i'll make use of the installing games to my HDD feature, but I probably would if i had the Elite (I only have the 20GB). Really looking forward to the Avatars though, i love anything like that.

Jake @ Sep 11th 2008 5:40PM

How many games can I install on my 360 Premium with the new update?

Does it only install the bits that need to be run from HDD, or does it simply copy everything regardless of if it helps to speed the game up?

ryan @ Sep 11th 2008 5:53PM

i think it copies every bit of data over. so for a 20gb 360 (which only has at most 11gb) it can hold about 2-3 games.

unlike a PS3, it copies the entire game so it only requires one spin of the disc to check that you actually own the game. every thing else is read from the hdd.

iFester @ Sep 11th 2008 5:40PM

With support for 16 x 10 monitors, will I still get the black bars from widescreen movies when I watch them?

Sentox6 @ Sep 11th 2008 5:59PM

Yes, unless you zoom.

Gamertag: GOPAL892005 @ Sep 11th 2008 5:56PM

it copies the whole disc onto the HDD - essentially just dumping the whole ISO onto the Hard Drive.
the copy/dump feature decreases game loading by approximately 30%

a 20GB would be quite useless to copy games onto - you would need a
60/120GB HDD.
i'd say, each game is around 7.5GB - so you could copy 7 games onto a
60GB and 14 games onto a 120GB : )

Gamertag: GOPAL892005 @ Sep 11th 2008 5:58PM

@ ryan :)

ryan @ Sep 11th 2008 5:58PM

scratch that. make it 1-2 games for 11gb.

also a game like Lost Odyssey will have to require individual disc installs and individual disc reads to check for ownership.

launchme @ Sep 11th 2008 5:59PM

Pumped for new DB update.

idl3mind @ Sep 11th 2008 6:01PM

Fail. linky no worky

Ranus Studios @ Sep 11th 2008 6:02PM

It's soooooo Web 2.0!

chubytuby @ Sep 11th 2008 6:17PM

What if I don't want the new Dashboard?

''Tough luck.''

F*ck that!

CyberKnight @ Sep 11th 2008 6:18PM

Link worked fine for me. Unfortunately, there's no info there that we didn't already know. (We've heard about gamerpics worn on the avatars' t-shirts before, yes?)

A couple things that are bothering me right now:
* Only being able to see half your wallpaper (although that's only in principle, since I don't use wallpaper anyway :/ )
* Not being able to see where everything is (options below and to your left are off-screen), which is going to make finding things very difficult for the first while until we've had a chance to get used to where everything is. (I remember in the E3 reveal demo wondering what happened to the gamercard, as it didn't appear anywhere until the presenter just happened to scroll down and all the way left.)

They keep saying it's "not finished yet", so I'm hoping it'll be better on release; but I'm bracing myself for the worst. X(

h0mi @ Sep 11th 2008 6:24PM

So on my profile, I have 2 distinct gamerpics. Will the update do anything about this (like allow me to only have 1 gamerpic) or am I doomed to walk the earth with 2 distinct gamerpics.

CyberKnight @ Sep 11th 2008 6:34PM

Gamerpics don't go away, and since a lot of existing games support and expect them (including expecting that you have a public and a friends-only pic), then I would almost guarantee that you'll still be able to manage them at some place in the new dash.

Don't quote me on that, though...

h0mi @ Sep 11th 2008 10:33PM

@cybernight - i figure that, but I mean if I want to go from 2 to just 1... there's no way to currently do that.

Phocas @ Sep 12th 2008 10:39AM

Uhh.. You could just make them both the same!! WTF!?

DBoyFlex @ Sep 11th 2008 6:36PM

I am stoked for this update. I am tired of the dash after 3 years. navigating the marketplace blows. Anything new and fancy with improved functionality is welcome here. Avatars could be cool, a fun way to horse around with friends.

EdgeZephyr @ Sep 11th 2008 6:47PM

Unlike most people (apparently), I'm quite the fan of the blades UI. (Maybe it's just the Castle Crashers theme I'm using) That said, I love the loading games to hdd feature, but hate pretty much everything else. The rows of screens look more clunky than blades were.

Last, don't even get me started on the avatars. If i wanted cutsey happy fun-time hour, I'd use a Wii. I'll be happy if there's an option to completely skip avatars and use gamerpics instead, but i'm skeptical that'll happen.

kcocgibkcusuoy @ Sep 11th 2008 7:43PM

@EdgeZephyr:

Avatars are NOT mandatory.

The blades aren't terrible, but this new UI isn't that far off from what we've got now; instead now, the blades move in four directions (U+D+L+R) instead of two (L+R) but don't slide across the entire screen.

SPARTAN 294 @ Sep 11th 2008 7:50PM

I am 99.99 percent positive if you dont like the avatars you are not being forced to make one. FIRST POST EVER ON THE WEBSITE !!!!!

Truckondo @ Sep 11th 2008 7:02PM

I guess wanting to know when the update will go live slipped the minds of TechRadar. I don't expect to hit soon anyway.

Chase @ Sep 11th 2008 8:13PM

Please do.

Max @ Sep 11th 2008 8:16PM

What I want to know is if you can turn off viewing of other peoples avatars? I mean its kinda a pointless to turn yours off just to see your floating gamerpic next to a party full of avatars...

Ranus Studios @ Sep 11th 2008 10:08PM

Yep, 'cause that Home thing will have none of that avatar nonsense! No sir!

Astrals_Fire @ Sep 11th 2008 10:14PM

Your not forced to use home on the ps3, here you are forced to download the fall update. not that i own a ps3 anymore anyway...just stating my distaste for this update.

psychohog @ Sep 11th 2008 11:02PM

I got to agree with you on the avatars, they are kiddy and lame, but I definitely do not prefer the PS3. I don't need to go on.

Author X @ Sep 12th 2008 2:58AM

Blech.
Some of us already got sick of gratuitous 3D effects and folder-stacking back when Vista started doing it, let alone Apple's "album view" (which is actually slightly less obnoxious than Vista or the new "experience") and now this.
It may be because I've only had my 360 for a few months, and I'd be sick of the dashboard looking at it for 3 years, but I really wish they'd give the option to keep the dashboard. It may have screamed "Xbox 360!" but at least it had more personality than a floating slideshow (just like Vista, just because you have the power to render all this stuff seemlessly in the background, doesn't mean you should)

Whocares @ Sep 12th 2008 4:17AM

I think people need to stop bitching about something they have yet to use. Try it and bitch about it later. It's people like you who are scared of change and dont let technology move forward. Personally, I love my 360 but im tired of the blades. They got old and boring fast. Im looking forward to the new dashboard. Avatars are whatever but Im willing to give them a try.