Microsoft recently made a number of enhancements to Xbox.com to coincide with the imminent Xbox 360 dashboard update. The main changes to the website are two new sections - ‘Social’ and ‘Video’.
The Social tab replaces ‘My Xbox’ and it’s here that you’ll be able to access a wide range of options and stats, ranging from tracking your achievements to seeing your friends’ recent activity. One of the new features found under this section is the ability to set ‘Beacons’ for games you want to play with friends. This functionality will also be available on Xbox 360 via the upcoming dashboard update and looks set to streamline the way we go about organising multiplayer matches with our mates on Xbox Live.
The Video tab allows you to browse the Zune catalog and preview or purchase movies and TV shows directly from your browser. Unfortunately this feature is not available if the territory on Xbox.com is set to South Africa.
Eurogamer claims that the new Xbox.com also allows you to toggle auto-renewal on or off for Xbox Live subscriptions. Previously you had to call Microsoft’s customer support line to cancel auto-renewal. I tested this claim out for myself and discovered that I was still required to phone customer support to change my auto-renewal status. However, this is more than likely due to the fact that my Gold subscription is tied to a South African Xbox Live account and our region is still stuck on the old system.
You can find the full breakdown of the enhancements made to Xbox.com over at the official Xbox.com Blog.
Source: Eurogamer
- Sleeping Dogs 101: High octane screens and trailer teach us the ropes
- Dead or Alive 5 goes to the circus in zany 'Lei Fang VS Zack' gameplay
- E3 2012: Konami teasing an announcement - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2?
- Free Mass Effect 3 'Rebellion Pack' arriving soon to reinforce multiplayer
- Ron Gilbert's Double Fine game, The Cave, finally unveiled by SEGA
- Metro: Last Light live-action short film welcomes us to a disturbing future
- The Arrival of Azmodan: A Desperate Plea to the Armies of Light
- Why is War fighting against Death in this Darksiders II screenshot?
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Review
- Exclusive: Halo Infinity Multiplayer revealed for Halo 4, innovative online modes detailed
- Exclusive: Halo 4 Limited Edition announced with South African pricing and pre-order details
- CoD Elite members can cash in on Double XP now, but also welcome your new Call of Duty community manager
Comments:
I love the new look of Xbox.com. It works really well. Very similar to the New Dashboard (But i can't say anymore than that.). I like the Beacons and the social function for tracking games and seeing what your friends are upto.
sony could learn a thing or two from microsoft. imagine all the time that people are in front of their computers and don't have access to their ps3s. it's during these millions of combined hours that sony should allow people to make purchases on psn directly from their browser, as microsoft does via xbox.com. hopefully we'll see something from sony along these lines soon!
Sony has that whole Media Go thing, but i've tried it once and it was really hard to navigate. But I agree, Sony can learn from Microsoft and allow you to add stuff to your que via their website and not just on the console. What i would like the PS3 to have is to allow you to download the content in the background while the system is off, just like Xbox 360.
media go is just for psp though. yeah - i like xbox 360's background download option. i even wrote an editorial on el33t along these lines once(-: at least ps3 installs your downloads automatically for you before it switches off (if select 'switch off after downloads complete'). i prefer the way xbox 360 handles files in general because on ps3 the whole way data is installed fragments your hard drive over time and can lead to performance issues.
I've used Media Go to add stuff to my PS3, Like some free themes etc. I just don't like the PS3 that needs to be on for it to download something. I've already had my PS3 HDD crash on me and had to "reset" it, and lost all my save games etc on the unit. Not that i had a lot of save games on there.
The overall look is clean and pleasing to the eye, and I'm living the beacons, I have 3 set-up permanently (FIFA 12, BF3 and Gears 3).
cool feature! :)
wow cant wait to see this awesome feature on the deskboard. now things are getting better. SWEETNESS!!