Xbox Live update details announced, includes Games on Demand support, Netflix Movie Parties, game ratings

Microsoft just announced the details of the next Xbox Live dashboard update, which should start rolling out in waves later this summer. Highlight features include support for Games on Demand (coming in August), a slew of Netflix updates including the ability to browse the library and manage your queue, the long-awaited Movie Party system that allows Gold members to share a flick in a virtual theater, and a ton of other little tweaks like user ratings, avatar enhancements, friends list sorting, and a streamlined Party invite system. Yeah, we think we'll take it. Full release after the break.

Gallery: Xbox Live Dashboard Update Screenshots

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What does this Xbox LIVE Update include?

Netflix Updates

Now you can watch movies with your friends no matter where they are and manage your queue from the comfort of your couch.

• Movie Parties – Xbox LIVE Gold members can sit together in a virtual theater with up to seven friends no matter where they are while your Avatars watch a movie, flirt or even throw popcorn at each other.
• Manage Your Queue – Browse the Netflix Instant Watch video catalogue, choose from the most popular movies and genres and add to your queue all from the comfort of your couch – no computer required.
• Enhanced Playback Experience – Enjoy a smooth viewing experience when your internet bandwidth fluctuates.
• Friends Info – Richer information is now displayed in the Friends channel and in the Guide showing what you and your friends are doing.

Avatar Marketplace

Express yourself! Deck your Avatar out with the latest clothing and props from the top brands and game franchises. Please note that only limited content is currently available in the preview.

Clothing

Download premium items, including branded apparel from your favorite fashion labels and Xbox 360 games such as "Halo."

• Props – You can now equip your avatar with animated items they can carry around and interact with.
• Awardables – The ability to earn Avatar clothing and props as rewards within games has been added. Please stay tuned for an update on supporting titles.

Games on Demand -- Please note that Games on Demand will be available in the preview beginning early August.

Enjoy 24 x 7 access to a growing online library of popular full game titles on Xbox LIVE whenever you want them, in the comfort of your living room.

• Purchase Options – Browse and download a great selection of full Xbox 360 games using Microsoft Points, direct debit, or credit card.
• Game Manuals – Game manuals for Games on Demand titles can be viewed, downloaded or printed on Xbox.com.
• It's Yours Forever! – As with other Xbox LIVE content, Games on Demand titles are linked to your Xbox LIVE account, so you can delete and re-download anything you have already purchased to the same console or another console.

User Ratings

User ratings help you find games that other people think are awesome!

• Rate it – You can now rate every game on the Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace using a 5-star system.
• Sort and Find it – Now you can easily find the games that everyone's been raving about by visiting the Top Rated games in the Browse All category of Xbox LIVE Games Marketplace.

Xbox LIVE Parties

Everyone loves to Party! Check out the new and improved Xbox LIVE Party features.

• Party Reconnections – If you are accidently disconnected from your party, Xbox LIVE will automatically reconnect you.
• Streamlined Party Invites – Invites are now just one click away! No need to click through multiple screens to get all your friends together.

Video Display Options

We've made it easier for you to see your entertainment in the highest resolution possible on your TV using an HDMI connection.

• Display Discovery – Make sure you can see and hear your entertainment in the highest resolution and sound quality possible with the option to override and select audio and video formats independent of the information your television sends to your Xbox 360 console.

Other Improvements

We're always listening to you for feedback, and this Xbox LIVE update will include numerous dashboard updates.

• Gold Member Veterans – Xbox LIVE Gold members get to show it off with a stamp on your Gamer Card that tells people how long you've been a Gold member.
• Indie Games – Xbox LIVE Community Games has been renamed Xbox LIVE Indie Games. We feel this new name better represents the independent spirit of these titles.
• Achievement Browser – We've revamped the Achievements browser so it's now easier to read through all the achievements while playing a game. You can now also launch a game directly from the browser.
• Achievements Tracking – A new view inside the profile panel which includes a summary of Achievements earned across all the games played, and shows of all your completed games.
• Streamlined Navigation - Streamlined navigation, including new entry points in the dashboard for Active Downloads, redeeming codes, recovering Gamertags and more.
• Voice Messages – No more blank voice messages! When recording a voice message, a warning will pop up if no audio is detected.
• Friends List Sorting – It's now easier to find your friends! Find and sort your friends by activity, Gamertag or online status by pressing the Y button while viewing the friends list in the Guide.
• Memory – Time stamps now appear in the memory area, which particular handy when managing saved games.
  

Account Management

We've made some changes to make your life easier.

• Subscription Notification – If your Xbox LIVE subscription is about to run out, you will now be notified when you sign into Xbox LIVE.
• Updates for Invalid Windows Live IDs – If the Windows Live ID you provided has expired, you will now be prompted to update it the next time you sign into Xbox LIVE.
• Account recovery – We've enhanced the account recovery process to make it faster and more reliable.

What does this Xbox LIVE Update not include?

The following features will be coming in future Xbox LIVE updates, which we'll be sure to let you know about.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Zune video and 1080p Instant On
• Last.fm

[010111 @ Jul 16th 2009 8:49PM]

Netflix Movie Parties sounds fun... especially for doing MST3K-ish digs at some of the junk that is available on Netflix streaming.

[010111 @ Jul 16th 2009 8:51PM]

queue management and browsing would be good too... sometimes there is a movie on streaming i want to rewatch... but i've already taken it out of my queue.

normally i have to quit out of Netflix and then add it on my computer then come back to the 360 to watch it. kinda annoying.

[Dave @ Jul 16th 2009 9:47PM]

Queue management and browsing are coming. They've already been announced.

[Chris Dunning @ Jul 16th 2009 10:03PM]

@Dave

Wow, you read the article too?

[drumwiz86 @ Jul 16th 2009 10:20PM]

so on movie parties, does one person pay or does everyone watching the movie pay?

[Matt @ Jul 17th 2009 12:17AM]

Everyone watching the movie pays. Well they haven't said that specifically but it's pretty obvious.

[crazyburns @ Jul 17th 2009 1:27PM]

@010111

If you add a movie to your queue from your PC you don't have to exit out of Netflix to see it on your Xbox. It will show up immediately.

[BluesK1d @ Jul 17th 2009 1:29PM]

All these great features sound so sweet but I just can't get over the fact my 360 sounds like a Harley =(

[010111 @ Jul 18th 2009 12:57AM]

"If you add a movie to your queue from your PC you don't have to exit out of Netflix to see it on your Xbox. It will show up immediately."

yeah... i guess you are right. just sometimes i would have the whole Netflix interface appear to get confused when i reordered / added on a computer.

i wish there was an easy way to group stuff (TV / Movies or by genre or expiring soon or whatever) on my queue. that'd be nice... or a browsing method similar to the Xbox stores... where you can go into a A B C D pane to find something. frequently i have a movie in there i want to see that i forgot where exactly in the 300+ item queue it is.

[ep1s0d3 @ Aug 1st 2009 10:22AM]

I agree they also need to start concentrating on Audio quality when talking online, they need to make adjustments to the voice quality and the voice volume settings so instead of it being at number 10 can goto 20 or 30 this is for people who dont have mics with onboard volume adjusters

[manifest3r @ Jul 16th 2009 8:53PM]

And 1?

[manifest3r @ Jul 16th 2009 8:50PM]

and1?

Movie parrtyyyy woooo!

[PuBeLeSs @ Jul 16th 2009 8:58PM]

wow :) makes me want to play my 360 agian

[Andir3.0 @ Jul 16th 2009 8:59PM]

Games on ... downloading please wait ... Demand

[guy943 @ Jul 16th 2009 9:02PM]

Really cool and smart that MS is doing this. They are getting creative with trying to rethink social networking.

[BigTeebo @ Jul 16th 2009 9:03PM]

How about being able to play a bittorrented .avi without choking 20 minutes in and blacking out the video, but still playing audio?

[brandoshido @ Jul 16th 2009 9:13PM]

ive never had that problem with any of my video files that were compatible. Torrents? People stuill use that? Try using megauploadforum. same stuff, just alot faster.

[finnith @ Jul 16th 2009 9:40PM]

Megaupload forum? I use warez-bb, is it as similar and as trustworthy?

[intrglctcrevfnk @ Jul 16th 2009 10:21PM]

I never have any problems playing .avi's from my computer through the xbox. I use hardwired cat5, had some media center choking over wifi. 12 bucks for 100 feet at amazon with free shipping. never looked back.

[Fernando G. @ Jul 16th 2009 11:49PM]

heh, i get the same issue on some specific shows, but 2 minsutes instead of twenty

[Andrea @ Jul 17th 2009 4:52AM]

I've been watching a lot of downloaded avi's streamed from my computer (XP, Windows Media Player 11, Cat5 cable), only 1 o 2 didn't play on my Xbox360. Flawless playback for all the other files.

[musback @ Jul 17th 2009 6:36AM]

Oh God I'm crossing my fingers for MKV h.264 support someday :(

[JC @ Jul 17th 2009 9:19AM]

I watch h.264 on Xbox - maybe you just need to pull the file out of the mkv container.

[crashcarstar @ Jul 17th 2009 9:45AM]

@JC What do you use to do this?

[Alan Strangis @ Jul 17th 2009 9:52AM]

Hmmm... I have a less than 1% failure rate for avis.

As for H264 MKVs, there's a great free program that will rip them apart and make an Xbox 360 (or PS3) compatible MP4. called GotSent. On my old Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.87GHz) it does a 1 hr show (well 55 minute show) in just under 10 minutes.

That being said, the combination of Windows 7 and DivX 7 Tech Preview is allowing MKVs to be played directly to the 360. I've tested it, and it works about 50% of the time. Other times I get either only audio or only video. Of course, these are both pre-release, but DivX makes use of Windows 7's Media Foundation and it's own native MKV Demux to send the video to the 360 (apparently it'll work with the PS3 as well, but I haven't had a chance to see that in action yet).

http://labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview

[Brian Hamilton @ Jul 17th 2009 3:26PM]

I just started noticing this recently.

[pot @ Jul 17th 2009 4:03PM]

My .avis work great on the 360. Once in awhile, i'll get an avi torrent that has a bad encode and it stops playing about 1:15 minutes in but that is a very rare case and is probably less then 1% of the time.

[Sporkinum @ Jul 17th 2009 4:32PM]

TopGear episodes encoded by RIVER. The will only play for 15 minutes on xbox, but play fine on the computer. I have had to quit downloading RIVER encodes and get them from other groups.

[Ben @ Jul 17th 2009 7:33PM]

For you guys having issues with AVIs getting cut off (I had the same issue with some Top Gear and Final Gear eppisodes), check out a free program called DivFix++ (divfixpp.sourceforge.net). I ran the bad files though this (very fast) and works like a charm!

[Absolute92 @ Jul 16th 2009 9:03PM]

I'm jealous of that virtual movie thing, I hope Sony steals it ..... I can't afford another console plus all that other stuff to get an Xbox online..
Xbox Live=win ?

[Anthony @ Jul 16th 2009 9:46PM]

You don't have to do much more than the PS3 to get an Xbox online.. Silver memberships allow you to do a lot still, and I don't even notice the 60 dollars come off my Visa once a year.

[Tom @ Jul 16th 2009 10:26PM]

@ Anthony

You really wouldn't notice it if you bought the live membership for 30 dollars when it goes on sale every other week.

[atx1980 @ Jul 17th 2009 11:44AM]

xbox live is not that expensive.
i got 13 months on amazon for 33 bucks.
and i got 4000 points for 34 dollars on ebay.
you can save money.
ya just got to look.

[Sporkinum @ Jul 17th 2009 4:36PM]

XBox live is still not worth it. Even at $2.50 month. I'll be damned if I pay a premium for stuff I don't use.

[Gadget freak @ Jul 16th 2009 9:16PM]

Now you can watch movies with your friends no matter where they are

including outside the us?

[big_psirex @ Jul 16th 2009 9:32PM]

yep

[Gadget freak @ Jul 16th 2009 9:36PM]

so netflix support is going outside the US ? :D lets hope so...

[Fred @ Jul 17th 2009 2:59AM]

The streaming movies thing isn't netflix. It's microsoft's own video store thing, in 18 countries.

[crazyburns @ Jul 17th 2009 1:31PM]

@Fred

You obviously didn't ready the article. Yes Microsoft does have it's own video rentals, but this article specifically discusses Netflix.

[potato @ Jul 16th 2009 9:20PM]

And all of this will still be useless until MS releases an affordable HDD upgrade. Seriously, without even buying XBLA games my 20GB drive is constantly struggling for free space. The 120GB upgrade is way too expensive. Cut the 120GB price down by half, or release a 250GB drive at the same price, or both. Preferably the latter.

Games on Demand will suck until you can keep a fair number of full games on your HDD at once.

[l Squid l @ Jul 16th 2009 9:26PM]

i believe there a hack on buying a cheap hard drive and u can use for the xbox 360 google it.

[reallynotnick @ Jul 16th 2009 9:38PM]

I agree, no to mention they are still selling 360s without HDDs which is ridiculous. They should also start shipping the arcade with at least a 20GB HDD, better yet make the three 60/120/250GB.

[l Squid l @ Jul 16th 2009 9:45PM]

CHECK IT, i found the article. Its from PC World, so i assume its reliable.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/150970/upgrade_your_xbox_360s_hard_drive_on_the_cheap.html

[Dillon @ Jul 17th 2009 12:31AM]

yeah ive done that dont use those instructions though, they dont tell everything oyu need to do. u need to be comfortable opening your computer and xbox hdd (wont void your xbox warranty, just for the accessory). ran me 50$ to get a 120gb hdd from newegg, used the same case and all now ive got a halo edition with 120gb!

[angnnyr @ Jul 17th 2009 5:35AM]

Saying, "on the cheap", is the most stupdiest and crappish fad phrase. Anyone who say that should be slapped with bulldozer. except me. Seroisusly im starting to hear this phrase more often. What the heck does it suppose to mean? On the cheap? What's with "the". "cheap " is an object? what's on the cheap? cheese?!?!?! Who started this? It's stupid. If I'm ever king of the word, I would destroy anyoe who say that. That would be swell.

[Michael @ Jul 17th 2009 11:38AM]

They need to just remove restrictions on hard drives entirely. Allow external USB drives, allow people to put whatever sized laptop drive they can buy into the HD enclosure. Remove all restrictions and stop selling their jacked up price drives. I would love to just connect a 750GB drive or something via USB and have it just recognize it and work for storage.

[sweet greggo @ Jul 16th 2009 9:25PM]

This is good.

[DAK @ Jul 16th 2009 9:33PM]

Ok so no one is commenting on "full release after the break"?

No?

Ok, just checking.

[l Squid l @ Jul 16th 2009 9:44PM]

I think its cuz the mature crowd is here. Not people like Paul Chapel or w/e his name is.

[brr404 @ Jul 17th 2009 10:45AM]

lol squid damn paul chapel...