Want to Beta Test the Next Xbox 360 Dashboard?

Looking forward to the changes!

I am looking forward to a browser and maybe they'll fix the party explosions.

@Th3_James said:

It's not that great. Blades was still the best dashboard IMO, it wasn't cluttered with bullshit.

@patrickklepek: Looks like they are asking for more people, link

Holy fuck - another one? When will Microsoft just settle for one solid design? The first two dashboards worked fine, but I honestly hate the newest one (other than the Quickplay feature). Hint: Make video gaming the main focus of the dashboard. If I want to watch a movie, listen to music, or go on facebook, I'll most likely use my computer. These are nice features, but making them more prominent than my game collection and the game marketplace is ridiculous.

@OldGuy said:

I'm weird. It doesn't bother me in the least (particularly since it's now zippy fast between panes). Turn on and hit A to play, or rock the stick or d-pad down once and hit A to play recent games, or click the right bumper three times and hit A to play anything.

Why does this not seem hard to me? Why is this hard for you?

People enjoy bitching. Dunno if you've noticed, but this is the internet.

So I got into this preview. Games load up WAY faster now. And the pinning feature is a nice addition. Would be nicer if it was one-button launch, though.

I'm so glad I have a foreign dashboard. It's less cluttered, has far fewer ads, and less bull than the European, Canadian, and American ones that I've seen.

Also advertisement are just put everywhere and anywhere they can fit. There on my Xbox dashboard, my Steam store page, I think my Wii (although it's been a while since I've used it), my television shows, YouTube, every website on the planet (including this one) and even on things I buy in the store now. Everything is just ads everywhere, and honestly I'm getting sick of it. It doesn't make we want to buy the product and very rarely do I actually find out about a product through them.

@Deathpooky said:

I am curious about the new and interesting ways Microsoft will hurt usability and further integrate ad placement.

Maybe it's their grand plan, leave 360 with shit dash and have new xbox have a really good one.

With this beta thing there is NO way to view offers on games or xbox live gold membership deals.

I still find it amusing that the only paid service has the most ads . It may not bother some people but its a big turn off for me.

Anything will be better than the current dashboard, the ads & unresponsiveness (is that a word) have made me switch focus to ps3. Something I thought I would never do. The last game I bought on 360 was Minecraft!

@mnzy: Oh, yes that makes sense, didn't notice the address bar, and, well, all browsers use that feature now, so I kinda should've recognized it.

Wait, do I understand this right, there are 5 squares, 4 of which are ads, the last for actually opening the menu that should've been the front page (probably filled with ads too) in the first place?

@ChrisTaran: Me too!

@DrJota: Tempting, but I don't need a handjob right now.

Wait, do I understand this right, there are 5 squares, 4 of which are ads, the last for actually opening the menu that should've been the front page (probably filled with ads too) in the first place?

@PrivateIronTFU:

Nah, it's still shit.

I'm not going to sign up this time, I think I hate the Dashboard completely, I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore.............. damn.

Sony, take note.

The beta is out now. Also everything is faster.

@tompepper said:

hahaaaaaaaa internet explorer, just what the xbox needed.

The new Internet Explorer is much, much improved over the old one. It's basically the same as any other web browser now.

My Xbox has collected dust since the last update, MS can keep the Ad system, this one and the next. I've gone back to PC gaming and damn I forgot how much nicer it is.

hahaaaaaaaa internet explorer, just what the xbox needed.

I got into this had to download something.Im just waiting for them to send the update to my xbox.

@Marokai said:

Eh, people whine about people whining about the dashboard

That's what you got out of this thread? Out of the 124 posts I counted 4 that were excited about the new dashboard. The rest of them would make Gamespot's console wars forums blush.

I make it a point not to buy the products shitting up my dashboard.

Take that THE MAN.

@DrJota: You are a clever particular individual.

Eh, people whine about people whining about the dashboard, but what I find more frustrating is listening to the GB crew glowingly talk about a new dashboard before and immediately after it comes out, only to later talk about how utterly shit in nearly every capacity it is. Thanks for sharing the correct sentiment when it doesn't matter anymore, guys. 
 
@Sooty said: 

I hate Microsoft's metro design, it only looks good on phones. Looks pretty horrible on Windows 8 and the 360 dash got worse when it started taking cues from it.

Awful dash overall, the last update added quite a few seconds to my 360 boot time too. Finding Spelunky was more effort than it should have been for a new release.

Does personalized dashboard mean it only has games and Netflix? That's the best idea they've ever had.

They should make a dashboard lite for those who just want the basics and want it to load fast. They keep making it slower and slower. It takes 20 seconds of spinning before I get to the dashboard when I start up my 360.

I have done this in the past, and I would advise others to skip it. You basically get to live through the hassle everyone else does when they launch a new d-board, +n.

Has anyone actually figured out what "Full Internet Explorer intergration" means let alone how it helps the 360?

I want in! But for whatever reason, I never get into these dashboard previews. Been a Xbox Live subscriber for 8 years. What else do they want? Sheesh! :P

So this is what your $60 yearly goes to...developing more ways to clutter more ads onto your screen. Money well spent chumps.

@Vegetable_Side_Dish said:

Leaked pictures of the new Xbox dashboard have surfaced!!

Sponsored by Starbucks.

This looks like shit.

As long as MS wants to make UI that is easy to navigate with Kinetic they will continue to suck. Ohh and the adds dosnt help much either.

Argh too late a I hate the current dashboard...o well here's hoping both that this doesn't blow and if it doesn't it comes out quick.

OH MAN SIGN ME UP. I can't wait to make sure all the ads work!

@thetenthdoctor said:

Oh, I love some dashboard whining. How hard is it to hit "my games" and choose the game you want? "I can't find anything!!" How? You scroll to "games", then choose Indie, Arcade or On Demand- it's not rocket science. People will bitch about anything, I swear...

Go to bed, Don Mattrick.

@Shaunage said:

Well they can't possibly make it much worse.

Challenge Accepted.

Well they can't possibly make it much worse.

@believer258 said:

No, I don't want to beta test this - but I would be A-OK if MS would simply make everything faster. Yes, the UI still sucks and yes, having to move four pages over to get to my games is horrid. But as it stands it still works well enough when flipping through things, it's just that flipping through things takes way too long.

well you can tell the dashboard has had shit piled on since the console came out, and the decision for a non standard HDD can't help the situation much in 2012. Just stupid little UI things like loading images for my hundreds of XBLA games every time instead of caching them is a sign that it's time for a new console.

I want the original dashboard back...

No, I don't want to beta test this - but I would be A-OK if MS would simply make everything faster. Yes, the UI still sucks and yes, having to move four pages over to get to my games is horrid. But as it stands it still works well enough when flipping through things, it's just that flipping through things takes way too long.

I am so glad my XB360 burned out & stopped working four years ago.

@thetenthdoctor said:

Oh, I love some dashboard whining. How hard is it to hit "my games" and choose the game you want? "I can't find anything!!" How? You scroll to "games", then choose Indie, Arcade or On Demand- it's not rocket science. People will bitch about anything, I swear...

I think the main complaint has been that every update has made the whole system slower and more cumbersome, and the guiding principle behind every single redesign has clearly been "how can we cram more ads onto the front page of this paid service?" Every update has made the interface worse.

Yeah, there are bigger problems in the world. But this is a website about games. And because the Internet is for bitching, it follows that there will be bitching about video games on a site such as this one.

@Guerrilla_Mason said:

@gocthulhugo said:

@Guerrilla_Mason said:

You don't have to see the dashboard ever.

*unless you want to play arcade/indie games

*unless you want to play buy arcade/indie games. You can launch them from the guide menu while playing another game. Not the best solution, but you can still skip the dashboard.

*unless you buy them at xbox.com (which is easier to search and find stuff on).