Xbox 360 Fanboy

I would like to see party private chat and party video chat.

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With the zune being released i wouldn't be surprised to see music downloads, and if that happens along with a codec update (hint hint) hopefully it wouldn't be long before TV show and movie downloads.

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Party chat please

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- FULL gamerpic and theme preview
- Remove arcade trials from my played games list, show only the ones I buy
- CLAN system, people could join a single clan for all games, and have a unified clan ranking with points earned from all games
- Party voice chat, CLAN voice chat channels
- A gamerpic browsing, I like to find which package some gamerpic belongs to (actually 3rd party gamertag sites could do this)

This would all be great... But I don't think M$ will give it to us... I think changes will be a lot smaller and dumb.

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This Xbox Live Arcade Wiki is showing 28 more games scheduled for release on XBLA before the end of the year. Who knows though because the whole process seems very inconsistent right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Arcade#Upcoming_games

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They better hurry up, fall is nearly over.

And we didnt need web browsers on a stand alone WebTV thing back then. With a console, we can look up walkthroughs, hints, play some flash games, read some message boards, etc.

It makes more sense than ever to have a browser integrated into consoles today. HD resolution is more than enough to finally handle it, back when WebTV was out, it was much too small and cluttered.

Microsoft OWNS IE, how hard is it to simply toss this into the 360? Biggest 'duh' ever.

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I'd like to be able to remove Arcade demos from my gamer card.... I'd also like more security options that would allow me to set who can and cannot delete/add content to my Xbox 360.

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People don't realize you can't just install a browser... You need flash support, java support, Adobe PDF support, etc if you want to be able to handle all of the web's more complex features. It's really not worth the time as the majority of people really would not use it- for the ones that would, after using it they too would not enjoy browsing the web on their 360. I have used WebTV in the past and it was not that great.

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I would like a dash update to include the ability to choose an age range of gamers you'd like to play with.

Microsoft already knows our birthdays, I would think it'd be easy to do something like this (at least I hope).

Just tired of playing with tweenagers. I'd like to have a setting to choose the minimum (or maximum) age of those I play with. Maybe it could be connected with the feedback system.

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It's foolish of Microsoft to point to WebTV as a valid excuse for not including a browser; as Mr. Greenburg says, it was over a decade ago that they tried it... and unless my dates are totally mixed up, High-definition tvs first hit the market much more recently. Surfing the web on a 480i set is not an enjoyable experience; and webtv did prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But 1080p? That's a very different story indeed.

@Ogden2k, flash is already supported natively by the 360 (some of those arcade games are flash-based; and if you'll recall when the 360 first shipped it was a flash-related exploit that allowed all of the kiosk disc phun at the time). Java support is also key, but also not something Microsoft is a stranger to. As for PDF et al, I would argue that since we're talking about a game-console and not a computer, no one would loose sleep if said functionality wasn't included; as long as it could handle the multimedia aspects of the web, I doubt anyone would care if more business/scholarly related functionality was left out.

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@AoE

It doesn't matter what resolution your browsing experience is at. That's not the issue. It's where you're sitting, and how big your screen is.

I'm using my wall-mounted LCD as a monitor ONLY because I have a ledge below it that I can pull a chair up to and leave my mouse/keyboard on. I would never ever browse from my couch, it's just plain uncomfortable. The stress on the eyes is very bad too, I already have to turn down the brightness/contrast. The farther away that I get, the bigger/brighter things have to be. What's the point of having all the pixels of 1080p if you're using the same ratio of pixels per letter, or image, or whatever you use your browser for?

@Article:
I want to be able to pick up a copy of Vista and install it. That's my wishlist for 360.

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I had to spit my coffee out when I read the line: "... we're flattered that we've created a service that is breeding yet another knockoff." If you would be so kind Microsoft, please tell us what other service, product, or idea you've created that has breeded a knockoff. While I will hand it to them that Xbox Live is the best thing about Xbox 360, the dashboard has very little UI value and is extremely haphazard to navigate in. Surely someone can make a better online gaming experience.

I usually consider knockoffs a term that applies when someone attempts to copy something that is excellent, not something that needs a lot of improvement. Such copycats are usually called innovative. Hopefully Microsoft's competitors can finally get the online experience perfected.

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I don't think the lack of a browser on the 360 has anything to do with technical limitations. I think Microsoft has correctly ascertained that including IE on the 360 would get their ass slung back into court. It was bundling IE in an OS that got them caught in the anti-trust case in the first place, which they're just now really crawling out from under. I'm sure they're not looking for another round of lawsuits.

And yes, Sony and Nintendo are making browsers available, but neither Sony nor Nintendo have been found to be a monopoly, nor engendered from bundling browsers with their software in the past.

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In Marketplace, I have been asking for a universal inbox, across all the content. That way, we don't fry Major everytime he delivers us bad news. Let the console do it.

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@Tim,

We don't all have the same home theatre setups, and for some browsing on the couch does make sense. I've got a 61' DLP and use it to surf the web regularly (I've got a computer hooked up to the vga port with a wireless keyboard/mouse). I use it to check email when I'm feeling too lazy to get off the couch, and it's frequently used whenever company's over (imdb has answered many a question, wikipedia has solved many a debate). It's also running at the highest resolution I can set it to (whatever the vga equivalent of 1080 is; I can't remember off-hand). There is no straining to see what's going on, even though the couch is across the room. So to answer your question, I'm taking full advantage of the highest resolution my TV is capable of; the point of having a 1080p capable TV is to use it of course. ;)


I didn't want to drag out "my TV is bigger than yours" since it's rather childish and for that I apologize, but your argument seems to stem entirely from the size of the screen you're looking at... Obviously a browser wouldn't make sense on some setups (such as anyone rocking a 480i TV), but in light of how relatively easy it would be for Microsoft to port; they've already licensed Flash for use on the 360, and everything else can be "borrowed" from the web browser they already make. I'm not saying it would be effortless, but certainly easier than getting a browser on the Wii/PS3 has been.

@Mark Felps,

IE bundled/embedded into a general operating system, along with hooks both in software and licensing that specifically prevented OEM hardware manufacturers from removing said browser from said OS is quite a bit different than including an embedded browser in their hardware entertainment product. There is nothing to fear from anti-trust laws in regards to sticking a browser, even IE specifically, into the 360. Google the case, you'll find that the reasons they got tagged as a monopoly to begin with and the issues with IE being embedded in Windows simply do not have a bearing on the prospects of brining a browser to the 360.

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@Mark Felps

"including IE on the 360 would get their ass slung back into court. It was bundling IE in an OS that got them caught in the anti-trust case in the first place"
Consoles aren't considered computers which means Microsoft have the final say in what can and cant be added to it. Even if it was the case all Microsoft would have to do is make it a free marketplace download. Then its not being bundled with the OS

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In my view a browser is ESSENTIAL if the 360 wants to compete with the Wii and PS3, this generation of has evolved beyond Microsofts archaic notion that consoles are for games only.
To assume that people won't use it because it's not as user friendly as a PC is foolish, what if all i want to do is look up whats on at my local cinema, the weather for tomorrow, whats on tv later, how to kill the boss in the game i'm playing, or a million other uses that only require the minimum of input from me? Besides it's not like i can't plug a USB keyboard in and use that.

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Don't usually comment that much but have to agree with some of the comments.

I think a browser on the 360 would be a welcome addition. I can't understand why people are complaining, if they'd rather use their PC then fine go ahead but at least you'd have a CHOICE. Speaking personally, I totally agree with AoE. I would love to be able to quickly browse the web or check out a webpage without having to get my laptop out and boot it up. Whenever my 360's on it automatically connects to Live so it makes sense to offer that functionality. I've spent a lot of my hard earned money on a projector and large screen so why not? I understand this isn't for everyone, especially if you are running in SD on a small screen but at least give us the option then if people do want to use it they can.

As for IE & 360 getting MS into trouble, that's a completely different kettle of fish compared to IE & Windows.

Also being able to preview gamerpics & themes on the dashboard would be a great help. At the moment you have to purchase it before you know what it looks like which seems really backwards.

At least if there was a 360 browser you could quickly switch to it and check out xbox.com to see what the gamerpic/theme looks like!!

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I'm reading this via Firefox. I'm quite fond of some of these knockoffs.

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