Major Nelson just informed us that the always anticipated Fall Dashboard Update will be arriving next week on December 4 (just in time for Xbox Originals, what a co-inky-dink). Far more interesting than the revelation of the actual release date is the newly revealed Friends of Friends feature. With this new feature, players can browse the Friends list of anyone on their own Friends list. You can see if you have friends in common, send messages, send game invites, and even add Friends directly from another friend's list. Even better, the feature is available both on the Xbox 360 and Xbox.com.No doubt you've heard your friends talk about the great time they had with someone else, or perhaps you've heard podcasters like us telling tales of great gaming sessions. Removing the hassle of looking up a gamertag -- which includes the pitfalls of proper spelling and remembering where the spaces are -- is definitely welcome.
So, starting December 4, you'll find a new "Friends" option on the Dashboard and Xbox.com. From this option players can choose to have their friends list open to everyone, friends only, or blocked from prying eyes entirely. We should probably note that the "Everyone" option is only available to gamers eighteen and older. Those thirteen and over are stuck with "Friends Only" or "Blocked," while those under 13-years-old will be defaulted to "Blocked" though the "Friends Only" option is available.
If you'd like to change your setting now, you may do so at the Friends of Friends page on Xbox.com
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-26-2007 @ 12:36PM
Justin said...
what an underwhelimg update this will be...
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:39PM
xenocidic said...
what a dumb feature.
how about bumping up the maximum NUMBER of friends instead?
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:40PM
killploki said...
so now i cant use the "sorry, my friends list is full i cant add you" excuse to those people that want to be a friend but i found too annoying to play with.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:42PM
Adam Sutherland said...
Divx, please!
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:45PM
VOS said...
Any word if the backwards compat list is get updated as well? Should be due for one by now.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:48PM
DemonGSides said...
This actually does bump up the friends list. Create a bunch of silver accounts, and add Friends through there. Friend of Friend with them, bada bing, infinite friends lists.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:48PM
EagleX said...
How about divx support, like the ps3 have?
how about raising the 100 friends limit?
how about fixing random dashboard freezes?
how about adding multi person voice chat?
how about stop releasing this retarded dashboard updates 1 in a century?
I love my xbox, I love the dashboard, way better than the xmb and wii channels, but common, the ps3 is constantly getting new features and options, why do we have to wait half a year to get some, I wont say dumb, but pretty unimportant feature?
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:53PM
mike said...
this is not an infinite friends list with silver accounts. You wont get notifications if your friends friends sign online, so your still limited to 100 friends. I agree with above post. Where is the divx/xvid, 4 person private chat, the GOOD stuff?
This has got to be the lamest dashboard update yet. I sure hope theres alot more to it. This is a feature virtually everyone didnt even think of, because its freaking pointless. Who cares whos on your friends friend list. You can just ASK them. sigh, what a waste of programming resources
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:54PM
Big Filth said...
cool!
Matriarch Benezia = BITCH
http://www.thegreatgamer.wordpress.com
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:55PM
Shape said...
EagleX:
How do you know those features are not coming in this dashboard update?
"how about stop releasing this retarded dashboard updates 1 in a century?"
Well, they have already updated the dashboard 4 times this century, so it looks like you have already influenced their decisions.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:56PM
Gemini Ace said...
Is this the update that nobody asked for or what? Who wanted Xbox Originals or this? I call shenanigans.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 12:59PM
xenocidic said...
meh, I already blocked all. i don't need people prying into my friends list
http://www.xbox.com/fof
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:06PM
DjDATZ said...
interesting...but pretty damn useless with a cap @ 100...hell...over the past week i've probably deleted about 15-20 people to make room for new friends...and I'm STILL at 95 now. Of course, there are plenty of people who will never get deleted from my friends list unless they so choose explicitly...and Knuckles, Dustin and Rich are 3 of them.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:09PM
DjDATZ said...
xeno...lol...personally, i really couldnt care who looks at my friends list...lol
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:12PM
h0mi said...
"How about divx support, like the ps3 have?"
You misspelled "is getting". If the fall update gets divx, as has been rumored, the 360 will have it before the ps3.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:12PM
h0mi said...
"How about divx support, like the ps3 have?"
You misspelled "is getting". If the fall update gets divx, as has been rumored, the 360 will have it before the ps3.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:17PM
Jcarpio said...
Geez people, this is just one feature announcement. This is not going to be the only feature that is being added. Just the only one being talked about at this time. Have some patience.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:21PM
felkdogg said...
The major changes in this update will deal with the friends list, rearranging of tabs to better feature XBLA, Divx/Xvid support through connect only (IE not Media Center), and Xbox originals. Mark it down.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:27PM
Ithilis said...
We may still get DivX and other features, people, so stop bitching. Major Nelson didn't say that this was the only feature included in the update, it's just one of them.
Reply
11-26-2007 @ 1:40PM
Ithilis said...
Oh, and this isn't a flame, so don't take it as one..
But I can't comprehend the need to increase the 100 friend limit on Xbox Live. I have had my 360 for almost 2 years and I have.. 10 friends, 6 of whom I know in person. Perhaps I'm just strict about whom I add, as I decline 99% of the requests that I receive. I only accept them if I genuinely enjoy playing with that person and would like to do so on a regular basis. Also, if I add someone and I don't play with them a sufficient amount of times over the following month, I delete them.
How many people do you actually play with on your full lists?
Reply