Xbox 360 Dash: What the next update should include
Matt posted in Wii, Xbox 360 on July 19th, 2006

I love the Xbox Dash. Microsoft is really turning the Xbox 360 into more than an ordinary video game console with it. They have committed to bi-yearly updates, which is really great because the platform is constantly improving and innovations/new features can be introduced over the life cycle of the product. I think everyone will agree that the ability to queue up downloads was a much needed improvement. But what other improvements are needed? Here’s my thoughts.

More Marketplace Content – Microsoft has created a great platform. I really think they should use it for more. Why not be like iTunes and create a whole new way to distribute sell TV shows in HD? I’d pay to download my favorite shows in 720p just the movie trailers they offer for free. Why not offer more movie trailers? I’m sure the movie studios would host them to get the free advertising. Plus, I can’t get enough of the “Snakes on a Plane” trailer.

Using Live Gold at a friend’s house – I wanted to play The Outfit online with my friend. The Outfit (unlike Perfect Dark Zero) REQUIRES that you have two Xbox Live Gold accounts (one for each player). We had our accounts, but we still couldn’t play. Why? Because he can’t sign in with his Live account. The only way he can do that is if he moves his Live account to my machine. The problem with that is that the next time he tries to connect his own Xbox to Live, it will delete all of his saved games as well as his Live profile. I can understand that Microsoft doesn’t want two people using one Live account, but the way it works is completely ridiculous and ruins the whole idea of Live. The whole point of Live is so you can have your gaming profile shared across games. If you can’t share your profile when you are at a friend’s house, then Live isn’t really an advantage over storing local settings on your machine. Also, I think it’s pretty lame that you HAVE to have two Live Gold accounts for games like The Outfit. I don’t know why they didn’t let you log in as a guest for the second player, but they really should have.

More Classic Live Gaming – Microsoft bought Rare. Now I’m not sure how the publishing contract worked, but I imagine they own some rights to their old IP. (I know Nintendo sued about Perfect Dark, and I believe they lost) Why not release classic Rare games through Xbox Live Arcade? Nintendo is touting their virtual console as a killer app, so why shouldn’t Microsoft steal some of their thunder by re-releasing (or doing simple remakes to avoid copyright issues) classic Rare games?  Here’s what I’d like to see: Battletoads, Killer Instinct, Blast Corps, and Banjo-Kazooie.  (Let’s hope they don’t rerelease Taboo: The Sixth Sense) If those appeared on a Microsoft platform, that would hurt one of the Wii’s big selling points. That would show that Microsoft can release some classic games that appeared on Nintendo systems. Since Microsoft has bought Bungie, why haven’t they re-released Marathon? (I don’t think Pathways into Darkness is worth re-releasing, but maybe there are some Pathways fans out there) Why don’t they get a deal with Sega also to release their classics on the Xbox 360? Sega has a deal with GameTap also, so it seems like anyone can get the old Sega IP if they pay for it… (That’s assuming Nintendo doesn’t have an exclusive deal, which they may) Nintendo doesn’t have the rights to everything that was published for the Nintendo consoles, so why not get a deal for exclusive rights to the Konami back catalog? I can’t be the only one who wants to play Contra at 720p! Why not get Capcom classics on Xbox Live Arcade? Capcom is already re-releasing everything they can think of (except the classic Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers and Ducktales. Those games are awesome).

Remove copy protection on saved game files – I borrowed an Xbox 360 from a friend because it took me a while to get one. (I preordered mine, but apparently, I didn’t preorder it early enough) I created my gametag and Xbox Live Gold account on his machine and started playing Dead or Alive 4. I wanted to move my saved game, so I bought a memory card. I was disappointed to find that I couldn’t transfer it to my new Xbox 360. I ended up buying a SATA Xbox 360 hard disk adapter that would allow me to transfer my Dead or Alive 4 saved games. The saved game was still tied to my Live ID, which was a bit annoying because I couldn’t use ones that I downloaded off the internet, but at least I could back up/transfer my saved games. With hard disk failure rates being what they are and how important saved game files are to some (all?) gamers, you’d think Microsoft wouldn’t prevent someone from backing up their own saved game. So, I’m fine because I bought a SATA Xbox 360 hard disk adapter, but it is relatively involved to install (it takes a PC SATA cable and an internal power plug), and if you flip the connector around, it’ll fry the hard disk because it’s a symmetrical plug (one side is power and the other is the SATA signal). Datel has made an Xsata transfer kit, which I imagine is a lot easier to use, but also costs $50 as opposed to the $10 or so I paid for my little circuit board.

VCDs – Maybe I’m the only one who likes VCDs in the United States, but VCDs are quite popular in Asia. Almost all DVD players will play them, why not the Xbox 360? If you are trying to make it an entertainment hub, I would think supporting as many formats as possible would be the way to get this point across.

Web Browser – Why isn’t there a version of Internet Explorer available for Xbox 360? You can use a USB keyboard and with HD resolutions, surfing the web won’t be so bad. It’s not an essential feature, but it’s definitely a useful one and probably one that Sony will offer on their Playstation 3 since they even offer it on the small PSP screen.