A bundle of details have emerged concerning the new Xbox Dashboard update.
(1) The first ‘Games on Demand’ game titles have been revealed
The initial 24 games to be made available for download over the Internet via Xbox Live have been announced today. Some include: Assasin’s Creed, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 2, Fight Night Round 3, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Look after the break for the entire list of games and a quick video glipse of the ‘Games on Demand’ dashboard in action.
(2) The Netflix update is…disappointing
It was previously announced that the Netflix update will allow Xbox Live Gold members and Netflix subscribers to edit their personal Netflix queues right on the Xbox, without the need for a PC. While that is nice and dandy, Microsoft has lowered the notch of functionality. Users are restricted to browsing only the Top 50 videos for each video category, so there is no searching by title and no browsing alphabetically. Microsoft’s Ben Smith, Director of Program Management for Xbox Live, on the matter: “I think when people come to Xbox they’re not really looking so much for functional, they really want to have fun, they want to be wowed.” Uhh..I don’t think so. People want to be able to browse the ENTIRE Netflix database, with capable search features built-in. It is worthy to mention that Microsoft says it will listen to their user-base, and if the people call for a true Netflix experience on their Xbox, they will provide it in a future update. *Cue a sigh of relief.
Look out for the new Xbox Dashboard update coming next Tuesday, August 11th.
[Via Engadget, here & here; Joystiq]