Xbox oneboard update#

It still had the same overall look, structure, and navigation that the 2008 update introduced, but Microsoft worked in the ability to move around the dashboard with the Kinect (RIP). Really, this was a minor visual update to the NXE. It wanted gamers to use the Kinect camera to get moving, and thus, the design of this new dashboard update made Kinect the centerpiece.

Xbox oneboard install#

It also introduced the ability to stream HD videos on Netflix, form parties on Xbox Live, and install games onto the hard drive for faster loading.īad: More convoluted, too, and Kinect support was shoe-hornedĪvatars were just one part of Microsoft’s plan to copy the successful Wii. Under the hood, it brought about some important updates for the Xbox 360, like avatars to compete with Nintendo’s Miis. Some may have liked it, but not everyone did. It looked more polished and mature than blades, but it wasn’t necessarily faster or easier to use. Navigate to the one you want, then all of your content lived within its tile-based interface that you could scroll through from left to right.

But on the dashboard, they were replaced in favor of each section being stacked on top of each other. Remnants of the beloved blades could be found when you pressed the Xbox button on the controller. And with the advent of Netflix instant streaming and other entertainment-based apps, the Xbox 360 was beginning its descent into interface madness, having to juggle gaming with other forms of entertainment on the dashboard. Three years after the launch of the Xbox 360, Microsoft wiped the slate clean with the NXE interface update.

Good: Avatars! More customizable than bladesīad: Not as fast or satisfying to use as blades That said, inspiration from this dashboard can be found on following updates if you look hard enough. You could argue that this was as close as Microsoft got to perfecting the dashboard, though you could also argue that it wouldn’t have scaled well with future ambitions). And that “whoosh” sound effect from switching blades will forever be lodged in my brain. Also, quickly switching between sections was responsive, and elements were fast to load (even with the 360’s 512MB of RAM). Even so, it was tidy and easy to understand. This interface had a lot more to squeeze in than the comparatively sparse-yet-stylish dashboard found on the original Xbox.

The “blades” dashboard interface debuted on the Xbox 360 at launch, organizing each of the console’s main features into separate sections. As this visual history points out, some of their ideas are seen in modern iterations of the dashboard and will be in updates to come and perhaps on future consoles, too. Some updates were better (or worse) than others, but they all have something in common: they’ve all been succeeded by a new vision.

Xbox oneboard series#

With the Xbox Series X set to release later in 2020, now seems like a good time to catch up on the history of the Xbox One and the Xbox 360 dashboard to see where it’s been and where it may be going. Microsoft deserves credit for experimenting with its dashboard throughout the years, even if many of those experiments weren’t great.

Xbox oneboard how to#

History shows that its strategy for working in new features and services involved scrapping its previous interface, essentially asking you to re-learn how to use the machine and find your content. Most platforms with a large user base are incredibly slow to introduce sweeping changes, but that hasn’t been the case for Microsoft’s game consoles. Few interfaces have changed more often - or more radically - than the Xbox dashboard.