Xbox 360 fall update details revealed: 1080p, auto-download, WMV playback and more

Microsoft has finally seen fit to release the details of its Xbox 360 dashboard update. Scheduled for release the morning of October 31st -- yes, that's tomorrow -- the update will add the much-talked about 1080p / HD DVD support, as well as the ability to play WMV files from a connected PC, disc, or USB storage device. Currently, users can only stream video from connected Windows Media Center PCs, but any XP machine running Windows Media Connect or Windows Media Player 11 should be able to do it post-update, as demonstrated during a press conference in Japan with several 720p-encoded videos. This compares to the PlayStation 3's recently-revealed compatibility with MPEG-4 and other video files, but so far neither has announced support for DivX / Xvid and Media Transcode 360 still requires Media Center. Apparently only 84 things needed fixing this time, down from the 125 in the spring update, including the option to automatically download demos of new Xbox Live Arcade titles, Zune media streaming, wireless headset support, XNA Game Studio Express and numerous improvements to video playback and menu handling.

[Via AV Watch]

[StooMonster @ Oct 30th 2006 12:55PM]

Will it support DVD-5 and DVD-9 (single- and double-layer DVD) format HD DVD on it's DVD-ROM drive?

I burn TS files from HDTV shows to HD DVD on DVDs, also 1080i HD camcorder footage, they play great in HD DVD player but would be awesome in Xbox 360.

[caleb @ Oct 30th 2006 12:56PM]

This makes my decision even harder.

[neale @ Oct 30th 2006 1:05PM]

what use is .wmv?

[Chris @ Oct 30th 2006 1:07PM]

"what use is .wmv"

That means streaming HD trailers dumbass

[Travis Bell @ Oct 30th 2006 1:18PM]

Easy buddy. Easy.

I think he was meaning "What use are WMV's when 90% of the content available for download online is not WMV."

I tend to agree, they shoudl atleast open up MPEG4 support... I mean, there is probably MORE MPEG4 content now then WMV, which really make WMV worthless.

[neale @ Oct 30th 2006 2:25PM]

HD trailers, woopd fucking do

divx please

[jorgiex @ Oct 31st 2006 1:52PM]

No it means Windows Media Video, dumb ass

[Enzo @ Oct 30th 2006 1:13PM]

What HD wmv content is really out there? I downloaded a bunch of trailers once from Microsoft's website, but they aren't movies I would ever buy.

[Vanillacide @ Oct 30th 2006 1:18PM]

Or play WMV HD (DVD) discs with their 720p and 1080p content. Great titles like 'Coral Reef Adventure', cough, although most famous ever WMV HD was 'Terminator 2: Extreme Edition'

Playing HD DVD formatted DVDs would be best. :)

[Anon @ Oct 30th 2006 1:19PM]

Well.. there are a few "bit-hdtv" (google) websites that offer 720p and 1080p WMV of TV shows and films etc... obviously only downloadable if you already own them. Yet these are true hd broadcasts and HD-DVD films which.... could be usefull..

[Dennis M @ Oct 30th 2006 1:20PM]

i cant wait to watch my dvds in the upconvert mode

[Tom @ Oct 30th 2006 1:24PM]

Woohoo! Yes! I can finally watch all my WMVs on my TV through my Xbox 360. This is truely great news.

BTW, for those who don't know, you can convert most AVIs and MPGs to WMV just using Windows Movie Maker, which is built into Win XP.

[Scotty @ Oct 30th 2006 1:30PM]

Will I be able to upconvert 480p dvd to 1080i over component with this update???

[Michael @ Oct 30th 2006 1:32PM]

I love the use of the Japanese Dashboard screen shot here (or, at least, an US X-Box switched to use Japanese as the default language.)

Trying to boost those Asian sales, eh, Microsoft?

[Ethan Rom @ Oct 30th 2006 1:34PM]

So it's offical that we can now watch movies on the 360 without XP Media center

[ceaseoleo @ Oct 30th 2006 1:46PM]

Xbox 360 will never be a real media center until they remove the restrictions and support other codecs, and standards. My 360 sits in the box still while I get more use out of the original Xbox. Microsoft should use XBMC.. then you will see Microsoft take over the living room.

[jason @ Oct 30th 2006 9:19PM]

so you bought an Xbox 360 and left it in the box. Now that's a waste of $400!

[TexRob @ Oct 30th 2006 2:02PM]

This is dissapointing. I just installed Vista RC1 this weekend to test out the new media center extender for Xbox 360. It's pretty cool, but no H.264, mpeg4, divx, xvid, etc, makes it pretty damn useless. Even that freely distributable Elephants Dream HD movie can't be watch on the 360.

MS needs to wake up and realize that if they want Vista, Xbox360, etc, to all play together and be this whole big "Live anywhere" experience, they need to make it actually true.

[Paul @ Oct 30th 2006 2:06PM]

Hey, comlainers... This is GOOD news! Yes, I agree there is still room for improvement, but let's just sit back and enjoy the fact that we can now stream video (of some sort) from our PC's to our 360's. I would prefer Divx support, but having a filewatcher automatically convert videos to WMV isn't all that difficult to setup.

[Michael @ Oct 30th 2006 2:07PM]

Michael,
This news was broken by Famitsu (sp?) - a Japanese magazine. Thus, Japanese pics. That wouldn't be a very good marketing technique anyway...

[John Cane @ Oct 30th 2006 2:09PM]

360 keeps getting better and better. I can now use my 1080p tv, and wait for great games like COD 3, Rainbow 6 Vegas, and Guitar Hero II.

From the videos I have seen for the PS3, it looks good, but the console menu looks dull and boring (PSP)

[TexRob @ Oct 30th 2006 2:11PM]

Where are all of you supposedly reading about upconversion? I see no note of it anywhere.

[KilgoreTrout XL @ Oct 30th 2006 2:17PM]

The auto download for XBLA is kinda neat, otherwise this is more a behind the scenes update for me. I'm holding off on the HDDVD drive until I see what kind of support it gets.

[John Kennedy @ Oct 30th 2006 2:45PM]

WMV videos over Windows Media Connect is a good thing. Of course DivX/Xvid would have been perfect, but come on, I don't ever see Microsoft supporting those codecs. Now I'll just have to convert them to WMV, no big deal and much better than the old Media Center only for videos. If I could get my hands on a Network Attached Storage box with USB, then technically I could have that as an external 360 video drive, and I wouldn't even need a media center desktop anymore. Just use my laptop to convert the files, throw them on the NAS, and away we go!

[Mark @ Oct 30th 2006 2:47PM]

There is a website at www.channelguide360.com that lists PodCasts (vidCasts) that support WMV video.

[Gandalf @ Oct 30th 2006 2:51PM]

>>360 keeps getting better and better. I can now use my 1080p tv, and wait for great games like COD 3, Rainbow 6 Vegas, and Guitar Hero II.

For games it won't be native 1080p(1920x1020) it'll still be 720p(1240x720) native.

For your 1080p HDTV, if you have a fixed-pixel (LCD, plasma, DLP) display it automatically upscales to maximum resolution of the TV(1920x1080) so you should already have the upscale effect built-in to your HDTV.

[lyndon @ Oct 30th 2006 5:24PM]

You are wrong. Games will be supported at 1080p. Gears of War will be 1080p, as will Halo. Games that are not 1080p can be scaled to it.

[Tech^Cellfish @ Oct 30th 2006 2:58PM]

Gief me THA XBMC ON XB360 and I will not import the PS3 from whoever dares send it to europe before xmas

Whats wrong with all those console makers? Either you make a game console like Nintendo, or you make a MEDIA CENTER / HTPC. We don't wont a game console with 2 supported video formats and a thousand addon boxes to support 3 more formats.

Dammit!

[potato @ Oct 30th 2006 3:10PM]

w00t. Been waiting for this update. Now, what's the word on extended VGA resolutions? I mean, if they're going to enable 1920x1080, can they please enable all the ones in between, like 1680x1050 and 1440x900 for us LCD users?

[Tony C @ Oct 30th 2006 3:14PM]

As has been mentioned before, and is reiterated again in the Impress article (translated it through Babelfish), 1080p is only available through the VGA port. If you try to set it to 1080p using the component cables, it automatically downgrades it to 1080i.

[sdshannon @ Oct 30th 2006 3:22PM]

tuesday is the 31st

[tk. @ Oct 30th 2006 3:29PM]

What good does divx do? Hook your computer to your TV, then watch.

But then, your TV has to have a PC interface...

I can't believe microsoft won't wake up and see the light... whatever give me a break.

[Jeff @ Oct 30th 2006 3:41PM]

I have a couple very basic questions as an xbox/360 owner with a 1080p capable set.

1. This update will allow 1080p but specifically what will be in 1080p?

Will playback of regular DVDs be upconverted to 1080p automatically by the xbox? and if so, will this really look noticably better than what is currently available?

Will this patch in any way enhance the graphics of current games that say they support 1080i on the package?

2. Will video on my PC that happens to be in HD be upconverted to 1080p when played through the xbox on my TV? also does this apply to photographs being viewed from the PC through the xbox as well?

Any help with these basic questions would be greatly appreciated, thanks a lot.

[Joe SMith @ Oct 30th 2006 3:51PM]

I really like the fact that MS is continuing to evolve and improve the system. And it amuses me no end that no matter wehat they do, people will still bitch about it.

[hchute @ Oct 30th 2006 4:16PM]

Likin' the 360 updates for Zune.

Also, Microsoft's model for updating 360 with new features is a good signal of how Zune could work. We expect a progression of updates to follow after Zune launches on Nov 14.
- Harvey
http://www.zunerama.com

[TexRob @ Oct 30th 2006 4:18PM]

Joe, you just make yourself sound ignorant when you comment on something you clearly have no idea about.

Sure, we are happy about patches, but there is some content that would really set the Xbox 360 apart from the rest and HELP Microsoft, one of those is taking the 30 seconds to add Divx support. You'd see a spike in sales the very day they offerred that support, guaranteed.

[TexRob @ Oct 30th 2006 4:29PM]

So do all people who live in Washington state have an obsession with Microsoft, or just you harvey?

[Carbonize @ Oct 30th 2006 4:52PM]

Possibly they are reluctant to add DivX support because:
1 - They don't own it.
2 - They would have to keep updating the codec as new ones come out.
3 - They see it as supporting piracy.

But as Joe said at least they are updating it and adding new features so you never know what they may decide to add next. Apparently they listen to their users so if enough people ask for DivX then just maybe they'll add it.

Be nice if they let you play WMV from disc as well as via the network.

[dabogues @ Oct 30th 2006 4:59PM]

Divx would be nice, but my modded Xbox streams those off my network fine, as long as they're not HD. Now at least I can stream HD files, even if it is only WMVs. Wheee!

It just kills me that Xbox Media Center 2.0---open source software for an old system, limited only by the hardware it's running on---has more advanced functionality than Microsoft put in the 360. I still love my 360. I'm just glad they let go of the "you must have Windows Media Center Edition" BS. A step in the right direction.

[Kangstarr @ Oct 30th 2006 5:03PM]

Do I need Windows XP Media Edition to take advantage of this or good ole Windows XP Pro?

[lou @ Oct 30th 2006 5:27PM]

Fyi, please go to M$'s site to read about the changes. Many of your answers will be found, plus we can get rid of much of the information circulating here. The url is http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1030-novemberupdate-completelist.htm

[John L @ Oct 30th 2006 5:32PM]

Finally my 360 can do what my modded xbox1 has been able to do for over a year now.
At least with the WMV files, hey that's better than nothing.

Cool, maybe next update they add MPEG support. (That formats been out for how long, uhmm like since 1996 if not longer. Why the heck wouldnt you support MPG out of the box is crazy.

[Howard @ Oct 30th 2006 5:44PM]

I bought season 2 of 24 from Amazon's Unbox service and was bummed to find out I needed Windows MCE to stream it to my Xbox. Looks like that problem is solved now!!!

[Rohit @ Oct 30th 2006 5:58PM]

One more step towards integrated home entertainment.
I bought the XBOX 360 2 days back. I am new to gaming. To tell you the truth just for games I would never have bought XBOX, but once you start to view it as media hub it makes a lot of sense.
I will be adding a Window Vista PC and Zune to this setup.

This really rocks!!

[Ed @ Oct 30th 2006 6:48PM]

Does the HD DVD player upconverts regular DVD's to 720p/1080i? I JUST RESERVED MY XBOX HD DVD FROM AMAZON. COME TO PAPA!!!! If you think about it it's only $99 if you apply for the Amazon Visa you get an extra $30 off. Since the remote it's free ($29.99) and so is King Kong ($39.99) and free shipping ($10) you actually pay $99.99 FOR AN HD DVD PLAYER THAT'S BETTER THAN BLU RAY. TAKE THAT SONY!!!!

[kibavox @ Oct 30th 2006 7:00PM]

Pardon the noob-ish question here, but the update's mention of HD dvd player support.........does that mean we can play HD dvds on the 360 (without buying the HD dvd drive)?

[neale @ Oct 31st 2006 2:08AM]

nah, hd-dvds require the new drive

[Jon @ Oct 30th 2006 10:24PM]

Porn Downloaded from Bang Bro's network is .WMV ... So yippy for me

[Geoff @ Oct 30th 2006 10:37PM]

"Lightning-fast enumeration and listing of all Xbox Live� Arcade games on the console."

FINALLY. Thank you.

[JimmyStewart @ Oct 31st 2006 3:59AM]

I always just used Transcode360 to watch Divx/Xvid on my 360. Kinda makes what most of you are complaining about a non-issue, at least to me. Don't look for MS to support it anytime soon, but we can always look for little programs like this.

http://www.runtime360.com/