Set to go live on August 11th, the Summer XBox Live update adds three new features for players to use to expand their XBox Live experience.
Part 1: Games on Demand
Much like the XBox Originals program which has slowed down as of late, players will be able to download full XBox 360 games to their hard drive after purchasing a digital copy off XBox Live Marketplace. Unlike installing the game from the disk, players will not need to insert a disc in to the drive to play the game as all licenses will be saved to the hard drive as well.
To make transactions easier, players can use credit or debit cards to purchase games instead of being forced to use Microsoft points and causing extra unnecessary steps in the purchasing process. Prices have not yet been released for the following titles which should be live when the update launches.
• Assassin’s Creed
• Burnout Paradise
• Call of Duty 2
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Fight Night Round 3
• Kameo: Elements of Power
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Mass Effect
• Meet The Robinsons
• MX vs. ATV Untamed
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Prey
• Rockstar Games Presents: Table Tennis
• SEGA Rally
• Test Drive: Unlimited
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas
• Tomb Raider: Legend
• Viva Piñata
• Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise
Part 2: Avatar Marketplace
Tired of your Avatar looking like everyone else’s'? Well come August 11th, you can help set yourself a part… if you are willing to pay for it. When the Avatar Marketplace launches, specific items will become available for players to purchase to make themselves as unique as possible over XBox Live. Premium outfits (much like Premium Themes) will become available allowing XBox Live members to purchase clothing from Adidas, Quiksilver and Roxy for their Avatar to wear.
In addition, game inspired outfits will become available based on everything from Halo 3 to Bioshock 2 and Fable 2 to Tales of Monkey Island. Along with that, special prop items will become available for the first time ever including objects like a cell phone or remote control Halo warthog. We are the Flickcast are anxiously awaiting to see what our own Matt Raub adorns his Avatar with to match his black Kanye West sunglasses. You can also friend request Matt on Xbox Live at the gamer tag Mshadow1023 and Chris at chu1222.
Part 3: Ratings
Sadly nowhere near as exciting as the other pieces but useful nonetheless comes the addition of ratings to all Marketplace content. Now on any purchase screen, users are able to rate content based on a 1 to 5 scale and the average score will be displayed for all users to see. It’ll be interesting to see which content XBox Live users rank the highest and which they bury from poor quality or overpricing.
All these changes should go in to effect on August 11th, pending any problems that cause XBox Live to crash — which never happens.
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