Zune Social: ESPN on XBOX 360
*Note – The following review and video are based upon a beta preview of the XBOX Live update. The update is subject to revisions and changes prior to final availability.
One of the major announcements at E3 2010, was the partnership between XBOX 360 and ESPN. Now XBOX 360 owners (with a gold membership) will be able to enjoy many different sporting events right through their console. The ESPN app is powered by the ESPN3.com website which is built on streaming different sporting events, so even if you can’t see a game on your regular TV through cable, you’re most likely to find it when using the application.
With ESPN, you get the following features:
- Over 3500 sporting events a year, including
- College Basketball
- College Football & Bowl Games
- Major League Baseball
- NBA
- International Soccer
- Other sports including Aussie Style Football and Golf
- Out of Market Games
- Games in HD and use of DVR style controls
- Scores at a glance
- Polls
- Voice chat with up to 7 friends
- Customizable my sports channel
When you choose a live sporting event, it will slightly buffer and the game will begin. Much like the instant-on streaming of Zune Video, the image will get better over the course of the first few minutes. If the game is presented in HD, then it will buffer all the way to HD quality. I find it funny that you’re essentially watching SOMEONE’s TV broadcast, but when they go to commercial, you get a screen that essentially says “We’ll be back shortly” kind of like one of those things that says “We are experiencing technical difficulties”.
The sports channel hub is where you’ll find on-demand programming, upcoming events, featured highlights and a special slot that pertains to just the sports you care about. What’s nice is that if you hover over a live event, eventually the screen begins to play the event. This way you can preview where it’s at and if you want to begin watching it or not.
Now, you’ll notice that NFL isn’t available but you can choose it as a monitored sport. All you really get with that is being able to see highlights, analysis and commentary on the big stories that surround the NFL.
I do like the fact that now I can have easy access to sports I probably wouldn’t consider watching otherwise, like Aussie Rules Football or International Soccer. Knowing that they’re available at least gives me that opportunity to expand my sports palette.
My Takeaway: Seriously, what the hell will I need cable TV for? Between ESPN and Netflix, there’s really no reason to keep pumping portions of my bank account into Time Warner Cable. However, I’m sorely disappointed that the NFL is not on the roster of sports to check out and watch. Really, this thing is kind of naked without it. It especially hurts since we’re now in the start of the NFL season.
I do like being able to access many sporting events live and on-demand. The layout is nice, but I don’t understand the importance of having avatars kind of stand there staring at these screens. Couldn’t the scene have been some XBOX Sports Bar somewhere and the TVs are all the options that you have for games to watch? Avatars only have to drink orange juice if that’s what they’re afraid of.
Maybe it’s just my internet connection, but a lot of times games will come in seriously choppy and that can take away from the experience of watching it. If it’s a game I really want to see then I’ll suffer through it, but on the whole I wish my system can keep a nice, high, steady rate.
The responsiveness of the controls and streaming is pretty nice. You don’t have to wait too long for any particular thing to start up, but again I just wish my system can consistently keep a high bitrate.
- Positives:
- Nice to be able to enjoy many different sporting events
- Cool to chat with friends while watching that big game
- On-Demand means I can go back and watch a game I missed
- My Sports is a great way to only keep up with sports you care about
- The controls and streaming is pretty responsive and quick
- Has that ESPN attitude with commentary, highlights and analysis
- Negatives:
- I want the fkn NFL, dammit!
- Shame you need an appropriate internet provider to access
- Personally, just having avatars stand around makes no sense
- Weird to see a “we will be back shortly” screen @ commercials
(3/3) XBOX Live Update Preview: ESPN & Dashboard Enhancements
…Then, of course, there’s more!
While the addition of Zune Music and ESPN will be the main focuses of XBOX 360 users (well, and Kinect, too), there are some other enhancements that have been made to the XBOX Live service. They include:
- You can now search movies in Netflix and add to your DVD queue, as well
- Zune Video on XBOX 360 received a refresh to make the experience better
- The Live dashboard has been revamped for use with the Kinect add-on
- The avatars have been upgraded for better use with Kinect games
- The family settings have been updated for better security:
- Family Programming – disables display of mature content on the XBOX Live Dashboard and highlights all family-friendly entertainment
- Intelligent Default Settings – XBOX 360 will automatically customize privacy and activity settings for each family member, based upon age.
- Title Exceptions – Allow individual family members to play specific games above the console’s designated ESRB/PEGI rating
I’m proud to see Zune making more of an imprint on the device, but I know there’s great room for improvement. ESPN just solidifies my belief that Cable TV is going the way of the DODO – oh, yeah and XBOX 360 is supposed to be getting HULU next year, too huh? Yeah, explain to me why Time Warner needs to exist any longer in my house?
You do have to wonder though: If there’s 5 more years of life that Microsoft plans to squeeze out of this console, where would the other services and additions be coming from?
Overall, the update is pretty impressive and definitely continues Microsoft’s path of letting the software+services (remember that?) extend the lifespan of its devices and hardware.
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