An Xbox Update: What's in Store?

An update for the Xbox 360 gaming console from Microsoft came and went. Most of us wouldn't have even noticed it if the Xbox Live service hadn't warned us of the update and the need to download it. Some people were booted off Live when the update hit and then they had to download the update before re-signing in.

The official line on the update is this, coming from Major Nelson, who is really Larry Hryb, the Director of Programming for Xbox Live, "A few minutes ago, the team released a system update for the Xbox 360 over Xbox LIVE. Sometime over the next few hours when you sign in to Xbox LIVE you'll recieve a prompt to accept this mandatory update. This update contains code to 'prepare for future growth of the service.' There are no other changes or enhancements in this update…in other words no new features. The next obvious question you'll have is about the Spring update. At this point we have nothing to announce, and the moment there is information to share I will do so".

We have an interesting situation here. An Xbox update that introduces no new features, yet is mandatory. An update that is preparing another update, although no announcement was made as to what further developments Xbox users could expect to see. Microsoft is again being incredibly tight lipped about updates, even though Xbox owners and Live users are entitled, as customers, to know as much as possible related to the services they access, especially what changes Microsoft is planning and what the likely consequences could be.

The phrase "prepare for future growth of the service", used by Larry Hryb, is so vague that it can be spun on its head to mean almost anything. After a marathon session of Terminator movies, I could take it as meaning that the Xbox Live is ready to achieve sentence and then attempt mass murder by making all of the Xbox 360 display the Red Ring'o'Death. Most users will take it as a reminder that Microsoft doesn't care enough about customers to let them now what's going on.

Apparently, Microsoft also has another update planned soon, called the "Spring update". If they are more inclined to dish out details regarding that one, we'll be sure to bring them to you.