Matt's Rantbox: Xbox Live Update

Or: Xbox Live Update Thingy… With Last.FM and Facebook and Whatnot

A little while back, we reported on the upcoming Xbox Live update that would feature Last.FM, Facebook and Zune Marketplace support. Well the update has arrived, so it’s no longer "upcoming," but did it manage to deliver on all the promises it made? I had nothing better to do, so I checked out.

First off, let’s talk about easily the least remarkable new feature, the Zune Marketplace. Really, the only thing they did here was change their old “video and music marketplace” section to a fancy schmancy “Zune marketplace.” I guess Microsoft just really, really wants you to go buy a Zune.

Anyway, all the old features are here, including fairly overpriced TV Shows, Movies and Music Videos (seriously guys? You’re going to CHARGE us for what most records release for free on Youtube?). There is a new feature that lets you watch videos with friends, but since I’m too stingy to buy any videos (and because I’m too jaded to actually talk to any of my “friends”) I haven’t really tried that feature out.

The other big (well, for some people) addition is the Facebook application thing. Honestly, I have very little use for this, since I deleted my Facebook account some time ago, mostly because I never used it (it had nothing to do with my crippling addiction to posting comments on people’s pictures and walls). As far as I can tell though, this application pretty much lets you access Facebook through your Xbox. So, woohoo I guess.

Lastly, and the one that irked me the most, is the Last.FM support. The Last.FM support was supposed to let you stream music from the internet, using your Last.FM account. I was all for this idea; I already have a Last.FM account, and there are some games that I almost can’t play, because the soundtracks are so horrible. Besides, who doesn’t want to play some Gears of War with The Mars Volta blasting in the background? And yes, I am aware that you can rip music off a CD onto the console, but honestly, who wants to go through all that trouble and take up all that memory on the harddrive?

Unfortunately, in order to stream music, you have to have the Last.FM application open. As long as you have the application open, you can’t run any games. So you’ve basically just turned your Xbox 360 into a very bulky internet radio. Why would I ever need this? Why would I ever want to listen to the radio, through my Xbox, rather than play games on it? It’s far easier to just turn on a radio, if all I wanted to do was listen to music. I want this app so I can listen to music and play games at the same time. I bought the damn thing to play games, not to play the radio. So now, I’m stuck listening to my iPod while I sit and play my Xbox. You know, because fuck the Zune.