Tech Olive

Recently there has been much hype in the gaming world over the integration of social networking giants Facebook and Twitter, as well as the popular music site Last.fm, into Microsoft’s Xbox Live. I took the opportunity to sign up for the beta when I first saw it was available and sure enough,  last night I received an update which included Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm functionality, as well as a few minor changes. Follow the break for all of the dirty details.

Facebook

The application is entered through selecting it in the “My Community” menu on the dashboard (which is one the mentioned minor changes). After loading and logging in, you’re presented with four menus (Home, Photos, Friends, Profile) which have a simple, easy to use layout, as well as an option to quickly update your status by pressing the X button on the controller. The home menu features a box which scrolls between recent updates by friends, another that shows your latest updates, as well as various boxes for any other news feed lists which you may have setup.

The photos menu features two boxes which include your own photos, as well as your friends. Selecting your photos opens up another menu which lets you select from any of your albums and from there you select individual photos. By selecting “Friends’ Photos” you are taken to a list of all of your Facebook friends, then redirecting to the same menu used in the “User’s Photos” section.

The friends menu has three boxes, one which opens up a list of the users friends, one that searches for Facebook friends who use Xbox Live, and one that searches for Xbox Live friends on Facebook.

The profile menu shows your latest status update, your photos, your profile information, and also offers a section for changing settings. There isn’t much to change, as the only two settings are to display Xbox Live information on Facebook and to toggle off/on automatic login.

The application is fully functional just like the Facebook site itself. The only things missing are applications and a chat option, which was expected.

Twitter

Twitter is also accessed through the “My Community” menu and following login, you’re brought to yet another simple menu system that features some fun graphics. Placed at the top of the screen is your latest tweet, below and to the right are the latest tweets from those you follow, and to the left is a small menu with four options; view your own profile, send a new tweet, search for a subject of others tweets, or check trending topics.  When viewing your own profile, you are shown your stats (number of followers, number following, etc.) from which you can select and open up lists of those, meaning you can view the profiles of others, as well as their updates, or you have the option to send a tweet to them.

Twitter functionality on Xbox Live is comparable to that of the site, with the only thing missing is the ability to search for someone to follow.

Last.fm

Last.fm is accessed through the newly added “Music Marketplace” menu on the dashboard. Upon opening the application you are presented the choice of logging in or creating a new account. Following this you are taken to a menu with various options. The first of these is shows your recent stations, ironically enough, entitled “Your Recent Stations”.

Next up is the “Your Library Stations” menu which has a station based off what you have scrobbled in your library, songs you have “loved”, and then station choices based on the top 50 artists that has been scrobbled in your library, with the order based on number of plays.

The “Your Recommended Stations” menu follows, presenting to you a station of recommendations given by Last.fm, as well as 50 other recommended artist-based stations.

“Popular Stations ” and “Tag Stations” are the next two up, which list the top 50 scrobbled artists and popular tags for certain artists respectively.

For those that enjoy music from video game soundtracks, you’ll enjoy the “Gamer Stations” menu, which has various stations based on tags, as well as several based on composers of game tracks.

The last two menus allow you to search for an artists station, tag a song, and also allow account changes, and setting changes, which are limited to swapping accounts, and toggling on/off automatic login, showing photos, and allowing scrobbling to your Last.fm profile.

The Last.fm application seems to be the most “living room” suited of the applications, allowing users to stream music to their console easily, opening up some variety for a party situation.

Microsoft’s push to make the Xbox 360 console the center of the entertainment center is helped by this update, but I don’t think it is all that beneficial to the typical gamer. I, myself, find the update to be a bit pointless for me as I can easily access all of these features on my PC, on which my 360 sits, and I’m sure some of you might feel the same way. All in all, the applications are easy to use and serve their purpose, so I’ll give kudos to M$ on a job well done.