I am deeply sorry for any distress caused by the disappearance of my blog last Sunday. My only explanation was that I was ill. Nevertheless, I intend to redeem myself to all my many suscribers by posting this special edition on Tuesday 4th December about the Xbox 360 Live Dashboard update which, in fact, launched today.

First of all, there has been some changes to the Xbox Live Marketplace. The 'Video marketplace' has been renamed to 'Video Store', joined by 'Game Store'. The 'Clip' section has been expanded and renamed 'Shorts'. The 'Spotlight' and 'New Arrivals' tabs have been shuffled around too, with their contents obvious. There has also been a section created, named 'Free Stuff', although skimming through the Marketplace earlier, I was very disappointed with its lack of existence. As I have already explained, the Xbox Originals download has been added, where a suscriber can download Xbox Original games at a price from the Marketplace. Also, popular Arcade titles such as 'Bankshot Billards 2', 'Lumines Live!', 'Marble Blast Ultra', 'Small Arms' and 'Zuma Deluxe' will be available on 'Xbox Live Arcade' for a permanently reduced price. Furthermore, apparently a highly requested feature, trial games you have played will no longer be displayed on your 'Played Games' list. I personally did not feel an unrelenting urge for this, but evidently some did...

Secondly, the 'Inside Xbox' feature has been added. This allows users to discover what is happening with Xbox that day, for those lucky US suscribers, and that week for European players. Apparently, this page will be updated every Thursday for us in Europe. Some nice additions have been made to your personal profile. Now, at your own discretion, other gamers will be able to see your Name, Location and even a short Bio. I discussed earlier the 'Friend of Friends' feature, which will enable users to view their friends' Friends Lists. This is great for a second Friends List or Clan Roser, as Tycho from PennyArcade described, you can create an Xbox Live Silver Member Account and name it "Rork's Clan", for example, and add you and your clan's Gamertags to the Silver member's Friends List. 'Friend of Friends' will allow you to see "Rork's Clan's" Friends List, which will be your clan roster. Also, while going through your Friends List now, the highlighted friend will expand to show their name and Motto if they have either. Finally, you will be able to add messenger contacts from your console now and switch the 'Windows Live ID' associated with your console. So if you want to associate your newer Hotmail address with your Gamertag, now you can.

Additionally, new family settings have been implemented, including a 'Family Timer'. If parents wish to limit the amount of time their children spend on the Xbox, they can set up a timer, which counts down whilst they play, so that they have ample time for homework etc. Any child account over 18 can now be 'graduated' to an adult account, gaining features like Messenger and removing certain download restrictions. You need a new credit card to replace your parents if you were and will be using one to pay for the service. However, it was not made clear if this feature is available for those unfortunate teenagers who are held back by their Child account status and would like it removed.

Finally, every game-like thing you have downloaded to your console now exists within the 'Game Library', which encompasses Xbox Originals, Arcade Games, Demos and XNA Creator Club games. In the same area, you can also see what your friends are now currently playing. With the"Tell A Friend" feature, gamers can now send a link taking their friend straight to the Marketplace content they recommend; very practical. Last but not least, the dashboard has had general maintenance, which makes it work faster. Background downloads have greater speed now too.

These are the major changes made in the Fall Update. Visit this link to find out about every detail which was not cared for enough to be mentioned in my blog. Have a great day!